catherinehepburn:

Disneyland Hangover: Dis·ney·land [diz-nee-land] hang·o·ver/ˈhaNGˌōvər/
Definition: Your body feeling sore in many places (sometimes all places) the day after a Disneyland trip. Regardless of the soreness and exhaustion, your body still possesses glee, or a spark therein related to Disneyland.

Yesterday was yet another wonderful Disneyland adventure with James. We got there early enough to be parked in the Pinocchio parking lot, which is my favorite place to be parked as well as the most convenient. Walked around Downtown Disney and explored the Rainforest Cafe before finally sitting down to watch Beauty and the Beast in 3D, which was amazing if I do say so myself.

After the movie let out, we hopped the Monorail and got out in Tomorrowland, and had our first ride at Autopia together since getting our Annual Passes (James was the driver). We went on Space Mountain which had a 10 minute wait, I mean… no wait, Fast Passed Star Tours, and had a go on Buzz Lightyear (I won!). I finally got to trade away one of my bulky/heavier pins for a cutest pin of Ham wearing a Goofy hat, and James traded two of his for a baby Pluto and plush Goofy pins. I WILL turn him into a pin trading nerd, I just know it.

We made our way to Adventureland and made a stop at the Jungle Cruise. I got a few (hopefully) good pictures on my Lomo fisheye camera. I’ve been wanting to take more Disneyland pictures with that film camera. (Even though the bulb for the flash is broken and I can only take daytime pictures or really bright indoor nighttime pictures.) We made a climb into Tarzan’s Treehouse because I haven’t been up there in forever and he had never been there before. I forgot how many damn steps there were for that Treehouse!

After getting back on ground level, we jumped in the short 3 minute line for Pirates of the Caribbean, walked around New Orleans Square and spotted Club 33. We made our way to the Haunted Mansion, fresh off from being transformed back to normal after almost 4 months of Haunted Mansion Holiday. I’m not sure if this is considered unpopular opinion or not, but I’d much rather go on the Haunted Mansion when it’s in its classic pride and glory, rather than all the Nightmare Before Christmas swag. But that’s just me.

We strolled over to Critter Country, passing Splash Mountain because James hates water rides unless it’s really hot, and went on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. After we got out, we fell in line for pictures with Eeyore and Pooh, and I got them to sign the birthday cards for my niece and nephew.

By that time we were pretty starved, so we got Subway for a late lunch and I pretty much inhaled my sandwich. Upon re-entering the park, Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy were hanging out on Main Street, so I got each of them to sign the birthday cards as well. Goofy wasn’t looking where he was signing, so he ended up signing over Eeyore and Pooh’s signatures on one of the cards, oops.

We headed for Toon Town and as we were passing Fantasyland, Marie (zomgodzilla.tumblr.com), a follower from FuckYeahDisneyland recognized me! I was so happy and surprised to have had the chance to meet up with a follower! We chatted a bit, dorked out about Disneyland, and the three of us had some Toon Town shenanigans. Roger Rabbit was closed when we got there, so we walked around, took pictures with Donald, and rode Gadget’s Go Coaster. By the time we made our way back to Roger Rabbit, it was open! When I was younger, I always felt that it was an overrated ride, but it so is not!

After Toon Town, James and I parted ways with Marie and we headed to Star Tours to skip the stand-by line with our Fast Passes. We were seated at the last row, the back of the Star Cruiser, which I had never sat before. My feet were dangling from my seat and were nowhere near touching the ground. We ventured to the Wookie Planet and the Death Star. It was really fun to go into hyper space with my feet floating, although a few times I had to brace them on the seat in front of me to prevent my gut from being sliced in half with the seatbelt, haha.

When we got off Star Tours, the park was about 20 minutes away from closing, and we both felt tired enough to have been satisfied by the day’s adventures, so we called it and headed back to the parking lot.

In retrospect, we really missed California Adventure and it was kind of weird to not have set foot at the park at all during our visit, especially because we usually spend the majority of our visits at California Adventure rather than Disneyland. We promised we’d visit both parks during our next trip (hopefully in a couple of weeks!).

With every new Disneyland trip we make, it only confirms my theory that each and every visit is unique and different. Although the parks and rides stay the same, the time enjoyed with the company you keep is always new, and no two memories are alike.