Saturday, October 2, 2010

Still Learning Lessons from Disneyland: 28 Years a Mouseketeer



So, on Saturday, October 2nd, 2010, we braved the world of Disneyland with our daughter for the first time! I thought I would be showing Baby new things and I ended up learning a few things myself.

We were lucky enough to have tickets gifted to us because clearly we would not have been able to afford the $76.00 per person steep as hell price. We  I decided to make the most of the situation and bring the baby while we could get the whole family in for free and also get some time alone so we can ride the adult rides.

The Plan: Bring the Baby in the Morning and then bring her to Grandma's and come back for Mommy/Daddy time. Nothing but a hand stamp and a gallon of gas. Right?



Things that got fu%*'d up:

  1. We didn't get there till 10:30, two hours from Baby's nap. The original plan was to get there by 8:00 am, so she could get on all the rides, carefully calibrated on my Disney list.
  2. It rained cats and dogs that morning, causing  (1) a bicker fight between hubby and I due to countless erroneous accusations that I did not check the weather.  (2)  Mommy having a four year old's panic attack, fearing my Disney day being rained out (3) cold whiny Baby just irritated by the long car ride.
  3. What we didn't check was our local "Out" magazine to realize that it was "Gay Day" at Disneyland and the park would be double crowded (yet filled with quirky red T-shirt sayings)
  4. My carefully (and anally) planned list of Baby friendly rides and event schedule quickly went to shit due to us being 2 hours behind schedule and the park being twice as crowded.
  5. We did not get to go on the Dumbo ride or It's a Small World.
  6. We forgot our tickets when returning to the park for adult time, which allowed us no use of the Fastpasses. And almost caused us non-entry if it wasn't for the Sistagirl Attitude I copped with the Disney line worker.
  7. When we begged enough people for tickets, the Fastpass option was closed.
AFTER I HAD A POUT FIT IN FRONTIER LAND,  I REALIZED THIS NEXT LIST:
Things that made it all worth it:
  1. Even without a nap Baby lasted till 3p.m. without meltdowns.
  2. The rain cleared up to a beautiful sunshine, as soon as we walked into the park. *weird
  3. The red t-shirt LGBT community made for a hilarious spotting game!
How could you not love winged and haloed men with shirts so cleverly saying, "Fruit Fly", Makeup wearing, "Queens In Training" and my favorite, "I love my Gay Best Friend"(arrow to...her male buddy..) "I love My Fag Hag". By the end of the night we were wishing we had shirts just so we wouldn't feel left out.
  1. Baby did ride her first ever ride, "The Carousel" how classic is that? She also went to the top of Beauty's Castle and had a ball in Toontown.
  2. The best part of it all, she got to meet Mickey!
Even though we didn't have Fastpasses we enjoyed long talks while waiting in long lines. Kissed under the firework show, and had a lovely dinner at the Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney. What did I learn? To turn my over planning, over analytical mind off. To enjoy my family and just be. I had to learn that without my control, there is still possibility for things to go right. I learned to let go. One step at a time. One step.

2 comments:

  1. Jessica Daniels - Just read your blog cousin, and as usual it was so accurate. First rule of parenting: respect the nap! 2nd rule: Be flexible. lol Christopher's first trip to a theme park was TERRIBLE! It rained, he cried, we bickered and it ended with sunshine, and a happy baby.
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  2. Shaunick Barber - Hilarious Jaz. I think even without kids we had the similar issues and complaints with all adults & one 11 yrs old who thinks he's 25. Me and Disneyland have a love hate relationship after our last trip there. Jolie looks so happy in the pics. Thanks for sharing. - Saturday at 2:38pm

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