Before Willy and I had kids, we agreed that we hated Disneyland. Yup, we’re those people. We even went so far as to say that when we did take the plunge with our own kids, we’d pay Mickey Mouse to say mean and hurtful things to them so they never wanted to go back. We were kidding, of course, but that’s our humor, so whatever.
Fast forward, or rewind (depending on how you look at it) to last week when my sister asked if we wanted to go. Her finace had never been despite the fact they live practically walking distance. We also have a relative of a close friend that works there, so we get in for a mere fraction of the price. So, we decided we’d take the plunge.
We spent the night at my sister’s the night before because driving down the 405 freeway in the morning is as dumb as going to sit on Santa’s lap the week before Christmas. Only the 405 isn’t seasonal, it’s a zoo every damn day.
We brought Sarah with us too. We bring her lots of places and I wouldn’t normally mention her presence except for the fact that it becomes pertinent to this little story. Wait for it.
My sister has two new kittens. I hate cats. You should know that about me. I’m allergic, so really it’s my allergies that hate cats.
Sarah is going to be four this year. You should know that she spent the first two years on and off antibiotics and in and out of the vet… aspiration pneumonia after being spayed, rattle snake bite, anaphylatic shock after a bee sting, possible tick bite after camping, ear infection after a trip to Arizona that became a hematoma, hives, another rattle snake bite, another bee sting with subsequent anaphylatic shock… you get the idea.
I was feeding Van when I heard a scuffle, a bark, and a hiss. Next thing we know, Sarah came in with blood coming out of her eye. Nothing is ever no-big-deal with Sarah, so of course Willy and I start to worry immediately. The bleeding stops and it’s obvious she has a cut to her third eyelid. If you knew how big the third eyelid was, you’d know that if Sarah didn’t have bad luck, she’d have absolutely no luck at all.
We spent the night tossing and turning, checking on Sarah, listening to Sarah howl in the bathroom, then letting her out only to hear her chasing the cats in the living room (she’s not the brightest), and then moving her to the garage just a few hours before those little munchkins of ours were up and ready to go.
We called Willy’s dad, who’s a bovine vet in AZ, and decided we should take Sarah in to the vet. So much for spending the night to get an early start at Disneyland.
Willy took Sarah in and two hundred dollars and three new medications later (turns out an abrasion she had on her neck was also infected), we finally made it out the door. By the time we paid $16 dollars for parking, got the kids in the stroller, waited for the elevator, waited in line for the tram, broke down the stroller to get on the tram, got through the bag check, and met up with our ticket dealer dude, honestly I felt okay with turning around to go home and calling it a successful day. We had got there, after all.
I’d say we didn’t stay long, but I think the more accurate statement is that we were there for a while but didn’t do much in that time. Waiting to get on to one ride was a feat on it’s own. We went on a total of three rides: autotopia (I thought Hooper would dig driving his own car but in actuality, letting him sit behind the wheel just meant that we had to grin and bear with smacking into the center track over and over again because his steering ability is, well, not developed), Pirates of the Caribbean (Hooper was scared and sat through the whole ride with Willy’s hat covering his face while I breastfed a tired and hungry Van), and Small World (which was actually incredibly refreshing and a nice break from the heat). Then we paid an arm and a leg for a mediocre lunch and left. And that took a total of 4+ hours.
Note to self: Don’t go to Disneyland in the summer. Just don’t. Take my word for it. Save your money.
I suppose it could be a different story when the boys’ are older… when a 45 minute wait in line doesn’t feel like a marathon.
On the brighter side, I love churros.
Have you been? What was your experience like?
And just for good measure, a photo from my first trip to Disneyland (looks like my parents may have utilized the say-mean-and-hurtful-things-to-my-kid technique, cuz’ I’m clearly not feelin’ Donald)… Side note: #CoolHairCuts
I went to Disney Land Paris then I was about 14, I smuggled in weed and got stoned every day behind our lodge before going into the park each day. The food stunk.
chloe
http://www.bythelock.com
That last photo of you and your dad….so funny:-)
Haha, that picture of you and dad is HILARIOUS. What’s up with dad’s…bangs?
I’m glad we went and got it out of our system. It was a nice adventure. By the way, when we visited Chris’s mom on Sunday, she said that Chris has, in fact, been to Disneyland. Seemingly, he’s blocked out the experience. His mom said she lost him for a while there so maybe the trauma explains the amnesia. It really seemed to be all new to him.
Oh, and that last picture of Hooper in the stroller is amazing. He’s so cute.
I agree with Kim, it doesn’t get much more precious than that last picture of Hooper! Oh man!!!
We went in October. Weather was perfect. Kids were great. We stayed until 10pm with two 3 year olds (my cousins daughter came too) and a 1.5 year old. AND we did both parks. We also had a lot of help. My brother (who is a Disney passholder) and my parents, my husband and I all went so that was very helpful too. I will not go on the summer because of crowds and heat. Yuck. But our first experience with the kids was perfect. I do realize how lucky we were that no major meltdowns happened.
We went in January with our then 3 year old. The weather was great but the crowds got pretty ridic as the day went on. Although I loved seeing the whole experience through my child’s eyes, I absolutely hate amusement parks. The waiting in lines thing is just a total bummer, no matter how you look at it. But, I suppose it’s a part of parenthood we just have to roll with, right?
LOL, as someone who just stumbled upon your blog…I was really very relieved to find out Sarah was not your kid. WHEW!
Yes, I must have missed the vet part the first time, LOL.
Disneyland will get better – but have to go when they first open, on a weekday, and probably not during the summer. As far as the price – that’s just gona keep increasing. By the way, your mother is still laughing about my bangs – I think you got back at me for cutting your hair that one time. I think you took scizzors to my head when I was sleeping the night before.
This post had me laughing because my in-laws were insisting on us going to Disneyland in July with them and I flat out refused. I said in the fall when it cooled off and the lines were shorter, I would consider it. Now I know I made the right decision.
I went when we visited the States. Tamika was around five years old. I loved it, a friend of a friend worked there and we got in for free. Oh and because I twisted my ankle skiing, We got an invalid pass and got to the front of every ride in record time. Plus every time either of us spoke, someone commented on our accent and bumped us forward in the line. I think Tamika went on almost every ride. Even ones she was too little for. But it was a cold winter day and there was hardly anyone there.
This was the first time I had tasted churro, OMG! I got addicted. I even got free Cotton Candy, cause I called it Fairy Floss (it’s what we call it in Australia), the guy thought it was funny and gave it to me for free.
So in total I loved Disneyland, but then who doesn’t love free stuff?
ps hope Sarah is on the mend
Hi Ashley! We used to go more often after Nathan turned one because we had season passes and we lived a couple of cities away. It’s so much more enjoyable with the pass because you don’t feel rushed and like you have to see everything in a small amount of time. But ever since Jeremiah was born we only went once and then our passes expired. We also moved further away and my job and Francis’ schedule doesn’t allow us days off when Disneyland wouldn’t be crowded. Their prices have increased as well, so I don’t think we will be making a trip there for awhile–at least until Jeremiah is a little older. If we do get passes again, we would have to buy the pricier ones and probably end up going on days when there are way too many people. But for now, Nathan can go with his grandparents since they have passes with no blocked dates. Too bad we don’t live close by–I think our boys would have very enjoyable playdates!
haha! kids change us, no?! i must admit though, i adore disney and can’t wait to take our little dude there. is four months too young?!? 🙂
xo
I looooooove these photos….although I’m bummed you didn’t have the best time. You def need a re-do. But on the off season!!! xo
I’ve never been a fan of amuseument parks! Until last month I hadn’t been to Disney in about 7 years despite passing it daily on my way to work. We just went with my husbands side of the family. It was all rushing from line to line, gathering fast-passes, tripping over everyone’s strollers and diaper bags, paying for overpriced food and trying to keep the little ones happy despite the chaos. Really not worth it!
I think there are a lot of better things to do with little ones in our area! But for those who are set on an amuseument park, go to Knotts: way fewer people, way less chaos, way less expensive.