The Happiest Vacation on Earth

May 6th, 7th, and 8th marked a very important event in our family history.  It was Cory's first time to Disneyland!  After two years of anticipation (mostly on my part) we finally made it down to the Happiest Place on Earth.  We made it a little family reunion, so the whole Gilmore-Huhnke clan terrorized the park for three days.

I'd say it was a successful trip.  I loved being there with Cory and showing her around everywhere.  What I especially loved, though, was that she humored me the whole three days and let me be excited about showing her everything.  She was a trooper, but she did have a great time as well.  After a little while, she seemed right at home in the park.

Cutest Minnie I have ever seen...

One of the things I have appreciated since being married to Cory is getting her perspective and expectations for our experiences.  For example, at Disneyland, I am all about getting on as many rides as possible.  This time was different though because Cory can get motion sickness.  When I think about it, that didn't really hold us up at all, but for the first time I didn't feel the need to rush around to get on every ride five time.  Cory helped me enjoy trying different foods, looking in little shops, and exploring other parts of the park.  Speaking of food...I think we tried everything in the entire park, including, but no limited to:

Mickey shaped beignets!

Bengal Barbecue and Pineapple Dole Whip soft serve!

Mickey shaped pretzels!

Little Red Wagon corn dogs!  Always a Gilmore tradition.  We actually ate these more than once. 

Lousiana Lemonade at the Blue Bayou with the Monte Cristo sandwiches.  They are delicious, and we both needed naps after we tried to finish at least half of the plate.

Mickey shaped sugar cookies!  And last but not least:

The Turkey Leg!!!  That thing is like 20 pounds of meat.  The experience is immortalized on my shirt, which quotes Shane Cason's thoughts on how to describe this culinary experience.  We tried more food as well, but you get the point.  It was relaxing to just find a nice sitting area and chow down on some tasty treat.  Cory brought that out in me when my family couldn't for 24 years.

Another fun thing about Disneyland/California Adventure is the vast number of gift shops there are to explore.  It is especially fun when there are fun things to try on.  Here are Cory and Rhiannon in Cars Land trying on some Luigi Tire hats.

And here I am trying not to draw attention to myself while still getting a picture with Mickey's Sorcerers hat on.

Speaking of Mickey...he lives in Toon Town, and it was so fun to show Cory around there and see all the character's houses.  Here we are in front of Mickey's house.

Then we all met the Big Mouse, himself!

So you may have noticed that on the first day we all wore character shirts.  Cory had Daisy Duck, and I had Donald.  Lacey gave all of us the shirts for Christmas, so when we were picking our characters, Cory chose Daisy.  She made it clear to me, however, that it didn't mean that she was obsessed with all things Daisy, and that nobody needed to point out to her everything with Daisy on it in the park.  I told my mom and we laughed a little because my family is totally like that, but I gave strict instructions to everyone not to do that to Cory.  Anyway, most times when you want to get a picture with a character, you have to wait in a long line, and we always just try to snap a picture from a side angle.  I told you all of that to tell you that when we left Mickey's house, Goofy and Daisy were there waiting to take pictures with people and there was no line.  I immediately shouted at the top of my lungs, "CORY!!!! THERE IS DAISY!!!!"  I would like to say that I did that to tease her, but I cannot tell a lie.  It was a pure, unadulterated shout of excitement that I had absolutely no control over.  I don't even remember her reaction, that is how excited I was.

Here is an example of one of the side view character photos.  I give you:  Captain James Hook.

As I mentioned, I love all the rides in the park.  Even the ones for little kids are fun to go on for me.  I loved going on all of them with Cory and seeing her reaction.  On Indiana Jones, I even made her go through the line with me even though she wasn't going to ride, just so she could see some cool stuff while we waited.  The more I reflect on this trip, the more I appreciate her patience and unconditional love.  Here is Indiana Jones.

We also rode Alice in Wonderland!

We also waited in line for Pirates of the Caribbean!

Here we are in California Adventure on Tower of Terror.  Cory and my mom (the girl with motion sickness, and the woman with a demobilizing back problem) were the only two to brave it with me.  A few others chickened out minutes before we were about to get in line.

I have to also give a shout out to Chris, who survived his second Disney experience with the family.  He has the patience of a saint, and also gave me one of my favorite memories from the trip.

We all were in line for the Winnie the Pooh ride, and already I assumed that we would be splitting up into two cars.  We had eight people and it is pretty clear that the cars are built for six adults.  So we get up to the loading area and the guy tries to fit all eight of us in one, which did not work.  After a flurry of frustration, Chris just volunteered to get out and go in the next one.  So we go through the ride and get off, and then waited for Chris.  After a few cars, he comes around the corner in the front seat with some random people, and I don't know why but it was just funny.  It still makes me laugh when I see this picture.

We also spent a lot of time in California Adventure, which has really been built up since I have been there.  One of the big new things is Cars Land, which was always crowded, but cool to see.

And the classic Mickey Ferris wheel

Like this blog post, the vacation at some points seemed long and tiring, but what family vacations don't have their ups and downs?  Overall it was a great trip, and thanks to Walt for creating such a fun place to be with my family.

By the end of the three days I could tell all of us were a little exhausted, because we thought it was really cool and funny to point out "Hidden Mickeys" that weren't real.  All over the park and in the rides, there are mickeys that you can try and find that aren't very apparent.  Well, here is an example of one of our hidden mickeys.

So finally this post comes to a close, and I have saved my favorite picture for last.  This was on our first day, when Cory didn't realize that the characters don't stop for people because they are hoofing it to where people have been waiting in line.  That didn't stop Cory from having one of her first exciting character encounters.  Who cares that Pooh didn't give her the time of day.  She is having a blast!!!