Our Disney adventure

Well, yesterday was the big day: Jack's first trip to Disneyland. It was fantastic. I can't believe how much fun we had.

Our day started off really early, which was by design. We had driven up the night before and stayed in the Park Vue Inn just across the street from the park so that we could avoid having to make the drive up and back the same day. We were all through the gates before 9:00 AM. It was already pretty crowded when we got there, but that was nothing compared to how crowded it would be before the day was over. I guess a lot of schools are already on Spring Break. The weather was gorgeous. It started off cool, got hot in the middle of the day, and cooled down again in the evening.

(The day got off to an even more magical start when I received a text from Nat announcing the birth of her own little Jack. Yay!)

The first thing Jack wanted to do was ride the train around the park. Imagine his excitement when he saw this sign on the back of the seat in front of us:

"Men and women!" he exclaimed throughout the ride.

We hopped off the train at Mickey's Toontown and headed toward Fantasyland. One of the rides I really wanted to take Jack to see was "It's a Small World." His eyes were huge as he tried to take it all in. There were a few parts that were a little overwhelming to him. He didn't like the flying carpets in the Arabian section, and then he didn't like the parts where the fans were blowing in his face. But the rest of the day, he kept singing, "It's a small world after all! It's a small world after all! It's a small world after all!" I had to finish off, "It's a small, small world," or else he would have kept going in an infinite loop.

We then made our way to Mickey's Toontown. I used to go to Disneyland with my parents twice a year every year as a child, but Toontown was built after my time. The one thing that struck both Tom and me was how the blue sky looked like it was part of the built set.

Jack met Goofy and Mickey here. Another change from when I used to visit regularly is how long the line is to wait to meet the characters. They are attractions unto themselves, which I guess is understandable.

We hung around Toontown for a bit, where Jack encountered his first bathroom. Thankfully, the bathroom obsession was mostly a good thing for us. We used it to motivate to get moving a few times when he was being recalcitrant.

Next, we were off to the Dumbo ride. It is so similar to the Jack's favorite Elmo Flying Fish ride at Sea World that I was certain he would love it. Unfortunately, one thing it does not have in common is a short line. The park was really starting to get crowded by mid-morning, and we ended up having to wait for Dumbo for about 20 minutes. While we were in line, Jack noticed that the elephants were numbered, and he kept pointing out the number 7. (7 and 8 are his favorite numbers.) I thought I would be so clever and get in elephant number 8 so that he could see the number 7 throughout the ride, the #8 elephant also having the added benefit of being Jack's favorite color green.

But I obviously was being far too clever, because Jack was MAD that we weren't in elephant #7. And then he was mad that we had to get out. "No other boy's turn! No other boy's turn!" he kept saying.

Which brings me to a little digression about Jack's line-waiting behavior. Jack has never been the most patient child. (I know, I wonder where he got that from...) But he has now added to that a troubling tendency to fixate on some random kid with whom he does not want to share or take turns. On the playground, this frequently manifests itself in screaming when another child wants to use the slide after him or has the temerity to sit in the swing that he was in 15 minutes ago. He'll frequently shriek, "No girl play with shovel!" or "No baby's turn!" or "No other boy!" (Since Jack knows he's a boy, every boy he encounters is the "other" boy.)

So, back to Disneyland, throughout the day, Jack would find an arbitrary child in whatever line we happened to be waiting and shout, "No other boy go first!" or "No baby's turn!" or "No that girl on ride!" Not embarrassing at all. Thanks, Jack!

After Dumbo, we wandered over to King Arthur's Carousel, with which Jack ended up having a very complex relationship. He was a little freaked out at first with the moving horse, but by the end of the ride he was sort of into it. He was so bummed when the ride was over that we stayed for a second go-round (the line thankfully wasn't very long at this point).

We then walked over to Critter Country to meet Winnie the Pooh, and we passed the ride. Even though I had resigned myself to not going on it based on prior conversations with Jack, we asked him once more if he wanted to go. He said yes this time, so we figured we'd give it a whirl. We asked the ride attendant when the Heffalumps make an appearance, with the idea that we would just cover his eyes during that part. But we were so pleasantly surprised that the dream sequence was actually very bright and not that scary. It didn't faze Jack in the slightest.

Then it was time to meet Pooh and his friends. While we waited for Pooh to arrive, Jack played with the honey pots display they use as a backdrop for the Pooh photo op. Jack was pretending to eat the honey, which was so cute.

When Pooh came at last, the look on Jack's face when he met Winnie the Pooh was pure joy. He gave him a big hug, and we took a bunch of pictures.

I wish he would have been able to spend more time with him, but there was a huge line behind us. We went farther down the path and met Eeyore and Tigger. It would have been more fun for Jack if they had had Piglet or Rabbit (do they even have a Rabbit character costume?), but the Tigger especially was very nice. I think Jack was happy to meet them.

We met up with our friends, Danielle, Bill, and Charlotte, before going back to Toontown. Jack had a blast playing with the buttons in the Toontown Post Office.

He also went on his very first roller coaster ride there. He just barely made the height requirement of 35 inches.

At first they almost didn't let him in, because he was slouching (with both Tom and me as parents, I'm surprised he's not already a hunchback). I'm not sure Jack would have been that disappointed if he couldn't have gone on, although I would have been peeved because this was by far the longest line we waited in all day. He liked the roller coaster at first, but I think the intensity and high speeds were a little too sustained for him. He looked a bit shaken by the time it ended. But he bounced back pretty quickly. Really, he was such a trouper all day with all the new experiences.

We rode the cars next. Right before we boarded, an attendant gave us these little cardboard cards that you apparently can use to get drivers licenses. These were the best things ever for Jack. He played with them for the better part of the rest of the afternoon.

By this time, poor Danielle and Bill were starving, so we had an eclectic meal of kebabs and Mexican food. The food at Disneyland has come a long way from what I remembered, and Danielle surprised me with a delicious piece of chocolate cake for my birthday.

We went back to the carousel before our friends had to go home. Jack started out fine, but then he decided he wanted me to get off my horse and get on the back of his. Try getting down and then back up two moving horses, and see how well you do. A nice lady who happened to be on the other side of him saved Jack from taking a spill himself.

After we said goodbye to Danielle, Bill, and Charlotte, we went to the gift store for some souvenirs. Jack, after long deliberations and several test hugs, finally decided on a small stuffed Pooh and Piglet, which he then clutched almost continuously throughout the night. (Tom and I also bought our customary shot glass souvenir.) At this point, we had done everything that I wanted to do, but there was a fireworks show scheduled for 9:25 that night. I am a sucker for fireworks. We decided to stick it out.

We toodled around Main Street USA for a while. Jack discovered a door to the toy store on our way out, and he spent quite a lot of time turning the deadbolt back and forth, back and forth.

He chased some ducks (who had put on a pornographic show for amused spectators earlier that morning). You know, all things that you go to Disneyland to do, because there are no ducks or doors in San Diego to play with for free.

While we were killing time waiting for the fireworks to start, Jack decided he wanted one last ride on the carousel. Alas, this ride started and ended like the last - we all started on our own horses, at Jack's insistence, and then midway through he demanded that I get on the back of his horse. Only this time, I couldn't quite manage it, and the camera that was around my neck popped open and spewed all the batteries everywhere. One of them even rolled off the spinning platform.

Finally, at long last, it was time for the fireworks show to start. We pulled up a patch of street at a place where an attendant (mistakenly, it turns out) said that we should be able to see them. And, of course, as soon as the show started, Jack was frightened by all the noise.

"Go home!" he started whimpering. "Want to go!"

There was nothing for it but for us to make our way toward the exit, with Daddy carrying Jack in his arms and Jack clasping Piglet tightly in his. He ended up falling asleep as we were walking, so we were able to stop and watch a lot of the fireworks anyway. And they were amazing.

It was a wonderful and exhausting day and a perfect way to celebrate my birthday.