Disneyland 2009 - the Good, the Great, and the Ugly

As you all know, no doubt, we just got back from our anniversary celebration at Disneyland. In a word, it was awesome. In several words, here are the highlights and the lowlights:

Highlights -

*Nancy, the lady at the ticket booth from Cleveland, Ohio got us a great deal on our tickets. We got two-day passes from Lew's parents' credit card reward points and we wanted to upgrade them to four-day passes. Well, Nancy pulled some strings, saved us sixty bucks, and gave us a Magic Morning (meaning we could get into the park an hour before it opens officially on one of the days).

*Pirates of the Caribbean was the very first ride we went on and it just may be my favorite of all the rides. I love me some pirates.
*Minnie Mouse ears for me and a backwards Pluto hat for Lewis.*The fact that fastpasses can be used any time after it says to use them is not understood by many people, but is understood by Lewis and me.
*We met several really neat people while we were in line including
-Blake, a little kid going on the Indiana Jones ride by himself, while his parents waited at the exit. We rode in the same car as him and Lewis screamed the whole time. After we got off the ride, Blake informed Lewis that he shouldn't do that next time because "you spooked me!"
-A Canadian family that was comprised of some of the most polite people I've ever met. We were surprised when they told us they were from Canada because they had Indian accents/looked like they were from India. But I've never been to Canada.
-A group of little kids that rode the Grizzly River Run with us. Our boat was so light, we just spun in circles the whole ride.
-A UCLA fan who we joked with about the "schlacking" BYU gave UCLA at the football game last year. His words, not mine.
-The little girl in front of us on Star Tours who asked her parents if it was really just a movie. They said yes, but then she asked, rather fearfully, "then why are there seat belts?" Apparently, she had just ridden, and was less than pleased with, the Tower of Terror.
-TONS of BYU fans. We're everywhere you want to be.

*We went to Mickey's house. And only stood in a five minute line to meet him. And we got a picture with him. And an autograph. And then Lewis did an impression of him and he got mad and gave Lewis a surprisingly dirty look considering his face can't change expressions so well. But then he forgave Lewis when he told him it was our anniversary. Then Mickey gave me a hug and all was well.
*Most of the cast members we passed wished us a happy anniversary (we were given buttons to wear, so they knew). If they could, they asked how many years we were celebrating. After we told one cast member that it was our first anniversary he snorted and said, "For our first anniversary, my wife and I went to In-N-Out Burger."

*The happiest (and tastiest!) corn dogs on earth. Also, a really good caramel apple with white chocolate and cinnamon.*Fantasmic and fireworks. 'Nuff said.

*Riding Splash Mountain seven times and riding Indiana Jones at least that many times. Have I mentioned that I love fastpass?
*Paying attention to the Ridemax tip that told us to hover by the Magic Morning entrance (on the day we didn't use it) (Magic Morning is only on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays) because it changes over to a regular entrance at 8 o'clock. Best. Advice. Ever. We showed up at 7:57 and the lines to get into the park stretched almost all the way over to California Adventure, but we were first in line and hence got on Space Mountain at 8:06.*Our hotel was less than a quarter mile from the main entrance. We went home every day and took a two hour nap, no problem.

*Jedi Training Academy. Just for Lewis.*We stood in the single rider line for Toy Story and then got to ride it together anyway. Thank you to the nice lady in front of us who let us go ahead when they were looking for two single riders.
*Also, Toy Story Midway Mania is a freaking sweet ride.

*Getting stuck on the Indiana Jones ride right at the end and then getting to ride it all over again without getting off.
*Getting a private cruise around the world on It's A Small World. When the cast member said she was letting us go by ourselves, I thought she meant we would be getting our own row on the boat. But no, we got our own boat cause it was our anniversary. Less awesome was the fact that they started adding more boats throughout the ride while we were on it. Imagine seeing the boat in front of you, full of happy and laughing people one second and then the next second the boat in front of you is empty and so is the one behind you. Where did all the people go? Are we next?
*Did I tell you that we met Mickey? Because we did.

*We saw these two people.

*Finding hidden Mickeys on all the rides and all over that park. That was fun.

*Getting to ride in the ONLY boat in the Jungle Cruise that has a hidden Mickey in the first place.

*We rode Autopia the only time that it's not lame - right at 8 o'clock, before the line grows to ridiculous.
*We rode all but four rides in Disneyland (not including California Adventure, because we didn't care about a lot of the rides there): Mad Hatter's Tea Party, Astro Orbiters, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, and Gadget's Go Coaster. The only one of those we even considered riding was the Astro Orbiters, so we're good.

*Peter Pan was the last ride we rode. This is especially cool because it was the first ride we rode last year when we came with Daniel, Mary, and Becca. And the next time we go to Disneyland it'll probably be A). a long time from now and 2). when we have kids, so it won't be the same. Peter Pan opened and closed an era, really. Unless we go next year with all the Youngs. In that case, never mind. Maybe we'll ride it last then too.

As we all know, there is opposition in all things, even in Disneyland. The lowlights -

*Our cab driver from the airport to our hotel tried to stiff us. He (and the guy assigning people to taxis) told us that it was a flat rate of $45 to get from the airport to Disneyland. Also, there was a sign in his car, located right in front of my face that said that same thing. And then we got there and he ran our card for the $72 racked up on the meter. When we cried foul, he tried to tell us that the flat rate was for cash only. We told him, no, that's not what the guy at the airport said and that there was a sign right there that said different. He acted all confused like and then asked if it was okay to give us cash back as a refund. And then he had the nerve to ask us how much we wanted to give him as a tip! I was about to tell him zero dollars, but we really wanted to get in the park so the jerk ended up getting a $7 tip cause he "only had a 20". Yeah, right. However, the $72 charge has yet to go through, so maybe he did that wrong and it'll never go through. Would serve him right, the scammer.

*Zicam did me nothing! I got the cold on Monday and was technically sick all week. I didn't let it hold me back, though. I mean, it wasn't that bad of a cold, but that freaking Zicam was worthless. Don't worry, I'll be getting the best of Zicam yet.

*We thought we got away from EFY by leaving BYU. But then an enormous group of EFY counselors showed up at the park together, doing the same cheers as they did back in Provo. What the what?

*It was the first week that annual passholders could use their annual passes, so the park was filled to the brim. I shouldn't complain too much about that, though. We never stood in a line longer than 40 minutes, and only one that was that long. It was Toy Story, if you're wondering, but not the single rider line.
*A lady ran over my pinky toe with her stroller.

*I dropped my bag on Lewis' foot on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but he got me back by raising his arms right before we went around a sharp corner and thus sliding into me and squishing me against the cart wall. Touche.

*The Blue Bayou stopped serving key lime pie. Their key lime pie was the only reason we even went to the Blue Bayou! Also, I learned that I don't like creme brulee.

*We had to leave.

When all is said and done, I don't really have much to complain about. It was a ridiculously awesome, fantastic - nay, fantasmic! - trip that we will remember forever and tell our kids about when we can't afford to take them to the park, just to rub it in. I'm sure there were even more great things that happened on the trip, but this is a mighty satisfaction list, isn't it?