Good morning!

[kyburg]

I went to Disneyland yesterday. Day before that, I was at Knott's Berry Farm.

And I've started using some LJ controls on a post or two this morning. The discussions are breaking down into "Nyah Nyah" too much for my comfort level. Cope.

snackpants, are you guys coming out for the 50th Anniversary next year? The park looks fantastic, such an improvement over last year. But on the down side, most of the park is under renovation or completely blocked off - I've been there when the castle has been closed, but right now, it looks like it's being tented for termites. Lots of storefronts blocked off in both Tomorrowland and Adventureland - and while the Haunted Mansion has had its redress for the Nightmare Before Christmas, the outside decorations are really beginning to show the wear of over three years seasons in the sun - what was bright, bright red is turning very orange...*sigh*.

We did a lot of pin trading. nytshaed was with us. How could we not?

But Knott's was Friday night - and the night didn't end until after midnight. That's right. Work all day, play ALL NIGHT. ARR.

What did we do before cell phones to get multiple people in a group in the same place at the same time? Oh, we had a plan - and a timetable. And people were where they said they would be - and stuff.

That kind of work still produces good results - it's just when you leave part of your party someplace, you're supposed to make plans to meet up later on, not depend on the cell phones to save your ass.

I lost nytshaed and cuddlycthulhu for six hours that night. Cell phones had died and not all the numbers had been shared with the ones that were still functional. Try to find two people wearing black and such at Knott's Halloween Haunt after 8:00 PM. Go ahead.

I got to spend some quality time with caitlin and poetpaladin while unclejimbo rode the beeg rollercoaster multiple times and/or went searching.

They hung Ryan Seacrest, BTW. While they lampooned the campaign of 2004, even giving the fight to Bush (hey, this is Orange County, California. And this is "we're more conservative than Jerry Fallwell" Knotts Berry Farm we're talking about, of course Bush would win over Kerry, dopes), not too many people were cheering. Matter of fact, that joke fell pretty short. But they sent up Michael Jackson three times and the crowd went wild each time - that, was a thing of beauty. I was so hoping they were going to hang him.

If I spelled Ryan's name wrong, it's because I don't know who he is. American Idol? Never watched it.

Disney the next day began at 10:30 AM - picked up nytshaed and cuddlycthulhu, hit Goofy's Kitchen and began our day at the park around noonish. We left over twelve hours later.

And I have too much theme park detrius today to find homes for. I have stuffed animals. I have pearls. I have Disney pins. I have STUFF.

And Jim is working tonight, so I need to kick his ass back to sleep for some hours. Amazingly, I am whole and in one piece - some jackass ran into cuddlycthulhu with a motorized scooter (don't apologize idiot, this is Orange County and we hates everyone, right?) and we ended up at the First Aid Station for the first time in umpity-ump years, putting him in a wheelchair for the balance of the evening himself!

I have come to a new conclusion on wheels. Children too young to traverse the park without a stroller are too young to take for a full day. I saw more bitterly unhappy kids being wheeled around by people too tired to give a shit yesterday - change the focus, folks. Kids go for half a day. Cope. When you are too tired to manage them, you are too tired to parent effectively - go home. What comes first - your kids or getting your last bit of utility out of your admission fee? Tell me you're having a good time - go ahead.

I'm one of those kids who went to Disney back in the early 60's. I was old enough to walk myself around, and my younger brother was home with a sitter while we went. I've decided - no strollers.

*sighs* I remember trying to manage someone in a wheelchair back in 1997. It wasn't the same last night, but Disneyland is still not a friendly place for someone completely confined to their chair, and I still won't do it again, and won't recommend trying to take someone completely confined to a wheelchair to Disneyland to anyone else. Want to ride the rides? You can't. Want to go see everything in the park? You can't. I think Downtown Disney is better set-up, but it's also newer. California Adventure might also be the better bet. If you can stand the Beach Boys.

But trying to do Power Disney like we do is very tough if you can't keep up.

And speaking of keeping up, I've got to go get some more sleep, if not just resting. Ahh, weekend. It's loverly.

Comments

[riverheart.livejournal.com]

How is Disneyland these days? The last time you wrote about it, your post was heartbreaking to those of us who remember Disneyland from our childhoods as a magical place.

Has it improved in the past year? I do hope so.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

There's a lot of work going on in the park - but the glass sparkles, the brass has been polished and there are simply more bodies doing work other than that behind a cash register in the park.

I saw three RNs working the First Aid Station - plus a team of EMTs.

I would have to say there is no doubt - big improvements have been made.

[makeitepic.livejournal.com]

Pin trading is AWESOME! And I'm glad they're doing something about the renovations in the park. Your last post about it made my heart sank.

Man, my parents do Power Disney like crazy. No joke. I remember the last time I was in Florida, my family did the entire Disney-MGM Studios attractions (save for Fantasmic) before noon.

It's crazy...I can't believe I've been to Disney World in florida, like, 7 times and I haven't been to Disneyland once ;_;

[supiluliumas.livejournal.com]

Looks like someone was doin' a little bit a'cheatin' for the last word. WOO! Can I get a Come On!?

Anyway I was going to suggest you make yourself useful and figure out how I can make myself seem remotely interesting to a fifteen-year-old Neo-Nazi. I bet I could impress her if I was the Holy Roman Emperor .....

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Dude, the only time I use LJ tools for controlling people is when the discussions start looking like this:



It applies particularly when I know I'm going to get worse instead of better - and my Mamma raised me to be nice.

[ecstaticlght.livejournal.com]

I was one of the moms that used strollers until we wore them out, but then, I don't drive, so there was no option. They were really good for carting stuff!

I did read an article recently by someone that despises strollers/pushchairs. The idea is why do we put our children in a seat facing away from us, surrounded by material and frame, so that we effectively cut them off from us and the sights around them, for indefinite periods of time and then expect them to be happy to be in the dang things. I thought it was a very valid point.

yo mama

[supiluliumas.livejournal.com]

Like, dude! You're no help. We'll never be friends if you don't support my half-baked maniacal ambitions!

That's a nice icon though. OH HEY I GET IT! That's my 'in'! Aw thanks, Krowbar, you're the bee-yatch biz-omb. :D

[lupaloo.livejournal.com]

I took my older kids to Disney World when they were pretty young, but we did not do Power Disney. We stopped and played in the sand and looked at the fountains. They rode rides and saw shows that were appropriate, but mostly we just followed them around and let them be kids in a place that was magic to them. We alternated between stroller and sling and trotting toddlers. And I agree wholeheartedly with the person who commented about using a stroller to separate yourself from you children. Like pacifiers, baby swings, cribs, etc., etc., etc... strollers are a tool that can be useful or it can be a substitute for good parenting.

On another note, I hated strollers at the parks before I had kids because so many people slammed my ankles with them. People should not use children as battering rams. I think I was always careful not to do that.

[snackpants.livejournal.com]

Dad has been asked to be a consultant on the 50th Anniversary Celebration. Him and Mom are going, and the current plan is that celtfaery and I will be joining them. Not sure if all 4 of us are staying at the Disneyland Hotel, we may end up at my Grandfather's house or my Uncle's house in Anahiem.

I haven't been out there since the 45th Anniversary... and California Adventure wasn't up and running yet.

[harmnone.livejournal.com]

The guy who plays Michael Jackson in the hanging is my daughter's ex-boyfriend. The only reason I thought you might be interested is that she was at the late show Friday night--probably part of a loud group in the front row. OK, maybe not too interesting after all....

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

What?

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Bring someone to catch you when you see the place - I doubt you'll recognize it. (Dude, where's my PARKING LOT?!)

And cash. Lotsa cash. You'll need it.

Did your Dad get his window on Main Street in Orlando, only? I looked a bit yesterday and saw a number of familiar names - but I couldn't remember....

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Make it count! Make it count! This is costing a freaking fortune! Make it count!

Jeez. Kill all the fun, willya?

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

*exactly*

Stuff? That's what backpacks are for! And extra hands -

Really - keep it short, sweet and simple. So much easier on everyone.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

The strollers - and then, the motorized "assistance vehicles" - they were awful yesterday. One took a member of our party OUT without so much as an "oops!"

Once he was in the wheelchair, some of us just started walking ahead of him saying "excuse US!" so they could react.

Mall walking has nothing on Disney brain -

[harmnone.livejournal.com]

Oh, my goodness, she's really not all that interesting. ...but just to let you know, after seeing her on Kyle's friends list, my foster son decided to see if he could "befriend" her. He was sort of surprised that it took no effort at all because he is clearly not white in his user picture, so he figured she'd take one look at it and say, "What?" I guess his obvious weirdness overcame any pigmentation problems that she might perceive because we can read her journal all the time, now. Like I said, it's not all that interesting, and I promised Kyle I wouldn't make my presence known, anyway.

You just think she's cute, though, huh? Men!

[supiluliumas.livejournal.com]

Aw c'mon, don't be like that, Lady H! =)

Anyway, I'm not all that interesting myself. And I feel weird discussing someone I don't know behind their back - but there's just something fascinating about a brilliant, artistic 15-year-old who has, for whatever reason, chosen the path to the Dark Side. I have to wonder how she got that way! What's inside her adolescent head? Put yourself in her shoes. People with a higher IQ, they're less willing to compromise when they're younger. They see injustice in the world, or see it affecting their personal lives, and they have the mental ability to conceive of its injustice and rebel, yet may lack the wisdom to understand when it may go too far. I'm thinking some socialist progressive educational system tried to ram itself down her throat, patronizing her intelligence and blithely ignoring her personal accomplishments, sneering that she's full of herself and not all that great ( my good friend pinkfairywand has an anecdote on just this subject here: http://www.livejournal.com/users/pinkfairywand/41937.html ). And, rather than giving in and toeing the line, she fired back.

Here I go rambling on with you again, in someone else's journal! Someday we'll have to have a discussion in our own journals instead of someone we don't know. =)

[supiluliumas.livejournal.com]

Speaking personally, Lady H, I'm very interested in the life of anyone who impersonates Michael Jackson professionally. What a life he must have. ... Then again, he probably takes off his costume at the end of the day and goes home to a brewski or two like everyone else. However, imagine the conversations he has when people ask what he does for a living!

[harmnone.livejournal.com]

Y'know, you might be a good friend for her after all. : ) Have you actually tried?

[sisterdark.livejournal.com]

I totally agree about the whole stroller issue. I refused to take Livi before she turned 5. She'll turn 5 in February and I'm planning on taking her to Disney World in March. I'm assuming it's Disney World since it's the one in Florida and you called the one in California Disneyland :) I've not been to either so I could never remember which was which. I'm really looking forward to it though, it'll be so much fun for both of us!

[harmnone.livejournal.com]

Oh, the only reason he's Michael Jackson for the hanging is that Knott's cast him as such. I haven't seen the show, but I assume he's wearing a mask because Aaron looks nothing like MJ. Since this is temporary just for the Halloween season, I doubt if it will affect him much. ...but my husband's college roommate has actually been an Elvis impersonator since 1972--professionally since 1975. ...and he's now 10 years older than Elvis ever got! People ask me why he does it for a living, and I tell them, "...because he can."

[supiluliumas.livejournal.com]

Would that we all had a career we could explain with that answer. Right on!

[supiluliumas.livejournal.com]

Working up to it. 9_9 :)

[harmnone.livejournal.com]

Well, good luck. : )

[lysana.livejournal.com]

You know nytshaed? Good gods, but my circle of acquaintances and friends takes the damndest loops.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

*nods* I think I was five my first time - and Mickey was a six foot RAT. The only part I could see were the hands....

I really loved EPCOT when I was there in 1996 -

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Heh. Shorter than you'd think -