The Land of Hap pee ness
It is with a heavy heart that I write this post. The happiest place on earth has been peed upon and lost a bit of its luster.
I took Caitlyn to Disneyland on Saturday.
The Good:
It is Christmas time, so it was all decorated so wonderfully. We went to the Princess show (they taught the girls to curtsy and Caity danced with Cinderella--the heartstopping wonderment of dancing with your favorite person on the planet). Caitlyn was in another dimension of happiness that we mere mortals can only dream of. Then we went to Minnie Mouse's house and Caitlyn got to hug Minnie Mouse--her favorite. She played with everything--everything in Minnie's house and ran next door to Mickey's house. Now she was getting overloaded, so we did not wait in line to see Mickey and like a drug addict her eyes darted around toon town to see what else there was to do. We went to Donald Duck's house and waved at Goofy from the top. We went on the little roller coaster that she hated, but when offered another ride, she didn't hestitate to say yes and then scream that she wanted off the entire time. Then she forgot that she hated the roller coaster and was very upset that she couldn't go on the huge one in California Adventure because she wasn't tall enough.
She was very grown up and wanted to go on the ferris wheel and then when we were at the top, she said she didn't like being so high up. She had lots of fun in the toy story ride and was thrilled that she "beat" Aunt Kathy's score (which I figured out she couldn't really read the numbers, so I just had to tell her that she won and she was exstatic). We had pizza and chicken nuggets and french fries and popcorn--the four major (junk) food groups. And although the fireworks were cancelled due to high winds, Caitlyn was asleep by then anyway. Before she fell asleep, she got the prize that she most wanted: Princess, Minnie Mouse Ears with a crown and a veil. [Do those disney merchandizers know their audience or what!] The child had a magical day.
The Bad:
It was so very crowded. I had rented a stoller and that was really the only way to keep track of a six year old. I kept running into people's feet and getting hit with people's large backpacks as they turned around. Some of the lines had lanes that were so skinny, I felt like a sardine and that was even before I was reduced to picking up the pretty cranky "waiting-in-line" Caitlyn (as opposed to the excited "I want to do that again" Caitlyn) and holding her until my arms wanted to fall off. At the end of the day, she still frantically wanted to see more attractions, so I took her up the stairs to the Tarzen house (it used to be the Swiss Family Robinson). It was about 8 flights of stairs, then a wiggly bridge to the tree. My knees were screaming going up, up, up all the stairs and then at the bridge, Caitlyn absolutely refused to cross it. I dragged her in a way that I'm not proud of, but I couldn't face those stairs without an attaction payoff. [She did absolutely love the attraction scenes from Tarzan, even if she had no idea about the story.]
The Ugly:
A few years ago, I stood in line for two hours just to get the tickets to go into Disneyland. The entire time in line, long as it was, I was struck by how happy everyone in the line was. The excitement was palpable. So for the most part, my experience up until now has been that the lines, while long, are ok--not horrible--sometimes almost pleasant. For some reason, I have fond memories of the lines into the Haunted House and Pirates of the Caribian--perhaps because the lines are almost always twice or three or twenty times as long as the ride itself, but I digress.
Caitlyn and I stood in line for the Dumbo ride. The sun was just starting to dip. The lanes were very skinny. The lady in front of us had two children. Then she let three adults and two more children cut into the line, as she was saving their place. It had already been a long day and Caitlyn was pretty heavy. I was leaning against a railing, but the lanes were so skinny, that I didn't always have space to lean, so maybe the expression on my face when all those people got in front of us was not happy.
One of the ladies who cut was trying to convince two more adults to come in line with them, but they declined and waited outside the line. So this group had an adult for each kid, plus two extra adults out of the line and they had no problem saving their place and cutting in and out. YET, this horrible, horrible, nay I will even add, evil person (I hate to think that she is the mother--probably the drug addicted cousin with no children judging by the extrordinate amount of eyeshadow and glassy eyes) takes the youngest child--maybe three or four years old--pulls down his pants and gets him to pee on the grass in line. He's crying--he doesn't want to. Evil B***h is yelling at him to go. I closed my eyes and tried to transport myself to another dimension and made sure that Caitlyn was facing the other direction. We had another 30 minutes in line with these mutants. The small child left the line before the ride--never did see where he went.
Caitlyn enjoyed the Dumbo ride and her "let's do that again" Caitlyn self was hard to resist, but I can never set foot in Fantasyland ever again. The luster stinks.
When the fireworks were cancelled, the shear mass of people leaving did not give me any alternative, but to get pushed out with the flow--no easy task with a stroller and a sleeping child covered with every bit of clothing we had to keep warm, two drinks (no cupholders in the rented stroller) that had spilled all over the every bit of clothing that we had, so that we had to buy a new sweatshirt for bottem layer, a tub of popcorn (that spilled, of course) and all the actriments that come with spending over 12 hours at Disneyland. Everything that was disposable, was disposed of upon returning the stroller and I carried all the keep pile stuff and the sleeping Caitlyn until my arms did actually give out. Then I had to act like a drill sargent to make Caitlyn stay awake and walking until we got to our destination (by which time she was wide awake and asking for a movie that I had no way to provide, oye. She fell asleep to Seinfeld.)
I keep trying to remember the wonderment part, but the pee part keeps stinking up the joint. It might be a long time before I go there again.
I took Caitlyn to Disneyland on Saturday.
The Good:
It is Christmas time, so it was all decorated so wonderfully. We went to the Princess show (they taught the girls to curtsy and Caity danced with Cinderella--the heartstopping wonderment of dancing with your favorite person on the planet). Caitlyn was in another dimension of happiness that we mere mortals can only dream of. Then we went to Minnie Mouse's house and Caitlyn got to hug Minnie Mouse--her favorite. She played with everything--everything in Minnie's house and ran next door to Mickey's house. Now she was getting overloaded, so we did not wait in line to see Mickey and like a drug addict her eyes darted around toon town to see what else there was to do. We went to Donald Duck's house and waved at Goofy from the top. We went on the little roller coaster that she hated, but when offered another ride, she didn't hestitate to say yes and then scream that she wanted off the entire time. Then she forgot that she hated the roller coaster and was very upset that she couldn't go on the huge one in California Adventure because she wasn't tall enough.
She was very grown up and wanted to go on the ferris wheel and then when we were at the top, she said she didn't like being so high up. She had lots of fun in the toy story ride and was thrilled that she "beat" Aunt Kathy's score (which I figured out she couldn't really read the numbers, so I just had to tell her that she won and she was exstatic). We had pizza and chicken nuggets and french fries and popcorn--the four major (junk) food groups. And although the fireworks were cancelled due to high winds, Caitlyn was asleep by then anyway. Before she fell asleep, she got the prize that she most wanted: Princess, Minnie Mouse Ears with a crown and a veil. [Do those disney merchandizers know their audience or what!] The child had a magical day.
The Bad:
It was so very crowded. I had rented a stoller and that was really the only way to keep track of a six year old. I kept running into people's feet and getting hit with people's large backpacks as they turned around. Some of the lines had lanes that were so skinny, I felt like a sardine and that was even before I was reduced to picking up the pretty cranky "waiting-in-line" Caitlyn (as opposed to the excited "I want to do that again" Caitlyn) and holding her until my arms wanted to fall off. At the end of the day, she still frantically wanted to see more attractions, so I took her up the stairs to the Tarzen house (it used to be the Swiss Family Robinson). It was about 8 flights of stairs, then a wiggly bridge to the tree. My knees were screaming going up, up, up all the stairs and then at the bridge, Caitlyn absolutely refused to cross it. I dragged her in a way that I'm not proud of, but I couldn't face those stairs without an attaction payoff. [She did absolutely love the attraction scenes from Tarzan, even if she had no idea about the story.]
The Ugly:
A few years ago, I stood in line for two hours just to get the tickets to go into Disneyland. The entire time in line, long as it was, I was struck by how happy everyone in the line was. The excitement was palpable. So for the most part, my experience up until now has been that the lines, while long, are ok--not horrible--sometimes almost pleasant. For some reason, I have fond memories of the lines into the Haunted House and Pirates of the Caribian--perhaps because the lines are almost always twice or three or twenty times as long as the ride itself, but I digress.
Caitlyn and I stood in line for the Dumbo ride. The sun was just starting to dip. The lanes were very skinny. The lady in front of us had two children. Then she let three adults and two more children cut into the line, as she was saving their place. It had already been a long day and Caitlyn was pretty heavy. I was leaning against a railing, but the lanes were so skinny, that I didn't always have space to lean, so maybe the expression on my face when all those people got in front of us was not happy.
One of the ladies who cut was trying to convince two more adults to come in line with them, but they declined and waited outside the line. So this group had an adult for each kid, plus two extra adults out of the line and they had no problem saving their place and cutting in and out. YET, this horrible, horrible, nay I will even add, evil person (I hate to think that she is the mother--probably the drug addicted cousin with no children judging by the extrordinate amount of eyeshadow and glassy eyes) takes the youngest child--maybe three or four years old--pulls down his pants and gets him to pee on the grass in line. He's crying--he doesn't want to. Evil B***h is yelling at him to go. I closed my eyes and tried to transport myself to another dimension and made sure that Caitlyn was facing the other direction. We had another 30 minutes in line with these mutants. The small child left the line before the ride--never did see where he went.
Caitlyn enjoyed the Dumbo ride and her "let's do that again" Caitlyn self was hard to resist, but I can never set foot in Fantasyland ever again. The luster stinks.
When the fireworks were cancelled, the shear mass of people leaving did not give me any alternative, but to get pushed out with the flow--no easy task with a stroller and a sleeping child covered with every bit of clothing we had to keep warm, two drinks (no cupholders in the rented stroller) that had spilled all over the every bit of clothing that we had, so that we had to buy a new sweatshirt for bottem layer, a tub of popcorn (that spilled, of course) and all the actriments that come with spending over 12 hours at Disneyland. Everything that was disposable, was disposed of upon returning the stroller and I carried all the keep pile stuff and the sleeping Caitlyn until my arms did actually give out. Then I had to act like a drill sargent to make Caitlyn stay awake and walking until we got to our destination (by which time she was wide awake and asking for a movie that I had no way to provide, oye. She fell asleep to Seinfeld.)
I keep trying to remember the wonderment part, but the pee part keeps stinking up the joint. It might be a long time before I go there again.
posted by KathrynVH @ 3:56 PM
2 Comments:
At December 5, 2011 at 5:02 PM,
EZ Travel said…
Oh no! You were one of the last adults on earth who still thought of Disney as a magical experience and now that has been ruined. If they were ducking in and out of line anyway why not take the kid to the bathroom? Lazy, lazy mutants.
At December 7, 2011 at 2:22 AM,
Marcel said…
I was enjoying the read until I came to the peeing part. It disgusted me .... how could a civilized person do that to a child in such a beautiful place. The child has more sense than the adult.
Knee problem in Austraila and knee problem in California, Kathy get some help. One of my students told me what made her Disney experience wonderful, the motorized stroller she rented and rode.
I hope Caitlyn reads your blog in about 15 years.
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