Dreaming of The Land of Disney

I want to start this post off by saying I am and forever will be over-the-moon grateful for the Disney trips I was able to go on in my life. This is going to sound MEGA cheesy but hey, their mascot is a mouse so.. But in all honesty, Disney has been a part of my life and my family since the very beginning, it's the biggest chunk of what makes me, me. So to be able to fly over to the theme parks at all, I am tremendously grateful. Those trips are where I cried the most genuine happy tears, where me, my brother and mom looked like we were in a Hallmark movie we were so happy. If I close my eyes and picture it, I can hear the music loop in Downtown Disney and smell the hotel lobbies (as weird as that sounds). Disneyland has a permanent place in my heart and because I'm feeling so sentimental and nostalgic for it, I thought I'd share some of my fondest memories and photos from there!

I mean, it just not would be right if this didn't start off with my man Woody!! Every interaction I've had with that cowboy has made my heart SOAR. The first time I met him was at Disney World and he gave me the longest hug ever, to which Buzz got jealous and tried to leave the room. Then that cowboy man told me he wanted to schedule a breakfast date with me (Buzz in the corner like: 

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👁️) When I met Woody at Disneyland, I ran into his arms like a baby to their mama and he was kissing my hands and looking into my eyes, and MAKING ME NERVOUS! I love Woody so much, every interaction with him I adore, I ADORE HIM.

 

In 2016 I got to go on a grad trip with just my momma and when I tell you this trip with her was mega wholesome, it was. We even got 'Girls Trip' buttons from the hotel (our first girls trip)! We watched the fireworks and wept, we went on the slow rides that wouldn't make us feel sick that some people (looking at my brother) didn't want to go on and would mope if we did (looking at It's A Small World). Most of all, 2016 was a major step for me out of my shell because I did solo character interactions! And this one with Tigger was fantastic - he immediately wrapped me up in a tight hug and then posed like we were taking grad pictures. 

This was also the trip where we were able to watch the Pixar Play Parade over and over again and we were able to stay in the parks later because we've got THUNDER THIGHS, baby! 

The extinct Paradise Pier~

2017 was the year of making friends at Disneyland! For every day of our trip, we caught the early afternoon Pixar Play Parade in DCA and each day we looked for, interacted with and befriended (for the trip) the Squishy dancer from the Monsters University float. He was a major highlight of the trip for us. I hope he's doing okay wherever he is. A personal highlight for me was a CDA hazmat fella waving his lil wavy hand at me, it was the fricken cutest thing I've ever witnessed in my life. We tried to get Buzz to dab and failed, and we of course went on my favourite gal's ride afterwards:

RIP Disneyland Rainforest Café...I will forever vouch for your return!

And finally...the most iconic Disney trip of them all...Disneyland 2019!

SO much happened on this trip, I mean, SO much. 

First of all, this was our first time staying at the Disneyland Hotel that everyone rants and raves about and everyone was right...we fell in love. The singing light-up bed frame in our room and the view of the pool, it was absolutely a dream come true!

And second of all, we planned our trip before the opening date of Galaxy's Edge was announced so when we found out it would be opening something like three weeks before our trip we were PANICKING because we thought the parks would be packed. But we were pleasantly surprised! Not only did we walk into Batuu with no line and no issues but it was almost...too quiet? But Batuu was the closest thing to teleporting into another universe I have ever felt (also special shoutout to Batuu/Galaxy's Edge because it's the reason why my OC Penn Nolen exists!) 

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And when I tell you the goosebumps I felt on Smugglers Run were off the chain, they were off the chain. Never in my life did I ever imagine I would find myself in the Falcon cockpit. I really and truly wish I lived in Batuu, I had my mouth open in awe the entire time we were in there.

And not only that, but we got stuck on the ride!

About halfway through our ride (my brother and I as pilot and co-pilot), the screen glitched and our pod stopped. For a while we sat there pressing buttons and calling out for help but then the screen turned orange and we were stuck there, unable to unbuckle ourselves (which really sucked for me because I had to pee so my bloated belly was pushing into the straps). We were stuck in there for around half and hour and spent the majority of our trip-into-the-orange-wormhole listening to September (Earth, Wind and Fire). When we were finally saved, the Cast Members acted like they had no idea we were in there and to this day I still don't know if they were acting or if they genuinely had no idea we were stuck in there for 30 minutes...so we got to cut the line and ride again!

Later on our trip we found ourselves in Tomorrowland and decided to check out Launch Bay and found ourselves waiting in line to meet Chewie and Darth Vader! With Chewie I felt like I was meeting a relative but while waiting for Vader...I was nearly pooping my pants. When we went in there and stood next to him, I was absolutely petrified. This man was well on his way to looking 7 feet tall in comparison to me and threatened to off my brother if I was lying about not harbouring a Rebel Spy. As it turns out, we went on Star Tours and my brother ended up being the Rebel Spy!! So....I lied to Vader. Sorry Ani. 

Also I've never noticed this before but LOOK AT HOW BIG HIS HELMET IS COMPARED TO MY FACE!

By the time we went on our trip, the final transformation stage of Pixar Pier had been completed so we got to check out Bing Bong and his candy shop!

Oh the stories I could tell and the photos I could share but that would turn this blog post into an essay! In conclusion (haha no but in all seriousness), I will forever hold in my heart the memories from these trips and the immensely special place Disneyland has in my heart (just promise you'll work on the whole doesn't-take-proper-care-of-its-employees thing, please).