Q&A - DISNEYLAND!!!

What is the best road trip or vacation you have ever taken? Who was there? Where did you go? What did you see along the way?

One of the best road trips I've been on is when a large group of us all met up at Disneyland for a few days.

Dear gawd, the madness. It was so much fun.

Me and a handful of others in the Bay Area - filling two cars - caravan'd to SoCal where we crashed at our friend's family's place like a giant sleepover. (I think there were three in the car I was riding in, and maybe four in the other car.)

This was maybe several years ago, and a little after my birthday since I got a lovely bendy Jack Skellington Santa Hat complete with beard from Kevan F & Greg L. In the end there were about 20 or people in our group. I remember some friends finding out not only had I not been to Disneyland in a LONG time (since grad night), but I also had not been on The Haunted Mansion ride when it was done up as The Nightmare Before Christmas so that was practically the first stop for me to be dragged to (willingly may I add).

Our large group often split up and rejoined during the days we were there.

Some of my favorite memories of the trip were:

• playing "Hey Cow!" on the way there and a little on the way back - it was a game that started between two friends when on any road trip. When you pass by a field of cows, you scream out the window at them "HEY COW!" and you get a point for however many turn around for you. (Silly but fun.)
• seeing The Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion - SO COOL!!! LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!
• eating at the Blue Bayou (the restaurant you see when on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride - and when I'm on the ride, I wave at the people in the restaurant... and when I'm in the restaurant, I wave to the people on the ride). We took up so much space since our party was so huge. It was neat. And the Monte Cristo Sandwich and the mojito were ON POINT!!!
• Soap Opera Cafe - damn I miss that place. It's a themed restaurant that was split into various staple sets from various ABC soap operas. Near the door was the Chandler living room from All My Children (a soap I grew up on and watched with my mother), and I kinda wanted to sit there. Instead we walked through it and were seated at Luke's bar from General Hospital. During your meal, actors come up and start playing out a scene later involving some of the diners... and since we were the only ones really in that section due to the size of our party, they played with most of us... and since we're all performers (and rather odd in our own rites), we sort of kicked it up a notch when they started pulling us into the scene. (Such fun. They removed it and replaced it with an artist studio or something. So sad. I really loved that place and would have loved to have gone there more.)
• the mini-series 10th Kingdom had aired on NBC, and I brought it along to watch at Kathy W's parents' place (where we were all crashing when not at the park). I brought my VHS tapes (yes VHS), and we watched it one night before bed.
• Disney's California Adventures (DCA) - this place wasn't even built yet when I was there last, and it's so cool in there. I still haven't really explored all the nooks and crannies of that place, but it was neat. LOVED IT!
• On the ride home (and maybe on the ride to Disneyland though I remember more of the ride home), we got in the habit of buying an energy drink at every pit stop. On the way home, it was a can of AMP (by the makers of Mountain Dew), and it was only in small cans at the time (like 8oz maybe). So of course, one of my friends decided that we all had to toast first and then after the toast was said, we'd slam the drinks. The toast? From Dune: "It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion." I think I managed to slam my drink a couple times but not every time. The toaster? He would not only slam it but crush the can on his head Belushi style from Animal House.

I've gone back to the parks a few times since that trip, but I dunno... something about having all those people together at the same time. It was awesome!!! It'd be great if it happened again.

*sigh of happy memory contentment*

Later my lovelies.

Have Goodness!
Rae