Thundergod
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 1, 2011
- Messages
- 479
A born and raised okie here. Married father of 2 boys who first went to Disneyland back in 1991 with my wife to be. I was a sophmore, she a freshman and we went to Disneyland on a school trip. We only stayed a few hours but I remember the beautiful landscaping more than anything else and the experience and time with my future wife is something I have always cherished. So, when the opportunity came in 1996 to go back to California and go back to Disneyland we took that opportunity. Only this time we had our first child. A 9 month old boy who was a huge Winnie the pooh fan. We only spent a day at disney but my boy absolutely loved it. This is also the first time I recall riding space mountain(not sure if i rode it back in 91). What a blast we had and also another trip and moment that stuck in my heart.
Life has a way of keeping you busy and time passes and the only thing that seems important is paying the bills and work. A blink of the eye and it had been 14 years since I had been at Disneyland. My 9 month old son had turned into a 14 year old young man. I had a another son in 2002 and he was about to turn 8 and I stopped and took a minute to realize my children are almost grown and I needed to make more memories.
So, last summer I planned a trip back to California.
a day long trip to Disney land and a day or two at Universal(I had been to universal in 91 and 96 as well)
We left in mid july and drove nonstop from Oklahoma to Anaheim. I forgot how bad the LA traffic was and how bad the Mojave desert can be. But once I got down around our hotel everything just turned beautiful. The beautiful California scenery and just the feel of magic in the air.
We stayed in a inexpensive hotel a half mile from disneyland. Clean rooms and a nice setting IMO. First morning up we did Universal(my youngest turned 8 that day). We had a blast. Went back to the hotel that evening and got ready for our day at Disney.
Now, I knew they had expanded Disneyland and included the California adventure but I didn't read much about it. I was happy to be at disneyland.
I was shocked when I realized the old parking lot was no longer there and it was not a theme park and we had to park a bit further away. No biggie.
Got our tickets and walked into Disneyland and I immediately felt at home. Had a great day and great night and had loads of fun. Took my time and soaked it all in and felt a great sense of family that day. My wife was in tears most the day because she realized how the time had flown by and how we had aged and how the kids had grown and it did tug at my heart a bit as well. I certainly missed not seeing the electric parade but knew it was no longer.
As the day ended and we left it was hard. I knew we were leaving the next day and it sucked. I could live inside disney. My wife tried to extend our stay but the hotel was booked and we couldn't keep our room so we relunctantly ended our stay and headed back toward Oklahoma.(We did however side track through Vegas which helped ease my pain)
That brings me to this year. a month ago I presented the idea of going to disneyworld. again my vacation is in July and florida in july would suck but I was willing to do it if my kids wanted to go. I also throw out going back to California and disneyland to them. Well after a month of thinking and going back and forth guess where we are headed.
BACK TO CALIFORNIA!!!
I booked the same hotel last night and went ahead and bought three day hopper passes for us all. This way we can take a venture over to California adventure as well. I am so excited I can hardly wait.
a little side note: I loved California so much I started looking for jobs there after we got back last year. I was actually flown into bakerfield and offered a job last september but ended up turning it down just due to the timing. Maybe this year I won't have to turn down a job if I get that itch again.
Life has a way of keeping you busy and time passes and the only thing that seems important is paying the bills and work. A blink of the eye and it had been 14 years since I had been at Disneyland. My 9 month old son had turned into a 14 year old young man. I had a another son in 2002 and he was about to turn 8 and I stopped and took a minute to realize my children are almost grown and I needed to make more memories.
So, last summer I planned a trip back to California.
a day long trip to Disney land and a day or two at Universal(I had been to universal in 91 and 96 as well)
We left in mid july and drove nonstop from Oklahoma to Anaheim. I forgot how bad the LA traffic was and how bad the Mojave desert can be. But once I got down around our hotel everything just turned beautiful. The beautiful California scenery and just the feel of magic in the air.
We stayed in a inexpensive hotel a half mile from disneyland. Clean rooms and a nice setting IMO. First morning up we did Universal(my youngest turned 8 that day). We had a blast. Went back to the hotel that evening and got ready for our day at Disney.
Now, I knew they had expanded Disneyland and included the California adventure but I didn't read much about it. I was happy to be at disneyland.
I was shocked when I realized the old parking lot was no longer there and it was not a theme park and we had to park a bit further away. No biggie.
Got our tickets and walked into Disneyland and I immediately felt at home. Had a great day and great night and had loads of fun. Took my time and soaked it all in and felt a great sense of family that day. My wife was in tears most the day because she realized how the time had flown by and how we had aged and how the kids had grown and it did tug at my heart a bit as well. I certainly missed not seeing the electric parade but knew it was no longer.
As the day ended and we left it was hard. I knew we were leaving the next day and it sucked. I could live inside disney. My wife tried to extend our stay but the hotel was booked and we couldn't keep our room so we relunctantly ended our stay and headed back toward Oklahoma.(We did however side track through Vegas which helped ease my pain)
That brings me to this year. a month ago I presented the idea of going to disneyworld. again my vacation is in July and florida in july would suck but I was willing to do it if my kids wanted to go. I also throw out going back to California and disneyland to them. Well after a month of thinking and going back and forth guess where we are headed.
BACK TO CALIFORNIA!!!
I booked the same hotel last night and went ahead and bought three day hopper passes for us all. This way we can take a venture over to California adventure as well. I am so excited I can hardly wait.
a little side note: I loved California so much I started looking for jobs there after we got back last year. I was actually flown into bakerfield and offered a job last september but ended up turning it down just due to the timing. Maybe this year I won't have to turn down a job if I get that itch again.
