My adventures in Disneyland-Part 1

So in case you didn’t get from my five or six blogs about Disney or Disney related topics, I love Disney. I grew up on it. The first movie I ever saw in a theater was Little Mermaid. Since then I've been hooked. My iPod is full of Disney songs, from Cinderella’s So this is love to Tangled’s At last I see the light. I love every character, every hero, and every villain, almost to the point of obsession. Surprisingly though, up until last week I had never been to a Disney theme park in my 27 years of life. My beloved fiance  Katie, saw this blemish on my life and decided to use a combined Christmas, birthday, anniversary and Valentine’s day gift and drag me down to Anaheim to meet the Mouse.

So was it everything I’ve always dreamed about?

Yes, yes it was, and so much more. J

Let me preface this further: Growing up we owned nearly all the Disney movies in one form or another, and I would watch them religiously. I clearly remember at the beginning of every VHS tape a commercial for Disneyland, where despite the story it always ended with some little kid running up to give Mickey Mouse a hug in front of that castle, and the kid always looked so happy to be hugged by the world’s most recognizable mascot. This is what I grew up with. Now my family, bless them, was not rich. No matter what packages or deals Disney would offer, a trip to California or Florida was just not in the cards. So I always had the idea that Disneyland was always just going to be too expensive, and that I had more important things to worry about, like food and rent, then to think about the Happiest Place on Earth.

Luckily, I have Katie.

Katie loves to travel, she’s been to nearly every continent, and frequently makes trips to Portland and Denver to visit friends. She got us tickets and figured out how to make a trip to Disneyland affordable, all without batting an eye. It’s very rare to find someone who will help make you dreams come true, even dreams of princesses and castles from childhood.

So there I was, last Sunday morning, up at 5 AM with Katie and fellow Mormongeek Andrew, starting our trip to Disneyland. 12 hours, most of a murder mystery novel and a pile of Mad Libs later and we were pulling up to our Super 8 about two blocks from Disneyland’s front gates. The first thing I noticed, after coming from Utah’s current frigid wasteland, was how green and bright everything was. I’m sure my companions thought I was insane for just running around soaking in the sun, but it felt great. The second thing I noticed was that from our hotel we could see the back of what we came to find out was Cars Land. It reminded me of that scene from Who Framed Roger Rabbit where they can see Toon Town from a distance, with wacky things flying through the sky. It was exciting to see that the place I had dreamed about was so close I could almost touch it.

You want to find out how the first day went? Tune in tomorrow, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel. J