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Disneyland!
Dec. 28th, 2007 04:58 pmI haven't been to Disney in ages. Really. A long long time. Like.. before California Adventure was built. it's been over 12– and probably closer to 15 years. Recently a lot of my friends have been trying to get me to go to Disney with them, but i've always been busy with other stuff, or not had the time. But I'm on vacation right now, so when Brian (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kingfuraday) asked if i wanted to go, I jumped at the opportunity!
I should mention that I'm usually not on very good terms with mornings. Oh, I understand they need to be there, and I don't deny their necessity. I would probably give mornings a friendly nod as we passed each other in the hallway or something. That still doesn't mean I like them.
It's important to know my relationship with mornings, because I was told we were leaving San Diego at 5:30 AM. That means i would have to go to sleep about 8:30 PM, and get up about 4 AM. I almost said " hmmm.. maybe I'll meet ya guys up there about 10:30 or so" and slept in to a more reasonable hour, like 8:30 or something. I decided it was time to just make peace with mornings, and just go up with the rest of the gang. I'm so glad I did.
I get to Brian's house at about 5:20. Chuck showed up a couple minutes later. The 4 of us pile into Brian's car, drive a few blocks, pick up John, then head up to Disney! YAY!
Brian has a great car; it's very comfy and roomy. However, with 5 big burly men, it was a little intimate at times. Good thing bears like to cuddle. I think the car also has some kind of stealth turbo-boost, because we got to Disney in a little over an hour.
As we were standing outside the gates waiting to be let in, it became obvious this was going to be a very busy day. Throughout the day, Brian, John, and Liz all commented on how crowded it was, and that they had never seen that many people at Disney before.
First thing we did was head over to Space Mountain, and pick up a FastPass. Then we got in line, which wasn't too long at that point, and rode Space Mountain! YAY! my first ride of the day, and it wasn't even 9AM yet!
We soon met up with Liz,martini_tim and bigsabu, and headed out for more rides and fun. Although Tim and Robert weren't able to stay the rest of the day, it was great meeting them, and I hope to see them at Disney again some time soon!
The rest of the day is pretty much a blur, but in a good way. Lots of rides, and silliness, and fun, and GREAT company. I had such an amazing time. Many rides I had never been on ( California Screamin' is totally my favorite now, with Tower of Terror and Space Mountain running close seconds). We even went on those silly kiddie rides, like Mr Toads Wild Ride, and It's a Small World.
I had only been on It's a Small World once before. Perhaps it was my mood, or whatever, but it just seemed like the lamest freakin' thing ever. And that song would never leave my head.
This time was different. The ride is all christmassy for the season now. I heard they were shutting it down for a year to rebuild it, so this is probably the last time to see it in it's "classic" state. And yeah, it's still kinda cheezy inside, but the warmth and magic of friends and the end of a wonderful day ( and a tummy filled with hot chocolate) made the ride fun again :-)
We watched the holiday–themed fireworks show in a crowd of (what seemed like) a million people. I have to admit, the whole day, added to the music, the fireworks, and thinking about the past couple weeks, the past year, and past holidays, made me a little choked up and misty eyed. In a good way, tho!
Eventually, it was time to go. Although my energy was still high, my body was ready to call it quits. Actually, i think my body was ready to call it quits about 5 pm, but as is pretty obvious, I don't always listen to what my body wants or needs ;-)
We got to the car, headed out, realized we needed gas, stopped at the station, and then.... the car wouldn't start. I felt so bad for Brian. He was so tired, and just wanted to get home, and now the car wouldn't start. If ever there was a person who needed a hug, it was Brian at that point.
The gas station attendant didn't have jumper cables, or a battery charger. Never mind that it was a full freakin' service station ( during the day), but at night, the lackey in the office was clueless. In fact, he left to go get donuts at the Yum Yum Donuts across the street, while we're all just sitting in Brian's car, trying to figure out what to do.
People started pulling in to get gas, so I was asking if anybody had jumper cables. Out of 8 people I asked, nobody had jumpers. WTF? Chuck came to the rescue and called AAA. They arrived not 7 minutes later, started the car, and we were off once again!
We got back to San Diego ok, and I got to bed about 3:00 AM. Even tho I'd been awake for 23 hours, walked so much I have swollen feet (even my blisters have blisters), I had the best time. To everybody that was there, thanks for a great day!
Most of all, i would like to give a huge thank you, with a hug and big kiss to Brian, for organizing the thing, driving up there, keeping us moving along, and driving back again. You totally rock!
--Jp
Some of my photos from Disney
kingfuraday) asked if i wanted to go, I jumped at the opportunity!I should mention that I'm usually not on very good terms with mornings. Oh, I understand they need to be there, and I don't deny their necessity. I would probably give mornings a friendly nod as we passed each other in the hallway or something. That still doesn't mean I like them.
It's important to know my relationship with mornings, because I was told we were leaving San Diego at 5:30 AM. That means i would have to go to sleep about 8:30 PM, and get up about 4 AM. I almost said " hmmm.. maybe I'll meet ya guys up there about 10:30 or so" and slept in to a more reasonable hour, like 8:30 or something. I decided it was time to just make peace with mornings, and just go up with the rest of the gang. I'm so glad I did.
I get to Brian's house at about 5:20. Chuck showed up a couple minutes later. The 4 of us pile into Brian's car, drive a few blocks, pick up John, then head up to Disney! YAY!
Brian has a great car; it's very comfy and roomy. However, with 5 big burly men, it was a little intimate at times. Good thing bears like to cuddle. I think the car also has some kind of stealth turbo-boost, because we got to Disney in a little over an hour. As we were standing outside the gates waiting to be let in, it became obvious this was going to be a very busy day. Throughout the day, Brian, John, and Liz all commented on how crowded it was, and that they had never seen that many people at Disney before.
First thing we did was head over to Space Mountain, and pick up a FastPass. Then we got in line, which wasn't too long at that point, and rode Space Mountain! YAY! my first ride of the day, and it wasn't even 9AM yet!We soon met up with Liz,
martini_tim and bigsabu, and headed out for more rides and fun. Although Tim and Robert weren't able to stay the rest of the day, it was great meeting them, and I hope to see them at Disney again some time soon!The rest of the day is pretty much a blur, but in a good way. Lots of rides, and silliness, and fun, and GREAT company. I had such an amazing time. Many rides I had never been on ( California Screamin' is totally my favorite now, with Tower of Terror and Space Mountain running close seconds). We even went on those silly kiddie rides, like Mr Toads Wild Ride, and It's a Small World.
I had only been on It's a Small World once before. Perhaps it was my mood, or whatever, but it just seemed like the lamest freakin' thing ever. And that song would never leave my head.
This time was different. The ride is all christmassy for the season now. I heard they were shutting it down for a year to rebuild it, so this is probably the last time to see it in it's "classic" state. And yeah, it's still kinda cheezy inside, but the warmth and magic of friends and the end of a wonderful day ( and a tummy filled with hot chocolate) made the ride fun again :-)
We watched the holiday–themed fireworks show in a crowd of (what seemed like) a million people. I have to admit, the whole day, added to the music, the fireworks, and thinking about the past couple weeks, the past year, and past holidays, made me a little choked up and misty eyed. In a good way, tho!
Eventually, it was time to go. Although my energy was still high, my body was ready to call it quits. Actually, i think my body was ready to call it quits about 5 pm, but as is pretty obvious, I don't always listen to what my body wants or needs ;-)
We got to the car, headed out, realized we needed gas, stopped at the station, and then.... the car wouldn't start. I felt so bad for Brian. He was so tired, and just wanted to get home, and now the car wouldn't start. If ever there was a person who needed a hug, it was Brian at that point.
The gas station attendant didn't have jumper cables, or a battery charger. Never mind that it was a full freakin' service station ( during the day), but at night, the lackey in the office was clueless. In fact, he left to go get donuts at the Yum Yum Donuts across the street, while we're all just sitting in Brian's car, trying to figure out what to do.
People started pulling in to get gas, so I was asking if anybody had jumper cables. Out of 8 people I asked, nobody had jumpers. WTF? Chuck came to the rescue and called AAA. They arrived not 7 minutes later, started the car, and we were off once again!
We got back to San Diego ok, and I got to bed about 3:00 AM. Even tho I'd been awake for 23 hours, walked so much I have swollen feet (even my blisters have blisters), I had the best time. To everybody that was there, thanks for a great day!
Most of all, i would like to give a huge thank you, with a hug and big kiss to Brian, for organizing the thing, driving up there, keeping us moving along, and driving back again. You totally rock!
--Jp
Some of my photos from Disney
