A magical place?

Well, we're back from Disneyland and let me tell you that the weather was simply magical! So sunny and warm... absolutely wonderful!!

And the rest of Disneyland? Well, I wouldn't exactly call that magical.
It wasn't so much of a disillusion, since I didn't expect much beforehand, but I did find the commercial tackiness a little overwhelming. After entering the park we spent the first 40 minutes or so looking for an attraction... all we could see were shops crammed with ridiculously overpriced souvenirs!

The first attraction we decided to queue for (it was SO busy) was A Small World. It was as if I suddenly stepped into a nightmare: the scary pink and gold sweetness and all those annoying children's voices singing the same song over and over and over again... wow, that was impressive in its own special way!

The hotel we stayed in was fine. It was built as a small town in Western style. The room wasn't big, but comfortable enough and it had a bath, which the children enjoyed very much (I took a bath as well... never did I feel more like a whale). It was lovely to spend a night so close together.

On Sunday morning we got up early. Because we were hotel guests we were allowed to enter the park at 8.00 a.m. (it normally opens at 10.00 a.m.). When we got there around 9 it was already incredibly crowded. Michel went into Space Mountain, which was quite a spectacle according to him. After that we went queue-hopping for a couple of hours.

We took a lunch break and watched the masses stand in line to be photographed with several Disney characters. Now that was entertainment! Thankfully, both Amber and Simon wanted to have nothing to do with these characters with their huge scary plastic heads. Simon started whimpering as soon as any one of them came near us and we had to take a few detours to avoid them when they all came tumbling out of the train after the Parade.

The attraction we all enjoyed most was a lovely old river boat (it was real!)... it was so wonderful and relaxing to stand on deck in the sun.

While Michel and Amber decided to check out the Haunted House, Simon and I sat down on a bench where he happily played with the two sticks we found (he's a collector!). Those were his souvenirs of the weekend and I couldn't have been more proud of him, because he truly didn't desire anything else!

For Amber it was more difficult to resist the temptation of all the kitsch goodies that were shoved into her face every step of the way. I couldn't blame her at all, but we bought nothing.

All in all, we had a great weekend together as a family. It was a very welcome break from all the stress and work at home and we enjoyed every minute of that.  I don't think we'll ever go back to Disneyland again, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world!

Comments

[Levineke]

you have confirmed what i alway believed - disneyland is truly tacky! i think my kids would have been scared off by the giant plastic characters too.
i am pleased that you had a nice weekend away though - it's always good to spend a bit of time away from the usual.
welcome home
l
x

[Ellen]

The older I get, the more I loathe all the commercialism. But at least, you had a 'free' vacation which is very nice. Now I have a free cat for you. Come and see my meow meow post.

[capello]

dude. you're makin' me kinda scared to go there.

but i'm glad you had great family time!

[kiona]

Your feelings of Disney land were much like my feelings of Las Vegas when we got married there 10 years ago. Having seen it so much and so romanticized on television and in movies for years I couldn't wait to experience it. Instead I found a terribly tacky and commercial city.

[Di]

I enjoyed Disney when I was about 20 but now I think I would l find the whole thing too much - all that commercialism and queueing! I much prefer to go somewhere real, where the rides are the local buses or metro, the castles and hundreds of years old, flaws and all!

I am glad that you enjoyed time away as a family though!! That is always a positive!

[Heather]

We'll brace ourselves - we are headed to the Florida version next week. We are going more to warm our bones than anything else, but I am sure the kids have ideas of their own. Hope all is well with you and the baby. It can't be too much longer now, can it?

Heather

[heidi]

we got lucky and went to disney world in florida in april. no lines. great warm weather. i could see how it could go horribly wrong.

[Laura]

Ahh... stickman. Nice sensible kids.

[Kristy]

My kids really want to do Disney but I'm not so sure.
Glad you enjoyed yourselves.

[beki]

My kids want to go to Disney as well, but I'm not too fond of the idea. Maybe once they get older and we save a fortune we'll take a trip to Disney World in Florida. I haven't been there since I was 5.

[emily]

But it would be nice to go..... one time? LOL Welcome back!

[kirsten]

i have fond memories of the 2x i've been there as a child - but from all accounts disneyland has changed a lot since then. i used to really want to take my daughter - since she truly believed in all the fairy tales, but now i don't - and i can't imagine my boys NOT freaking out!

glad you had a nice weekend, though!

[Anne]

So pleased you enjoyed yourselves as a family and that you had really good weather, at least you had a break from stresses back home..:-) xox

[lera]

Glad you had a great time! My kids don't care for the dressed up people/animals either.

[Melly]

It is good to hear you had a great time together! It is true that these places are usually very commercial. I hope that there were many pleasurable moments amongst the trinkets and tackiness!

[Chara Michele]

Glad you had a lovely time!

[kim]

can you tell me the western hotel you stayed at. my family wants to go there. thenkyou.