On our way to the rides, Josh spotted Donald Duck and for some unknown reason, he absolutely NEEDED to meet him. As far as I know he has never even watched anything with Donald Duck. Donald loved Josh's hat and even tickled him. The actor was really good.
The first ride we went on was Soarin' over California. It is a ride that picks you up to a screen and takes you on a "ride over California". Josh was terrified. He thought it was real and no amount of talking could convince him. He spent much of the ride with his head buried in his shoulder. He did like the airplane outside though.
We took the time to grab a couple of photos by the waterfall before going on the whitewater rafting ride. Josh wasn't happy that he was wet but he seemed to enjoy the ride on the whole.
We half bribed with candy, half tricked Josh to get into the Screamin' California roller coaster line (biggest roller coaster there, it even goes upside down). He didn't like the ride but he didn't cry before, during, or after which is better than I can say for my first real roller coaster ride. It was a great ride and I highly recommend it. One of the longest roller coasters I have ever been on. Afterwards we made it up to Josh by going on some kid rides. Pretty much from the fourth ride of the day onwards it was a fight to keep him happy. He kept telling us he wanted to go home. We held him through every line so that he could try to get a nap in and letting him practice his karate moves on us but nothing really helped. It began with anger.
We also let him take the camera for a bit so we have some interesting pictures but some of them turned out pretty good!
Since he was grumpy, we tried feeding him.
We tried taking him to Cars Land. It was really cool because it was just like walking onto Route 66. All of the stores were there, they had a really fun Mater ride, and we got to meet Mater and Lightning McQueen. From the pictures you can tell that Tyler was more enthused than Josh was.
Since that didn't wake him up, we tried Bug's World. He insisted on riding some of the rides but didn't look like he liked them at all.
So we did what any great parents would do. Since he wasn't waking up or enjoying the kids rides, let's take him on Tower of Terror. In our defense, we had heard it was a great ride but none of us had any idea what it was, just that it was a more grown up ride. By the time we made it through the line I had a pretty good idea of what it was, "an elevator ride gone wrong" could only mean one thing--we were going to be dropped from quite a distance at least once. I still made him get on. This ride was probably my favorite. Partly because of Josh's face each time we dropped. I have never seen eyes get that wide and a mouth get that stretched back that far into a grimace. I wish I had a picture, it was priceless. Again, no tears, but when we said he was so brave he just glared at us like, "I am not BRAVE! I was TRICKED!" He still doesn't like to talk about that ride.
Even after that he was not very awake but we had promised him he could make his own lightsaber.
And then he needed to test it out
By this point Josh no longer walked. He had to be carried everywhere. We took him on the monorail and he started doing the falling asleep head bob and looking like he was going to fall off his seat. Luckily, Tyler has all these nice new muscles and he was able to carry him most of the time.
I was thinking that maybe we should just go home but Tyler really wanted to stay to see the World of Colors light show. I was hesitant because it was almost 2 hours until the show. We stopped and ate and walked around shops trying to keep Josh happy. Finally it was time.
I was so tired and my feet hurt so badly I just wanted to get it over with. I was annoyed because to see it from the front you had to have a "fast pass" which of course we didn't have so we had to watch it from the backside of the show facing the people seeing it from the front. Yet another reason to be angry with stupid Disneyland and their stupid rules and stupid special passes. As the show started, despite the cotton candy and juice, Josh couldn't stand or move any longer. He asked for me to hold him. Great, a 15 minute show and I will have to hold you and my feet hurt...But I picked him up. I watched the show with my little boy's head on my shoulder and his gentle breathing in my ear. Rocking him back and forth like a baby, the lights were so beautiful and they project parts of Disney movies on sprays of water. For the first time, there were no rides to ride so we didn't have to hurry dragging Josh behind us, Josh wasn't whining/hitting/kicking/falling/asking to go home, it didn't matter that they didn't consider him disabled enough for their stupid pass, I was able to just watch the show. For the first time I began to feel that magic, the magic they show in the commercials, the hope I felt when I thought about going to Disneyland with my son. I began to feel all of those feelings you are supposed to feel in Disneyland. The show didn't feel like it was filled with fake emotion like many of the other times we had had in Disneyland. It felt real. Then the song came on, the song from Enchanted,
So Close by Jon McLaughlin
You’re in my arms
And all the world is calm
The music playing on for only two
So close together
And when I’m with you
So close to feeling alive
A life goes by
Romantic dreams will stop
So I bid mine goodbye and never knew
So close was waiting, waiting here with you
And now forever I know
All that I wanted to hold you
So close
So close to reaching that famous happy end
Almost believing this was not pretend
And now you’re beside me and look how far we’ve come
So far we are so close
How could I face the faceless days
If I should lose you now?
We’re so close
To reaching that famous happy end
And almost believing this was not pretend
Let’s go on dreaming for we know we are
So close
So close
And still so far
I cried. No, I bawled. I cried so hard I couldn't see the show. And there holding my son, knowing that we had reached the famous happy ending even though the days at Disney were so full of anger, frustration, fatigue, fakeness (on the part of the "happy" "helpful" Disney workers), and yes, I was almost believing that it was not pretend, and I didn't want to stop this dream, we were so close and the key was just holding and appreciating my son and my surroundings. My husband laughed at me for crying but the light show had me leaking at the eyes for the rest of the 15 minute show. I wasn't ready to try to explain what happened to me during that show, I still can't fully explain it. But the magic happened. In that moment I felt a little like a child, full of wonder, love, hope, and happiness. My feet stopped hurting, my biceps burned from holding 47 pounds for so long but it was a good burn. I managed to hold him all the way out of the park. Tyler carried him home. My feet still didn't hurt and my heart was feeling so many emotions my brain was having trouble making sense of them. It was a great day.
No comments:
Post a Comment