Thursday, January 12, 2012

Our AMAZING DAY at Disneyland!!

Our AMAZING DAY at Disneyland!!

Last Sunday my husband and I went to Disneyland to celebrate our 32nd anniversary. We got to the park one hour after opening. After getting a locker for the day and stopping at City Hall for our anniversary buttons we went over to the Main Street Train Station to see if we could get a ride on the Lilly Bell later in the day as an added anniversary treat as my husband really enjoys steam trains. When we talked to one of the conductors he told us we could not get on a Lilly Bell Tour because they only had three tours with fourteen people per tour and all the tours were full.

My husband had stopped in City Hall for the Happy Anniversary buttons without me. He got a funny look when he asked for three buttons not two. He then explained he wanted an extra button for our "traveling buddy" Playful Pluto. Playful Pluto is a plush Pluto that we take with us to the park and take funny pictures of. We are working on a Facebook Page for him.

We were about to walk away from the Train Station in disappointment when I told Conductor Bill our love story. I told him how we realized we were in love because the Jazz Band at the French Market told us we were in love when we believed we were just friends, six months later we were married. Conductor Bill listened to our story and then told us to come back around 1 pm to see if he could arrange anything for us. He informed us that it was possible someone could cancel or not show up. We promised we would return after 1 pm.

We walked around Disneyland taking pictures as we waited for our friends to come and join us. We wanted several special pictures so we stopped in at Santa's house and got our picture taken with him. We wandered the shops looking for special little gifts to get each other. Our dear friends joined us for our day of celebration by lunch time. We had lunch at the new Jolly Holiday Bakery and then enjoyed some people watching while we ate.

After lunch we told our friends to follow us to the Main Street Train Station to see Conductor Bill about our ride on the Lilly Bell. When we arrived he told us the tours were full. He then asked us to wait a moment while he checked something. He came back with Conductor John. Conductor Bill told us Conductor John had offered to do an extra tour just for us!! At that moment a couple walked up. The man had a Birthday button on. They asked Conductor Bill if they could get a ride on the Lilly Bell. Conductor Bill then turned and asked us if it was ok if they joined our party. We welcomed them! So instead of the usual fourteen people in the tour we had the four from our group and the Birthday boy and his wife. We were told to follow our Conductor right away as the Holiday had just pulled in with the Lilly Bell and was waiting for us to board so it could pull out for its grand circle tour of Disneyland!

Our ride on the Lilly Bell lasted exactly 20 magical minutes! Conductor John gave us a wonderful history lesson on the Disneyland Railroad and the Lilly Bell. There was lots of new information and a magical time riding in the car designed by Lillian Disney.

During the rest of the afternoon we enjoyed some of our favorite rides, especially the ones that are being closed for renovations or because they have a holiday overlay. We made sure to ride the Matterhorn because it is closing it for six months while they change to new cars with lap bars. We enjoyed the entire time with our friends!

We had dinner at the French Market Café where the Band had told us we were in love over 32 years ago. We listened to the band play as we ate dinner with our friends. The memories flowed as did the warm feelings of love. Disney Magic at its best!

Our friends left early and we decided to stay. We wanted to see the fireworks but knew we would not be able to get to our special spot as it was late and the spot was taken. Because I'm a little person standing in the middle of the crowd to view the fireworks is useless. We decided to ask the Cast Members at the VIP viewing area for the fireworks if there was any way we could get into the area. The Cast Member we talked to went to check and came back and told us, "The Mouse says you can stand in the back and lean." This made the night MAGICAL!

As we stood and waited for the show we watched one of the Cast Members that was handling letting people into the area joking with people as she let them in. She was asking them to, "Give the secret handshake." People were confused at first. She would then tell them to give her a high five or bump fists with her. She usually picked the kids in the group for this treatment. We started joking with her. We were professional Mimes years ago and we told her she was lucky she did not ask us. We then showed her several funny ways mimes shake hands. All in all what an amazing way to end to a magical day.

On the way out of the park we stopped by City Hall. We wanted to thank all the Cast Members that made the day so special and memorable. It was actually our second visit to say thanks that day. The first was when we came in to comment about the ride on the Lilly Bell. We listed each Cast Member by name, location and time we met them. We told our story of falling in love and how the treatment we received while there made our celebration of our love even more special. When we were done the Cast Member in City Hall gave us Honorary Citizen buttons and Happily Ever After buttons saying we earned our Citizenship by showing our gratitude to the Cast Members and we are living our happily Ever After.

Each button we received and every memory will be a treasured keepsake for the rest of our lives.

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