Good Times With Mickey

I will admit up front that I have an unhealthy fascination with Disneyland. This is not to be confused with "All Things Disney" because I refuse to buy the direct to video sequals of the Disney classic cartoons, I think the Power Rangers are possibly the result of a very bad acid trip, I feel the Disney Channel could be destroying my children's brain cells and I know that any company which fascilitates the return of Billy Ray Cyrus deserves to have their stock price cut in half on principal alone. But when it comes to Disneyland...there is nothing like it. I have some of my greatest memories there. They are as follows:






-I can barely remember when I was 4 and I went the first time. Mickey Mouse kissed me on the head, I met Captain Hook and I told my mom after we rode Space Mountain that we didn't need to go on that one anymore.






-My second visit as a teen is remarkable for one reason only. It provided me with the only picture I know of where my dad has a beard. He was growing one for the Duncan Centennial's Beard Growing Contest and I got a picture. That has never been seen again.






-We went there on our honeymoon. Of the parts we can talk about, it was my first time to ride on Indiana Jones. That is one of my all time favorite rides. It was funny because Shannon had never been on it either. If you have been on this ride, you know that the queue to get to the ride is incredibly long and incredibly detailed in its decorating. After about two full minutes of walking, we began to wonder if the queue was the ride. Finally got to the ride and...AWESOME! Also, we bought matching shirts that were some of the best t-shirts we have ever owned. They were green and very good looking and they lasted forever. Also on that trip, we went to Universal Studios. On the ET ride, you would give someone at the beginning of the ride your name and then ET would say goodbye to you by name at the end of the ride. We got such a kick out of giving out fake names and having ET try and say them. I don't remember what we said other than I said Lionel at one point. My gosh were we really that juvenile? The answer is yes and if that ride still existed, I would do it again.






-We went again on our five year anniversary. California Adventure had opened just three weeks before we went and it was so awesome. It was pouring rain the day we went to California Adventure and we bought ponchos and then rode the Grizzly River Run over and over. We got very wet, but who cared. We were getting wet anyway. Also, it was our first time to experience the best theme park ride EVER (Didn't I recently make a comment that I shouldn't make claims like that...Oh well, screw it, it is the best theme park ride EVERRRRRR!!!!!)Soarin' Over California. I think we rode on it 5 times that day and we would have done it more had we had the time. I still ride that ride multiple, multiple times, everytime we go.






-Shannon's Dad passed away five months after our five year anniversary trip. To help pull the family out of the funk that we were all in, I suggested to David maybe we should plan a trip to Disneyland. It became a rallying point. We were all so excited. Shannon and I, Marilyn, Cody, David and Clinton went and I have to say, it is still probably my favorite trip ever. They talk about the Disney "magic", well I saw it on full display as three boys (you can't even really call Cody a boy at that point)experienced Disneyland for the first time. It also provided some joy and happiness that the family hadn't had for a while. It was so funny trying to convince the guys to leave just about every ride we went on and go to the next because they thought what we had just done was so cool. Clinton was a bit nervous about California Screamin' at first, but when he finally went on it, it was his favorite. I think he and Cody went on it like 9 times in a row because there was no line. Absolutely a great trip.






-The first time Abby went, she was pretty nervous about everything and then she had six adults (Shannon, me, my parents and Danae and Lamar) trying to get her to "look at this" and "look at that". It was all a little overwhelming for her. Then after about an hour, we went to Toon Town and all of a sudden, she says, "I want to get down and see Pluto." We didn't see Pluto, but we let her out of the stroller and she ran over to a Pluto who was squatting down at kid level and she just hugged him and petted him. Heart melter right there. Same when she got to hug Cinderella and Aurora. This trip also provided the great story of Shannon and the berm between the freeways while we were dead stopped in traffic at 10 p.m. at night.






-Braden's first trip was great, but the best was when we finally made our way to Toon Town at night. We just hadn't gotten there yet and so it was dark and mostly deserted. We went through Mickey Mouse's house and then at the end, we were the only people there and didn't realize that there was a meet Mickey area at the end. They opened the door and had our family come in and seeing the look in Braden's eyes was a once in a lifetime experience. He couldn't blink and he couldn't take his eyes off Mickey. We got it on video and it is one of our prized possessions.




So as we get ready to go again, we are so excited and look forward to what memories we will add to our already great stash. We are also super excited for Logan to experience this place. So is he.