The kids were thrilled that we were going to Disneyland; so was my husband, who had never been before. I was somewhat less excited given my mild crowd phobia and not-so-mild germ phobia, especially when I realized we were going to be there on President’s Day. Eeek! I was prepared for crushing anxiety and feelings of being overwhelmed, but I have to hand it to the good people at Disneyland, I only felt that way a couple of times. One of those times was an early morning when the gates to Adventureland, home of the Indiana Jones ride, were opened and I looked up and saw a sea of people running towards the entrance, where I was standing with the kids waiting for my latte. Did you know you can get a fairly decent latte at Disneyland? I did not.
Anyway, I was slightly concerned but I remembered the words of a friend when I confessed to her my fears: “Oh, you’ll love it! Disneyland is so SHINY.” And it’s true, it is shiny and clean and happy, and also a great spot for some quality people watching entertainment. The Happiest Place on Earth is decidedly unhappy at times; parents walking briskly, wrought with tension as their toddlers screamed and backbended within the confines of their strollers, little girls dressed in various Disney princess gowns collapsing limply to the ground, sobbingly pulled along by agitated parents. By my third day in Disneyland, I felt as though I had joined the ranks of those parents, feeling harassed and exhausted as my children asked to go on Buzz Lightyear, again, and they needed a drink of water, again, all the while It’s A Small World was going through my head over and over in a psychedelic manner.
I discovered I preferred the night visitors over the day ones. I was much happier standing in line next to teenage couples making out, rather than haggard looking mothers scolding their offspring. One woman said “Shut your mouth. Just SHUT YOUR MOUTH” approximately once a minute for the duration of our long lineup to ride on pretend rocket ships. “We are not coming back here for a long time. Maybe never!” “Noooooooo!” “Just shut your mouth.” Lather, rinse, repeat.
But I was fairly prepared for that. What I was not prepared for was the hordes of adult women wearing Minnie Mouse ears. Neither was I prepared for the sheer variety of said ears. Styles varied from the traditional to the glow-in-the-dark, from ears attached to barrettes to actual bridal veils attached to the ears. There was also a plethora of women in tiaras, some with both tiaras and Minnie Mouse ears. No judgments here, whatever floats your boat, and if you can’t wear a tiara at Disneyland, then where can you wear one? Although that is not quite true, because it is park policy to turn away anyone over aged nine wearing princess attire. That is an actual policy. Consider that your public service announcement for the day, just in case you are planning a trip and hoping to finally break out those glass slippers or mermaid’s tail or what have you.
With all the ears and chipmunk hats and Goofy hats, Disneyland felt like an alternate universe, and it sort of is one. I have to admit I found adult men wearing Mickey Mouse ears to be vaguely disturbing. I started to rank those men against men wearing Captain Jack Sparrow bandannas with attached dreadlocks, and men wearing Indiana Jones hats, but which costume I found most disturbing, I just cannot say.
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| So excited, the first day at Disney, waiting for It’s a Small World. |
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| Second day at Disney, still excited, on the Mark Twain steamboat. |
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| Third day at Disney. Make it stop. Someone make the music stop. |
I think the men in mouse ears win for most disturbing. Just casting my vote in case you’re taking a poll or something.
Love the photos, showing the transition from day one to day three.
Amen to that! A nice glass of wine while watching all the mouse ears go by…can’t get better than that…I too am a germaphobe…totally weirded out by them!
Glad you enjoyed most of your trip! I would love to go to Disney land, world, the cruise, or all of them since I have never been to any of them! 🙂 Glad you are back though! We missed you!
I, too, love the transition to Day 3.
LisaDay
Day three made me laugh. I’m pretty sure I looked like that 3 hours into our first day…although I *think* I made it out of there without telling the kids to shut up.
The men wearing the cartoon hats always makes me laugh. I can’t quite imagine what chain of events would have to pass before my husband would ever let me put a silly hat on his head – pirate, Mickey, or whatever. It just wouldn’t happen.
Now you’ll get to listen to the kids asking to take you back to Disneyland every week or so for the next few years.
Hiarious! You never fail to bring a smile to my face! I’m glad you had fun at Disneyland. I am a bit of a handwasher myself and I always found Disneyland to be quite clean – its one good point.
Oh, and I vote for men wearing the fake Jack Sparrow and fake dreadlocks. Creepy!
You mean I can’t show up at Disney wearing a princess costume? That is just wrong.
Ah, you gotta love a public place…all walks of life messhed into one relatively small area.
That hats on the men sound sexy! 😉
Glad you had a good time!
You packed 8 black shirts, but wore the same black hoody for all three days at Disneyland? Huh.
I didn’t even notice the men wearing mouse ears at Disney. I was too disturbed by the young girls in full on Princess Regalia (high heels, gloves, tiaras) AND the women wearing mouse ears with the bridal veils b/c they are on a Disneyland honeymoon. Freaks.
Nan, I wore all eight black shirts. The hoodie was my jacket because it was only 12-14 degrees. There are all different shirts underneath. I swear. I needed EVERY ONE.
Thanks for joining Canadian Charisma today! 🙂
They don’t serve booze at Disneyland but they do sell it at Disney’s California Adventure. They sell beer at Taste Pilots Grill and Pizza Oom Mow Mow. They also have a beer truck that has many beers from Karl Strauss and a margarita stand in the Pacific Wharf area. The Grand margarita is really delicious. They also serve wine at the Wine Country Tratorria. At Ariels Grotto there is a full bar and you can have any type of alcohol that you want. Just in case you need assistance getting through your next vacation haha.
-Your friendly neighborhood castmember.