Disney!

Monday, May 18

Dear diary, I woke up today and....

6:45 am - read email from Nancy saying that her husband is not going to Disney as planned for their family trip. Hmmmm....interesting I think as we had planned to do a girls trip (mommy and daughters) awhile back.
7 am - make lasagna for person in need at our temple.
8 am - Take Kiira to school.
8:30 am - Get coffee on way to Evan's Yad b'Yad class
9 am - Call Nancy to see if I can borrow her van to pick up a large piece of furniture, casually ask to confirm if Gideon is going with them or if June and Nancy are going solo
10:45 am - deliver meal to fellow Temple congregant
11 am - call Nancy again to further inquire about Disney
11:15 am - call United to inquire about tickets to Disney....hmmmm...reasonably priced....ask United to hold two
11:30 am - inquire with babysitters to see if they can stay later today and tomorrow. they can. Hmmmm......Disney idea budding further......
11:45 am - stop by Nancy's house to inquire with their babysitter that in fact middle child IS sick and Gideon IS staying home. All true.
12 pm - pack bag thinking that when I pick up Kiira from school at 1 pm - if she is feeling good, I will confirm airline tickets to Disney and we will drive straight to airport. Hmmmm....still no word from Nancy.
12:30 pm - surf internet for backup accommodations if we can't stay with Nancy.
1 pm - pick up Kiira - she feels good. I ask, "Do you want to go on a special trip on an airplane with mommy?" She says, "Yes", i say "we are going to Disney!"
Yahoooooo!!!!!!!!!
3:30 pm - United calls our section to board - Nancy calls - SO excited that we are coming and confirms we can stay with them.
Voila - a plan is formed. Viva spontaneity!

Yes, it's true. Despite the Waldorf schooling and the aversion to commercialism (ie alot of Disney) I took Kiira on a surprise trip to Disneyland. With all the negative talk we have heard about Disney - I actually found it REALLY fun. Some myths:

- food, in reality, is REALLY good and really healthy. If you sit down at a restaurant, you can get a good salad and a good piece of salmon - even for the kids.
- going on a Tuesday - we never waited in lines for more than about 20 min. Fastpass works great.
- we had heard that getting off rides, they funnel you RIGHT through the stores. NOT true. You can, in fact, exit a ride, withOUT going through the store.

We hit Fantasyland, Toontown and part of the other adventure parts of the park. We did Buzz Lightyear, Nemo's Submarine, Dumbo, the carousel, Mr Toad's Wild Ride, It's a Small World (my favorite), Alice in Wonderland, Jungle Cruise, Storybook Canal Ride, and Kiira's favorite - the teacups. We stayed at the Grand Californian which is right on Disney property. This worked to our benefit for two reasons - ONE - we could walk into the park - TWO - we got to enter the park 1 hour earlier than the general public which translated to NO LINES on the really popular rides.

After arriving late Monday and getting up early Tuesday - we flew home on an 8 pm flight Tuesday night. A quick but FUN, FUN, FUN trip.

And I can be proud that my daughter did not buy into all the commercialism as we had worried. When given the opportunity to pick out one special thing from the trip, she did pick anything Disney at all. She picked a rainbow teddybear that she had seen in the Build a Bear store. Awwww.....makin' your parents proud!

Line of the trip: while having dinner the first night, a nice guy in his 20's came over to make the kids balloon animals. Kiira wanted a chick. The guy paused, thinking, and said he'd never done a chick. Nancy exclaimed in amazement, "You've never done a chick!". At which time she and I burst out laughing at the double entendre. And said nice guy got bright red.

Look for more photos on this link in a bit - I haven't uploaded them yet.