There was
one year when Roland seemed to make more money than in previous years or even
the ones that followed.
He had
managed to find a package deal through a travel agency and took us all to California
just right after Christmas. The boys
were out of high school for the holidays.
Jenna was two.
I have
heard that between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the best time to visit
Disneyland. From personal experience, I
know that between Christmas and New Years is the absolutely worse time to go.
I remember
riding the tram the first day we went to the park. Jenna’s enthusiasm at riding the tram from
the parking lot to the park was awesome.
All four of them were excited and enjoyed every moment.
I’m not
exactly certain why we had driven or taken the tram. We spent two days at the park. As I recall we just walked to the park the
second day. I know Richard and I went back to the hotel about four hours before the boys did.
While all
three of her brothers still have fond memories of that vacation, Jenna does
not remember. Thus Roland decided we’d take her
back this year. I made reservations so
that we would be gone during the last week of summer vacation and would come
home just one day before school starts.
Corey had
given me the name of a motel where he and Joh stay when they go to Disneyland. I
had booked us at the Rainbow Inn thinking it was the same. Halfway between
Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm. I had
thought of going to both; I thought that Jenna would enjoy the Timber Log Ride as much as I had. I did not realize that KBF had become a roller coaster
park – that Jenna would have loved far more than Disneyland. And I hope that someday she’ll be able to
return with someone who is younger and in better shape than her parents are.
First of all we had
stopped off in Las Vegas and spent the night at Corey's house. I am the
last of my sibs to see his house in person. He went with us to
downtown Las Vegas. We went to the MGM where he works and then to
M&M World. He said it was the first time he has ever played tourist since he's lived there.
We had a two-day
park hopper. We spent both days at Disneyland doing mostly what she
wanted. I thought we should walk to the
other end of the park and start with Splash Mountain. Roland, on the other hand, decided to hit
every show and shop on Main Street –which would have been okay – but we were
there for Jenna and she wanted to ride the rides.
That first
morning was quite overcast. It looked
like it might rain. Truth be told, I was
hoping that it would. I know that some
attractions close due to the elements, but not all of them. I recall a year my family had gone to
Universal Studios when it was pouring.
We saw everything that was open!
It was great! I was hoping to recreate those memories at Disneyland.
I had told
Jenna that she was in charge to choose whatever rides we went on.
We headed
for tomorrow land. The first ride she
chose was the rockets. And then Buzz
Lightyear, I believe. We’d gone to Space
Mountain for a fast pass and then we went to Fantasyland and made an
appointment for a princess package makeover.
Jenna and
I went on the Dumbo ride and Roland took pictures. We also went on the Peter Pan ride and Pinocchio
– I don’t recall having ridden the Pinocchio before. I’m sure I have, but I just didn’t remember.
Space Mountain
had been the favorite ride of our boys.
I am overwhelmed with how much they saw and how many rides they had gone
on eight years earlier. There were so
many lines. I stood in several of them
just to get into the bathroom. Jenna was
still in diapers at the time.
This year
was different. I think I was most
grateful that there were no bathroom lines.
During all of my Disneyland experiences, the park did not seem that
crowded in comparison. I smiled at many of the memories I’d created in past
years and pulled them out occasionally during this year’s trip.
There was
one year after Patrick was married and after my dad had passed away and when we
planned a family vacation with mom, Kayla, Corey and I. We were all adults and mom said we each
needed to pay our own way.
Corey had
told his friend, Jinx, about our plans and we ended up inviting Jinx to go with
us. He was the first one to provide full
payment for the trip.
Jinx had
worked at Disneyland one summer and knew all of the tricks of getting us around. Jinx made that trip, I think. He was always so funny. I remember his leading us to Toon Town and
commenting on some patrons who were walking away from Toon Town doing “that
middle of the day walk” when it was so early in the morning.
We had
also spent two days at the park. The
first day we had ridden every ride possible.
The second day we shopped and watched shows and took things very
easy. That really was such an awesome
trip.
Jenna had
pictures taken while wearing the largest “Brave” dress that was available. It was too tight and there were tears in her
eyes. And so she changed to a tee shirt
to meet the princesses. She had her
picture taken with Ariel, Snow White and Cinderella.
The next
day we returned. Since we had already
seen Tomorrow land and Fantasyland, I suggested we go to Adventure land, Frontier
land, New Orleans and Critter land. I
suggested we go to Critterland first and get a fast pass for splash mountain.
As we were
going through Adventure land, Jenna noticed the Indiana Jones ride that had
been closed eight years ago. Her
brothers had enjoyed riding it.
(It had been under construction the year that Jinx went with my family and I had never ridden it after that) Jenna’s never seen any of the Indian Jones movies, but said it was
definitely her favorite ride.
Roland and
I enjoyed the tamer rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean or Small World (the
night before) though I understood Jenna’s ambition for the roller coaster
rides. I had always liked those when I
was her age. Sadly my stomach has seems
to have outgrown what once thrilled me.
I hadn’t
planned on going to Toon Town at all.
The two times I had gone before, Toon Town was so overly crowded that
the “Happiest Place on Earth” seemed a distant myth, but it really wasn’t too bad
this year. I think Roland and Jenna
waited in line for the roller coaster longer than we had to wait in Mickey’s
house. We did get a lot of pictures.
My
original plans included going to the beach – which actually seemed to be the highlight
of our last vacation. Just think of all
the money we could have saved if we had started our vacation at the beach. But we didn’t make it to the beach this year. We hadn't made our way to Splash Mountain, the Matterhorn or California Adventures. Roland decided that we would cut our trip
short and return home early.
He did all
the driving. Spent ten hours or more on
the road on Thursday so that we’d have two extra days of rest. I remember when it would take mom and I 7 hours just to get to St. George. We would stay overnight and continue on to Bakersfield the next morning. The speed limit was lower then. Now it only takes 6 hours to get to Vegas. But then I guess it depends on who's driving and how many stops are made.
Jenna starts the fifth grade on Monday. I will have to start my scrapbook pages while she is in school.
