"...to all who come to this happy place, welcome...": Disneyland trip report, May 2022

 Inspired to write this based on this post by my friend (I commented on it, too, hahahaha).

You can see more photos here on my Flickr  because stupid Blogger doesn't support Flickr embeds (since I paid for them, GOD DAMN IT). 

I spent my entire childhood dreaming about Disneyland. It's sort of remarkable that I even went to Disneyland  as much as I did, once or twice a year, for someone who scores 10/10 on the CDC's ACE test. Disneyland was one of the only things about my childhood that made me feel even vaguely normal, and was one of the only places in the entire world I felt safe. 

Being hesitant about recent changes doesn't make me (and others) an immovable spoiled brat. Change is inevitable, and in many ways healthy, but you never know how certain changes to things are going to effect your brain, especially if you are one of those people who looks for certain things for stability. I know there has been a lot of truly, and deeply shitty mocking of this lately, but why be an absolute piece of shit when you can just mind your own damn business and be quiet? I feel like it's not that hard.

I know that Disneyland doesn't actually belong to guests. I am fully aware that it is not a museum. But there is something to be said about the soulless Marvelfication of Disney Now, I like Star Wars and Marvel an awful lot, but it really does feel like they are... infesting everything. Considering that both occupy very valuable real estate in the Anaheim parks with bringing very, very little interest (other than getting to see Chewbacca, I will never say no to that!), it just seems like two very wasted opportunities monopolize a LOT of energy and space. 

Friday: Flight to Orange County.

The flight to SNA was awful. The two women sitting next to me talked at maximum volume about absolutely nothing for the entire duration of both taxis and flight, to the point where I actually got sensory overload and puked when I got off the plane. No one was wearing masks, except a small handful of people. I am 100000% perfectly fine with wearing a mask on planes for the rest of my mortal existence, because being that close to people using recycled air is just... not it, kids. There was also zero legroom. I am a short person, barely reaching 5ft tall, so I am used to legroom in most situations, and this was a first, honestly!

Shuttle to the hotel was very pleasant, and I highly recommend using a family-owned shuttle service or taxi over a Lyft or other rideshare.

After checking in and dropping off our luggage, we killed about 3 hours in Downtown Disney before we got to put our bags in our hotel room.

We had this absolutely amazing Mexican food for Lunch/ Dinner. 

I had an alcoholic drink with lunch! I don't drink alcohol, but it just seemed like a "when in Rome!" kind of moment. I instantly felt sick afterwards. :D It sure tasted good, though.

"Diversity and inclusion, uwu"... or... something like that. 👀😨😳😬

I made this VIP (very important purchase) at World of Disney and sent pictures to my friend who is equally obsessed with Elliot for approval.

I forgot my house shoes at home (I forgot I had thrown them away the night before), so we went to Walgreens to get some bottled water (because LA tap water is putrid) and some slip ons of some kind.

I don't wear sandals, let alone flip flops and I have zero idea how to walk in them. Yes, these are a kid size 3/4. Yes, I absolutely hate shit in these about 457 million times.

Spent the rest of the evening sorting everything I needed into the two bags, which was much harder than it looks. I think I have it down now, but there will definitely be adjustments for the August trip.

SATURDAY!:

My friend Emily met us at the park! This would be the first of two whole days with her (SO MUCH FUN). She spent a day with us on our September trip, and  she is not only an amazing friend, she is the literal perfect Disneyland Buddy ™.

"Well, everybody does that way, Huck." "Tom, it don't make no difference. I ain't everybody..."

I am short, hahaha.

This was AMAZING, 25/10

Unfortunately, this dress doesn't photograph as well as I'd like and I worry is a little too unflattering. :( (This photo is cute, though.) Dress will be getting its own entry!

Um, we also MET MICKEY AND MINNIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was a WRECK lol!

Perfection, honestly.

SUNDAY!:

Sunday was both Mothers' Day and Bats' Day, and we started off in DCA. It was overcast and muggy and reminded me a lot of home, so I had no complaints! I wasn't AS gothy as I might have normally been for a gothy even, but I thought it was going to be hot, and it wasn't.  I rode Grizzly River Run for the first time in a decade and we saw a Disneyland cat!!!! (Francisco!) Mickey's Philharmagic was SO CUTE!

We hopped briefly into Disneyland, but came back later that night for World of Color, which is SO OVERRATED. I am low-key mad that I had to sit and wait for it, but then it was boring!!! The Toy Story and Pirates segments were pretty cool, but it it mostly boring and also shows Mufasa's death for literally no reason. 0/10, do not recommend, go ride something instead. My other note about DCA is that Avengers' Campus is absolutely hideous. It's ugly, and dull, and a total waste of real estate. I am not a  Marvel-hater (and I don't understand the point of people who have to tell everyone that they don't watch or dislike Marvel movies, you could just not watch them and be quiet about it, but OKAY), but AC looks cheap and tacky and boring.

MONDAY:

This Snow White-themed bound was probably the most comfortable thing I wore on the entire trip. And, unfortunately, also the most flattering. :(

Monday was our last day and we just spent the whole time in Disneyland proper. My sister and our friend (and her son and his girl friend) spent some time with us. 

Ronto Wraps are freaking amazing and appropriately hyped.

This image literally makes me want to THROW UP, lol.

I conquered my fear of putting my hands up.

TUESDAY:

Flight home with all my friends. 💖 There was an especially cute baby on the flight home who wanted to be my friend, hahahaha.

Some other notes about this trip:

• I was such a huge hater about Genie Plus, but then it ended up being great, actually? It was the same price as the old photo pass, only you got Fast Passes with it, too, so it was totally worth it for the two days we used it. 
• Star Tours> Smuggler's Run. SR made me sick. Our screen  malfunctioned, my joystick barely worked. I don't really want to wait in line for all that time just to get stressed TF out!
• I brought the heated rollers and they were useless in the face of humidity. I am going to try the foam rollers on the upcoming trip.
• NO ONE TOLD ME HOW CUTE LITTLE KIDS WERE GONNA BE TOWARDS GOTHS ON BATS DAY.
• My shoe selection was... not that great.  I am now on the hunt for good Disneyland shoes again.
• Splash was in SUCH good condition, it made me sooooo happy. It was doing better than Haunted Mansion in a lot of areas. Twice our Doom Buggy audio was MESSED UP and we got Haunted Mansion Holiday! I wonder if it's the same DB we got twice! :o
• Seriously, the Pocahontas shit everywhere is UNCOMFORTABLE. That shit is just gross, there are no two ways about it.
• The guest behaviour on this last trip was absolutely appalling, I was SHOCKED. It was straight up #NoParentsNoRules!!! I am no Karen and let a lot of things slide, but screaming obscenities on all the rides, flipping off the cameras, cutting lines, wearing shirts with offensive material on them, LIKE COME ON

This is from the night I rode Splash for a second time in a row because the first time there were two annoying young men screaming the n-word, the f-word, and the four letter r-word non-stop. I got a log all to myself and I just enjoyed it. It felt so special and like it was truly all mine.

Okay, Disneyland, see you again in August.