Disneyland anyone??

I only get up at 5.30 A.M if it’s for a very good reason. Well today was an exceptionally good reason! We were off to DISNEYLAND!! If I was to portray the state of pure excitement I was in all day properly, I would have to write this entire blog entry in capitals! Instead I’ll just write DISNEYLAND that way! The two hour bus journey and the moody bus driver couldn’t dampen my mood. Even the horrible, horrible shock we got at the entry gate didn’t manage to deter my more than jubilant mood. I was at DISNEYLAND and nothing could ruin my day! (Well our day but mine more!)

We had met a guy at the hostel back in Austin and he had been selling Disneyland tickets at half price because he said he was trying to get rid of them after not using them himself. Now before we left England, Mum and Dad had warned me not to fall for scams. They said we wouldn’t see them coming, that even nice people can be bad and that the best stories often turned out to be the biggest lies. So when Ollie came over and told me he had got two tickets for $100 my alarm system should have been going wild. Admittedly I was a more than a little wary but we hung out with the guy quite a lot at the tickets appeared genuine enough. Besides if Ollie trusted the guy I thought he must be o.k! Oopsy!

We reached the entrance gate and proudly handed over our tickets. ‘These tickets have already been used’ was not the next words we ever imagined we would be hearing but sure enough that’s what the lady was saying. Of course there was the proverbial you must be mistaken, how can that be and are you sure before she called her supervisor to help us. Turned out the tickets had been used, way back in June. Apparently we had been duped. How foolish did we feel saying ‘we got them off a guy we met, seemed genuine’. Furious we turned back towards the ticket booths. Angry at ourselves but definitely ready to kill Mr Idiot. Ollie got straight on the phone but there was no answer. Thankfully we did get a reply to our texts and there may be a check in the post but who knows?! The worst part is after we had hung out with Mr Idiot for a few days in Austin we had both realised what a liar he was about everything. If only that had made us think twice about the tickets we had purchased...

Anyway. Desperate not to let the damned tickets ruin our day we queued up and purchased new tickets. Yes they cost twice as much but at that point we didn’t care. We got tickets that would allow us into both parks (There is the main one and then a new park that is half completed). Jubilantly we ran back over to the entry gate and proudly produced our new tickets with broad smiles. The same lady looked at us...again. ‘These tickets aren’t valid until 10 A.M. Only hotel guests can enter early.’ Our faces fell. Was this not our day?! Then, realising it was us she had a think and then to our surprise said ‘Oh I feel so sorry for you guys, go on I’ll let you in.’ BONUS! We were finally inside DISNEYLAND and had an hour to play before the bloody kids arrived! (Only Joking!...Well....!)

Of course I dragged Ollie on all  the kiddie rides possible (they are my favourites) and he had to squish beside me into the small carts. I was a bit concerned because I couldn’t work out if the Snow White ride had a happy ending but I soon forgot this whizzing round at the Mad Hatters Tea Party in a cup!! My favourite place was Toon Town and I got to go round Mickey Mouse’s house and Minnie’s! I was a complete child for the whole time and I loved it! I didn’t care that we were two of the only ‘adults’ in the park without a child...a buggy would have only slowed me down! We went on an underwater submarine ride a bob slay mountain race and took a ride in Mr Toad’s car!

Lunch was Oliver’s choice. Naturally he chose an all you can eat ranch style BBQ. As always food at the park was expensive so I thought if we made the most of this meal we wouldn’t need to eat again. So we did. Four buckets of chicken wings and ribs, two bowls of ranch beans, coleslaw and corn bread (which tasted like Madeira cake?!) later we ordered desert. On the menu it said the pudding would be suitable for two people. In reality six could have eaten it! A giant, and I mean giant dish of baked cookie dough arrived with five balls of vanilla ice cream on top, finished with hot chocolate fudge sauce. Normally this would be my version of heaven. But after so much chicken, to be honest, I was panicking. Not because it looked to much but because I couldn’t stand the thought of not being able to eat it all. Desert is where I perform best after all! Well I tried hard but in the end I was defeated. Barely able to walk be stumbled away from the table. We had certainly eaten all we could eat!

Obviously after a big meal the sensible thing to do was head over to the other park and the more adult rides. Nothing like a roller coaster to settle that after dinner feeling?! The California Adventure park was far less busy which meant far less queueing yay! The park is currently being built but there is still plenty to do. It’s aimed at older people so there are some bigger rides there. We took a wild river ride and both got thoroughly soaked! It was great fun though and much better than the one at Alton Towers! We even had to wear seat belts!! Next we decided to ride the big roller coaster that had caught our eye. It looked like a traditional old fashioned pier side roller coaster. Nothing scary, just a bit of fun. How wrong could we have been?! Not only was it probably the fastest ride I’ve ever been on (maintaining the speed throughout), it also had a corkscrew twist and some mad ups and downs. Involuntarily I didn’t stop screaming throughout the whole ride and Ollie was constantly telling me to shut up. But I couldn’t help it. I just hadn’t been prepared! I felt like I was about to take off! We both said it was the best roller coaster we had ever been on but my stomach didn’t quite agree.

To calm down we went on the big Mickey Mouse ferris wheel. You could chose either a standard gondola to sit in or one that swang. Ollie chose the one that swang. Once seated he admitted that actually he would probably feel sick. I was no impressed. I had wanted a static gondola but had decided to keep quiet and not ‘be a baby’. Once we had moved off though we both regretted not being honest. Imagine that not only are you moving in a circle but you are also rolling back and forth as if you’re going to come off the rails and plummet into the lake below. it wouldn’t have been so bad if the wheel was constantly turning but because it had to load each new gondola the wheel continuously stopped. This meant we would start rolling and swinging until eventually our gondola settled itself. I’m not going to lie. It was a pretty traumatic experience! All I could think was that if Mum was with us she would have been sick ten times and have passed out before we’d even got half way round!

Again we thought we were choosing a calmer ride when we went on Goofy’s Flying Club ride. And again we were wrong. The little plane we were in jerked about wildly as it took the course. I’m sure I was sick in my mouth at that point!! Finally I told Ollie we had to slow down ‘cos I was by now feeling really dizzy. The California Adventure was definitely a big leap up from the other park! Especially seeing as I hadn’t psyched myself up for any big rides that morning! The only ride left that wasn’t for little kids was the Hollywood Tower ride. I thought it was just a haunted house style walk through ride so wasn’t worried at all. Even as the video story was setting the scene and showing people entering the ‘Twilight Zone’ through a plummeting lift I didn’t click on. But as we queued outside the elevator doors something inside me began to panic. ‘We aren’t going to plummet in a lift are we?’ I asked Ollie. Just going in some lifts normally is enough to make me feel sick. I really don’t care for them much. They are one of the only things that actually make me feel sick generally. Ollie assured me that, that wouldn’t make a very long ride and that they couldn’t do it because it would be too dangerous. People would fall all over the place.

When the elevator doors peeled back and revealed rows of seats I started to panic. Only slightly, but there was definite fear beginning to roam about my body. We sat down and fastened the belt. The ‘Bell Hop’ wished us good luck in a very theatrical and funny way, lulling me into false hope. The doors closed and we were in pitch black. The block of seats moved backwards. A video flashed to life. It warned us we were about to enter another dimension. ‘Maybe it still will be just a scary show’ I begged. Suddenly everything went black. My seat began to shake. Before I could grasp what was happening, wind was rushing past my face and we were shooting upwards at a huge pace. Stop. Then we fell downwards. My bum left the seat and I was screaming. My worst nightmare coming to life. And there was no escape. No time to think we were going up again, further this time. Then down. Stop. Down more. Where we back at the start? Then at an insane pace we were rushed up and up and up in the blackness. A shutter shot open and I could see the tops of trees. We were all the way at the top of the tower. By this time I was clinging to Ollie’s shoulder in terror, tugging his t-shirt, almost strangling him. From that moment I couldn’t tell you much of what happened. I closed my eyes and tried not to cry. I was absolutely petrified. We went up and down, up and down more times. Even when I thought it was over I only found we were back at the top. It was horrible! As we fell for the last time I thought my stomach would leave my mouth. I pushed my toes into the barrier in front and tried to hold my self static in the air. I don’t think my bum spent much time in the seat for the whole thing! I was too light to keep myself down! Shaking I managed to walk off the ride. Ollie was laughing and complaining that I had stretched his t-shirt. I couldn’t talk. The ordeal had been too much. I went into the restroom and sat down. Five minutes later I was ready for the world again. The Hollywood Tower was not my finest moment in life!

* * *

It was late afternoon when we headed back over to the first park. We had some shopping to do for the little ones in New Zealand and Ollie had promised me a Mickey Mouse too. Ever since he had found out my original Mickey from Disneyland Paris had been sent to the incinerator many years ago he had vowed to get me another one. I was very happy about this. The incinerator story is one of the more grievous parts of my childhood so I viewed a new Mickey Mouse as part of my recovery! (If anyone reading this wants to know the ‘incinerator story’ then please see my beloved father!)

It was now time for the Disney parade. And what a parade! It was a winter wonderland theme and I can’t describe how wonderful it was but I do have a video! Mickey, Minnie, Winnie The Pooh, The Seven Dwarfs and all my other Disney favourites marched through and gave us all big waves. I was at the front with all the kids waving wildly! After that it was time for the firework display that would end the day. Again. Wow! For the umpteenth time on this trip I am saying ‘I have never seen anything like it’! The show lasted a full ten minutes and was perfectly choreographed to music. Fireworks of all different shapes, colours, sizes and bangs launched around the very pretty castle. A perfect way to end my day at DISNEYLAND! 

As we walked back through the magnificent main street in all its Christmas decoration glory I couldn’t take the smile off my face. It had been a really wonderful day. I didn’t want to leave really, it had all gone too fast! I think really you need at least two days to do both the parks but in true Ollie and Amy style we managed to see just about everything in one day! 

17/11/11