Delayed Trip Report - Stories really...

[davolarcini]

These are some short memories I jotted down from our trip to DLR in February. They are not time specific and I wanted to share them. We loved the trip, first time back in years and it made me realize I want to be a DF for some years to come. (Something I am sure all of you decided already, but hey I can be late to the party).

The Family -
DF - Me - (42)
DM - Wife - None ya business
DD - Shayleigh (18)
DD - Josie (15)
DS - Xander (11)
DS - Bright (6)

Josie and the Ferris Wheel –
“What ride next?” Xander leaned in with his voice jumping out of his throat.
“Let’s see, we might as well ride the Ferris Wheel next. I mean it’s right there.” We had just exited Toy Story Midway Mania. We were all on a little high from that ride, it was a favorite from the trip and Bright’s absolute favorite.
The ferris wheel towered over Paradise Pier like a looming skyscraper. It had to be the tallest point on this side of Disney. There were cages you sat in with benches facing each other. Sliding doors let passengers on and off the ride. The benches would fit our family of six perfectly.
Josie looked uncomfortably at her feet and mumbled about how we should go without her. After some small discussion she agreed to try it out. She was nervous but 1/3 of the cages just sat stationary so it was just a matter of height and not movement like the rest of the ride. The other 2/3 of the cages rode on this slightly elliptical rail that swung the cages in a big swooping motion. They looked fun but as a compromise we went on the ‘non-swinging’ line that was much shorter.
After a ten minute wait in line we entered our cage and sat down. As we started to go up, Josie continued to look at her shoes.
“Josie, look at the view.” I said.
“No” she almost whispered.
“Josie, it’s beautiful”
She gave me a look that is her tiny dagger look. It lets you know all you need to know. It says ‘I am afraid and mad that you aren’t. I am sad I am weak but I am still strong enough to hurt anyone that tries to get me to do something I don’t want to do.’
I pointed to the boardwalk on the other side of the water.
Her eyes crawled up the view, as they did the most amazing thing happened, her face softened and she smiled slightly.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” I asked, pushing a little more that I should have.
“I’m looking dad” She got nervous again, sometimes people shouldn’t have acknowledgment of something they are facing, it reminded her that she was doing something hard, and brought back doubt.
I wish I could credit my brilliance for this this next part but dumb luck sometimes is what I am recipient of instead. I realized it was time to feed everyone, on the first day I was obsessed with keeping everyone’s blood sugar level at a stable level to keep the peace and stave off tired arguing. I would love to say it worked great but 12-14 hours on your feet cannot be erased by a healthy blood sugar level.
“Sandwiches? Treats?” I started opening my bag and everyone leaned in. They were glad to have them. We ate Uncrustable pre-packaged PB&J’s and applesauce in squeeze bags until the ride was over. The food served to calm any nerves and pretty soon we were all laughing and ‘hiding’ our treats as the ride went past the operating cast members, we weren’t sure we were allowed food on the ride.
Josie smiled ear to ear as she enjoyed a bite to eat and a beautiful view. Her fear of heights not mentioned again. But she knew, you could see it on her face, she had overcome a knot in her stomach and that feels awesome. It became a fun ride for her.
If only we hadn’t went back…and tried the swinging cages.
The last day we decided to try out the swinging cages. They were fun but man alive, we weren’t ready for the swinging part and as the wheel rotated the cage rolled down the track it was on freely and swung out at the bottom ellipse. We all freaked out. Then it became a nervous game to laugh at the impending doom we felt every time it swung. It was positioned so that when you swung out it kind of felt like you were leaving the safety of the gigantic ferris wheel structure. My heart pounded every time we went out. By the end of that ride, we were laughing as well, just not excited about jumping back on.
Sometimes we win the fear battles one skirmish at a time.

The Animation Academy –
On the last day we decided to go to the Animation Academy. After visiting ‘Turtle Talk with Crush’, which is not to be missed, we went to the Animation Academy. Now I had been warned from podcasts that this had been diluted down from either the original intent or from what it was to a simple demonstration so I wasn’t expecting much, the kids weren’t expecting anything. Apparently they didn’t spend weeks reading and listening to everything they could about Disneyland. Freaks.
After waiting for ten minutes, waiting is the biggest event to happen at Dsineyland resort, you are always waiting for something, usually a two to four minute ride. Anyway, after waiting we went into the half round theatre seating. There was a large plastic board, about 1/2inch thick on each seat. It had three tabs on the bottom and a wire pencil holder on the top. The pencils were these double sized pencils with soft lead.
On the stage there was a cartoonist table, an angled table with a glowing top so the paper lit up from underneath, and an overhead projector that shone down on the paper so it could show it on a projection screen the audience could see.
The presenter started talking about how to draw and about how the first thing we would notice is the pencils don’t have something we are used to having, erasers.
“We find when doing art work that if you don’t have a way to fix your mistakes you can overcome them quicker and fix the lines better. So don’t worry and start by drawing light lines then when you find the line you like, darken it.”
I couldn’t help but feel like there was a gospel parallel there and I am still thinking about it.
He started by teaching us to draw a circle, lightly on the center of the page. It was just a circle, I couldn’t help but think that I would be staring at that scribbled circle the whole time. I wanted to erase badly.
Next he had us draw a straight line down and another across the circle, making a cross over the circle. In my mind I said to just go with it, I knew that those lines were part of the ‘picture’ as well. Then he had an oval drawn on the lower portion of the circle, it was going to be a nose. At this point I am drawing by faith alone.
Circles over the ‘nose’ were next and then the circle under the nose to be the mouth, half circles at the ends of the mouth to make the smile lines. He taught us how to make a simple tongue and chin, drawing the cheeks and magically, Minnie Mouse was starting to appear. Eyes, shape of top of head, then ears. Last was a bow, then we went over the lines we drew that we liked ‘best’ and darkened them. By darkening them we were declaring the lines we ‘liked best’ and making them permanent. As we did so we started only being able to see only the darkened lines and slowly my mind let go of the mistaken lines and I could see best version of what I drew. The whole exercise was existential. It was how I live my life, making mistakes as I vaguely try to ‘get it right’ and then as I learn what I want to see, repeating those lines until I see, and solidify the right choices. The mistakes are okay because only by making them I can see the correct lines, the trick is to not make the mistakes as firmly as I make the right lines.
Then at the end he had us sign our drawings, take ownership of them. It was amazingly fun and simple but made me feel like I learned how to be an animator.
Carrie and I went off with Bright to do something else but the other three kids stayed and for an hour or more they drew picture after picture. They loved it.
I would feel dishonest if I didn’t mention that Bright, at 6 years old, didn’t like it at all. He looked around and could see other people’s pictures looking like they were supposed to but his, he could tell was wrong, he hated it and fell to the ground crying. Little kids sometimes don’t understand that it’s okay not be to a pro right out of the gate. He is such a comparison-oriented kid, I hope it doesn’t hurt him, the right amounts of it can be a strength. We tried again later when they were drawing Agent P from Phineas and Ferb but even with me helping he knew that I was doing the stuff that looked good and refused to go on.
I am sure when he is older he will like it but for now, it broke my heart a little. Oh well, that reaction was just his lightly-stroked beginning lines.

Shayleigh and the Jacket –
Shayleigh has been with me and Carrie for a solid 18 years. She has seen the poorest times and very meager family vacations, campouts really. She has seen us go without nice clothes or fixing the car. She has seen us struggle. When we told her we were taking a family vacation to Disneyland for our family Christmas present I am sure part of her thought, ‘that is nice of mom and dad to make us feel like we are getting something for Christmas when things are tight, even if it never happens.’
As we got closer I know her heart started to beat faster that maybe this was actually going to happen.
When we flew out, she had the funniest reaction of all, it was all so implausible that she didn’t even let it register that mom and I had splurged on airline tickets. I think she actually comprehended it when the plane finally took off. As we rented a car, drove to a hotel, my little girl started doing the math and realized we had spent some money on the trip.
When we started spending more money she got very nervous about asking for too much.
Mom and I had been going to a Target on Harbour Boulevard the first two nights to get snacks and cheaper lanyards and things. The second time we took the kids and Shayleigh found a jacket she liked. It didn’t fit great but it was a nice color and she liked the pattern. Carrie said we should buy it and Shayleigh looked at the tag and asked if it was alright.
We bought it for her and I think she loved it. It was all of $26. We had budgeted to buy a nice piece of clothing for everyone. I think because she was first she really felt spoiled.
In the coming days everyone would get jackets. The cheapest of which was $38. Shayleigh noticed but said nothing. I think watching us spend that much on clothes made her sick to her stomach actually. By the end of the trip she realized that she had the cheapest present and for a split second she thought she would have waited if she had known and got one that fit better and she liked even more.
But as for me, I love the jacket, it looks just like I think it should, it fits like I think it should. It reminds me what a great and thankful child-now-adult I was blessed with. She may not have had the most spent on her, but as is often the way, she is the most thankful and that was such a blessing for me.

I found my son in Disney California Adventure –
Xander and I get along well, he loves me and I love him. We don’t do enough together though. He is my third child but my first son. As the fourth child and first son of my father I should know what he is experiencing but mostly, he plays with his friends, plays video games, watches TV and loves everyone he is around. He doesn’t complain that dad isn’t around enough and I don’t include him on enough of the stuff I do to really grow stronger ties. We are both happy but we don’t talk about how we could be happier, him because he doesn’t know any better and me because I am not sure I can change enough.
On the fourth day everyone was getting really tired. Brighton was getting sick again and needed to come home. We thought about all going home and maybe coming back for late night park fun. Friday we would be goofing off in the Redondo Beach area and could sleep in. On the way back to the hotel, Xander and I decided to go back after dropping Bright and the women off.
As we drove back we talked about what rides we wanted to go on, for Xander it was Star Tours and Toy Story Midway Mania. I wanted to look up and down Buena Vista for baseball jerseys. We headed back and sprinted at a rate we couldn’t do with the whole family.
“If we hurry we can get to Midway Mania while everyone else is watching the Pixar Parade. “ Xan nodded in agreement.
We sped back to Paradise Pier and only stopped at maybe three pin trading cast members, which was really impressive for Xander.
We got back to Midway and there was a thirty minute line but we still felt lucky. As we stood in line we looked at California Screamin’.
“I think you would really like the roller coaster.” I pointed to California Screamin’.
“Dad….I don’t know.”
“We could try it a few times and you can decide.”
“A few times!”
“Yeah, just to make sure.”
“How about we try it once?”
“Really? Alright but you are going to want to do it more than once.”
“We’ll see.”
We got in the line and it was only a ten minute wait, a major deal for Disney California. As we put on the safety support I teased him about how only a ‘few’ people had been injured or killed on this ride. He smiled and gave his ‘Oh, Dad’ exasperated looks.
As we pulled into the ready position, a long runway that the coaster shoots you down going from 0-55 mph in four seconds, while going up a hill. It is so fun.
As we started to scream I always try to scream too much and make myself too obnoxious. I yelled things going uphill like ‘It’s a law of physics, what goes up….’ And as we peak….’must go dowwwwwnnnnn’. I know I am over the top but if my kid is feeling any fear I want them thinking about what a big dork dad is more than how scared they are. It usually works. This time it definitely worked.
We got off the ride and he was grinning ear to ear. We laughed about the ride and started to get back on but decided to go try single rider line at Radiator Springs Racers.
As we continued the night I think we found more than twenty pin trading cast members, still no red puffle, but we did find him a jacket. We went to the Disneyland side and rode Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters , and tried to get on Astro Orbiter (a Dumbo-like ride).
On Astro Orbiters Xan got on first and I got on next and he was supposed to be positioned between my knees. I say supposed to because I couldn’t get my legs in all the way. The tops of my knees stuck above the side of the rocket ship by some three inches or more, above the level of Xan’s shoulders. We were barely able to get the seat belt around my knees and under Xan’s armpits. It was comical. The ride operator looked at us and said “I guess that works”…..I kid you not.
As the ride took off it just goes in circles around a center pole. The front person has a control stick to make the ride go up and down. Everytime it went up I could swear I was about to be thrown, so I joked about being thrown out and how he was going to kill us all. Xan laughed and tried to go higher.
We did some other rides and managed to ride Star Tours last of all. As we came out, the park was closed. Xan raised his hand triumphantly and yelled “We closed this place down!!!”.
We walked out declaring that we owned the park today.
I am not sure when it happened, when I beat him at Midway Mania, him trying a roller coaster, eating an apple-cheddar pie at Flo’s or just pin trading and walking the two parks but I have never felt closer to that boy.
He is growing up so fast and now at eleven he is trying so hard to be the boy and eventual man I expect him to be. He falls short often because he is just young and makes mistakes. But so often I see myself in him and think….’oh crap’…and sometimes I think how proud I am. But as we walked out of the park saying ‘We closed this place dowwwnnn’ I realized that something else was feeling like it was opening and I said a little prayer thanking God for the great kid in my life. I didn’t know exactly what I was missing but I found him there.

Is it a dark ride? –
The first day at the park was a blast, but we made our first mistake just over an hour into the trip and it was a major one.
As we got the park we knew enough to know that we needed FastPasses if we wanted any hope of riding Radiator Springs Racers so that was our first stop. Then we went to a very uncrowded Bug’s Land. It was so very cool. The land is surrounded by blades of bamboo that shoot twenty feet high. It makes you feel like a bug in the grass. All the lamps are made to look like lightning bugs clinging to blades of grass and clover. All the rides look like they are made from human garbage.
First ride of the trip was Flik’s Flyers. It was so cute. A paper airplane that stood over ten feet tall was the ride sign with the title scribbled in giant pencil. The ride itself is fashioned out of Chinese take out boxes and little cartons of milk and juice. They hang from a center post and swing out as they spin. It is simple enough but so cute you want to hug it.
Then on to Tuck and Roll’s bumper cars, Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train, which I kid you not, is a ride on Heimlich’s caterpillar body as he hungrily eats everything in sight. As he talks about eating the watermelon, the cupcake and candy corn the whole ride, you can’t tell me it isn’t some casual subliminal (or not so subliminal) suggestion planting that you, the rider is hungry maybe?.
At the end of the ride though there is one line that we carried through the trip, at least Shay and I did…’Oh, I am in Heimlich Heaven’ said in the worst german man-boy voice you could do, kind of a gay Franz and Hanz voice….Franz.
As we get off the ride I see the ride operator cast member checking my daughter Shayleigh out. My kids are destined to be late bloomers but Shay has started blooming and one day she will figure out how to flirt like her mother, then my real nightmare begins. For now she doesn’t really even notice she is being checked out. For that I am very thankful. (Note to self: maybe she doesn’t need to read this story?)
After that it’s Francis the Ladybug ride. It’s a faster spinning ride for little kids, like a slightly more complicated tilt-a-whirl on flat ground. I love it, you travel through two circles. Very basic but very fun. Bright loves it and we go more than once.
I check my app, MouseWait, to see if we are missing anything from Bug’s Land and I see something called ‘It’s Tough to be a Bug’. I search around and find the entrance at the very entrance to Bug’s Land, before the bamboo. It goes underground and is apparently an animatronic and 3D show. I go gather the family. Shayleigh, ever the Disney expert, tells us a little about the show and says it’s a little scary but I figure it’s in Bug’s Land so it must be fine.
As we go underground to the waiting area it is meant to look like we are below the ground and on the wall are posters on leaves of other ‘bug broadway shows’ . Stuff like, A Cockroach Line, and Web Side Story, and so forth. It is all very cute.
The show starts out with some pleasant 3D. Bugs fly around the screen, a tarantula flings stuff at us, a little startling but not scary. As the nine minute show went on, it got more intense, mixing animatronics and 3D and seat effects. Pretty soon Hopper invades and sends black widow spiders to drop from the ceiling to what felt like inches of our faces, but was probably more like two to four feet, all with bright strobe like effects. After that the big finish happens and a rolling effect happens, that is supposed to simulate cockroaches crawling under your seat, a little stick pokes you in the back to simulate a wasp stinging you all while 3D effects fly at you and it gets dark.
Brighton was scarred, not scared but scarred. He was shaking a little and clinging to his mom, kinda like a giant bug had ruined his day, cause, well…it did.
After that we went over to Disneyland, the whole time telling him we wouldn’t take him on scary rides anymore. I should point out here that Xander also was freaked out, Josie as well if I am being honest. But Xander and Bright both disliked the idea of other future frights. So we tell them we are getting FastPasses to Indiana Jones. Bright loves the Indiana Jones movie so we figured we were safe.
After that we went to Pirates of the Caribbean. I mean it’s a kid favorite, they love the movies, the ride is a simple boat ride. That is until in the line Xander starts asking ….’Is it dark?’
“For like a second, but its okay, just a boat ride.” But I can’t resist the teasing. “Now you aren’t afraid of snakes are you?”
“What?!!!” Xander’s face curls into his near-tears-panic look.
“David don’t” Carrie interjects.
“What, he should know, they just drop a few from the ceiling, they probably won’t even hit our seats.”
Now he is really starting to panic and people nearby can see it. One overlistening stranger pipes in, “Oh you are mean.” She says it slightly joking but she is trying to let Xander know his dad is teasing, if eleven years with me as his father hasn’t taught him that some stranger in a Disneyland line won’t teach him either.
I have to stop teasing to calm him down, I don’t even know my own strength. He is ready to bolt the line when we board the boat. I calmly put him under my arm and describe everything that is about to happen before it happens. For some reason I feel responsible for his panicked state. He finally finishes the ride and isn’t as bothered but doesn’t want to go again. Bright is the same way.
Before our FastPasses for Indy come up we do Tarzan’s Treehouse, sort of an out door palette cleanser for Bright and Xander, they love it, Bright could have stayed there for longer and I don’t think he has ever seen Tarzan.
We head into Indy and now Josie and Xander are both freaking a little, I calm them down as Carrie handles Bright. The word dark keeps coming back and that’s when I realize it. My kids aren’t scared of snakes, bugs or pirates….they are scared of the dark. For the rest of the trip we watch rides for dark and we warn not of content but light/dark ratio. It becomes easier as we avoid dark rides and hold them close, especially Bright, in the dark. Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride for example is full of darkness, if not an acid-induced take on our justice system. Apparently bad driving can cause a judge to sentence you to hell only to be eaten by a demon. Why are we letting these obviously-pcp-taking-acid-tripping-hippies handle our bedtime stories! But I digress.
Josie remains ‘concerned’ and ‘doesn’t like’ heights and fast rides where she feels out of control, Bright doesn’t like dark and 3D glasses now, and Xander is just concerned about dark, as his 3D glasses fear was overcome by Star Tours.
In the end, I can’t help but wonder what would have been different if we hadn’t went to ‘It’s Tough To Be A Bug.’ Would the kids have weather rides differently, I don’t know but in the end, it gives me future trips to look forward to, someday I will ride with Josie on Tower of Terror, someday I will go through Indy with Xander and he won’t be scared or ride the Matterhorn with him. Someday Brighton will be the one trying to freak me out, this I don’t just believe, the kid has the ‘screw with ya’ gene running rampant through his body.
How do I know this? I rode all these rides with Shayleigh without hesitation. She used to react the same exact way.

Dorks in Costumes –
Brighton veered clear of all costumed characters. We would point them out and he would shrug his shoulders and walk away or if he was tired he would bury himself into mom’s leg.
One day at the Critter Country side we were sitting in front of the Winnie the Pooh ride exit. Bright sitting calmly. I saw Tigger through a tall floor bed and railed fences.
“Bright, look it’s Tigger.”
“I’m glad he’s there”
“What do you mean?”
“He can’t get to me through the railings.” He went back to what he was doing. I thought it was hilarious and started to share it with the family, then posted it on Facebook as one of my ongoing series of ‘Bright Disneyland moments’. We were all laughing and Xander decided to recreate the experience for himself, but he asked the next question, and there is where the gold was.
“Why don’t you like the characters?”
“I don’t like dorks in costumes.” Again going back to what he was doing. Xander told us and I immediately added it to the Facebook post.
The story would be fine there but Carrie, Shayleigh and Xander and I went on Splash Mountain, a personal favorite. When we got back Josie was in line with the boys to get their picture taken with Winnie the Pooh and Tigger too. He just rolled his eyes when questioned about ‘dorks in costumes’ but we have pictures now of him ‘liking’ the dorks so all is right with the world, he isn’t growing up to fast and missing these crucial moments.

The Disney Tour Guide versus the Disney Bible –
As I got excited for the trip I started researching where I could. I listened to podcasts, and there are multiple podcasts devoted to what is going on in the world of Disneyland specifically. How these people talk every week for an hour about Disney amazes me. This is their hobby. Then there was the 2013 Unofficial Disneyland Guide Book, Shayleigh kept calling the Disney Bible until it stuck. There were websites, apps and even a site called Disboards that was both. I felt pretty prepared, even strategies for what rides to take and when. Then there is Shayleigh.
Shayleigh has been to Disneyland for the last two years with choir. She spent time singing there, and even behind the walls. She saw Disneyland California and rode California Screamin’ and everything else before any of the rest of us. She even knew the layout. She knew everything but Cars Land. She took significant disrespect from these outside sources when I didn’t think to utilize such a valuable resource right here in the family. Passive aggressive attitudes were in my future, I just didn’t know.
As we got there and looked for parking she wasn’t much help because, hey, they stayed close enough, but she pointed out the hotel. She even pulled out the wistful, ‘oh there’s the Subway we ate at every day.’ To no one inparticular. I just didn’t see the signs. Tsk tsk.
As the days went on she would describe a ride, I would read the book and see what it had to add. Every time she would see me reach for the bag and say something like ‘Consulting the Bible dad?’.
I do regret not acknowledging her information, she deserved better, but she just started to take a back seat to me bossing from my research.
We decided to go see Aladdin and Shayleigh gushed about how awesome it was. I naturally got out the Unofficial Guide and she threw hands in the air and said ‘Check the Bible then, maybe it will tell you it’s good.’
I did and it did and particularly pointed out that the Genie had a lot of license from Disney to adlib, a thing Shay had been talking about how funny they were and she looked at me and basically gave me the ‘now do you believe me’ face. That should have been the time that I acknowledged her but I just laughed it off. I should validate my kids’ opinions more.


We are going again next year in March, taking my extended family on a vacation/reunion, trip planning thread to start soon.

 

[amazon38]

Hi just read your report and enjoyed it Thanks for taking the time to get it written out and getting total strangers excited about their upcoming trip in 4 weeks