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karotsamused again with another hijack-tastic update. Otherwise Rune would never use her journal. For those of you who are new and don't know me, I'm Rune's girlfriend/fiancee/significant other/better worse better half.
At the moment she's making obscene jokes about the five and one half pounds of ground beef we bought and she is now portioning into one-pound balls. Of meat.
But I am here to regale you with the tale of yesterday, of the trip to Disneyland!
Oh wait. Let me say that one again.
If I knew how to make sparkly text I swear that thing would SPARKLE WITH THE LIGHT OF A THOUSAND GAIS.
But anyway.
See, the thing is, Rune's childhood friend, who from now on I will refer to as Young Master J., is an Imagineer. He helped with all kinds of way cool stuff and knows ridiculous things about the park. It's like having a tour guide, man. Young Master J. is also soon to be married, and was in the area to say hello. And he wanted to meet the oft-mentioned well-exaulted haha-she's-my-girlfriend-now-and-not-yours girlfriend (Me. So I'm a little possessive.) And that means FREE. TICKETS.
So on the morning of March 4, after much tears and bloodshed over my actually being able to get someone to cover my shift at my Job Of Wonders, at just about 7 AM, we left the apartment for the fabled and mystical land of Anaheim, CA. I'm very proud of myself for staying awake the whole time, and even more so proud of Rune, who was driving.
We showed up at the park at just about 8:30 and got ourselves past the bag check (after an exciting walk from The Only Parking Lot That Doesn't Get Tram Service Ah Hahahahaha okay it prolly wasn't the only one but still hmph. Pumbaa's a fat warthog, you'd think they'd give him a lift) and then waited around in the pavilion for Young Master J. If you haven't been to Disneyland since, oh, 1999 (like myself) then a lot has changed. What was once parking is now Disney's California Adventure, and the entire square between the openings to both parks is filled with bricks sponsored by families and stuff.
It's. GORGEOUS. Really spiffy. Like. Super spiffy. And then Young Master J. showed up.
... He's awesome. Really? Like Rune's brother she never had. Didn't stop me being possessive. But I like the guy. Heh. Dude goes to Disneyland in a button-up shirt tucked into some very nice pants with a good leather belt and impeccable, geometric hair. Tells you a lot about him. He also called us "ladies" all day, which was at once flattering and disconcerting, but mostly flattering, 'cause he also could dish out as well as he got from Rune. XD
Apparently it's a rule that you have to start out in Storybook land. Er. Fairytale world? Whichever. The one behind the castle. Names are interchangeable eh heh. So we hit such classics as Mr. Toad's Wild Ride ("My dad's favorite! We GOTTA go 'cause it's dad's favorite!" - Rune), Snow White's Scary Ride ("It's the ride with no closure" - Young Master J.), Pinocchio, and Alice in Wonderland (which, as Rune and I discovered, was Extremely Friendly. It vibrated like um. A vibrating thing meant to vibrate. Hoooo boy.)
We didn't ride Dumbo because Rune is afraid of things that go up and down and in circles. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I love her. But it's still funny.
And after that? PIRATES. That ride, according to Young Master J., has the best through-put of people because it just keeps moving. There are so many boats you can fill with so many people, that the lines just zoom. I have to reiterate that I haven't been to Disneyland since I was twelve, so it was really an experience, being an adult (or adult-ish) going through the park. And Pirates? Dayum. Rune just yelled in my ear: "BEST RIDE EVAR."
And although Captain Jack was amazing, I think my favorite was Barbossa ^^ He was splendid, absolutely awesome.
After Pirates, we hit the classic: The Haunted Mansion. I'd actually never been in there during the daytime, so it was cool to see the place when it wasn't set up for night. And I ALWAYS TAKE HOME THE FAT GHOST WTF. I've never gotten the other two hitchhikers. However. The ride's been revamped (lol) and the bridal suite sequence is SO COOL.
After that, we got Fastpasses for Indy, and doodled around to pass the time. We hit the Jungle Cruise (hee!), Winnie the Pooh (Rune is amused I know all the words to the Heffalump and Woozle song), Big Thunder Mountain (which I had never ridden in the daytime and by which I was extremely amused. I'd never seen the goat before!), Space Attackers (or whatever the Toy Story 2-based ride was - it's new and it's got a talking animatronic Buzz Lightyear and you get to SHOOT EMPEROR ZURG!!!), and most exciting, had lunch. Woooo lunch. And then? INDY! WOO!
I admit to being um. Terrified of the Indiana Jones ride. Literally terrified. I hate snakes - at least big ones. And um. The cobra gets me. BUT I WAS A TROOPER! Argh. Jellyfish scare me more so at least there aren't any scary jellies.
There is a Finding Nemo submarine ride coming soon (June 2007!) to just behind the Matterhorn. If there are jellies, I'M NOT GOING.
And then after that, we toddled out of the park and went over to Disney's California Adventure.
THAT place is PRETTY. Pretty and shiny and oooooh. Preeeeetty. We went and did Soarin' over California, which was the MOST AWESOME THING EVER OMG FLYING IMAX.
When did they start adding smells to rides? When did they start making things big shiny experiences? Aaaaaaaah braingasm. We could smell the oranges in the orange grove! We could smell the snow! Also Kronk was our announcer XDDDDDDD
After we got off that, we were prettymuch psyched for anything. We hit the Bug's Life area, and saw the Bug Show yay! Um. Giant black widow spiders = not cool. Movey Flik and Hopper = AWESOME. So it evened out. And then, even though I know Young Master J. and Rune were a little tired, they let me walk down along the pier and see everything. I'd never been there before and it was really amazing to be there, to see how -sprawling- California Screamin' is. Young Master J. has discounted some rides at California Adventure as being "carnie rides" but they're all pretty cool to me. Sometimes carnie is what people like.
The best part about the pier, though, and probably the whole day, was that we met Lightning McQueen and Mater.
REALLY.
Life-sized Lightning and Mater. MAAAATER! We walked along behind him like we were in a parade, and got up super close. They got all the details, and they were all shiny and beautiful and their eyes moved and EEEEE MATER. It was like being a little kid again, and seeing Cinderella. Only IT WAS WAY COOLER OMG MATER.
Rune and I almost peed ourselves.
And then, since we were hungry, we toured the Sourdough and Tortilla factories. 'Cause um. Free food.
I think that was really the only downside of the day. We didn't pack enough food to begin with, and so we were out the other side of starving every time it came for us to need to eat something. We did, however, prevent both sunburns and dehydration so we're alright on the average.
After the pier, we went to the Monsters Inc. ride, which was probably the worst line of the day. By "worst" i don't mean longest - we waited 125 minutes, according to the sign, for Soarin' - but loudest, most full of kids, and with the most insipid people around us.
A group of people, in their twenties, each with children. Three dudes, and a chick. The girl was obviously "with" one of the guys, but not touching the baby like it was hers. Also, that baby had a Dorito in one hand, and beef jerky in the other. Ah hur hur hur. Also that whole out-the-other-side-of-hungry thing was starting to get to me and Rune by that time.
But the ride was pretty cool, and you got up closer to the figures than you could in a lot of other rides. And the best part was the millions-of-dollars-worth-of interactive animatronic Raz. Who hit on Young Master J.
"Hey, you there, in the second row. I'm a single too. I'll be in -your- closet tonight. Hah hah hah."
... XD
After that, we went into the animation building. It's a largely undiscovered treasure because it just looks like a facade, but the place is incredible. Then again I'm an art nerd. Eh heh.
--I cut in with a moment from the present:
Rune: *about to chow down on her hamburger* NOM NOM BURGER FAAAAACE.
Also we're watching Prince of Tennis in English. Nothing can go wrong. Etchison's only using one eye and his depth perception's not fubar at aaaaall.
/-- and back to the animation building. It's full of these HUGE screens with excerpts from different movies, focusing on the beautiful backgrounds and the depth of character designs. I admit Tarzan brought a bit of a tear to my eye.
And then we went and learned how to draw Winnie the Pooh! Hee!
After that, though, we'd pretty much tapped out DCA, so we headed out to Downtown Disney for food.
I paid $9.70 for a "large" Coke and a plate of Mac n Cheese that Rune and I shared. It took the edge off, but ehh.
Heading back to the park, Rune and I made dirty jokes about um. Ride names.
It started with an offhand mention of "Most popular ride at the park."
Rune: They don't call it the Matterhorn for nothin'.
Me: ...It's like a Splash Mountain?
Rune: Or Big Thundaaaah!
Me: It'll have -you- California Screamin'.
Young Master J: This is a kid's park, there are families here, aaaaaahhhhh...
We decided to go back in because Rune ALWAYS tries to go on Pirates twice.
The catch is, she never has. This time the ride was down for repairs. Sigh. Instead we headed for Big Thunder, which Rune had never ridden at night, so it was a new experience for her.
She was pretty cute.
"I swear, it goes faster than it should in that one part!!"
... XD Oh my girl.
We came out the back and snuck around to get into TomorrowWorld. Which um. Is ridiculously poorly constructed in terms of entering and exiting. But we got into Star Tours, which I had never seen before. Hee! Droids!
Then we went back to storybook land and rode the boat! It was so cute, going through the teeny towns. Our tour guide was adorable too, and there were these two tiny tiny TINY kids on the front of the boat. When we went through the Cave of Wonders, the little boy says to his baby sister, "Get the lamp! Don't touch the treasure!"
... Awwwwwww!
After that we decided to leave, because the fireworks show was coming soon. Rune stopped at the bathroom one last time, and then came out.
I must admit, the entire day, I'd had a jonesing for awful, fake-buttered popcorn that they'd been selling at the kiosks. And every time, Rune would say "We'll get it on the way home, okay?" and I'd let her pull me on. We'd passed the last kiosk on our way to the bathroom, and I'd tugged on Rune's wrist and said "Popcorn?" and been ignored, so I dropped it.
...Rune and Young Master J. had other ideas. When they realized what had happened, they dragged me back to get popcorn. By that point I was feeling awful, like a total brat, because now we were waiting in line and all of the people that came to see the fireworks had boxed us in, all for a $3.50 bag of popcorn.
But they made me get it, and as soon as my body had the salt, I felt leagues better. So we stayed and watched the fireworks show.
Young Master J. called it a love letter to the old Disney fans, and it's true. The thing is meant to be heartwrenching, with the wishes of Disney characters and Julie Andrews, and then, ohGod, fireworks versions of the most awesome rides at the park. There was something really breathtaking about being SURROUNDED by light as bright as day, and the perfect timing of the choreography.
I did, however, feel for Tinkerbell.
See, there's a cord that runs from the top of the Matterhorn all the way over the castle and into somewhere in Fantasyland or maybe Adventureland. And Tinkerbell is a real person ON THAT STRING.
Young Master J. told us the story of how Tinkerbell used to just rely on gravity. See, these two guys would take hold of her harness and throw her off the top of the mountain, and some other guys would wait at the bottom with a mattress to catch her. If they threw her too hard, she splatted onto the mattress. If they didn't throw hard enough, gravity would give out on her, and she'd have to pull herself to the bottom.
...Thank God for modern pulley systems, huh? Although still, that's gotta be harrowing and hard on the brain. Earplugs only do so much. Eesh.
After that, though, we hung out, waiting for the crowds to dissipate before heading out, said farewell to Young Master J., and walked out to Pumbaa for the car.
I conked out after we hit the freeway. Rune didn't. I'm so glad Rune didn't. I had nightmares that she did, and I think I woke up and scared the crap out of her a couple times making sure she was STILL AWAKE TO DRIVE.
..."Yeah, you yelled."
...But we got back at 11:30 or so, and after leaving at 7 ? That makes a long day. Shut up, my math brain thrusters are NOT engaged.
We're still kinda sleeping it off, but it was MUY AWESOME. And they never made me ride It's A Small World. Hoo.
karotsamused again with another hijack-tastic update. Otherwise Rune would never use her journal. For those of you who are new and don't know me, I'm Rune's girlfriend/fiancee/significant other/At the moment she's making obscene jokes about the five and one half pounds of ground beef we bought and she is now portioning into one-pound balls. Of meat.
But I am here to regale you with the tale of yesterday, of the trip to Disneyland!
Oh wait. Let me say that one again.
DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!ELEVEN!
If I knew how to make sparkly text I swear that thing would SPARKLE WITH THE LIGHT OF A THOUSAND GAIS.
But anyway.
See, the thing is, Rune's childhood friend, who from now on I will refer to as Young Master J., is an Imagineer. He helped with all kinds of way cool stuff and knows ridiculous things about the park. It's like having a tour guide, man. Young Master J. is also soon to be married, and was in the area to say hello. And he wanted to meet the oft-mentioned well-exaulted haha-she's-my-girlfriend-now-and-not-yours girlfriend (Me. So I'm a little possessive.) And that means FREE. TICKETS.
So on the morning of March 4, after much tears and bloodshed over my actually being able to get someone to cover my shift at my Job Of Wonders, at just about 7 AM, we left the apartment for the fabled and mystical land of Anaheim, CA. I'm very proud of myself for staying awake the whole time, and even more so proud of Rune, who was driving.
We showed up at the park at just about 8:30 and got ourselves past the bag check (after an exciting walk from The Only Parking Lot That Doesn't Get Tram Service Ah Hahahahaha okay it prolly wasn't the only one but still hmph. Pumbaa's a fat warthog, you'd think they'd give him a lift) and then waited around in the pavilion for Young Master J. If you haven't been to Disneyland since, oh, 1999 (like myself) then a lot has changed. What was once parking is now Disney's California Adventure, and the entire square between the openings to both parks is filled with bricks sponsored by families and stuff.
It's. GORGEOUS. Really spiffy. Like. Super spiffy. And then Young Master J. showed up.
... He's awesome. Really? Like Rune's brother she never had. Didn't stop me being possessive. But I like the guy. Heh. Dude goes to Disneyland in a button-up shirt tucked into some very nice pants with a good leather belt and impeccable, geometric hair. Tells you a lot about him. He also called us "ladies" all day, which was at once flattering and disconcerting, but mostly flattering, 'cause he also could dish out as well as he got from Rune. XD
Apparently it's a rule that you have to start out in Storybook land. Er. Fairytale world? Whichever. The one behind the castle. Names are interchangeable eh heh. So we hit such classics as Mr. Toad's Wild Ride ("My dad's favorite! We GOTTA go 'cause it's dad's favorite!" - Rune), Snow White's Scary Ride ("It's the ride with no closure" - Young Master J.), Pinocchio, and Alice in Wonderland (which, as Rune and I discovered, was Extremely Friendly. It vibrated like um. A vibrating thing meant to vibrate. Hoooo boy.)
We didn't ride Dumbo because Rune is afraid of things that go up and down and in circles. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I love her. But it's still funny.
And after that? PIRATES. That ride, according to Young Master J., has the best through-put of people because it just keeps moving. There are so many boats you can fill with so many people, that the lines just zoom. I have to reiterate that I haven't been to Disneyland since I was twelve, so it was really an experience, being an adult (or adult-ish) going through the park. And Pirates? Dayum. Rune just yelled in my ear: "BEST RIDE EVAR."
And although Captain Jack was amazing, I think my favorite was Barbossa ^^ He was splendid, absolutely awesome.
After Pirates, we hit the classic: The Haunted Mansion. I'd actually never been in there during the daytime, so it was cool to see the place when it wasn't set up for night. And I ALWAYS TAKE HOME THE FAT GHOST WTF. I've never gotten the other two hitchhikers. However. The ride's been revamped (lol) and the bridal suite sequence is SO COOL.
After that, we got Fastpasses for Indy, and doodled around to pass the time. We hit the Jungle Cruise (hee!), Winnie the Pooh (Rune is amused I know all the words to the Heffalump and Woozle song), Big Thunder Mountain (which I had never ridden in the daytime and by which I was extremely amused. I'd never seen the goat before!), Space Attackers (or whatever the Toy Story 2-based ride was - it's new and it's got a talking animatronic Buzz Lightyear and you get to SHOOT EMPEROR ZURG!!!), and most exciting, had lunch. Woooo lunch. And then? INDY! WOO!
I admit to being um. Terrified of the Indiana Jones ride. Literally terrified. I hate snakes - at least big ones. And um. The cobra gets me. BUT I WAS A TROOPER! Argh. Jellyfish scare me more so at least there aren't any scary jellies.
There is a Finding Nemo submarine ride coming soon (June 2007!) to just behind the Matterhorn. If there are jellies, I'M NOT GOING.
And then after that, we toddled out of the park and went over to Disney's California Adventure.
THAT place is PRETTY. Pretty and shiny and oooooh. Preeeeetty. We went and did Soarin' over California, which was the MOST AWESOME THING EVER OMG FLYING IMAX.
When did they start adding smells to rides? When did they start making things big shiny experiences? Aaaaaaaah braingasm. We could smell the oranges in the orange grove! We could smell the snow! Also Kronk was our announcer XDDDDDDD
After we got off that, we were prettymuch psyched for anything. We hit the Bug's Life area, and saw the Bug Show yay! Um. Giant black widow spiders = not cool. Movey Flik and Hopper = AWESOME. So it evened out. And then, even though I know Young Master J. and Rune were a little tired, they let me walk down along the pier and see everything. I'd never been there before and it was really amazing to be there, to see how -sprawling- California Screamin' is. Young Master J. has discounted some rides at California Adventure as being "carnie rides" but they're all pretty cool to me. Sometimes carnie is what people like.
The best part about the pier, though, and probably the whole day, was that we met Lightning McQueen and Mater.
REALLY.
Life-sized Lightning and Mater. MAAAATER! We walked along behind him like we were in a parade, and got up super close. They got all the details, and they were all shiny and beautiful and their eyes moved and EEEEE MATER. It was like being a little kid again, and seeing Cinderella. Only IT WAS WAY COOLER OMG MATER.
Rune and I almost peed ourselves.
And then, since we were hungry, we toured the Sourdough and Tortilla factories. 'Cause um. Free food.
I think that was really the only downside of the day. We didn't pack enough food to begin with, and so we were out the other side of starving every time it came for us to need to eat something. We did, however, prevent both sunburns and dehydration so we're alright on the average.
After the pier, we went to the Monsters Inc. ride, which was probably the worst line of the day. By "worst" i don't mean longest - we waited 125 minutes, according to the sign, for Soarin' - but loudest, most full of kids, and with the most insipid people around us.
A group of people, in their twenties, each with children. Three dudes, and a chick. The girl was obviously "with" one of the guys, but not touching the baby like it was hers. Also, that baby had a Dorito in one hand, and beef jerky in the other. Ah hur hur hur. Also that whole out-the-other-side-of-hungry thing was starting to get to me and Rune by that time.
But the ride was pretty cool, and you got up closer to the figures than you could in a lot of other rides. And the best part was the millions-of-dollars-worth-of interactive animatronic Raz. Who hit on Young Master J.
"Hey, you there, in the second row. I'm a single too. I'll be in -your- closet tonight. Hah hah hah."
... XD
After that, we went into the animation building. It's a largely undiscovered treasure because it just looks like a facade, but the place is incredible. Then again I'm an art nerd. Eh heh.
--I cut in with a moment from the present:
Rune: *about to chow down on her hamburger* NOM NOM BURGER FAAAAACE.
Also we're watching Prince of Tennis in English. Nothing can go wrong. Etchison's only using one eye and his depth perception's not fubar at aaaaall.
/-- and back to the animation building. It's full of these HUGE screens with excerpts from different movies, focusing on the beautiful backgrounds and the depth of character designs. I admit Tarzan brought a bit of a tear to my eye.
And then we went and learned how to draw Winnie the Pooh! Hee!
After that, though, we'd pretty much tapped out DCA, so we headed out to Downtown Disney for food.
I paid $9.70 for a "large" Coke and a plate of Mac n Cheese that Rune and I shared. It took the edge off, but ehh.
Heading back to the park, Rune and I made dirty jokes about um. Ride names.
It started with an offhand mention of "Most popular ride at the park."
Rune: They don't call it the Matterhorn for nothin'.
Me: ...It's like a Splash Mountain?
Rune: Or Big Thundaaaah!
Me: It'll have -you- California Screamin'.
Young Master J: This is a kid's park, there are families here, aaaaaahhhhh...
We decided to go back in because Rune ALWAYS tries to go on Pirates twice.
The catch is, she never has. This time the ride was down for repairs. Sigh. Instead we headed for Big Thunder, which Rune had never ridden at night, so it was a new experience for her.
She was pretty cute.
"I swear, it goes faster than it should in that one part!!"
... XD Oh my girl.
We came out the back and snuck around to get into TomorrowWorld. Which um. Is ridiculously poorly constructed in terms of entering and exiting. But we got into Star Tours, which I had never seen before. Hee! Droids!
Then we went back to storybook land and rode the boat! It was so cute, going through the teeny towns. Our tour guide was adorable too, and there were these two tiny tiny TINY kids on the front of the boat. When we went through the Cave of Wonders, the little boy says to his baby sister, "Get the lamp! Don't touch the treasure!"
... Awwwwwww!
After that we decided to leave, because the fireworks show was coming soon. Rune stopped at the bathroom one last time, and then came out.
I must admit, the entire day, I'd had a jonesing for awful, fake-buttered popcorn that they'd been selling at the kiosks. And every time, Rune would say "We'll get it on the way home, okay?" and I'd let her pull me on. We'd passed the last kiosk on our way to the bathroom, and I'd tugged on Rune's wrist and said "Popcorn?" and been ignored, so I dropped it.
...Rune and Young Master J. had other ideas. When they realized what had happened, they dragged me back to get popcorn. By that point I was feeling awful, like a total brat, because now we were waiting in line and all of the people that came to see the fireworks had boxed us in, all for a $3.50 bag of popcorn.
But they made me get it, and as soon as my body had the salt, I felt leagues better. So we stayed and watched the fireworks show.
Young Master J. called it a love letter to the old Disney fans, and it's true. The thing is meant to be heartwrenching, with the wishes of Disney characters and Julie Andrews, and then, ohGod, fireworks versions of the most awesome rides at the park. There was something really breathtaking about being SURROUNDED by light as bright as day, and the perfect timing of the choreography.
I did, however, feel for Tinkerbell.
See, there's a cord that runs from the top of the Matterhorn all the way over the castle and into somewhere in Fantasyland or maybe Adventureland. And Tinkerbell is a real person ON THAT STRING.
Young Master J. told us the story of how Tinkerbell used to just rely on gravity. See, these two guys would take hold of her harness and throw her off the top of the mountain, and some other guys would wait at the bottom with a mattress to catch her. If they threw her too hard, she splatted onto the mattress. If they didn't throw hard enough, gravity would give out on her, and she'd have to pull herself to the bottom.
...Thank God for modern pulley systems, huh? Although still, that's gotta be harrowing and hard on the brain. Earplugs only do so much. Eesh.
After that, though, we hung out, waiting for the crowds to dissipate before heading out, said farewell to Young Master J., and walked out to Pumbaa for the car.
I conked out after we hit the freeway. Rune didn't. I'm so glad Rune didn't. I had nightmares that she did, and I think I woke up and scared the crap out of her a couple times making sure she was STILL AWAKE TO DRIVE.
..."Yeah, you yelled."
...But we got back at 11:30 or so, and after leaving at 7 ? That makes a long day. Shut up, my math brain thrusters are NOT engaged.
We're still kinda sleeping it off, but it was MUY AWESOME. And they never made me ride It's A Small World. Hoo.
