Disneyland, or "THAT Could Have Been Better"

Before Monday, July 25th, I had never been to Disneyland.

My parents had been, once, many years ago. They had moved to California seeking adventure and a change of pace shortly after my mom graduated high school. It's possible that I could have been born in Cali, if not for MiMi, my maternal grandmother, getting very sick a couple of years before I was born, resulting in my parents making an immediate move back to Texas.

I've talked in the past of my parents' reluctance to travel, so I need not spend time describing my many unsuccessful attempts at getting a trip to Disneyland or Disney World out of them. I eventually moved to Orlando and had countless wonderful adventures at Disney World, yet Disneyland still eluded me.

Shortly after arriving in Mexico, TJ and I decided that we would spend our November 2012 home leave traveling the west coast. These travels would include a stop in Anaheim so that we could experience my first time at Disneyland together. TJ's been before, but we both knew that I was totally going to be in kid-in-a-candyshop mode.

Once my plans for San Diego Comic Con had solidified, I teased the notion of going to Disneyland for a little sneak peak. TJ was at first reluctant, but later came around. Or at least pretended to.

Jarrett, my travel companion, was super excited.

Evan, our gracious host, was up for it, too.

Then I decided I didn't want to go to Disneyland because I'd rather save it for TJ. Plus, I wanted to maximize my time at Comic Con. Jarrett was disappointed, but seemed to understand. Or at least pretended to.

Evan, however, had latched onto the idea. I didn't want to disappoint my host, who was kind enough to let me crash on his couch for an entire week, so it was decided that Jarrett and I would spend our four days at the con as originally planned, and then Evan and I would go to Disney on Monday, the day before my return to Guadalajara.

A friend of Evan's met us at the entrance Monday morning, helped us score some discounted tickets, smuggled six or seven Fast Passes into our pockets, and proceeded to buy us corn dogs and apples using his company discount. Because nothing says "breakfast" like a Main Street corn dog. No, really, It was freakin' awesome.

Evan's friend (who shall remain nameless because I know how pshycho-crazy Disney can be about discounts, fast passes, etc.) hung out with us for several hours throughout the course of the day. He was incredibly friendly and thanks to his help we were able to ride everything that we wanted...except the Matterhorn, which was undergoing maintenance. Boooo!

We had a great time until around 3PM, when Evan's friend had to leave to prepare for his evening shift. At this point, Evan became quiet and less talkative. By 4PM, Evan had told me that he did not feel well, and had asked if he would be a bad friend if he did not drive me to the airport the next day. I suggested that, yes, he would be a bad friend, as I had asked him several times over the course of the week if he could take me, seeing as how it was across the US/Mexico border. Each time, it had been a resounding yes. Feeling that my response to his inquiry hadn't gained much traction, I asked if I needed to call Lisa to come get me in the morning. I was shocked that his response was in the affirmative.

Lisa did not seem very happy to get a call at 4pm asking for a 9:30am pickup on the opposite side of the border, but to her credit she picked me up and dropped me off with a smile on her face that in no way betrayed what had to be the nagging thought that maybe she should kill me and throw me in a ditch somewhere.

Now, to his credit, Evan had been saying that he felt he may be coming down with something for the last several days. Which I took into consideration by telling him that I thought it would behoove us to leave Disney and go home so that he could rest. The tickets were expensive, but I would understand; sick is sick, after all. Apparently, though, Disney is the best medicine...because he ended up wanting to stay at the park for six...more...hours.

Despite the enjoyment I had experienced earlier in the day, I can not possibly tell you how stressful the latter part of that day was...I was so freaked out about making my flight that I couldn't enjoy anything else.

Lisa...Your help was much appreciated, both coming and going! I can never repay your graciousness.

Evan's Friend...Thank you so much for the kindness you showed to a complete stranger. You definitely helped make the parts of the day that were enjoyable even more so than they otherwise could have been.

Jarrett...I am so sorry that you didn't get to go to Disneyland. Certainly if we had skipped the convention one day, we could still have seen most everything that we wanted to and enjoyed a Mickey Mouse day without worrying about travel arrangements back home.

Evan...Thanks for the couch and the trip to the zoo...but I have zero idea what the hell you were thinking at Disneyland.

TJ...Sorry that I just couldn't wait to see Disney with you. I'm gonna do my best to block this out so we can enjoy it together.

As so many prom queens have surly said, maybe it would have been better had I waited.