A Very Merry, Um, Birthday?
As loyal followers of mine, I'm sure you are well aware of my love for all things Disney. So when my sister suggested a trip to Disneyland for our birthday, I knew I had to make it happen. The planning phase of the trip was rather exhausting as people were procreating (ahem, Kim) and getting jobs (cough, Lissa, cough) and not willing to fly across the country (boo Angie). So it finally came down to just me and Lindsay going which was perfect.
Yet, I almost didn't make it to Phoenix. I was flying U.S. Airways instead of my typical Southwest, so I had to sit in the aisle. Normally I don't mind where I sit as long as it's not a middle seat, but I didn't plan on "Dougie". This frenzied middle-aged woman sits next to me, the whole time fluttering between a 17 and 15 year old boy and girl. It wasn't long before I learned that the boy's name was "Dougie". Obvs, this woman had planned the trip late because they were all sitting in middle seats, separated. After she saw her chicks seated, Mama Hen took her seat next to me.
Now this flight left at 5am so I promptly fell asleep. But not for long. I am wakened by a frantic call of "Dougie....Dougie!" in my left ear. When she finally got dear Dougie's attention she just wanted to point out the safety information in the seat pocket in front of him. Just when I had fallen asleep again, I felt someone poking me....who else? Upon loosing sight of Dougie, this woman wants to get out of her seat just to look at his face (btw, her lack of concern for the girl was puzzling). She finally sits down but keeps up the routine for the rest of the flight. I don't know if it's just me or completely circumstancial, but I started to suffer from altitude rage...
Finally, after being poked and woken one too many times, I slowly look at the lady, give her my best Scarlett O'Hara look and say, "Yes?" That seeed to settle her for awhile. The plane lands and, after a well placed luggage swing in Dougie's direction, I meet my Dad and we head home. Once home there's hugs all around and Lindsay and I prep to leave. After a visit and thorough apology from Lissa ;) we head out.
Me being me, I drive. Lindsay DJ's. And so the sing-a-long begins. We make good time and by the time we stop for gas and refreshment we have the church giggles broken only by the stare down over who is going to pay for the gas (I lose, but Lindsay buys me a Dr. Pepper so it's all cool). Back on the road, we hit California traffic. Big time. This adds about an hour to the trip. Finally, we make it into Anaheim. I swear, you can feel magic in the air. Then we see the hotel.
Folks, if I thought the Partricia Hotel in Vancouver was sketchy, Zaby's Motor Lodge was her crack smoking older brother. I swear it was the most ghetto place I'ver ever seen. Then we see the room. I felt like I should start checking the matress for razor blades. But we had a more pressing matter: Pinkberry. We hop back in the car and set out on an adventure. I had sorta mapquested the location, but we were really just winging it. Then God smiled upon us, and we found Pinkberry! And Chipotle! And a Wells Fargo ATM! It was that moment that we knew this trip was gonna rock. We get our food, picked up some toothpaste and head back to ghetto-ville to eat. After an unfortunate ice despensor discovery, we called it a night.
We let ourselves sleep in the next morning but we got to the park right around 9 o'clock. As we turned the corner to walk toward the park I said to Lindsay, "It's weird, cause don't you usually hear music playing at this point?" And before she can respond, I hear the music. The magic has already started.... The line for tickets was relatively short, so we were at the window in no time. After presenting our printouts we were given pins that said "Happy Birthday" on them with our names written in. Birthday's don't get much better than that. There was some slight confusion when we tried to buy the next days ticket but we got it all worked out.
Once in the park all the worker's who saw our pin would say "Happy Birthday" sometimes accompanied by our name. I don't know how well you know me, dear reader, but this was the best birthday present I could have gotten. I thrive on the attention :) Our first ride was the Matterhorn, which coincedentally was celebrating it's birthday too! Disney Magic: 2/ The Man: 0 Then we did Buzz Lightyear (it's like a giant video game!!) and the Haunted Mansion and Pirates. After that we got lunch and I fed a duck that I am convinced is Donald. Up until this point we really hadn't had to wait for rides - we even walked straight up to the food counter. That would be our last bit of line magic for the rest of the trip.
Next we headed to California Adventure and rode the Tower of Terror. That ride is one of my favorites, and it's even better when you up the terror factor by lifting your feet and arms off the ground so it feels like you're just free falling. It's quite a rush. We got fast passes for Soarin' Over Califonia and kicked it in the middle of the park. At this point a man comes walking up to me and says, "Happy Birthday, Jacqui. You're number 45 that I've seen today." I laughed, thanked him and Lindsay says, "That would make me number 46." He lookes at Lindsay rather shocked and sees she has a pin too. They pound and he moves on. That's the curious thing. People would either notice my pin or her pin and wish that person a happy birthday and then they'd be shocked when we both said thank you. Kinda curious.
Back at Disneyland we hit the Jungle Cruise, (oogle Aladdin) Thunder Mountain and the Dole Pineapple Stand. Please, let's take a moment....Sigh. We decide to go try Small World but we got trapped by a dance party. This will be the first of 5 times. After blowing a kiss to Peter, we break free and hit the Main Street Shops. I pick up a Peter Pan hat with my name printed on it and my birthday is now complete. We hit Soarin' Over California (I do the Maliboomer by myself...score one for The Man), we eat dinner, ride Mulholland Madness and head back to Disney to get seats for the fireworks. We find an open bench and become immediately aware of why it's free - there's a giant tree blocking our view. But we keep entertained by the little boy dancing. (Lindsay is convinced that he was doing an interpretation of the dance party from earlier because he would dance, point at the street, wave and repeat).
Oh! I almsot forgot about the ice cream! Before we found our seats we got ice cream. I got this mint chocolate chip sundae with extra hot fudge in a waffle cone (and, yes, I ate it by myself - there are no calories on your birthday) and Lindsay got two scoops of chocolate....in a sugar cone....even though she had ordered a waffle cone. Disney Magic: 15/ The Man: 2. After inhaling the sundae, I had to find something to pass the time. So, eyeing my cherry stem, I decide to try the whole tying-a-knot-in-your-mouth thing. Not being a huge fan of cherries, I had never tried it before. But, as an expert at the unwrapping-starburst-in-your-mouth I figured I had to at least give it a try. I'm pleased to say I got it in my first try. Granted, it took me 20 minutes, but I was pretty impressed with myself. Another point to Disney Magic.
Not long after, the fireworks started. I'd like to tell you about them, but it was kinda a sacred moment. Let's just say there was lights, music, and Dumbo (and, no, I'm not referring to myself post-sundae). After wiping the tears away, us birthday girls headed back to the hotel and called it a night. It was the best birthday I've ever spent.