The good, the bad, and the ugly

So, the Disneyland trip was pretty awesome.  Mostly awesome.  Like 66% awesome.

Things that were Not Awesome- (in no particular order)

-Lunch on Friday -Sizzler in Blythe. gag. (the same one where I got clam chowder dumped on me the last time I was forced to eat there on a school fieldtrip)

-Dinner on Friday -HomeTown Buffet. gag again.  I ate at not one but TWO buffets that day and was still hungry when it was time to go to bed. I hate buffets. I know it's kinda snobbish, but quality trumps quantity every time, and with my figure I don't want to be eating copious amounts of food I am not really enjoying just to "get my money's worth".

-The musical Cats on Friday night.  I thought it was stupid 18 years ago the last time I saw it and my opinion hasn't changed much since then.  How it's survived this long is beyond me.

- The bus ride home. Overnight.  In miserable seats.  After a long and exhausting day at Disneyland.  Two girls puked.  I got off the bus and my body hurt head to toe.

- both the Matterhorn and Haunted Mansion were closed.

- The fact we didn't realize until it was too late that California Adventure closed at nine, and so we didn't get to ride California Screamin' or the Tower of Terror.

Things that were Awesome (in no particular order)

- Making new friends.

- The hotel. It was really nice.  Nicest one I've stayed at while on a school fieldtrip.

- Watching the orchestra at the clinic backstage at Disneyland.  They were able to play parts of the musical scores to four different movies, and have them recorded and set to the video.  They made a DVD for the teacher (unfortunately they won't make copies).  It was a super neat experience.

- Star Tours.  It's been revamped and totally rocks!  It's 3-D and it's almost impossible to have the same experience twice.

-Pineapple Dole Whip.

- Churros.

- One of Nick's friends hadn't been to Disneyland since he was five. He didn't remember a thing.  It's awesome to experience Disneyland through the eyes of a newbie.  I'm thinking that maybe Space Mountain wasn't the best choice for "First Roller Coaster Ever" though. He said he liked it, but his face told another story.

- World of Color. Worth all the hassle to see it. 

- It's a Small World was still all Christmasy.

But the Number One thing that was awesome about this trip was (drumroll please)...

Hanging out with Nick and his friends.

I told him he could tell me to "go away" at any point and I would be fine.  Really.  Disneyland by myself?  Oh yeah, I'm good.  I had a list of foods throughout the park I wanted to try (I have a book-I'm a travel guide book junkie) and there were a couple shows I wanted to see, and I had a "plan B" with another parent should our kids become sick of us.  He never did tell me to go away.  I made an effort to not sit by him on any rides, (after the first time where he told me he was hoping I was someone else- his friend, or another girl...) He even said he was glad I came.

And I really mean it when I say I had a lot of fun hanging out with a bunch of teenagers. They were a lot of fun and a great bunch of kids.  Even though I couldn't walk the next day, and I counted no less than 5 new bruises on my person, I would totally go again in a heartbeat.

toasted

Have I mentioned my toaster before? No?

Odd, because I love my toaster.

John doesn't care much for it, and it tends to eat Eggo's, but I think Eggo's are gross, so I'm okay with that.

Anyway, my toaster is awesome.

It's so awesome Nick's orchestra teacher requested it be brought to school so the kids could make toast before the field trip.

I believe the conversation went something like this-

The teacher, shocked that most kids didn't know the song 'It's a Small World' asked the kids who did know it to raise their hands.

Nick said he sheepishly raised his hand, then explained that his toaster plays it every morning when the toast pops up.

He also explained that it burns Mickey's face into your toast.  (on a side note, Zach says it looks like Mickey's mug shot.  "Face forward, now turn to the side...")

So she thought it would be something fun for the kids to do while they waited to load the buses to California.  (And Disneyland!)

 Anyhow, that's the story of how I ended up taking my toaster to school.

second chances

Have I shared with you that heart wrenching story from my childhood, the one where I didn't get to go to Disneyland? If so, I'm sorry, if not, here goes.
Once upon a time there was a girl.  

A girl with no musical or artistic ability whatsoever, and a desperate need for some art credit so she could graduate high school.

Now this girl had a lot of friends, she wasn't popular by any stretch of the imagination, so by "a lot" we are talking 10-15 people she associated with on a daily basis.  But she was part of a fun group she ate lunch with, and hung out on weekends with, etc.

Anyways, practically ALL of these friends were in choir, and the Senior choir was going to be going on a trip to Disneyland, and she was the ONLY one of the group of friends not going.

So, at the insistence of her friends, ("You TOTALLY have to try out!... It will be so much fun!... Mr Wendel lets ANYONE in, you should hear the girl next to me....The girl next to me is totally tone deaf, you should be in for sure....It will be so sad if you can't come...") and the fact she was desperate for an art credit, she tried out for Senior Choir.

So, she rehearsed for several minutes by singing along with "Phantom of the Opera" in her bedroom that weekend, then went in to (very literally) face the music.

It wasn't pretty.

But let me tell you what the worst part was. It was not how the teacher said, "Not only can I not put you in Senior Choir, I can't even put you in junior choir.  If you still want to be in choir, the best I can offer you is SOPHOMORE Girl's Chorus."  No, the disappointment in learning that she would not get to go to Disneyland with her friends, and facing a whole year as the only Senior in a class full of Sophomores, wasn't the worst part.  The worst part was the teacher's look of pain on his face as she sang.  He'd been the choir director for years, the school was a pretty big one, and choir was pretty popular, so you'd think after all these years, and the possibly thousands of auditions he'd sat through throughout the years, he'd get pretty good at keeping his emotions in check while listening to people like me, I mean, uh her, step out of their comfort zones and try something new.

And then she spent the year enduring questions like "Uh, aren't you a Senior?  Why are you in here?"

Stupid art credit.

Fast forward almost 20 years.

I realize it's not really the same, but I am finally making it to Disneyland on a field trip with a bunch of highschoolers.  Nick's orchestra is heading to California tomorrow, and it worked out that I get to be a chaperon.  And believe it or not, Nick is super happy to have me come. 

Yes, I still wished I could have been there with my friends, making memories and having fun, but I think having a front row seat to one of these experiences in my kids' lives comes in a close second.

Other fun stuff

The harsh truth is that 7 straight days of amusement parks is too much even for the most die hard fans.

So we took a break in the middle of all that fun and went to the beach. It was a well needed break. The kids had so much fun. Christopher was almost polar opposite what he was from just last spring. Last spring he wouldn't so much as get within 10 feet of the water, and just 6 months later, he was venturing too far out and trying to drown himself.

Although we tried to keep food costs to a minimum by eating cold cereal for breakfast and packing snacks and water for the park, and there were a few nights we actually ate hot dogs and ramen and mac and cheese for dinner, we did have a couple splurges.

One of our favorite nights was when we ate at Mickey's Diner for dinner. It was one of those character meals where the characters came to your table, posed for pictures, gave hugs, signed autographs, etc. We met Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto. (I know, my pictures suck- the lighting was terrible). It was also a buffet, but the food was pretty good and we were paying quite a bit for it, so we didn't leave until we were all sick. (not something I usually encourage, but we don't usually frequent buffets either)

Disney World Magic Kingdom

This was the park you can't help but compare to Disneyland, especially when you grew up living nearer to the west coast and have vacationed there semi-regularly. Some differences I liked, some not so much.

For starters, just getting there was a little different. The parking lot isn't near the park itself. We parked and then had the choice of crossing the lake to get the park by boat or monorail. We took the boat. I kind of liked the set-up. It kinda made for a nice transition between reality and fantasy. Main street is nearly the same. It was decked out for Halloween in true Disney style. And instead of Sleeping Beauty's castle, Cinderella's castle presides majestically over the park, but once inside Fantasyland, I started to notice a few of the differences.

It took me awhile to realize I was missing the Matterhorn. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, then it finally occurred to me I was missing the giant white mountain sitting in the middle of the park. (Of course they don't need the Matterhorn, they have Expedition Everest over in Animal Kingdom) And then there were other things. It almost felt like Fantasyland was in transition. Like they were "still open during remodeling" or something. - Which I think was the case. I googled around a bit, and they are nearly doubling the size of the park, but I'd also like to see current rides get a face lift as well. But that's just me. (Who knows when or if I'll ever get back there, so I guess it doesn't matter anyway.)

And then there was the "It's a small world ride." I know that people either love it, or hate it, and the song can get in your brain and drive you crazy, but you can't say that the ride's exterior facade in Disneyland isn't a sight to behold with it's clock tower, and garden sculptures, and the little dancing dolls that come out at the top of the hour or every 15 minutes or whatever it is.

And then at Disney World you have this-Seriously. It's like they didn't even try.

Oh well.

Other comparisons- in Disney World we liked Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain railroad, Tom Sawyer's Island, and the Haunted Mansion better, but liked Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean and the Tiki room best. (You'd think they'd be the same, but we'd get off some rides thinking "I swear that was longer/shorter/faster/scarier" and we'd all be thinking the same thing.) Everything else was about equal.
Oh, and we all really liked Disney's Philharmagic. It's a 3-D type of movie (or is it called 4-D when they incorporate other elements like smell, and water spraying you, etc?) That was really cute. And right outside we just happened to run into Mary Poppins and be first in line to meet her.
But in the end, I think all that mattered to John was that he got his Dole pineapple whip.

Disney's Hollywood Studios

This park was, you know, fun. And we all had a great time. But I seem to be having difficulty writing about it (it could just be that I'm trying to write about something that happened over two weeks ago, or that it's late and I'm tired, but would like to actually post this before I completely forget)

Anyway- we had fun.

Christopher got to see Lightning McQueen and Mater.

We all had fun on the Toy Story Mania ride. They should really get one at Disneyland. (also the corresponding Wii game has since landed on a few Christmas wish lists in this house already).

We met Woody and entertained ourselves with the props while standing in line.

John got chosen to be on stage and help out with an Indiana Jones stunt show thing. That was pretty cool. (He was trying to volunteer me, but ended up getting called on instead. )

The older kids really liked the Rock n Roller coater featuring Aerosmith, even though they had no idea who Aerosmith was. (which I am pretty okay with) But I have to admit it was a really fun ride. They should really get one of those rides also at Disneyland.

And of course having boys means loving all things Star Wars.

And that's about all we did there.

Oh yeah, and Madison couldn't resist posing in front of the American Idol sign.