Disney, Part Deux

If you recall, Paige and her mom took Levi and Noah to Disneyland for their birthday.

So when September 21 rolled around, we headed to California again to really stick it to the Magic Kingdom. Three birthdays, one day, approximate savings of $206. As good Americans of Dutch heritage (otherwise known as "cheap") this opportunity was too good to pass up.

After dropping the boys off with Aunt Gina and Uncle Tim, we hit the open highway. The only incident of note on the trip out was wandering around the lovely town of Indio looking for a gas station. We finally found this one...

Which had some interesting signage near the front door...

Discredited televangelists and "ladies of the night" seem to me an odd definition of "the world's greatest customers" but, hey, whatever floats your boat.

We arrived at our hotel in the afternoon, with enough time to play in the miniature waterpark attached to the hotel. Levi and Noah spotted this when they went to Disney, but unfortunately were not staying at the hotel.

The waterpark had a giant bucket that slowly filled and then dumped every few minutes. It took a few rounds, but I finally convinced Ella to come under the bucket with me.

We're under there somewhere...


Looking like drowned rats...

After we started shivering from the bucket dump, we would hang out in the hot tub until the next one. Paige attempted to get a cute photo of us in there. Jason NOT cooperating as usual!

After what seemed like months of waiting for Ella (only because it actually was months) we headed off to Disneyland the next morning. She was giddy with anticipation.

We walked into the park and hit the security booth, where the following conversation ensued:

Disney lady: "Sir, is that a pocket knife in your pocket?"

Me: "Uhhh, yeah."

Disney lady: "You'll need to take that back to your car or your hotel. You can't have it in the park."

Long pause while I stare at Disney lady in a state of utter incomprehension at what she just said...

Me: "You've got to be kidding me. Seriously?"

Disney lady: "No, you can't take it into the park."

Really? A pocketknife? It's got a 2" blade on it! She only noticed it because, by some freak coincidence, my t-shirt wasn't covering it. There have got to be 1000 people already in Disney at this point carrying a knife. But no, she was serious.

So Paige and I discussed the plan. I was going to walk back to the entrance, slide the pocket knife into my pocket, and head back to a different security booth. Meanwhile Paige and Ella would get our tickets and meet me at the front gate. Surely this was a foolproof plan for defeating Disney's silly "security" regulation.

Ummmm, not so much. I executed the above plan flawlessly, up until I got about 10 feet from the security checkpoint.

Voice from behind me: "Excuse me sir!"

Me, turning around: "Yes?"

Just now noticing that this guy is dressed in an official looking Disney shirt, and flashed some type of official looking badge...

Disney security: "Were you asked to go back to your hotel to leave your pocketknife?"

Me, still trying to grasp that Disney is this serious about a tiny pocketknife: "Uhhh, yeah."

Disney guy: "And did you?"

Me: "Uhhhh, no."

Disney guy: "You are going to have to leave and come back without the knife."

At this point I think I asked again if he was really serious. He was. Grrrrr....

So off I went, back to the hotel. Luckily it was only about a 10 minute walk back. I left my extremely dangerous weapon back at the hotel, and started the walk back to Disney, updating my Facebook status as I walked: "Jason Addink is now walking BACK to Disneyland, defenseless, with only my mad ninja skills to survive. Way to make the kingdom magic guys. Sheesh..."

A classmate from high school immediately commented: "I'm sorry, but you have to be pretty stupid to think you can bring in a knife to Disneyland. Who's going to jump you, Pluto? If I didn't know you got a practically perfect score on your SAT I would smack you right now."

Ha ha ha. Seriously, it never even crossed my mind that a pocketknife would get them all in a tizzy. I mean, it's not as if I tried to carry a gun into Disney. I was smart enough to leave all those home... ;)

So I walked back to Disney, figuring that now I would be subjected to a strip search before I could enter the happiest place on earth. But no. One of the security ladies met me as I stood outside the booth (obviously security was still watching me.) She gave me a "go to the front of any line" pass and then WALKED ME AROUND SECURITY WITHOUT EVEN SEARCHING ME! I could have been wearing a full on explosive vest, for pete's sake, and they never would have noticed! Or had that evil dangerous knife back in my pocket. Or had my pepper spray, which they never asked about... ;)

Brilliant!!!

Anyways...

I waited outside the gate for Paige and Ella to get off their first ride and bring me my ticket.

Then we boarded the train...

and headed for our first ride, Splash Mountain. Ella was super excited when the ride started...

but not so much by the time it ended.

We probably should have prepped her a little better. The pitch black screaming plunge in the middle of the ride managed to reduce her to tears. I was a little worried that Splash Mountain might have been the end of the day. But one ride on Winnie the Pooh, and she was ready to go again. She wanted a rollercoaster. So we headed for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We hit the first dark tunnel, and were back to terrified...

but had totally recovered before the end of the ride.

We had discovered earlier in the day, through the magic of Facebook, that our friends Phil and Kate were at Disney the same day with their daughter Kaley. While we were waiting in the line for Dumbo, they just happened to walk up. They joined us on Dumbo, and for most of the rest of the day.

Paige and Ella had one elephant...

Kate and Kaley had another...

And then... cozy!

Small World was next...

The rocket ride. Paige and I attempted to squeeze into a rocket together. That was, ummm, comical. So I just ended up taking pictures...

Phil, showing off his gun(s) on the Buzz Lightyear ride.

Over to the Jungle Cruise, where they apparently had a serious lapse in their park "security" inspections. So I can't have a pocketknife, but the monkey gets a revolver?

After hitting the Matterhorn (used the "go to the front of the line pass"), Indiana Jones (just Phil and I) and I am sure a few other rides that I am forgetting, we headed back to the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Kaley looks just a weeee bit terrified, but she did really well on the ride.

Then the girls got some early driving practice in on Autopia.

And Phil plugged up the whole works to take a picture...

We also hit the submarine ride (used the go to the front of the line pass a second time, where they got smart and actually took it from us.) Then our friends headed off for a dinner with the princesses, and we headed to Tom Sawyer's Island.

After a quick refueling on mozzarella sticks, chicken strips, and french fries, we headed for our last rides of the day, on what was by far Ella's favorite...

While the fried food gave us a burst of energy to finish the day, it may not have been the most brilliant idea right before riding a roller coaster. Facing backwards. While attempting to run a video camera. Both Paige and I were feeling a bit queasy at the end of the ride.

And then, before she knew it, the park was closing.

We did manage to find the brick out front that Aunt Gina got for her.

Our friends came over to our hotel that night and we all spent quite a while playing in the waterpark. Somehow, after popping out of bed with the sun, going strong all day at Disney, playing in the waterpark all night, Ella still had tons of energy. But a short while watching a movie, and she was getting very sleepy.

The next morning, we made the trek back to Phoenix, fueled by rich mocha goodness...

(It was just an apple cider that she was stealing from Paige. But the picture was funny.)

Despite the ridiculous "security" policies at Disneyland, we had a great time. We had tons of fun hanging out with friends (an unexpected surprise) and going on all the rides. Ella did great, and had more fun than should be legal for a 6 year old. Too bad they don't do the free birthday thing every year.

Happy 6th birthday kiddo!