A while back my friend Katie and her husband Josh had some airline miles to use before they expired. They decided to book a flight to LAX over President’s day weekend and figured that they would decide on details later. They ultimately decided to go to Disneyland and invited Dustin and I, as well as our friends Art and Amy to join them. I’d never been to Disneyland (I know, right?), Dustin had (and loved it) so we were in.
Dustin and I took the Friday the 13th off of work and flew down to California midday – after I had some day-off-work-drama trying to get this multi-million-dollar-deal closed that I had been working on for months. I got it figured out, ultimately on my phone, from the airport, then we were off #STRESS.
Dustin upgraded us to first class for our flight, another first for me. First class is the most magical thing. How come I hadn’t been flying this way all the time? (I know why, don’t answer that). I sipped dranks and chatted with Dustin and looked out the window because it was so sunny and clear and ate a yummy thai wrap and listened to a lot of Beyonce. It was my favorite flight.
^^First Class^^
^^Flying over Mount St. Helens^^
^^Flying over Mt. Hood and the Homeland^^
We booked a shuttle to take us from LAX to the Disneyland Hotel where we were staying. We probably should have given our flight times, etc. a little more thought, because we got stuck in really terrible LA traffic heading to our hotel. I did snap a lot of really excellent SnapChatting while sitting on that shuttle, though:
^^Snap game so on point/little child photo bombing so hard^^
When we finally arrived at the hotel it was getting dark so there wasn’t much time to get in the pool like we’d originally hoped. Instead we went to our room and got ready for dinner with Goofy at Goofy’s Kitchen!
I’m pretty sure Goofy’s Kitchen is for children, as evidenced by the food at the buffet (and I guess the fact that it’s at Disneyland, haha), but I gave zero fucks because that food was GOOD. Mac and Cheese pizza, you guys! Holy yum. Also, dirt cups for dessert. Plus Goofy and his “friends” danced around the restaurant and we took pics with them, including a selfie with Minnie Mouse.
^^Dustin, Goofy and myself at the beginning of our Dinner with Goofy^^
^^Selfie with Minnie^^
^^Dustin and Minnie Mouse would probs make a really cute couple, you know, if you’re into that^^
After dinner Dustin and I walked around the hotel property for a bit before finding the most awesome Tiki Bar ever. There were flaming drinks and it “rained” inside and they would ring a bell that made the lights flicker and the pictures of volcanoes on the wall erupt and it was so, so cool. When Katie and Josh landed we forced them to come join us for a drink.
^^Katie, me, Dustin and Josh with Disneyland’s version of a Scorpion Bowl :) ^^
At the end of the night Dustin and I walked Josh and Katie out to the front of the hotel to catch their Uber then we stopped to look at the light-up-map-thing at the front of our hotel. While we were standing there, a security guard named Rob came up to us and starting chatting with us and telling us tips and tricks for navigating the park, etc. I mentioned it was my first time there and Rob took us up into some super secret, fancy-as-fuck suites in the hotel and showed us around. It was sooo cool. One of the suites had an open air living room and I wish Rob had the power to upgrade us, sadly we had to go back to our (already upgraded, already super nice) room and go to bed, as it was like 1am at this point.
Dustin and I woke up bright and early the next morning. Apparently staying at the Disneyland Hotel entitled us to an extra “Magic Hour” in the park before everyone else was allowed to go in. We entered the park at 7am and immediately went to get in line for Space Mountain. I was mildly hungover and super tired at this point and hated Space Mountain with a firey passion – it was terrifying and dark and the only redeeming part about it was the cold air it blew in my face the whole time. (side note: I think I wouldn’t have hated it but for the circumstances surrounding when I rode it) Also I felt dizzy when I got off. Fuck you, Space Mountain. This picture says it all (OMFG, so bad):
^^it looks like I was crying, I think I was a little bit^^
After Space Mountain we went on Star Tours which was fun. We then went to Indiana Jones to get a Fast Pass because the park was opening. Art and Amy got there around 8 while we were on some jungle cruise right next to Indiana Jones, they got fast passes and we walked over to our breakfast reservation on Main Street. Breakfast was good but even with a reservation we had to wait about 20 minutes. So we took some pictures outside in the sunshine.
^^Art, Amy, Dustin (I think Art and Dustin were jokingly fighting over Amy here)^^
^^Dustin and I waiting for breakfast^^
After breakfast we went on a few rides (Indiana Jones, Pirates, Dumbo) before meeting up with Josh and Katie around noon.
^^Amy and I on Dumbo. Photo courtesy of the boys who didn’t want to ride Dumbo (whatever)^^
^^Art, Amy, me and Dustin before lunch^^
At this point is was getting so, soooo hot in the park (like 90 degrees, in February! It was amazing but also exhausting). Also, there were SO MANY PEOPLE there. Like way more people than I expected. It was CRAZY busy. We eventually stopped for a hand-dipped corn dog and some bottled water. After lunch we went on the Thunder Mountain Railroad rollercoaster which was my favorite ride of the day. Amy and I also purchased Mickey ears which we got embroidered with our names and were s’cute.
^^Amy and I with Mickey Ears^^
We went on some other rides too then took a time-out with Art and Amy to head to our hotel pool for a bit. We all had a drink and some fries by the pool and Art, Amy and I got into the water for a bit before heading back to our room to get ready for dinner.
We had a triple-date Valentine’s dinner at some Creole restaurant. 3 of us got the Monte Cristo sandwich, which was so, sooo good at the time but now I never want to think of it again. It was deep fried and fatty and the thought of it makes me want to vomit for some reason. But really, it was amazing, and if you’re ever there you should definitely eat it.
After dinner all 6 of us stood in line for the Haunted Mansion. We finally got inside the ride, were ready to go and it never started. Apparently the ride was broke down. Huge bummer as it was the longest line we waited in all day. After that Katie and Josh went to ride a fast pass ride and Dustin and I went with Art and Amy to do the Star Tours ride again.
Eventually Art and Amy walked over to California Adventure and when Dustin and I were heading back to the main part of the park after that we spotted Mickey Mouse! I was so excited as I heard that he rarely makes appearances. Obvi we stood in a line that was short at that point but grew rapidly, for a picture.
After Mickey we stopped to watch the fireworks at Cinderella’s castle, which was covered by a tarp because they were doing repairs for the 40th Anniversary celebration. Actually, a number of the big rides were closed for 40th Anniversary updates/repairs (Splash Mtn, Matterhorn, etc.). Despite that, though, the fireworks were awesome. I love fireworks and I was so excited to see some in February!
Dustin and I stopped and got a picture with Tinker Bell around this time too.
^^Valentine’s day smooches with Tinker Bell^^
After the fireworks Dustin and I met up with Josh and Katie to ride It’s a Small World before heading over to grab a seat for the 10:something PM Fantasmic showing. At this point I was f-ing exhausted. We sat and watched the Fanstamic show which was really cool and included fire and Mickey and dragons and water and dancing neon monkeys on a boat. I loved it. After the show was over Dustin, Art, Amy and myself went on Haunted Mansion which was finally up and running again. It was like 11:30pm when we got out of the ride and I was sooo dunzo. Dustin wanted to grab a beer Downtown Disney and I just could not. We went back to the room, I looked at my Microsoft Band and saw that I had walked like 27,000 steps that day. My legs were a very painful jelly. We immediately fell asleep.
The next morning I woke up before Dustin and almost fell trying to get out of bed, my legs were so sore and stiff. I decided to walk down to Starbucks and get us some coffee and breakfast sandwiches. It was sooo gorgeous outside that morning. I wanted to stay in SoCal forever. 80 something degree weather in February? I mean…
^^Palm Trees are the best trees, outside of our hotel^^
We hit the gift shop before meeting Art and Amy by our pool for a bit before heading back to the airport around 11am. We left Art and Amy our room key so that they could enjoy the pool for the day before they left on a way later flight (they stayed at a different hotel than Dustin and I). We flew first class back as well, and skipping the security line was my favorite. So was watching St. Vincent on the flight and drinking all the Blue Moon and seeing Mt. Hood, Mount St. Helens, Mt. Adams, the homeland, AND Mt. Rainier out the window all at once. It was so cool, I was nerding out hard.
We got back to Seattle at a decent time and peeked in the window of a house that is currently for sale, stopped by the grocery store and watched SNL’s 40th Anniversary show before calling it a night/day/weekend. I had a great first visit to Disneyland (minus the crazy crowds). I mostly really, really loved the sunshine and warmth. I loved collecting Disney pins for my lanyard that held my room key and park pass; it’s now hanging in my office. And I was a little disappointed I didn’t find the plain, crewneck sweatshirt with Mickey on the front of my dreams, but I did come home with a sweet Mickey mug and a magnet and lots of good memories, so at least there’s that. I think we’ll be back in the not too distant future, next time hopefully with Dustin’s nieces.
