Disneyland - You Can Do It All!

I find that when you are exhausted from gallivanting around for a couple months, the best thing to do is make a whirlwind road trip to the Magic Kingdom to feed that exhaustion.  

So, with that, I drove to G's house at "as close to 6a as I could" Saturday morning and we set off for Anaheim.  Turns out we're pretty good road trip companions since we're both amused by similar things.  Having just made a solo trek to Southern CA a month before, I think it's probably preferential to not go it alone, if only so someone else can see what I act like on a road trip when I'm slap happy.  

We set out ... to breakfast.  Nothin' kicks off a road trip quite like an egg McMuffin.  Speaking of things that amuse us, the McD's we patronized turned out to have a double lane drive-thru, setting off a series of "double drive-thru - all the way - what does it mean?" interpretations.  (If you have (somehow) never heard the double rainbow guy, just know you need to hear it at least once to truly understand the term "trippin' balls."  Shortly after hitting the road, G first uttered the phrase "we're gonna do it all!" which I would hear several times that weekend, always accompanied by "the jazz hands of dreams."  (There's no way to describe it - just ask me when you see me.)  

I'd never been to Disneyland during a Halloween season, so I was really looking forward to seeing the park decked out (especially the transformation of the Haunted Mansion into the Haunted Mansion Holiday, where Jack Skellington was now holding court.)  In preparation for the holiday, I bought a shirt that said "Happy Halloween" to wear to the park.  G didn't believe me, but I earnestly bought it so that people who passed by me would read it and know someone was wishing them a good holiday.  (That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.)  I also bought some Halloween socks with little candy corns and ghosts on them, but those were for me.

Anyway, before I get to the park highlights, here are a few of the highlights from the drive to and from Anaheim.  (Warning:  This stuff seemed funny enough to write down as it was happening, but after a little rest, I don't know which of them will actually hold up.)

• We saw our first of several signs for a corn maze shortly after getting onto Highway 5.  And immediately, I became very excited and exclaimed "Corn Maze means Corn Corn!"  (I realized Maize Maze is more accurate, but Corn Corn was the first thing I shouted.)  And I periodically punctuated conversations with exclamations of Corn Corn! for the next 5 hours. 
• On a related note, while contemplating whether or not we'd get to go to a "Corn Corn" on the trip, I wondered what the hours were for one of them.  And then, for some reason, decided the hours were pretty open because "corn grows at all hours."  (I can't believe I actually said that.  Or wrote it down.)
• (While discussing a former co-worker who coincidentally showed up ALL THE TIME when doing promotions with a particular band) G said, matter-of-factly, "It's much easier for you to get your mouth around a penis if you're in the same room."  To which I replied, "Yes.  Proximity is very important for blow jobs."  Someone needs to put that on a bumper sticker and give me the royalties.
• At our first gas stop, G bought us each a Barack Obama commemorative plate at the gas station, for $2.99/apiece.  I think that's a fair value.
• Whenever I drive/go through the Grapevine and/or Tejon areas on Highway 5, I always yell out, "Grand Tetons!"  And it's more fun to say Grand Tetons with a French accent.  I wonder if I will yell this out if I ever get to the real thing in Wyoming.
• The Petro Stop (an exit not far from the Grand Tetons) has the most amazing spinning rack of Jesus-themed, logo-spoofing shirts I've ever seen.  Like this and this.  And before you go accusin', I'm not making fun here.  It's an amazingly audacious collection that needs to be seen.
• G thinks Falco's "Der Kommissar" is better than After The Fire's version "because of the accent."
• G has a Zune MP3 player.  I had a lot of trouble operating it, and it turns out it doesn't respond when you gesture to/yell at it.  I think I'll stick with my iPod.
• There were a few billboards for the "Mummies of the World" exhibit at the California Science Center as we passed L.A. and neared Anaheim.  "Mummies of the World" is fun to sing to the tune of "Spice Up Your Life."
• Our new potential karaoke songs will be "Ride Like the Wind" and "Ya Mo Be There." 
• When G first heard the opening bass line for "Turn Me Loose" by Loverboy, she said, "Sounds like some sex is about to happen."  I'd never really thought about it, but yeah, it does kinda sound like that.

We finally reached the park around 1:00p and headed inside to "do it all!"  G is a Disneyland veteran, so she (smartly) directed us to Space Mountain to get a FastPass as soon as we got there.  Whoever started this "Fast Pass" thing?  Genius.  We worked that system successfully for the rest of Saturday and Sunday.  We hit up nearly everything we wanted to do in Disneyland (where I'd been before) and California Adventure (where I had not.)  It's a tough call to say which were my favorites, because I'm an enthusiastic kid at amusement parks and really do love all of it.  But if I have to pick, I'll go with The Haunted Mansion Holiday for Disneyland, just because it looked so badass, and for California Adventure, I've gotta go with Muppet Vision 3D, which isn't even a ride, but I love me some Muppets.

Other highlights from the visits (again, besides everything):

• The adult size of the Mickey ear hats doesn't fit my huge noggin, unless I wear it at the back of my head like a Disney yarmulke.
  
• I did purchase an awesome Nightmare Before Christmas fedora that probably needs to be a bit bigger, but fits nonetheless.
• I spotted the most awesome winter hat EVER (this one here) which G bought.
• There were TONS of SF Giants fans at the park, yelling out "Go Giants!" in a Tourettes-like fashion, particularly around Big Thunder Mountain.  (?) There's less NorCal/SoCal animosity than I thought.  Or, those were all NorCal people being celebratory/trying to be dicks.
  
• Anytime we'd be on a ride with a tunnel (Thunder Mountain, Matterhorn, Space Mountain), when we'd enter the tunnel, I'd yell out "It's so incredibly black!" (from this) followed by G yelling out "Darknesses!" (from this)  It never got old.
  
• When G's friend flaked on giving us a place to stay (at about 12a after we left the park Saturday), we learned that there were a bunch of conventions in town so there was no mas cuartos anywhere.  When we finally did find a place to stay several miles away at about 2a, G inexplicably starting singing "Jesus Take the Wheel" to help us find the way into the hotel parking lot.
• I cashed in my 2 day/2 park ticket for an annual pass, so I'll be back at least one more weekend in the next year.