Lessons Learned at Disney

Let’s flashback to last Monday.

Chris and I were in California and my cold had just hit me super hard. I spent Sunday night tossing and turning because I couldn’t breath and couldn’t stop coughing. Chris was up late doing boy things with his friend Tyler, so I assumed Disney wasn’t going to happen. And because I was feeling like hell, I was okay with that.

But low and behold, Chris popped out of bed at 6:00 a.m. to shower Monday morning. I grabbed his phone to look at the time and the first thing I saw was that he had downloaded the Disney app the night before.

My almost 30 year old fiance was dying to go to Disney. He might deny it, but it’s the truth.

We knew we had to beat that infamous LA traffic so we wanted to get in the car before 7:00 a.m. I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and literally got into the car wearing my pjs. I’m good at getting ready in the car, I used to do it all the time when I had a job that sometimes required me to drive across the state of Kansas before 6 a.m. Nothing humbles you faster than putting on makeup in natural car light.

We were in the Disney parking lot before 9 a.m. We stepped outside and the first thing I heard was crying screaming children and I knew the day of fun had begun.

We waited in line for the trolley to take us to the park and right as we were about to get on, an overly aggressive mom jumped over from her line and literally pushed us out of the way so she could take our spot. When something like this happens Chris doesn’t even notice. Me on the other hand, I notice. I was in no hurry, and yet the anger bells inside me couldn’t help but ring.

Stay cool, Taylor. It’s not worth it… You’ll be fighting moms all day if you start now….


So instead I just remarked to Chris, someone’s a little anxious to get to the park. Did I need to say anything at all? No, definitely not. And yet I did.


At which point the mom snapped back at me, WE’RE ALL TOGETHER! SO WE HAVE TO RIDE TOGETHER! I actually saw smoke come from her ears and fire drip from her mouth. And I couldn’t help but admire her intensity for just a moment.

Once inside the park I saw that mom everywhere. Not the exact person, but different versions of her.

She was trying to get her Fast Pass at Space Mountain but the machine wouldn’t work. She was waiting in line for the bathroom, but her child refused to go into a specific stall. And she was at lunch, pissed off that she didn’t know she had to get a reservation to eat at any of the “nice” Disney restaurants.

That last person was actually me… Who knew the Pirates of the Caribbean restaurant required a reservation made in the 90s?

But my favorite was the mom who had to tell her daughter Daisy to “stop licking all the hand rails.” Daisy’s mom made it very clear she would have rather been in Hawaii. I couldn’t help but think that perhaps Daisy’s mom should be a little less worried about Hawaii and a little more worried about finding who had just given her five year old daughter some acid.

Is it just me, or do I kinda look like the girl from the Ermahgerd meme?

Anyway…

For as busy as the park was, we actually rode a lot of rides and covered a lot of ground. By 2 p.m. we had eaten everything the park had to offer, our feet were covered in blisters, my cold meds had worn off, and Chris had thrown up twice. He gets motion sickness, bless his heart.

But we carried on for two more hours!

Our last ride was Space Mountain (for the third time) and as we waited in line I reflected on the fact that the roller coasters at Disney are a lot like the Disney experience itself. There’s high points and low points. Times when it gets very dark and cold, moments when you’re not sure what’s next, a few seconds when you think you might die, and the scent of sweaty child seems to linger everywhere. But overall, it’s worth it.

Would I go back to Disney? Absolutely. With children someday? Probably not. Seems like more of an adult place, you know?

Overalls found here.

Just another day at Disneyland.

Coming tomorrow…That Time We Registered For Our Wedding.