today we hopped in the car, and began the road trip from san diego to anaheim. it was early, and i napped in the car, waking momentarily to find one big grey freeway after another. probably no need to take in the scenery of the drive..
we arrived at anaheim around 9am, and checked into the holiday inn. surprisingly after nearly five weeks of travel, this was actually the first hotel we had checked into the whole trip. we sunscreened up and walked a few blocks and around the corner into the happiest place on earth: disney land.
bags checked, and tickets in hand, we slipped through the turn stiles and landed on the other side in another world. the sun shone, people were all smiling and the architecture became colorful and delightfully shaped- bright signs indicating happy things waiting inside. i bought a trademark pair of minnie mouse ears at the gate before continuing inside.
i giggled and pointed like a child as the characters from my childhood ran around, signing autographs and waving to all the children. with all the characters roaming around the park, i made a plan to get photographed with as many as i could. then i spoke to a woman who had been with her daughter for four days in the happiest place on earth, and it was no longer looking quite as happy to her. in four days they had only gotten a handful of photos with the characters. i quickly relinquished that dream- afterall, i didn't have four days.
we began the day with a ride on a star wars space tour- a simulator ride. now, being a person who gets awfully sick on anything even slightly turbulent (we are talking swings in a playground here!), i was a little apprehensive to hop aboard this ride. however, after waiting in life for over an hour to get on, i decided i was not backing down. well, i must say in retrospect, it probably would've been a good idea to have bowed out. being handed 3d glasses, we hopped aboard and began what was a flight through space. with no captain onboard, c-3po attempted to steer the ship, hurtling us through narrow rock faces and plummeting to great depths. i emerged from the ride white as a ghost, hardly able to stand up and close to being ill. on the plus side, they can do some fantastic things with simulator rides these days!
after going through the tomorrow land, we stumbled across more star wars. a jedi training session had begun- an interactive session for young kids. it was really cute, and the little kids were just about wetting themselves with excitement. suddenly, storm troopers flooded in and the floor lifted up, presenting darth vader and darth maul. the costumes were absolutely uncanny, and half of the kids burst into tears terrified and ran back to their parents in the crowd.
watching the battle between the young jedis and evil, a murderous scream suddenly let out through the space. i turned around in shock to find mum hyperventilating- tears streaming down her face. turns out darth maul is a scary guy- especially when he creeps up on you and stands with his face practically touching yours before breathing heavily into your ear. yep- that was definitely enough to make mum jump out her skin. and for sharon and i to fall about ourselves laughing.
the rest of the day was spent exploring, going on rides (it's a small world after all!) and trying to battle the slightly oppressive heat. the parade was enchanting, and showed all the best disney characters, as well as incredible dancers in equally as incredible costumes. towards the afternoon, people began to lag. asleep on the park benches and in their prams- small kids and their parents indulged in siestas to have enough energy for the exciting night that lay before us all.
as the park grew darker, the real magic emerged. lights lit up the park in the most magical way, as if scattered with fireflies. we watched a light show projected onto the 'it's a small world' building- with a soundtrack of all the favorite disney classic music. it really was hard not to become disgustingly nostalgic- your whole childhood laid out before you in such a beautiful way.
the fireworks really were enough to send me over the edge. they rivalled any fireworks display i had ever seen (keeping in mind i saw the 2000 fireworks on sydney bay!). executed with incredible precision and beauty, i stood with tears in my eyes in front of the castle, as tinkerbell and dumbo flew overhead and the castle lit up. and to think they put this fireworks show on every night!
we finished the night at fantasmic- a night time show with incredible special effects set on the water. light shows projected onto a fan of water, fireworks, peter pan on the ship and a boat with all the disney characters. it was a truly magical day and night- and as we waited for the bus back to our hotel, i slept on mums shoulder like a child- minnie mouse ears still firmly in place.
-danielle.
