Reflections on Happiness

WARNING: LONG Narrative

I don't even know where to start about our trip. It already seems ages ago. This is a sad, sad thought. We planned and saved and planned for a year and now it is being entered into the history books...

2006 Christmas my parents presented each kid a 'Disney Bank' with $20 in it and set us off on a year of major planning and saving. We decided to all go with a more watered down Christmas and put all of our energy and hard earned money into this trip. The kids picked up plums, crab apples and pine cones, made their beds, did their homework and every now and then tried not to fight in hopes of earning a dollar. Mark even earned $5 for getting his kindergarten booster shots. After tithing was given to the bishop, the kids had earned enough to help pay for 1/2 of their plane tickets, had $50 spending money and $30 'treat' money. What a great lesson in budgeting! Having been to Disneyland as a child and with children, we knew it would be a constant stream of asking for churros, french fries, drinks, taffy, suckers, etc. We told them they had $10 a day for treats and when it was gone it was gone! It worked really well we're happy to report.

Many, many discussions and decisions went into getting 5 different families all on the same page, at the same time. Whew! What days in December? Where to stay? Fly or drive? How long to stay? I can say that every family helped in some way to get things done. Yes, there were a few little disagreements along the way, as us Neiders ALL have an opinion on how things should be done, but things were ironed out and the decisions were made and everything fell into place. We got plane tickets at a great price, rental cars, hotel rooms all in one hall at the Paradise Pier Disneyland Hotel (except the newlyweds who were far away from the chaos ; ) park tickets and every other thing we needed. Colleen put together a wonderful itinerary for us, which we quickly learned was a must have with sooooo many people. We knew where to be, at what time and who to follow. Thanks Colleen! It allowed us to make the most of the parks.

Anyway, here a some musings and fun stories about our trip to Never, Neverland.

1st Plane Ride:
This was certainly a highlight for our kids. They loved the airport and the plane. James and I on the other hand were slightly overwhelmed! Did you know it takes FOREVER to get 4 kids' shoes and coats off to go through security and then to put it all back on again? We were juggling Tess as we tried to get our own stuff off and on as well. Mark had to go through extra security due to his cast. The grimaces on the people's faces behind us were, I'm sure, for all for us. You also have to remind yourself that my sister and her husband were going through this as well in another line! What a group! As we stood in line Mark saw a kid with a spiky, stiff mohawk and turned to his cousin Hank and LOUDLY stated, "Hey Hank! That guy looks like a chicken!" Everyone within hearing range had a good laugh. The kid on the other hand scowled. Well....don't do a mohawk if you don't want to hear the truth. 5 year olds always tell the truth! JetBlue was great to fly with and we give them our endorsement. To our happy pleasure they had TV's in the seats. Yeah for cartoons!

Pirate PJ's:
I made all the kids matching pirate pj bottoms to wear, Tess and Chase included. After all the work I'm satisfied to say they loved them. A few of the boys are pictured below. The girls had cute, funky pink ones. They all looked so cute running around the hotel that 1st night in their jammies.

Pin Trading:
My dad has been giving the kids pins all year long to wear and trade for the trip and I've been getting ones throughout the year also. Mark's lanyard is shown in the bottom picture, (he's convinced he can only have pirate or Star Wars pins). I got some GREAT pins and have moved into the Geek squad right along with my dad. We wore our lanyards around the parks, hunted for pins we liked and had a great time doing it. If you need any pin advice check with me. I'm quickly becoming an expert. I got James his 1st pin, a police officer Mickey. He secretly loves it.

Haunted Mansion-Boo Hoo!:
We HATE, HATE, HATE what Disney has done with the Haunted Mansion. What was once one of my favorite rides has turned into a Nightmare Before Christmas nightmare. We've decided to start a petition to get them to do away with it. It is full of bright neon paint, horrible, obnoxious music and Jack the Pumpkin King. Hardly any (1%) of the old charm is there. I used to love the ballroom scene, the cemetery and the singing heads and when a ghost hitched a ride with you at the end. Now there is a horrible picture from the movie. I didn't like the movie and I don't like the change to what was once a charming ride. So Sad!

Partners in it ALL:
One of the places we like to eat is a Mexican restaurant in Frontier Land. It was always quite the production to get us ordered, paid and seated. We got seated and as I was opening Mark's chocolate milk, Tess reached up and pulled my tray full of rice, beans and fajitas onto the ground with a loud crash, plate broke. Just as this was happening, James reached for Mark's opened milk, not knowing it was opened and shook it ALL over himself. What a pair!!!! I had food all over my feet and he had milk all over his nice clean shirt. I was nicely told to, "Tell me when you open his milk!" I must have forgot amongst the calmness of the moment. Our food was restored and the day went on.

Hollywood Tower of Terror:
So we have one rule for our kids at Disneyland, if they are tall enough for the ride they have to try it at least once and then if they don't like it they never have to do it again. For example, Olivia is tall enough for California Screamin' a roller coaster that goes upside down and a ride that I would have never done as a child. She was nervous, but stuck to the rule and LOVED it and rode it 4 more times. Good job Liv! Now Mark is a whole other story. He is our emotional one. He didn't want to go on the Hollywood Tower of Terror, but once he saw that his younger cousin Hank was going to give it a whirl Mark quietly followed. He did NOT want to be there! He was a nervous little nelly the whole time we were in line and had he been given the choice to turn around I'm sure he would have. James said during the ride, which drops and lifts you up and down, Mark was clawing at him the whole time. Sure enough, as soon as we got off the ride he said in his oh so loud Mark voice, "I hate that ride! I'm never doing it again." I think he was actually mad at James and I for allowing such child abuse. How could we? We had to just laugh and smile at each other. What's the fun of being a parent if you can't scare your kids every once and awhile?

Nate the Alcoholic:
I'm telling you, Nate is the epitome of 2 year olds. He just doe dee doed his way through the park and went with the flow. He loved Fantasyland, Pirates and climbing on everything. He was just shy of being tall enough for the bigger rides, but we managed to sneak him on Splash Mountain one time. Our last day as James and the older 2 went on Splash Mountain I waited with Tess and Nate on a bench by the ride. I was hardly paying attention to my 2 year old as I watched all of the weirdos walking by. That's half the fun of going! I suddenly turned to see Nate drinking out of someone's Carl's Jr. cup from off their stroller, which he had spent 2 days previously doing from off of mine and his aunt's strollers. He got this odd look on his face, like he'd tasted a lemon. I grabbed the cup and stated in a sweet (!?) mother voice, "No. No." and then I smelled it! The stupid bozo by me with his 3 kids couldn't go to Disneyland without a little bit of the 'juice'. I sat there for a moment dumbfounded. Nate came to talk to me about his 'drink' and I could smell it on his breath. There is nothing more disturbing than smelling beer on a 2 year old's breath. Yuck! I gathered our stuff and left and as I walked off the idiot said in a laughing manner, "Well at least he can't say he's never tried beer". Ha! Ha! I just have this to say...Jesus is watching...

Opening the Park:
On our last day we were in the front of the line at the gates to get in and one of the cast members invited us to open the park. We got to go in before anyone else, stand in front of the waiting crowds and all together yell, "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Let the magic being!" Then we hurried and beat the crowd to the "Finding Nemo" ride, where we didn't have to stand in line for an hour to get on. It was a great start to our final day.

Rained Out:
Our last night we were hurrying back to the park after gathering coats and it started to rain. If it had just been James and I we would have braved it out, as I had a list of 'must dos' before we were done. We tried for about 30 min. but the kids were soaking wet, which meant Mark was boohooing and Tess was dripping. We had to pack it in at least 2 hrs. before we had planned on. VERY anticlimactic! We always end with Pirates and it didn't happen this time. As they say though, "There's always next time!"

Last minute thoughts:

• 2 year olds have more fun at the hotel than at the park. Sad, but true.
• I got to ride Space Mountain with my sister just like when we were kids.
• Turtles are still my favorite Disney treat.
• The new additions to Pirates are great.
• We saw all kinds of characters, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Diane Keaton, Minnie, Courtney Cox, Daisy, Pluto, David Arquette.
  
• You will get wet if you sit in the front of the log on Splash Mountain.
• Cast members will always put the Japanese business men in their suits in the front on Splash Mountain.
• It is possible to lick all the railings as you stand in line and live to tell about it. Just ask Cole and his nephew Nate.
• The long been absent monorail has returned and is a Godsend at 9:00 at night.
• One child out of 12 always has to go potty.
• Cousins can have fun standing in line, riding rides, sitting to rest and even just going to bed.
• 8 year old girls want pirate treasure chests too and have them in their pajama drawers.
  

I'll add more as they come. I can't wait to do this again. We found as a family that you can plan something this big and still walk away loving each other and wanting to know when we can go again.

Another lesson learned...Christmas morning our kids woke up to their stockings and 2 small presents each to open. They were soooo happy with those 2 presents and played contentedly all day. I think we've stumbled onto something. Do kids need everything all at once?