It's nearly 5 years later now. I'm 5 years older, we're both late 30's in age. It's October which means the park is decorated for Halloween.
We were going to be in Southern California to meet with friends, family and a supporting church and the money all came together for a special family vacation to Disneyland in Anaheim, CA.
The trip went GREAT... I mean REALLY great, God confirmed our ministry in so many miraculous ways. I will blog about that possibly more later. But know we're very excited about our ministry and returning to PNG. So many things have happened that this 10 days feels more like a month because of the sheer volume of awesome things that has happened. I can't even recall them all.
First... a few words from our kids:
Calvin – while watching captain EO with me because it took me back “I don’t get it, is captain EO a boy or a girl?”
Calvin – while on the pirates of the C. he said while referring to the skeleton drinking a bottle of rum “he must be freshly dead because the bottle isn’t empty yet.”
Calvin – while on California Screaming “I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die”
Calvin – after California Screamin “Choosing to ride that ride was the worst mistake of my life. There was probably a sonic boom during it but I couldn’t hear it because I was screaming my head off.”
Calvin and Sydney at the tortilla factory weighing Sydney (what’s your weight in tortillas)– Syd - “Wow I weigh like 100 more tortillas than Emmy” Cal - “well that’s because we eat tacos every Tuesday night”
Day 1 at Disneyland we decided to ignore the advice of friends telling us about this new 'fastpass' system and how to work it. The day ended in disappointment as we found we could not see this 'world of color' show. So on Day 2 I decided to 'work the fastpass system' Which resulted in me doing a LOT of walking around while my wife took the kids to fantasyland rides.
Day 2: After two ull days I have decided that they have upset the delicate balance of magic at Disneyland. I have also decided I don't care at all for the new California Adventure. The fastpass system for world of color is a horrible disaster. The park opened at 9:30am and the horde of people RAN ignoring all warnings towards the fastpass machines. I refused to run. Wheelchairs, older people, heavier people, younger people, all dashed passed me. Combine CA adventure, with Dland and downtown disney and what you end up with is having to make reservations for rides since there is triple the crowd and triple the wait. I went on a weekday in October, on a drizzly day and it was still insanely crowded. The crowds will be the undoing of the park. Combine THAT with new information at the gate each day about what the closing times actually mean, some halloween party that meant we didn't get to see Fantasmic OR the fireworks... and you realize, that you need to plan your itenerary and the internet is not enough of an information source. I realize there is a phone app and such.. and the people who seemed to know their way around the park all had iphone4's and Verizon whatevers... there were a LOT of smartphones employed by families trying to figure out their next move. The LAZY, relaxed way of doing Dland comes at an extreme cost, which is not being able to ride rides.
The clothing fashions have changed, and I wondered how cold those folks with very short shorts felt, but also folks seemed rude to me. I think possibly large crowds are that way. I found myself compensating by being overly pleasant to people instead of grumpy. Before I left for PNG, a large crowd would make me angry and stressed. Now I feel, 'wow these people only need someone to simply be kind to them and they'll have a better day'.
Still, family fun can be found but you have to be deliberate about avoiding the madness. We tried to go with the flow but failed. Because things 'sell out'.
LOSING THE MAGIC:
lit and blinking balloons, neon blinking cotton candy? Everyone with iphones, i felt old.. and not because my body was sore, but because I was longing for the days of disney 15 years ago. I was wishing to see disneyland at night but it was too far away and the crowds too awesome to brave, but my wife suggested we get on the train. WHAT a great idea. So around 9pm we all prepared to board the Disneyland express.
FINDING THE MAGIC:
In the train station I suddenly felt the magic coming back, as I looked at the old photos. Which is when my wife found an old wurlitzer and put in a dime. Surely this old device would not work. But it did. And it played a wonderful tune, as we stood in awe, literally... stood. In the distance we heard the familiar bell of the Disneyland Express and I was transported back to a time when Disneyland still had magic. For a dime my wife found the magic for me, she gently put her arm around me and we rode around the park in style... and magic.
It was a great moment.
The next day it was raining, and we said goodbye as our blisters anticipated the time when we could sit for our shuttle. But before leaving, we ducked into Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and I felt the magic again. I learned what the statue on top of the Capitol building was. I enjoyed the museum like feel of the room.
Now my wife sit here in the lobby of our hotel, ready to embark on the journey home tomorrow. There is free wireless in the lobby.
But the place is insane at 9pm. It seems at 8pm the park opens for a halloween trick or treat party, AND in the conference room here is a small children's beauty pageant. So we're playing a game of 'pageant or party' as we see people running around in different costumes. 'Is that a princess or a contestant?'.
Lots of sequins and sparklies. A hollywood agent type running around handling details and such.
And we are thankful for this trip to Southern California for many.... many reasons. Not the least of which, is a new found appreciation for the comfort of home, new found friends, surprise meetings with old friends, and enjoyable time with family and friends.
God has certainly blessed us. And this last 10 days, has accomplished the largest goal of all we had on our furlough: Re-confirming and re-energizing our desire for Papua New Guinea.
I hope this post doesn't sound too negative. We really enjoyed the family time. We made a lot of great memories. And we really are thankful that we got the chance to go at all. Someone had given us money specifically to do this trip. So we enjoyed it tremendously. It is simply that, after you've been away for a while and love the place and are used to no crowds and knowing people everywhere you go, it's a bit of a change.
Oh, we did bump into 2 groups of people we knew.
AND, we noticed after PNG that the Tiki room had 'birds of paradise' which are a bird from PNG.
AND when we didn't want people to know what were talking about in line, we could speak tok pisin.
