It's a World of Laughter, a World of Tears

I cannot believe that I forgot to write this blog!! I have been so excited to write this, but totally forgot about it until today. So here it is- 5 months late.


In January, my wonderful husband took me to Disneyland! Best. Trip. Ever! Disneyland is a huge deal for me, and the odds would be against us if he didn't love that place as much as I do, which thankfully, he does. While driving home, he suggested that we make a list of everything that happened so that we could remember and write about it in the future. Good idea right? So many small, but hilarious things happen to you on a vacation that are easy to forget, so now, as I review this list and write, I can fondly remember those good times. So, here we go-


We left on a Saturday, and first thing Jeremy did for me was introduce me to a musical called Miss Siagon. I knew nothing about it, but I listened and learned and really enjoyed it. I think listening to new musicals will be a great new tradition for me! Anyways, we drove and drove and it rained and rained and poured. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't purely terrified that we would slip off the road when going through some of those mountain passes. We finally made it to California and to the hotel. The parking was terrible...all spaces were built for compact cars and there was nowhere to park but between two huge trucks. Awful. We did get a room on the first floor though, yes!! I hate walking up stairs after a full day of walking anyways. We threw our stuff in the room and headed down Grandma Shirley's way, but made a stop at the 99cent store. AAAHH!! So cool! Love that place!! We left there and ran to Shirley's and visited with her for a while then headed back to the hotel, but not before stopping at Carl's Jr. to feast on "big kid bacon grilled cheese". It sounds just as good as it was!

The next day, we jumped out of bed and ran to the continental breakfast next door, extra early, to ensure that we would get to the park right when it opened. As we were eating, we were sitting next to a group of polygamists with one obnoxious woman complaining that she had lost her roll of film. She made it pretty apparent to everyone that she was with, and the whole room full of people how upset she was and that she had " left her roll of film by the autograph book standing up by the salt and pepper shakers in the hotel room". So awkward but so funny! Oh, did I mention that they were all wearing the silly, over the top Disney hats? Ya know like the huge Goofy one and all that jazz. That made it so much better, seriously!

We left breakfast and got in line, got in, and ran to Pirates first. We totally got our own boat, then right after that, we ran to Splash Mountain. I love that attraction, but I am pretty reluctant to go on it because I HATE getting wet. Of course, I sat in the front and Jeremy sat behind me, and of course I got really wet. It's okay, I know now to buy a poncho for the next time. Also, we went on Indiana Jones and the entire time we were there we were on the blue and purple track. Not once did we go on gold. I thought that was pretty thrilling, seeing as those are the two tracks that I can never seem to get each time I ride. It was an amazing morning in the magic kingdom!

After that, we went to the Blue Bayou. It was Jeremy's first time! I had made reservations weeks before to make sure that we would have the chance to go, and it was just as amazing as I remembered it. We both got the Monte Cristo sandwich, which we have replicated now, many times at home. I was so happy that I got to be with him as he experienced the restaurants greatness for the first time. Afterwards, we trekked over to California Adventure and went on Soarin' Over California.We had to wait in the long hallway with a bunch of smelly people, then when we actually got on the ride, the guy sitting next to Jeremy decided to take off his shoes to air out his feet. SO GROSS! That was, bar none, the most awkward, awful experience on that ride. We then crossed over to do Animation to find out which Disney character we are most like ( I'm tink, of course, and Jeremy is Jiminy Cricket), then we attended the Character drawing where we learned how to draw Goofy and Minnie.

The day went on, we went back to Disneyland and the last thing we wanted to do before leaving for the day, was Fantasyland. We went on Pinocchio first, and of all things, we broke down right as you are getting attacked by Monstro. Terrifying! Also- CoOlesT tHIng EVeR! The Blue Fairy at the end of the ride is a hologram or better known as a pepper ghost. If you turn around at the perfect time, you can see the actually animatronic all lit up from behind a glass panel, but I have NEVER seen it! I've been dying to see the actual trick. Finally, the day came. We walked out of Pinocchio and there...there she was!!! Highlight of the night! We got out and went over to Storybook boats where we were given our own personal cruise and asked the cast member every Disney question that we could think of regarding the park and new renovations. Best Disneyland night of my life.

Monday- again, of course, we saw our polygamist friends, still annoying, still wearing goofy hats (literally, people!). We went to DCA first and rode on the Mickey and Friends Fun Wheel...barf. Jeremy laughed. I cried. Next, we went on Maliboomer and Grizzly River Rapid. Guh. I hate getting wet. The best part though, is that water got trapped inside one of Jeremy's shoes so for the rest of the trip, his shoe squeaked. So awesome! We went back to Animation, one last time and decided to see Turtle Talk with Crush. Crush made friends with Jeremy, calling him "Jamaica Jeremy" to which one man in the audience started laughing and pointing his finger at Jeremy, saying "Haha, Jamaica Jeremy, he called you Jamaica Jeremy". Yeah guy, it was...funny. We went back to Disneyland to ride on Buzz's Astro Blasters because I love that ride. Jeremy is now a believer because he got the highest score I've ever seen! My brother, Nick, feels threatened that there is now someone in the family that can out shoot him, but what can I say? Jeremy is just my Cosmic Commando. *Sigh* We also waited for fireworks that night, but ended up being cancelled, to which they interpreted into a few languages. After one foreign language was translated, I turned to Jeremy and asked " Do you think that the Japanese people are offended at the terrible accent that the American announcer just used to translate?". He looked at me and laughed then explained the the announcer had just translated in Spanish. Ugh. Fail, Lauren.

Tuesday- the last day. It came to quickly! That was the day of the Magic Morning. We got in at 8 and had breakfast in Fantasyland then over to Tomorrowland where Jeremy placed the second highest score of the day! Mmmm, that's my man!!! It started to rain a bit here and there, but nothing too badly, also, I was looking for a cookie. Not any ordinary cookie, a raspberry macadamia white chocolate chip cookie!! AAAHH, so good! I searched everywhere for this dang cookie, but apparently it's very popular and hard to find. I couldn't accept failure.
We decided to halt the search and ride on Thunder Mountain in the rain. One word-ouch. Rain hurts when it's pelted against your face. It was totally fine though because we got to ride in the very back! Twice in a row! Jeremy asked the guy if we could just stay on because of the lack of line and he let us. Woo hoo! We decided to go to lunch at the Mexican place by Thunder Mountain. I wish I knew the name. Somewhere in the back of my mind I do, but my family calls it Zorro's house, so that's what stuck. We ate at Zorro's house and afterwards went back to DCA to ride on California Screaming which also hurt in the rain, but was awesome. We were leaving DCA for the last time Jeremy suggested that we try to find the cookie that I was looking for in the bakery by the front and we found it! Sweet goodness, that was the best cookie I've ever had! We left, and by then, it was pouring rain. Guh. I hate getting wet. All of the streets were flooded and that rain was said to bring California out of the red zone drought wise. Of course. It was totally fine though, because the rain scared everyone away for the night, thank goodness!

Here are the rides that we walked right onto that night- Indiana Jones (which, Jeremy saw bones for the first time, yipee!), Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain (our picture was blacked out, totally could have been our Christmas card this year...) Peter Pan, Buzz, Haunted Mansion and Pirates. Thank you, rain! After a good last day, we went to the House of Blues for dinner and crashed back at the hotel.

It was such an amazing trip and I'm so glad we made a list of memories! Sitting here remembering and typing it all out has made me so excited for our Disney trip this summer with my family. I can't wait to show my handsome Cosmic Commando all of my favorite things to do in a California Summer, and I know that we will have just as memorable a time as we did early spring.