day 3

DAY 3
Us folk staying down in San Diego woke up at 5:30am the next morning. Chris came to pick us up at 6. Oh, Rob was staying behind because he had some Pokemon training to do. So it was Cheney, Ian and me all being taken up to Anaheim.

We got to Chris's hotel at 7:30. When we walked in, Kori was laying across the bed, still sleeping a bit. She sat up and went into the bathroom to shower. The clock ticked. Disneyland was going to open at 8. We stood around watching some cartoon I don't remember in the hotel room. 7:45. 7:55. 8:00. The shower had stopped a little bit ago, but I didn't care to notice. We were still standing here. 8:05. I walked out the door, and told them to text me when they got inside the park.

I walked as fast as I could without looking like I had just ran out of some convenience store with some loot. I started humming a little Disney toon. I was ready to wake up my inner child by putting a giant Disney cannon at the foot of his bed. I approached the front gates, handed the lady my ticket, had it scanned, and WALKED THE FREAK INTO A DREAMWORLD OF MAGIC. I whipped my camera out first thing, and started absorbing the atmosphere. The Mad Hatter was in front of the Mickey flower garden. I walked through the tunnels and entered main street. I got some more pictures of mascots, and approached Walt's personal apartment in the second story of the firehouse. I took a moment to watch it, a sort of way to pay my respects to the first Imagineer, and got pictures to remember it.

First rule of Disneyland. The first ride you will ride is Indiana Jones. This is the line that fills up the fastest, and takes the longest to go through, next to Space Mountain and Splash Mountain. A few pictures and minutes of speed-walking later, I get to the line. Looking around, I spotted a sign that read "Ask about our Single Rider line!" I talked to the employee at the entrance. He handed me a blue card and said to walk up the exit. After following a series of employees and bypassing dozens of people, I probably waited 10 minutes to get on the ride. And that is how I waited 10 minutes to go on the Indiana Jones ride for the rest of my day at Disneyland.

I won't bore you with everything I did at the park. It's Disneyland. It was my experience. And it was pretty awesome. Sadly, the park was more crowded than I've ever seen it, so I didn't do as much as i would have liked. There were tons of Japanese groups, and equally as many large white families – large in numbers and in girth. Also large were the lungs of toddlers. Holy freak why are they so loud.

I was standing in line for Peter Pan at 10:50pm. The rest of the guys very clearly stated the previous day that they'd spend every minute in Disneyland as long as it was open. My phone vibrated. "Hey, we're back at the hotel. Our legs are dead. Come back." I texted back, "How long are you willing to wait for me?"

"We're not very patient..."

I replied that I would go on Peter Pan for my last ride, and I'd see them soon. Ridiculous. As I waited, a large, black afro stuck out of the line. I'd recognize that afro anywhere. It was freakin Michael Jensen from Maeser. We said hi to each other and made weird faces and poses at each other. He went on the ride and left, and I went on the ride and left. it seemed a bit shorter than I remembered... The tiny cars that usually drove through the streets of London weren't there anymore. I got off the ride and worked my way to the entrance. I felt like I had to do a bit of shopping, since the only thing I bought for myself all day was a blue Mickey Mouse pin I boldly pinned to my blue shirt collar. I perused through a few stores on Main Street, but didn't find anything that caught my eye. I walked back to the hotel exhausted, and my inner child reluctantly went back to sleep.

Anyway, here are pictures I got while I was there. I hope that next time I go, I can be with dear friends, and it'll be far less crowded.


The hotel room that night was crammed. Luis and John came back to stay with us in downtown San Diego. We were 5 guys in one hotel room with one bed. I had to get used to sleeping on the ground, I guess.

> MS: BATTLE