Disneyland
Disneyland was fun. It’s sort of a love/hate relationship however. With all the walking and standing in lines, this is pretty much how my trip went . . .
The first day, you’re eager to go into the parks (Disneyland and California Adventures) but by the end of the day, your feet are starting to ache. You think that a good nights sleep will fix it. It does, but your legs are a little sore the next morning.
The second day. You feel a little groggy the next morning but you just chalk it up to jet lag. Since we stayed at the Disneyland resort, we get to go into the park an hour early before the general public. Great!! We can beat the crowds. But when the night ends and the park closes, your feet are starting to really hurt worse than the night before. Another good night sleep is all you need.
The third day. This day, you start to not care what time you get out of bed and don’t care if you can get into the park right when they open, so you sleep in even a little later than the day before and get into the parks a half hour late. Your feet and legs feel better. Not brand new better, just better. Your feet still hurt, but only slightly. Note that this is the beginning of the day and pain is already setting in. Slight pain, but pain nonetheless. It won’t be bad that you get into the park a little late, because this day, Disneyland is open until midnight! You have lots of time to have fun. Giddy up!
The third night approaches. There’s supposed to be their 50th anniversary fireworks show that we’ve heard so much about. So, we hike back to the hotel to get my camera gear so that I can take night photos. We hike back to the park about two hours before the show is supposed to start. Plenty of time right? Nope. There is a sea of people already sitting on blankets, park benches or just in the middle of the street. No room where I picked out the night before in front of the castle, so we hop over people for a while until I can find a semi-decent spot. I setup the tripod and then realize that there isn’t room enough to sit. So, I stand for over an hour waiting for the show. Shifting my weight from foot to foot, trying to ease the dogs that worked so hard getting me around the park the past couple of days.
By the end of third night, your feet feel like your walking on bloody stumps and you’re limping back to the hotel, eager to soak your feet under hot water. Not just hot water, but scalding hot water that would normally feel like your flesh is soaking in acid. At this point, you don’t care. You just want the pain to go away. After a couple of minutes, your skin toughens up and you soak for a half hour until you can’t breath any longer in the sauna of rising steam in the bathroom. You get out of the bathtub and limp back to your bed, feeling somewhat better than before the bath.
The fourth day. You wake up to the sound of your six year old who’s energy could compete with the energizer bunny multiplied by infinity. He’s ready to go eat and go into the parks again. You sleep a little longer than the day before while he watches cartoons, not caring about when you get up. The park is open until midnight again, we have plenty of time for more…fun? When you get up, you’re feeling really groggy. Jet lag? What was I thinking? It’s the standing in lines for hours during the day, walking countless miles and dealing with a six year old who has to go to the bathroom before every single ride. Not before the ride mind you, but after standing in line for forty minutes and you’re the next ones to get on the ride. Then he has to go. We go on the ride anyway and then after the ride, we walk some more to find the nearest bathroom. Inevitably, the nearest bathroom isn’t so near. It feels like it’s about a quarter a mile away.
The fourth night approaches. I still haven’t taken any night photos of California Adventures park. There is a scene that I’ve seen on television that I really want. Time to hike back, get some dinner before the crowds set in for the restaurants and grab the camera gear I need to take night photos. Leaving the hotel, we see something that, at this point, shouldn’t shock us but it does. The line to the monorail looks like it’s about an hour wait. Our legs and feet feel like bloody stumps again and our choice is either stand in line for an hour or walk to the park. So we walk to the park instead. But wait, there’s more joy up ahead. Another long line awaits us before you even get close to the park for pre-inspections. Not bad, 15 minutes or so, standing in yet another line. We finally make it through and get over to California Adventures. No surprise here. Another line to get through the gate and another 15 minute wait.
Fourth night ends. Bloody stumps, sore legs. More scalding hot water. Feels great to be off your feet. Pack for your trip home, go to bed. The next morning, bloody stumps and sore legs are still there, as if you never took that scalding hot bath. So you take another one so you can survive the trip home.
While waiting to be checked out of our hotel, I see other families leaving the hotel. They’re groggy, limping and on the way to the park. I chuckle and think to myself - “Idiots. That’s what we are”. The parks are charging almost 8 dollars for a hot dog, fries and a drink. Here we are, too damn tired to leave the park to go eat somewhere reasonable and come back. So we succumb and eat horrible food while we sit, resting our feet. Only to do it all over again for the next few days. . .
As for those wondering if I got any good photos? I might have. I still have hundreds to process still, so it’s anyone’s guess. I have loads of snapshots of the family vacation, but I hope I have just two that will make it into the gallery. I’ll know more when I can hobble over to the digital darkroom to process them.