We've been to Disneyland as a family before on Christmas. It has never been crowded, and I've heard that many people, who do not celebrate Christmas, go to Disneyland instead. I've been to Disneyland on Christmas two previous times, and they were relatively uncrowded events.
So we decided to go to Disneyland this year. Jerry & Tracy came up with my nieces from San Diego so the seven of us could go as one big family. Although we agreed not to purchase gifts for each other this year, the little girls did each receive a present; a set of farmhouse animals for Blakley and a Cinderella bicycle for Clarity (video).
Cathy hasn't been handling physical activities very well, so I called Disneyland about reserving a wheelchair... that just doesn't happen, apparently. I asked around at work and, to my delight, a co-worker had access to one! So it came to be that I brought a wheelchair to Disneyland with us.
We took two cars and found out at the parking structure that Disneyland was closed! We were offered a chance to go to California Adventure (which, located in So Cal, seems silly)... as a family we decided we just wanted to be there together, and since mom hadn't been to California Adventure yet, we figured we could go.
It turns out that my sister-in-law is very persuasive. We all bought tickets, and she noted that some people were getting in to Disneyland. She eyed the ticket-inspectors at the gate and picked her quarry... and after a minute she had talked her way into Disneyland! We were all very happy and posed for a group photo before that entrance flower display.
We didn't get to ride a lot of the big attractions, but we did go on the Indiana Jones Adventure, Pirates of the Caribbean (Yo-Ho-Yo-Ho) and Star Tours. I took a "video" of Indiana Jones, but it's mostly audio as it was really dark.
We were fortunate to find a really good spot to watch the fireworks display Remember... Dreams Come True. Because of Cathy's wheelchair, we were allowed to occupy a small area off the main walkway normally reserved for Disneyland equipment. We had a clear view of the castle, and I filmed the fireworks as well (which came out pretty nice, I think it's worth watching).
Of course, we had to ride It's A Small World, and my in-laws got us all into Haunted Mansion Holiday. By the time all these were done, having pushed Cathy around all afternoon, I was feeling pretty done myself, so I waited while the others went on Astro Blasters and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
It was a very fun day, if a tiring one. Cathy enjoyed herself, which made it a very good day in my book.
No comments:
Post a Comment