Christmas in Disneyland
I’m looking tired but braved the teacups!
Yes, Disneyland. Kitty and I drove to Anaheim and checked in to a 4 star Marriot that did not have free wi-fi in guest rooms (Boo! Hiss!). It was such a disappointment after our luxurious experience in Vegas. I don’t think I can go back to 4 stars. Yes, Sara does mean princess.
We made it into the park around noon and it was just as busy as you’d expect it to be. I visited Disneyland once before when I was 7 years old, and as soon as we stepped on to Main Street USA I started having flashbacks to my trip in the 80s.
We turned left into Adventureland and visited the Enchanted Tiki Room. It must have left quite an impression on me because I remembered all the words to of the parrots’ song.
My Mickey Mouse Ears and Krakatoa drink (the glass I got to take home!) at Trader Sam’s.
Most of the day is a blur but here’s some of the highlights.
- Drinking at the Trader Sam’s Tiki Bar at the Disneyland Hotel, ordering a drink called Krakatoa (the name of the zine I co-wrote in high school) and the elaborate production that went on when the volcano in the bar erupted because of my order. Also when they played a Tiki prank on me by lowering my chair at the bar.
- Churroes. That’s the only thing we bought in the park, besides our Mickey Mouse ears.
- Captian EO. It’s still playing! The 4D experience of the 3D movie staring Michael Jackson directed by Francis Ford Coppola complete with rumbly seats. It’s awful and awesome in a hipster- retro kinda way.
- The canoe ‘ride’ where we actually had to paddle a canoe around the lake. The people behind us on the ride were a sassy gay man and his lady-friend from England. We laughed the whole time about the work we had to do and yelled at people watching us ‘don’t do this, it’s awful.” Everyone just stared back at us blankly.
- Getting on the monorail after we were drunk from Trader Sam’s.
- Drunk driving at the Autopia ride.
- Space Mountain- best ride at Disneyland. Also we learned that the best way to get on rides quickly is to do ask if they’re doing single riders.
Lowlights of the day
- When we waited in a line for 15 minutes to get our photo taken with Goofy and he left with no warning or mascot handler apologizing to people in line. Not cool Goofy. Not cool.
- Around 3:30pm there was a huge traffic jam of people, strollers and wheelchairs next to the parade root as we tried to get from one side of the park to the other. I thought there was going to be a fight or worse, that someone would pull out a gun (the bag check wasn’t that thorough).
- 5pm when all the kids were cranky due to too much sugar and nap time.
- It got dark! Like crazy dark. Disneyland should have more lights for night time. It was dangerous.
- Because of crazy lines we didn’t get our photo taken with any of the mascots, also after 5pm we didn’t see any mascots. Boo-urns!
Disneyland is stuck in the past and that’s part of it’s charm. It’s also part of what makes it horribly offensive. Take It’s A Small World for instance, the only black people were in Africa and they were all dressed alike, yet every country of Europe gets to be stereotyped. Also Canada was only represented by a Mountie. Oy.
The Canadian in It’s A Small World.
Would I do this again? Probably not. Was it a great way to spend Christmas? YES!
Darkness in the Magic Kingdom.
Sara Bynoe 