I pwn Disney!

[aceofkittens]

I have been very busy since CousinOfKittens (CoK) came to live with me last Wednesday and I've also been sick with some kind of icky cold this whole time. However, it's been sort of sobering to realize just how little I had been doing with my evenings prior to her arrival. So after a week of whirlwind activity, tonight I am sitting here watching Pirate Master (the pirate-themed reality show that I should have been cast on, damnit! I love how they keep blurring out this one girl's chest — I think her nipples must be falling out of her bra!) so I figured I'd multi-task and do a nice big update that no one will read! :)

On Saturday, we went to the Rhett Miller concert at the Malibu Inn in Malibu. I was feeling pretty crappy, so I offered to drive to give everyone the chance to drink. My friend Nancy gave me some old-style Sudafed she'd bought in Mexico and so I managed to make it through the evening. :) The Inn proved to be a very interesting venue and we were able to stand in the very front. CoK fell instantly in love with Rhett and his music, so that was very satisfying! :) The coolest thing was when a guy asked to go on stage and proposed to his girlfriend as Rhett sang his song "Question." What a great night! And it sounds like the Old 97's will be touring all summer and into the fall. I'm excited! :)


But here's the real story. Sunday morning, CoK was feeling a little under the weather, so she stayed home while Space Captain Puppy McDog aka Dave came to the Westside and we went to the infamous Champagne Madness brunch at the Overland Cafe. Showing massive restraint, we only had one bottle of champagne between us, as well as some yummy food, then came home to check on CoK. Sadly for her, she didn't choose to accompany us on our subsequent trip to Disneyland. :) I also texted raptorboy as we drove down, but he had already made plans to go to the beach. Boo! Next time! For the first time ever, incidentally, I was well equipped with a water bottle of rum and Diet Coke.

So first of all, we stopped at the massive Halloween Superstore on the 5 just north of the park. We've joked around that we were going to go in there every time we've gone to Disneyland, and this time we actually stopped and explored it. I don't have a lot of Halloween or Burning Man needs, but if I did, this would be the place I'd go. It's amazing. After about half an hour of Halloween overload, we continued on. Our plan was simple: to have some frosty beverages, then hit the parks running.

So upon arrival, we veered off into Downtown Disney and I immediately found some kind of overpriced bar in the middle of the walkway. I decided to start off with a Bellini, while Captain Puppy McDog had some kind of tropical beverage. Unfortunately, my Bellini tasted like a smelly old shoe and it was only with the greatest of efforts that I was able to cram it down without gagging. I wasn't feeling it, so we left and went to the California Adventure park. I had a simple need: to ride the Stinger whirlygig. We got there probably around 3:30 p.m. and snagged Fast Passes for Soarin' Over California, which was going to let us in between 6:30 and 7:30. "Pah! We won't be here then!" sneered Captain Puppy McDog as he humored my need to whirl around in the Stinger. We also rode the Rapids on the way over, during which time Captain got soaked and I laughed at him. Oh, the irony of what was to come! :)

Once I had my spin on the Stinger, we went over to the fake Napa Valley part of the park where I insisted we take the Boudin bakery sourdough tour and then I bought the Captain some beers while I chugged down my smuggled rum & Diet Coke. As we sat there in the sunshine, MIB's 11 yo nephew kept texting me that I needed to go on California Screamin', which is a roller coaster. For those who don't know this, I do not like roller coasters. In fact, I have a kind of panic that takes hold of me on most roller coasters. But suddenly, the rum hit and I was feeling no pain. "Let's go ride that bastard!" I shouted to the Captain and took off running for the ride. Which was broken.

We waited around and I started losing my buzz (Lightyear), but then they reopened it and there was no line, so off we went! I actually did ok, so maybe I am getting over my fears. I don't know. We decided to make our way back to Soarin' since it was getting towards 7. On the way there, we foolishly rode the water ride again. I say foolishly, because of course once it gets dark, you're never going to dry off from being soaked on the water ride. And I got soaked. Oh so soaked. Absolutely drenched. And then I just had to go back on the Stinger. Twice. And then we rode the air-conditioned Soarin', which was great. Of course, I was still sick and so I couldn't experience the full smell-o-vision effect, due to being totally stuffed up. And then we bought Disney pins for the first time ever (just watch, I'll become a Disney pinhead!) and made our way geekishly over to Disneyland itself! We got there at 8 p.m., which is pretty much when we had left the last time. It was totally not crowded.

Oh, the joy of the Pirates ride. Oh, the bliss of the Pirates gift store. Oh, the delight of Haunted Mansion. And then for some reason, we decided we'd go on Splash Mountain, since there was no line. :) I'd started to dry off just a little bit, but that solved all that. Afterwards, we went over to Winnie the Pooh, which the Captain had never been on and where the cast member asked us, "Enjoyed Splash Mountain, did you??" "Wait, how did you know?" I responded, as I sat there literally wringing out my skirt. :)

It was getting late I was starting to get really cold, so we made an exit strategy. We would ride Pirates one more time, then go out by way of the back end of the park to see if the Fantasyland rides were not crowded and to do the Matterhorn. On Pirates, a gallon of water flew into the boat and right into my ass. I was sitting in a big pool of water. Verily, a currrse! So then we walked on and had to ride Big Thunder Railroad... not a water ride, and yet in the one place where it goes through some water... splat! Right in the kisser. :) At this point, it was just hilarious. And cold. Very cold.

As we scurried across Fantasyland, which was surprisingly crowded, we were also surprised to see how bad the Matterhorn line was at this time of night... 10:45, shortly before the park was due to close. But wait... what's this? The new Finding Nemo submarine ride's open? For a special cast-member preview??? :) "Oh yeah, I meant to try to get tickets," quoth Space Captain Puppy McDog. "Well, let's see if they'll let us in with my Disney Id." And guess what — they did. :) ***explodey*** I know most of you aren't Disney geeks and won't care, but WOOOO! :) *dances the dance of "I got to go on a new ride before it even opened"* :) :) A+, would definitely ride again... though it's not worth a 3-hour wait, so it'll be a long time before I ride it again. But still!!! :) :) :) And at least I didn't get wet on that ride. ;)


I got derailed from updating because someone I hadn't talked to for a long time unexpectedly called me... so now I'm just going to wrap it up for now.
ETA: Except that I wanted to add that the brunch mimosas apparently had some sort of appetite suppressant in them because neither Dave nor I felt hungry the entire day and went the whole time at Disneyland without buying a corndog or even a pretzel.