If you know me, you know I love Disney. Disney movies, cartoons, clothes, stickers, facts, Disneyland, Disney World. I love it all. There's just something magical about going to Disneyland. As soon as I step into the park parking lot, I get so excited. I'm that much closer to having an amazing time. Riding awesome rides, taking pictures, seeing shows, and learning more about the park and it's history. Every single thing there makes me happy. I honestly cannot count how many times that I have been to Disneyland. My parents started taking me when I was a little girl, but that didn't stop me from making great memories. Why they took me so often, I don't know. The fact that they did, I am so grateful.
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A totally adorable pic of my Dad and I in the parking lot
-on our way to Disneyland Park!-
I remember going when I was little, and when I was a pre-teen, discovering Sephora in Downtown Disney. I remember when the California Adventure Park opened up, and I rode my first upside down roller coaster there on the California Screamin' ride. Every trip I have made there was special in it's own way. Before trips to a Disney park I would begin to research things. Secrets that most people don't know about when they visit the parks. Things like where to meet certain characters, where the best places to be are during shows, which rides to ride during certain times so there was little wait. I even learned things as to why Walt Disney built certain rides, and little facts about Disneyland when they first opened up, like this cute little date night idea to get more teenagers to visit the park.
After the passing of my Dad, my Mom and I wanted to flee, far from the reality of things. We wanted to go somewhere that we haven't been with my Dad before. Create a new memory while getting away from things, we decided to go to Disney World, in 2008. Going here was such an excitement for me. It was the first (and only, so far) time that I had been there. Instead of "Frontierland" and "Toontown" sections that Disneyland had, Disney World had parks for sections. Each park was it's own theme. My most memorable was Epcot, which is big, 300 acres big. Bigger than my second favorite park, the Magic Kingdom which is 107 acres. My Mom and I stayed at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, where animals like Giraffes along with 30 other animals were seen in a jungle right out your window or from your balcony. Our travel agent scored us a room on the club level also. This was luxury. Not only did it help us relax and get away from a tragedy that we were suffering from, but it was an amazing place to explore, discover, play and learn. We spent our days taking a bus to a different park every day, discovering how different Disney World was from Disneyland, having fun, and then relaxing in the hot tub down by the pool before we went to bed. If I could ever go to Disney World again, I hope I'm lucky enough to have an experience like this again.
View from a room at the lodge
We continued to visit Disneyland several times after our trip to Disney World. My hubs and I even went to Disneyland back when we were just dating. Him taking me there was so awesome. He knew how much I loved Disney anything and it meant a lot to me for him to take me there. We stayed at Embassy Suites and would just walk to Disneyland for the few days we were there. (I don't really recommend doing that walk, it sucked walking back after walking around the park all day.) While we were there we witnessed the opening of a new ride in Disney's California Adventure. We waited in a long line to go on Toy Story Midway Mania where you rode around playing 3-D games, competing with the person next to you. It was so much fun!
For hubs and I's honeymoon, can you guess where we went? Disneyland! This time we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel, as soon as we arrived we received our "Just Married" pins at the front desk. That first day we arrived in the evening, so we didn't want to waist a day of our three-day pass for just an evening. We went to our room, discovered all the things in there. Our room was quite far up, and in the corner of the building. Two of our walls were all windows, one wall contained a door to a balcony where later that night we watched a fantastic view of the Disneyland fireworks.
fireworks view from our balcony
Our beds headboard even lit up and played music (cheesy, but I loved it!)
That night we also went to the ESPN Zone for dinner, and had delicious food. The next few days were filled with great memories. We were treated with two things that really stuck out to me the most. One day we were browsing around one of the stores in the park, while wearing our mickey ear hats that have the veil and top hat. A woman that worked there came up to us to congratulate us on our wedding, and then asked us if we would like to get our hats engraved, for free! I was so excited, of course we took the offer!
Here's what we got engraved!
Another treat that stood out: We were standing in line for the ride Star Tours. We were grabbing our glasses for the ride when a man who worked at the ride approached us, congratulating us and handed us a paper, explaining to us that we can take that paper to another worker when we got off the ride to get back on and skip the line! This was awesome! We really enjoyed this trip together, and Disney made our honeymoon even more special for us.
The last time that I was at Disneyland, was for my birthday in Oct of 2013. My Mom and Step Dad took Hubs and I as a birthday present. Again, I got a birthday button and was treated a few times to special things that Disney does. It made another celebration even more fantastic. I cannot wait to go to a Disney Park again!
My birthday treat from a Disney restaurant.
Disney Fun Facts:
Walt Disney did not like the fact that characters in costume could get caught taking their costumes off, and therefore created a tunnel system for the characters to change costumes in.
Walt Disney spent a day following customers, determining how many steps in average a piece of trash was thrown on the ground. He then placed a trash can for that calculated amount of steps to make sure people had one close to them at all times.
The voices of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, were married in real life. Awe, how sweet.
If you send Mickey and Minnie Mouse an invitation to your wedding, they send you back an autographed postcard congratulating you (I did this, and received one myself!).
The Matterhorn ride in Disneyland has a half court basketball court for staff to use.
On the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, the room with skeletons used to be filled with real ones. Now, there is only one item in there that is real, the skull and crossbones above the bed.
The paths in Disneyland that you walk on aren't just tar and cement, but contain a certain amount of rubber to add comfort.
Disney offers great Military discounts - they change though, so be sure to check them out whenever wanting to visit if you are in the Military. We use this every time we go of course, and saves us quite a bit of money.
Devices called "Smellitzers" are all around the park, releasing scents that go along with where you are in the park.
When Walt Disney was at the park, there would be a light in the window of the Main Street Fire House. Nowadays, the light is always on, in remembrance.
Steve, DJ's boyfriend from the show Full House, was the voice of Aladdin.
If you buy a balloon in Disneyland, keep your receipt. If you lose your balloon or it gets popped, show your receipt to the store and they will replace your lost one.
