The Happiest Place on Earth

Hello, gentle reader! I apologize for not blogging direct from California, but we were at the park from opening to closing every day, and there just wasn't time. So, I shall now give you the highlights of our Disneyland adventure in a format similar to this post from last year (which is also a fun post, if you care to go look at it.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We met Mickey Mouse first thing Day One, which I thought was rather fitting. His autograph looked the same as last year, which entertained me (though I don't know why... it's not like he would randomly change his signature... hehe.) 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FLYNN RIDER GAVE ME THE SMOLDER.

"You're so dashing!"
"Girl, he's MINE." 

Yeah. It happened. I mean, he was actually trying to teach Matthew how to do it properly, but I was the guinea pig. I'll take it.
Also, why isn't Rapunzel a short-haired brunette now? I mean, that's what happens in the movie...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A conversation I had with Ariel:
Ariel: "So where did you come to Disneyland from?"
Me: "Colorado."
Ariel: "So did you swim here?"
Me: "No... it's a land-locked state."
Ariel: "Oh good. People always say yes and I always wonder how."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We waited in line for TWO AND A HALF HOURS for the new Cars ride. And it was almost worth it.

It's called Radiator Springs Racers, and it was pretty dandy. You get in a car that seats six people and drive around Radiator Springs (did I mention they built the Cadillac-fin-rocks like from the movie? They're HUGE. Whenever Dad posts pictures on Facebook I'll steal them and put them here.) At one point you go past the huge waterfall like in the movie, and it was truly breathtaking. And the animatronics are ridiculous, man. I have never seen ride robots so lifelike. Or big.

So yeah, if you go, ride Radiator Springs Racers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When addressing Disney royalty such as the Queen of Hearts or Snow White's Evil Queen, one must use the utmost respect. Otherwise they'll unleash their wrath on you.
For example, the girl who requested an audience with the Queen of Hearts directly before me talked to Her Majesty as if she were a common peasant. The Queen responded by throwing the girl's autograph pen on the ground and shooing her away. Getting the message, I bowed to the Queen called her Your Highness, and politely begged the privilege of an autograph.
.... I still got shooed away afterward, but at least she didn't throw my pen on the ground.

You think she's full of herself, you should see the Evil Queen (straight out of Snow White). Being as vain as she is, she responded far more favorably to my veneration. After I called her "Your Highness," she said, "Finally, someone who knows how to address me! Your Highness! Correct!" After we took our picture she said, "Print out that picture. Frame it. Hang it on your wall. Study it every day and just trrrryyyy to look like this."

It was great. I loved her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Where was Peter, you may ask? Well, THE Peter... um... flew back to Neverland a while ago, so if you see a Peter in Disneyland, it's clearly one of his Lost Boys he's sent in his place. The whole "show up when they tell me to" thing obviously wasn't working out for him. The new "Peters" naturally aren't as good, because Peter made especial effort to make sure they wouldn't be. He's so vain, you know.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When you're celebrating something, you can go to City Hall on Main Street and they'll give you special buttons. Since Mom and Dad were celebrating their anniversary, they got buttons, and EVERYONE wished them a happy anniversary. I mean, EVERYONE. The Jungle Cruise skippers, the people sweeping trash, Pooh Bear and Minnie Mouse, all the princesses, every Cast member we saw. Just another reason Disney is so awesome.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As a die-hard fan of corny jokes, I love the World-Famous Jungle Cruise, and this trip we had THE BEST skipper I have ever had, ever. Usually I'm inwardly chuckling at the jokes. On Patrick's cruise, I laughed so hard I cried.
Some favorite jokes:
--"Those spiders can grow up to eight feet.... and... legs..."
--"MAN-EATING PIRANHAS! Quick! Women and children, protect the men!"
--"There's a boa constrictor. Sitting in a tree. H-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes... asphyxiation."
--"That limestone over there? Most people take it for granite." *I laugh* "My sediments exactly."
--"That over there is Trader Sam. You know, I went over to his house the other night and I said, 'Man, your wife makes good stew,' and he said, 'I know. I'm gonna miss her.'"
--"You know, Sam was the first one in his family to go to college. He got kicked out for buttering up his professor."
I laughed SO HARD, guys. SO FUNNY.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I came away with a lanyard full of pins, a messenger bag for college, and a Tinkerbell necklace, but my favorite souvenir of all was a drawing of Tinker Bell from my sweet brother and Dad.
They have Disney artists in a few of the shops, and you can sit and watch them draw. It's really incredible watching how easily it seems to come to them. You can order pictures, and given my connection with Tink, we thought it was fitting.

Lovely artist Carrie drawing my beautiful Tinker Bell

It says "Find the joy in the child that you are," which is a line from the fireworks song, which is enough to make me tear up just thinking about it. It's perfect. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why do I love Disneyland so much? The nostalgia. The magic. The technical incredibility. The emanating joy. It is, quite simply, the happiest place on earth.

“To all who come to this happy place; welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past...and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America...with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.”


Mission accomplished, Mr. Disney.

Smorgasbord

Isn't that a great word? Smorgasbord. I'm pretty sure the goose in the old cartoon Charlotte's Web sang a song about a smorgasbord. This post is going to be an informational smorgasbord, a word which here means, "Melissa is going to tell you a bunch of random things about her life the last month she hasn't blogged."


Well, I graduated from high school. You would think that would be a blogworthy thing, but no matter how long I sat here thinking of something to say, I couldn't come up with anything profound to say. It was all very simple: I wore the robe and cap, I walked across the stage, I took my diploma, I turned my tassel. In the course of a mere two hours, the world changed its 18-year-deep opinion of me and decided to consider me an adult. No revelations about the rest of my life, no nothing. It just happened. My world expanded, but I remained exactly the same. I don't really know what else to say about it. Maybe the full significance will hit me later.


The last day of school seemed far more significant than graduation itself. Where graduation is stiff and formal, the last day contained a full spectrum of maturity, from farewell tears to a shaving cream fight. I've already given my sap to the people who needed to hear it, so I'll just say this: D'Evelyn did so much in making me who I am, and I'll forever be grateful for God's awesome plan in getting me there.


Alright, enough deep sappy stuff. Back to my usual overly peppy banter.


Guys, guys, guys. I started watching Doctor Who.
I'm not going to lie, I came in biased. Way too many people had told me how much I would love it before I started watching it, so I figured I would. They were happily correct. I've only finished season one, because I have to get them from the library, because I'm the last person on the planet without Netflix, but yeah. I started watching Doctor Who. And Christopher Eccleston's Doctor is fantastic, by the way.


And they sell sonic screwdrivers at Tradesmart and I want one.


Hey, it's raining! I like rain.


Have I mentioned Disneyland here? Somehow I don't think I have. Blogging has been so spotty. I'm going to Disneyland again soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


So excited. I'm sure I'll blog again. I'm planning on keeping a video diary of the entire trip, but I also said that last year and it didn't happen, so we'll see. I'm beyond excited. Cross your fingers that it's not too crowded for us!


I despise and loathe the weirdness of the spacing, by the way. Blogger has done weird things with my layout and I can't stand it. Facebook changes enough, Blogger!!! Why must you change too?? Harrumph. 

But anyway, I reread Peter Pan this week. I hadn't read it since I was a little kid, and while I've always loved the story,  I didn't realize what a masterpiece of literature it is. There's Biblical allusions and satire and deep symbolism and yeah. I geeked out just a bit. Also, did you know that J. M. Barrie started writing it shortly after the Wright brothers flew their plane? What a time to write about a kid who can fly...


I'm speaking at a girl's rally in September and I found out not too long ago that my topic is ESTHER! It's one of my favorite books of the Bible, so I'm super excited. Did you know that Mordecai is mentioned more times in Esther than Esther is? I find that fascinating. The book ends with Mordecai too-- the last three verses are telling you what happened to him in the end. I'm honestly beginning to think the inspired focus of the book was Mordecai, and then someone just called it Esther.


And finally, in commemoration of the first time the Beatles recorded at Abbey Road Studios fifty years ago today, Eight Days a Week.

(This is one of the songs they recorded.)

So, dear Readers, there's your random update on my life. I'm leaving out everything from the comedic pangs of young love to the Avengers, but there simply isn't time or will power for all that at the moment. You're excellently patient Readers. Return to your normal activities.