Poor little guy. Having the time of his life at Disneyalnd, and he goes down hard with some mystery fever in the middle of the trip.
We had a few moments when we thought we might have seek medical attention for him, but he rallied. Situations like this require excellent division of labor between parents.
Aside from this 24 hour bog for Auggie, Disneyland was an epic family adventure. Our kids had a great time. They are peaking in terms of age appropriateness, so we did it up. A lot about the Disney culture, as well as Disneyland enthusiasts, is different than what we focus on in our family. In those situations you have to figure out how handle that in a way that isn't going to make you feel like you are totally ignoring your values... but you still want to do it up and have fun like you did as a kid. You have to find some sort of balance. I think we did - it was good. Fortunately, I am encouraged by the evolution of Disneyland I have witnessed over the course of my visits... even if it does have a long way to go. Best symbol of this? In Tomorrowland, bed upon bed of the killer space age landscaping was filled with beautiful chard and dinosaur kale. I guess it could be utterly depressing that Disneyland is holding up growing greens in a victory garden as a bizarre space like idea, but they had some kick ass looking kale growing. We have a great picture of it.
The rides were great. The hotel and the pool were great. The lines and the crowds were pretty heinous, but we figured out ways to do everything we wanted to do. We charged. The kids loved riding roller coasters, so we went on all the rides. This is an actual ride cam shot of us on California Screamin' the only upside down coaster. We have one from Space Mountain that is hilarious. I actually splashed out the cash to buy a copy.
The drive down was lovely with a stop in SB to visit with the Birkley family. The drive to Disneyland from there was a great adventure through LA, with a lunch stop in Hollywood. The drive home was quite fast. Smooth sailing all around.
Since no blog post from me would be complete without some food content, I will take a moment to discuss the culinary offerings of the happiest place on earth. In a nutshell, it's all about the turkey leg.
There is this bizarre phenomenon of the turkey leg... they are sold in carts, with corn on the cob being the only other offering (and the requisite assortment of Coke products). You see people walking around, eating these massive turkey legs. Bob was intrigued and bought one our first full day in the park. The verdict? Delicious. Although we swore it was some sort of pork product when we first bit into it because it was brined in liquid smoke. The other 'so bad it's good' option is the hand dipped corn dogs, which really open your eyes to what corn dogs are intended to be... meat covered in a hush puppy. Quite tasty. Are you getting a sense of theme here? When inside Disneyland, your best options are some sort of meat you eat on a stick.
Breakfast was at Jamba Juice, and dinners were at Catal or Uva... the upscale mediterranean spot in Downtown Disneyland. We had a good meal at Catal... Uva, not as much. We also treated ourself to a nice dinner at Napa Rose, the top shelf option at the Grand Californian Hotel. It was a nice experience, although it was during this dinner that Auggie crashed. You may not be able to buy a drink in Disneyland, but outside of the park there are some good wine lists where we dined.
In summary, despite my raging ambivalence about Disneyland, it was a good family trip. It is wonderful to be able to do something to make your kids over the moon happy. I feel very fortunate that I have the ability to do it. Part of what made it extra fun is that we don't do this kind of thing a lot. This made it even more special for the kids, which in turn amplified their happiness and by extension, ours. So, my advice, go sparingly on the trips to Disneyland... wait until they are prime, and then go big. And don't miss the turkey legs.
