In February 2010 I had already had a busy travel month by getting delayed twice in St. John, and once I arrived home I only had a few days to pack and get ready for a work trip to Anaheim, CA.
On my first day in Anaheim it turned out I had a free afternoon. It was suggested I could “swim at the hotel” or go to the “welcome drink reception.”  But nagging me from my window was Disneyland. I worried if I headed to Disneyland that I’d get a call from my co-workers asking where I was, or some other emergency would suddenly happen. After an hour of debate I decided to go down to the Disneyland area…just to check things out.
I got lost on my way there, and so it took me half an hour to get there. When I arrived, seeing all the young kids with Mickey balloons and dressed as princesses I decided to buy a ticket. I really wanted to ride the Indiana Jones ride, one of my favorite rides, and knew there would be a long line. I figured “Heck, if I can only ride one ride, at least I’ve been to Disneyland again.” So I got my ticket and pins saying “I’m celebrating” since it was close to my birthday, as well as “1st time” since I hadn’t been back in over a decade. I decided not to wear the pins as I realized I was still wearing my business suite, but they looked really cool.
As I walked in, a parade was going on so I had to snake my way into Adventureland and ran to get in line for Indiana Jones. By luck I saw a sign saying “Single riders see an attendant for faster line.” And here I thought being alone at Disney wouldn’t be fun! So I walked up and was given a pass and told to “Walk through the Exit.” It was sort of sad to miss all the fun “scenes” that they put on for people waiting in the line, but instead of the projected 50 minute wait, it was less than 5 minutes, as I ran down the Exit and met up with some “Fast Pass” people. Within minutes I was on the ride sitting in the 2nd row of the car.
Years ago, I had gone to Disneyland with my parents. I was a scardy cat. I hate heights and most roller coasters, so I had closed my eyes tight. It wasn’t until the ride was over and I realized I could survive it that I actually wanted to go on the rides…this time with my eyes open. This annoyed my parents to no end, as instead of riding other rides they were force to go through the same one they had just gotten off.
So now as an adult I embraced it! I was wide eyed trying to take everything in and remember it! I held my hands up instead of holding on for dear life. The Indiana Jones ride was a lot quicker than I remembered, less than a 5 minute ride. That was a little disappointing but otherwise I had fun.
When I got out I shopped real quick looking at the Indiana Jones theme tradepost. It took everything in me not to buy a whip and a hat, but in the end it seemed overpriced. As I headed over to get in line for Pirates of the Caribbean my phone went off. I proceeded to a quite corner hoping the person on the end wouldn’t hear the hordes of kids screaming around me. This was my biggest fear, being at Disneyland and then some big emergency happens and I need to be back at the hotel. I answered the phone and it was one of my co-workers. “Hey, one of our meetings ended, and we wanted to have a real quick, 5 minute meeting about tomorrow, before we go into our next meeting. So do you wanna come up from your room and be here in about 3 minutes?” I prayed he couldn’t hear the Dun Dun Dun Da of the Indiana Jones ride as I said, “Actually, when
I had fun waiting in line as the atmosphere was a lot of fun. I ended up being in the very front boat in the very first row by myself. Right as we went over this HUGE fall my phone rang. I cursed myself silently as I muted my phone, and the fact that the HUGE fall made me get from head to toe soaking wet! The rest of the ride I was disappointed in. They had redone it from the old action that Walt Disney had created to a weird story line that focused on Jack Sparrow from the movie version of the ride. I love Jack Sparrow, but I felt that the changes to the ride weren’t that great. I can see how a kid would love it, so maybe I’ve just become jaded.The very last “scene” was of Jack in a room full of treasure with Jack saying some mumbled warnings while singing.
When I got out of the ride I had 3 phone calls, all from work. Damn I thought. They are looking for me again. I listen the the messages, the first one was just a co-worker reminding me to pickup my floor badge so I could attend my 6AM meeting the following morning. The next 2 were from my counterpart who was the only other person who had free time this afternoon. I had asked him before what he was doing and he said “A nap and then maybe swimming.” Apparently after 2 hours he was extremely board and wanted me to come with him to the “Welcome Drinks Reception”. I called him back and admitted I was at Disneyland and wished him a fun time at the Reception (I’m glad I didn’t go, cause this co-worker caused some drama, thank god I wasn’t associated with it.) He wished me a fun time too.
After this I made sure my phone was off, and I prayed no one else from work would look for me cause I didn’t want to get in trouble. I ran off to the Haunted Mansion, it was good, just as I remembered it. After this I looked at my watch. I knew I wanted to leave by 6-6:15 so that way I could run the 3 blocks back to the hotel, shower, change and then make it to my dinner meeting of 7PM. I stopped at a New Orleans pin trading store to buy some pins to put on my laptop bag to distinguish it from my co-workers.
A quick view of Disneyland Castle in the dark, before dashing home.
So I rushed over to the big railroad roller coaster right as it started to become dark and waited in line to ride it. That was a lot of fun! Then I ran all the way to the opposite end of the park to go to Star Tours, the Star Wars ride, as I had completely forgotten that this ride existed. (Indiana Jones and Star Wars are two of my favorite movies!) I remember going to this ride the many years ago, the line was SOOOO long and I accidentally set my seatbelt too tight so was uncomfortable the entire time. This time there were no lines (I regret not taking pictures of C3PO as I learned later this was a real prop from the movie) and was on a “Shuttle to Endor” very quickly. I enjoyed the ride immensity. Upon leaving there were posters for other “Shuttles” and that Disney later used in the updated Star Tours ride.
The great thing about Disneyland (remember I’m a marketing person, so my take on advertising is different from others) is that when you exit a ride it normally dumps you into the corresponding themed store. The Star Wars “Star Trader” themed store didn’t disappoint. The first thing I saw was an incredibly cute Ewok stuffed animal that I snatched up. I then looked around at all the cool toys. I was about to leave when I noticed on a far wall a huge display saying “Build your own lightsaber.” Now I’m a huge geek, and I’ve wanted my own lightsaber I just never found one I liked (the clone ones they’ve come out recently are interesting but just lack some of the feel of classic lightsabers.) So I got in line behind 3 young boys. Man was I out of place, a 5 foot 2 in 24 year old woman in a business suite.  The attendant teaching how to make lightsabers angerly answered my questions as I built it but I didn’t care, this was the most awesome experience I’ve ever had. I paid for my Ewok and Lightsaber, and looking at my watch decided to chance it and I ran over to the Castle. I was hoping to find some Disney princess themed items, but everything I saw was designed for little girls (costumes and the like) so I turned around and had to fight my way through yet another parade and then ran the 3 blocks (in heels and with an Ewok under one arm, and a purple lightsaber in the other) to the hotel. I had enough time to take a quick shower, change my outfit and shoes.
Disney hi-lights in under 3 hours? Yes its possible, but only if you dash quickly through the crowds. :)
Travel Missteps is an every-other week series on how sometimes part of the journey is making mistakes and getting lost.
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