You Can't Please Everybody

Brooklyn was the first one to wake up this morning. "Wake up, Dad. It's time-a-go Disneyland again," was the first thing to come out of her mouth while the rest of us were still mostly asleep. Indeed it was. This morning was a day when they allow certain ticket-holders to enter two lands in Disneyland 1 hour early. We'd been trying to go on the new Finding Nemo ride that was still under construction two years ago during our last trip, but its lines have been crazy long. It is in the same place as the old submarine ride in Tomorrow Land. In fact, it IS the old submarine ride. The only thing different is that at about the halfway point, we started seeing characters from and hearing sound bites (made possible by the leading-edge sonar fish translating device; really, that's what they said) from the movie. They're employing some sort of digital projection to create the images. I felt let down. I was expecting so much more.

So we did the early entry hoping to catch Finding Nemo before the long wait. That was what everyone else was doing as well. We saw Mary Poppins and Bert in front of City Hall but consciously ignored them in order to get to Nemo quickly. We didn't get on until 7:30 at night, during the parade, and still had to wait 30 minutes in line. Thinking about missing out on Mary Poppins' photo and signature only adds salt to the wound.

Still, Brookie's quest for autographs is progressing very nicely. Today saw the addition of Aladdin and Jasmine, Woody and Jesse, Pooh and Tigger. Not counting the two pages Brookie scribbled on when we weren't paying attention, she only needs a few more characters to fill her book.

We got on some big rides today, including: Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, the Haunted Mansion (which has been entirely reinvented with a Nightmare Before Christmas theme, which incidentally none of us had actually seen and likely did not appreciate many of the attraction's finer points), Big Thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, and technically Finding Nemo, although there will be virtually zero demand from our group to revisit that one. Djeryd said Indiana Jones was too scary - well, some parts he liked. Two parts anyway. Erik said Splash Mountain was scary, except for the scary part when you think you're falling to your death. That part he liked. Madison thought the Haunted Mansion was going to be scary, but it wasn't. And Brookie thinks everything and everybody is scary.

The most amazing thing about the day was that we stayed out the entire time. Didn't come back to the hotel for anything. Didn't hop over to California Adventure. All day, all Disneyland. The kids were incredible and really, all things considered, have been extremely well mannered and mostly obedient. They don't mind standing in lines. They don't mind standing by strollers waiting for others to ride attractions (when they're too little). They don't mind walking all over the place. They don't mind sharing the three available stroller seats (poor Djeryd never gets to ride).

The kids were so tired that we modified our dinner plans on the fly. Sean and I ran out to grab some Carl's Jr. just to fill tummies. Without going into detail pending possible legal proceedings, that experience left a sour note on the entire day. I am officially boycotting Carl's Jr. and will be writing a letter to their consumer affairs department to make my dissatisfaction known. I also will no longer appear at promotional events for my old soccer team, the Happy Stars, unless Carl's Jr. withdraws their title sponsorship.