A Child Again at Disneyland

I had a chance to go to Disneyland with Lori and my parents, the happiest place on Earth. Lori and Lisa needed to get to Long Beach to catch their flights home, so we drove Lisa and dropped her off at the airport, since Lori wasn't leaving until the next morning, we spent the day at Disneyland, and it was TOTALLY my dad's idea, which really blew me away.  I loved that he suggested we go to Disneyland.  I didn't feel like it was the happiest place on Earth a few days before Christmas though, it was a mad house.  There were so many people and it was so busy that it was difficult to even walk from one ride to the next.  Another issue I have is that I am significantly older than the last time my parents took me to Disneyland and my equilibrium won't let me ride any rides without getting a bit of a headache. However, even in our old age, all of us were a little giddy as the tickets were bought and we were walking down Main Street.

Since it was Christmas in just a few days, all of Disneyland was decked to the halls in wreaths, trees, ornaments, presents and all things Christmas.  Other than the decorations of a million people everywhere, it was really pretty. 

We decided to try to use our time wisely and hit up the rides with the littlest lines first and run to get the fast passes while we waited for the rides.  We had to pick the rides very carefully because Dad and I can't handle the motion of most rides.  I just have a weird head but my dad has a legit reason for not being able to ride any rides since he has Meniere's disease and the sudden motions will send him into a dizzy spell from down under (and I'm not talking about Australia). We decided that Pirates of the Caribbean should be Ok for us all since it is just a boat ride to see the moving scenes. Oh geez, we were so wrong, that ride is jerky, and the lights and the loud sounds sent dad into a really bad dizzy spell.  He closed his eyes and could barely get out of the boat.  Here we are right before the ride started.

We got off the ride and found a seat for us all to sit, dad was hoping it would pass, but it became a full fledge attack, so we called the Disneyland EMT, and they came with a wheelchair and took us to their small clinic down Main Street.  Dad said he just needed to sleep it off and for us to go have fun without him.  So after giving the nurse our phone numbers, and making sure he was asleep, we left to continue our adventures feeling a little less excited and awful bad for dad.

We had fast passes for the haunted mansion, so we went straight to the mansion and waited only about 20 minutes to get on the ride.  The entire ride has completely changed since I last went years ago.  The ride is now completely centred around The Nightmare Before Christmas and Jack Skeleton.  It is significantly less scary (or I am much older and it doesn't scare me).  The decorations were really rad, and I enjoyed the change, because I don't do well with scary.  

After the Haunted Mansion, we wanted to check out the new Star Wars section of the park.  The Star Wars part actually just opened, and it was so fun to see it all fresh and clean.  Since the rides were not open yet and maybe people didn't know it was open, it was not busy with a million people so I super enjoyed walking through this land.  I am not a huge Star Wars fan, I actually haven't even seen all the movies, but I could defiantly appreciate the attention to detail.

At one point, as we were walking between buildings it sounded as though one of the Star Wars ships flew right over our head, we all ducked and looked around trying to find where the plane was, only to laugh and realise it was just a really good sound effect.  The Falcon ship was really impressive, it looked as if they got the real one from the set, maybe they did.

We left Star Wars Land and decided it wasn't a true trip to Disneyland without a ride on It's a Small World.  The line was still about 30 minutes long, so we got in line and just talked and laughed.  I have never had to wait in line for Small World, so this just proves how crazy busy it was.  

As we were about to depart the boats, the lights of It's a Small World suddenly turned on in all their colourful glory.  It was fun to see it all lite up and crazy bright.

Mom got a call from dad letting us know he was good as new and he was able to sleep the attack off. We ran back to the clinic to check dad out.  We were all starving by this time, especially dad, so we decided to grab some food to go and try to get the battling piano show at the Golden Horseshoe.  Dad didn't want to go in the room with all the loud people and music echoing off all the walls, so he took up a bench right outside and we were able to find a balcony seat.  Mom, Lori and I were super excited because this is usually my favourite show.  Let's just say that even though we were right on the balcony, we left after only a few minutes.  Gosh, it was boring and nothing compared to their old show, Bill Hill and the Hill Billy's.  I miss that show, it was my favourite, and sadly the battling pianos just didn't live up to Bill Hill and his battling fiddles.

Our next stop was at the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters ride.  Dad insisted that he would be OK and that this is one ride he really enjoyed, so we got in line and waited about a half hour to get on.  This is really a fun ride!  You go around trying to shoot all the aliens and creatures with the gun on your ride.  Dad ended up beating us all by at least six times, it was crazy.

By the time the Buzz ride was done, the castle was all lit up and the Christmas Parade was to start within the hour.  We wanted decent seats, so decided to stake out seats and eat food while we waited.
The castle was super bright and so pretty. It looked like Elsa's castle, and I'm not sure if the was on purpose or not.

Our parade waiting paid off because we had fabulous seats for the parade.  We enjoyed the floats, music, dancing and singing.  I love parades, so I was in my happy place, and I loved every second of it.  It was fun being here with my oldest sister, Lori and my parents.  It made me feel like a kid again.  

Before we headed for the exit, Lori and Dad came with me to check out Mickey's Toon Town.  Sadly, we were too late and it was closed.  I was really hoping to get a picture with all of us and Mickey or Minnie, but I'll take a memory of running to Toon town instead and finding it closed.  I loved that they went along with my wish to get together with Mickey.  I sure love that I had this experience with Lori and my Mom and Dad!  It is a memory I will treasure, even with the millions of people and Dad's attack, it was a great day.  Thanks Mom and Dad, I love you!