Okay, I have to come clean. I am shamelessly in love with Disneyland. I took Lauren out of school on Friday to take my kids to Disneyland. As a teacher, I had conflicted feelings about this, but I had to weigh my options. I decided it was okay to take Lauren out of 3 hours of kindergarten to go to Disneyland with her Grandma Linda while she was visiting. The kids had Thursday off from school for Yom Kippur, but not Friday. So on Thursday afternoon, we headed down to Anaheim for our big trip.
Rick has oodles of hotel points, so my mom and I took the kids on Thursday afternoon to the Doubletree Hotel in Anaheim. Thursday night we played in the pool, and then we hung out and had dinner at Downtown Disney. We ate at the Rainforest Café, and spent a good hour plus browsing at the biggest Disney Store in the world. My kids are basically spoiled, so we bought them Ariel and Pirates of the Caribbean t-shirts to wear at Disneyland the next day.
When we pulled into the hotel parking lot Thursday evening, my mom took the kids into the lobby while I called Lauren’s school to lie about her being ill on Friday. I feel guilty about this. Can you tell?
My guilt, though, is outweighed by my love for Disneyland. I have such fond memories of it from when I was little. We’d go once a year or so and my parents always bought us a Mickey Mouse balloon at the end of the day. I looked forward to picking out that balloon the whole time I was there. And does anybody remember being so excited about something when you were little that you literally jumped up and down thinking about it? That was how I felt when we were going to Disneyland. My heart would jump seeing a giant Mickey Mouse walking down Main Street, and I’d rush up to give him a hug or shake his hand. It’s so cliché, but for me when I was a kid, Disneyland was magical.
So bringing my own kids to the happiest place on Earth is something that thrills me. I’ve shown them all the movies, we sing the songs, we wear the t-shirts. I don’t care that it’s all unabashedly commercial or too crowded or way overpriced. Seeing my kids marvel and wave at a giant-sized Winnie the Pooh or duck behind me because they’re scared of Captain Hook makes me the happiest clam on the reef (do you get my lame Nemo reference there?).
Ryan’s favorite part of the day - riding on Big Thunder Mountain and the Matterhorn. He loved that they were fast, but he really loved that he went on rides that Lauren was too scared to go on. As the younger sib, he doesn’t have much to hold over his sister, but now he tells everyone that he wasn’t scared to go on the roller coasters at Disneyland.
Lauren’s favorite part of the day - the Princess Fantasy Faire. The princesses were there telling stories and teaching the kids to do dance steps and curtseys and other royal whatnot. Ryan was picked out of the crowd and was supposed to be the prince in a story told to the audience by Sleeping Beauty. At the last second, he chickened out and hid under a chair on the side of the stage. But Lauren was there with him, on the side of the stage, trying to coax him out to take part in the story. The whole experience of meeting the princesses and dancing with them and making crowns with them, well, it just left Lauren giddy.
Three more little stories of the day (not in chronological order), and I’m done:
I was sitting next to Ryan on the tram taking us to the entrance to the park. We went by some statues of Mickey and Minnie Mouse dressed in Halloween costumes and surrounded by pumpkins. Ryan turns to me and said, “This really is the happiest place on um, er, the happiest place on um . . . Mom, I’m just super duper happy!”
We were taking the three-minute ride raft over to Tom Sawyer’s Island, and Lauren and Ryan made fast friends with David, a 5-year old from Monterey. They decided that they were all going to hang out together and be friends on the island. So after running through caves, climbing up in the treehouse, and pillaging and plundering the island, I hear David say to his mom, “I finally know who I’m going to marry. Her!” And he points to Lauren.
The night before we went to the park, Lauren and I were sitting in the Rainforest Café. Up on the ceiling there were faux shooting stars going across the sky. I said to Lauren, “You know, you’ve never seen a real shooting star before, but you will someday. And when you do, it will be special. They happen so fast and they’re so beautiful and rare. They’re amazing!” She nodded at me. I continued, “The next time I see one, I promise I’ll think about you and how much I love you, okay?” She said back to me, “And when I see one, Mom, I’ll think about you and Disneyland and how much I love that you brought me here.” Wow, talk about magical! My heart still melts when I think about it.
I looooove Disneyland.
Rick has oodles of hotel points, so my mom and I took the kids on Thursday afternoon to the Doubletree Hotel in Anaheim. Thursday night we played in the pool, and then we hung out and had dinner at Downtown Disney. We ate at the Rainforest Café, and spent a good hour plus browsing at the biggest Disney Store in the world. My kids are basically spoiled, so we bought them Ariel and Pirates of the Caribbean t-shirts to wear at Disneyland the next day.
When we pulled into the hotel parking lot Thursday evening, my mom took the kids into the lobby while I called Lauren’s school to lie about her being ill on Friday. I feel guilty about this. Can you tell?
My guilt, though, is outweighed by my love for Disneyland. I have such fond memories of it from when I was little. We’d go once a year or so and my parents always bought us a Mickey Mouse balloon at the end of the day. I looked forward to picking out that balloon the whole time I was there. And does anybody remember being so excited about something when you were little that you literally jumped up and down thinking about it? That was how I felt when we were going to Disneyland. My heart would jump seeing a giant Mickey Mouse walking down Main Street, and I’d rush up to give him a hug or shake his hand. It’s so cliché, but for me when I was a kid, Disneyland was magical.
So bringing my own kids to the happiest place on Earth is something that thrills me. I’ve shown them all the movies, we sing the songs, we wear the t-shirts. I don’t care that it’s all unabashedly commercial or too crowded or way overpriced. Seeing my kids marvel and wave at a giant-sized Winnie the Pooh or duck behind me because they’re scared of Captain Hook makes me the happiest clam on the reef (do you get my lame Nemo reference there?).
Ryan’s favorite part of the day - riding on Big Thunder Mountain and the Matterhorn. He loved that they were fast, but he really loved that he went on rides that Lauren was too scared to go on. As the younger sib, he doesn’t have much to hold over his sister, but now he tells everyone that he wasn’t scared to go on the roller coasters at Disneyland.
Lauren’s favorite part of the day - the Princess Fantasy Faire. The princesses were there telling stories and teaching the kids to do dance steps and curtseys and other royal whatnot. Ryan was picked out of the crowd and was supposed to be the prince in a story told to the audience by Sleeping Beauty. At the last second, he chickened out and hid under a chair on the side of the stage. But Lauren was there with him, on the side of the stage, trying to coax him out to take part in the story. The whole experience of meeting the princesses and dancing with them and making crowns with them, well, it just left Lauren giddy.
Three more little stories of the day (not in chronological order), and I’m done:
I was sitting next to Ryan on the tram taking us to the entrance to the park. We went by some statues of Mickey and Minnie Mouse dressed in Halloween costumes and surrounded by pumpkins. Ryan turns to me and said, “This really is the happiest place on um, er, the happiest place on um . . . Mom, I’m just super duper happy!”
We were taking the three-minute ride raft over to Tom Sawyer’s Island, and Lauren and Ryan made fast friends with David, a 5-year old from Monterey. They decided that they were all going to hang out together and be friends on the island. So after running through caves, climbing up in the treehouse, and pillaging and plundering the island, I hear David say to his mom, “I finally know who I’m going to marry. Her!” And he points to Lauren.
The night before we went to the park, Lauren and I were sitting in the Rainforest Café. Up on the ceiling there were faux shooting stars going across the sky. I said to Lauren, “You know, you’ve never seen a real shooting star before, but you will someday. And when you do, it will be special. They happen so fast and they’re so beautiful and rare. They’re amazing!” She nodded at me. I continued, “The next time I see one, I promise I’ll think about you and how much I love you, okay?” She said back to me, “And when I see one, Mom, I’ll think about you and Disneyland and how much I love that you brought me here.” Wow, talk about magical! My heart still melts when I think about it.
I looooove Disneyland.
