Disneyland
To be honest, I have pretty mixed feelings about Disneyland. My first visit was in 1986 with the Wright family. It was amazing. We went for one day, and Randy and I rode all the rides. I got a funny Mickey sailor’s hat. Even back then, we were shocked at the prices, and I thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime trip.
I went with my Dad when I was 19. He had a work friend who had a membership to Club 33, a private restaurant in Disneyland. We went for lunch, 5-star dining. Not really our kind of place at the time, but the food was amazing. As Dad and I walked around the park, he smiled at me and said, “Well kid, it took me a minute, but I got you to Disneyland.” It’s a beautiful memory.
Years later, when I had kids, we took a Craft Family trip to Disneyland. We hooked up our converted bus and a trailer and drove to California. On the way, to pay for the trip, Dad and Tanner (my adopted Brother) booked two carpet removal and re-install jobs at California banks. We had a ‘boys’ against ‘girls’ competition to see who could get their job done first. Though Dad and the girls lost, it was an epically Craft experience. And Disneyland was, well, ok. Lisa was on a mission to get ‘autographs’ from all the characters, which is not as fun as the rides. But in retrospect, the kids were too little to do most of the rides. Lesson: Don’t take kids shorter than 42” to Disneyland.
Tony attended a leadership conference at Disney World, and we got to stay at a Disney World resort, go to multiple parks, and narrowly avoided a hurricane. Hunter, Zoe, and I went on rides all day and met up with Tony in the evenings. My favorite part of the trip was the International Food and Wine Festival at EPCOT. I would recommend it for any ‘foodie.’ My line for the trip was “I don’t know why they let kids come here,” and it holds to this day.
Max and I are at Disney World again this week with the Guilds and the Grahams. They know how to do Disney World, including park hoppers, matching T-shirts, breakfast character meet-and-greets for concert ticket deals, ride schedules, costumes, and early entry. We went to Animal Kingdom, and I was thoroughly impressed with the Safari (even after Africa). We took Max’s granddaughters and tried to do every ride in EPCOT! Disney’s Hollywood Studios has super fun Star Wars themed rides and is worth a day for any sci-fi nerd. We had another thoroughly enjoyable day at EPCOT, during the International Food and Wine Festival, and traveled the world getting our passports signed at the Kidcots. Finally, we hit the Magic Kingdom (my least favorite park) for half a day and soaked in the sights.
I don’t need to go back to Disney World, but I learned this trip, if I did, it would be fun. Disney is clean, positive, accessible, and diverse. They are still trying innovative things to improve the environment, habitats for animals, and generally provide family-oriented entertainment. We could all use a little Disney in our lives!