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Disneyland: my post-grad adventure

By Jenn Markham

en the idea of graduation was

beginning to turn into a close

reality, so was the idea of taking
a trip to celebrate. I know a lot of people
from high school went travelling when
they graduated post secondary, but being
away for months at a time never appealed
to me. The only place I could think about
going was the happiest place on earth:
Disneyland. I had been to Disneyland
twice in the past, when I was eight and
when I was 12 with my family, but I knew
this trip would be different now that I’m
22 and planned to leave my parents at
home.

For a trip with so many moving
parts, such as shuttles, passes to the park,
hotel and flights, my boyfriend Greg and
I decided a travel agent was the best way
to go. After making hard decisions like
how many stars our hotel needed, how
many days in Disneyland and when we’d
leave, we booked a package that included
a day in Universal Studios. It only cost a
thousand dollars each, but even when the
money was on my credit card it didn’t feel
real.

The last week of classes was full of twelve
hour days at the college finishing up

final projects and putting together a work
portfolio. We were both still packing our
suitcases the night before our flight, and
after getting up at 4am to give us enough
time, we made our 8:30am boarding time.
Greg was a nervous traveller, but it helped
having everything organized and checking
in for our flight the night before online.

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in
Anaheim, which is close to the park and
has a terrible breakfast buffet.

This biggest fad in Disneyland right now
is buttons. Everyone has them, and some
people had a lot of them. When we first got
to the park, I was given a “Just Graduated”
button at the front gate that pretty much
made my day. I wore it the entire trip.
Greg got one that said “I’m Celebrating”,
which never saw the light of day.

This biggest expense while we were
there was food. Everywhere you try and
eat in the park is ridiculously expensive.
Of course you had to try weird stuff
like gumbo, and I had a serious churro
addiction, but mostly we left the park to
eat meals. We saved money by shopping at
Target for snacks, and keeping some food
in the mini fridge at the hotel.

We didn’t get too many souvenirs, but
you couldn’t spit without hitting a shop
selling them. Beyond the button obsession,
everyone and their dog had some form of
Mickey ears. I took some pictures wearing

them in the store, but I didn’t cave because
I couldn’t think of what I’d do with them
once I got home. I grabbed some charms
for my bracelet, and a journal I plan to get
lots of use out of.

Our favourite ride by far was the
Indiana Jones ride. Thanks to Fast Passes,
I went on it five times, and Greg went on
six. Only the bigger rides had Fast Passes,
but basically you scanned your ticket and
were given a time frame to come back
when you could skip parts of the line,
which were hours long at times. We found
out from one of the workers that the Jeeps
in the Indiana Jones ride aren’t on a track,
just a power source wire. So basically, if
they could get their own energy source,
they would know the way on their own.

Greg is afraid of heights and gets
motion sick, so I went on rides such a
Space Mountain by myself. However,

a mutual friend we met up with while
there convinced us to go on The Tower of
Terror in California Adventure. Basically,
it’s an imitation elevator that shoots you
up and down similar to our Hellevator

at Playland, only higher and in the dark.
There were moments of light though, when
they opened the doors at the top so you
could see the whole park. Needless to say,
Greg hated the ride, I bought the hilarious
picture, and he didn’t trust our friend’s
judgement after that.

California Screamin’ was a cool
rollercoaster, if you like the idea of being
shot out the gate so fast they have to spray
the track down with water after you’ve
left.

My favourite parts of the trip were the
night shows; the World of Colour show at
California Adventure, and the fantasmic in
Disneyland. I felt like they really captured
the magic. Maybe it was because both
shows were at night, and you don’t have to
wait in line for them.

It’s ridiculous, but the part about
Disneyland I didn’t anticipate was all the
kids. Not just happy kids that tripped and
ate pavement, but crying kids, and whining
kids in lines. Also, stroller parking lots
by every ride and all the bathrooms
smelling like dirty diapers. That part of the
experience felt less magical.

Maybe it was because we were only
two people instead of the four in my
family, and eight in his, but we got to do
everything we wanted to, when we wanted
to. A couple days when the alarm went off
to get up to the park in time for opening,
we hit snooze and slept in. We rarely
waited in a line over 20 minutes long. I
got pictures with Mickey, Minnie and a
handful of other characters, and Greg filled
an entire book with the smushed pennies

 

from the penny pressing machines.

We were told the Matter Horn
Mountain ride will be closing for a year
for maintenance, so we went on that.
Funny enough, I hated it and Greg liked
it. In lines, people loved talking about
which rides had short lines, and which
ones were broken down at any given time,
which happened a lot.

Splash Mountain was closed the
whole time, but the Jurassic Park ride at
Universal Studios made up for it. I hated
the Haunted House, which Greg made me
go on as revenge for the Tower of Terror,
but at least they weren’t taking pictures in
there. The Mummy ride at Universal was
a fast rollercoaster in the dark, which did
the second half of the track backwards.

I looked sufficiently freaked out in the
picture, but they were twice as much to
buy than at Disneyland.

By day five, we were Disney-ed out,
and spent most of the day by the pool
at the hotel. The shuttle coming home
was half an hour late and we only. got to
the airport an hour before our flight left
instead of the suggested two, but security
wasn’t lined up and we made it home just
fine. All in all, it was a great way to relax
after class ending, and I’d suggest it to
anyone looking for a fun holiday.

  

 

       
   
   

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