Last week, I talked about the arrival of my Spring Break trip to California. I talked about my nervousness and my excitement to be going to a place like California. I was nervous about going to another state by myself and meeting my boyfriend for the first time ever. Long story short, we met online on Instagram, sharing our passion for motorcycles together, and we have been talking until we made it official when I finally arrived in California.
Sleeping soundly, I woke up around 3:30 am where I got myself ready for Disneyland. My boyfriend came around 4 am and we were on our way. The drive there was very, very long. We drove from my house in Fresno to Disneyland in Anaheim. A 4-hour drive. Since it was 4 am in the morning, I was still feeling a little tired, however; I tried to keep myself awake for the sake of keeping my boyfriend some company so he wouldn't try to fall asleep.
On the way there, we drove by this really cool Bumblebee alike sports car (similar to one on the left). This driver was a total Transformers fan. I was videoing his car as we were driving by next to him, trying to be subtle but he ended up noticing and waved at us. It was pretty funny and then we watched him drive past us. Seriously, that was a sweet ride! After that, we continued on our way to Disneyland with laughter and music. Soon, as the minutes went by, I was feeling a little sleepy. So I fell asleep for a long time and soon after I woke up, we had arrived at Disneyland just in time for the opening.
We had bought our tickets the night before so all we had to do was show our ticket to the booth. Once we parked, we took the bus over to the Disneyland Park and waited in line to get in. It was exactly 8 in the morning and when we got to the gates of the park. Though the weather was going to be in the 80s and higher but since it was the morning, I hadn't realized it was going to be chilly. I was standing in line, dressed in a black crop top and some shorts. I was getting chills all over my body! It was a nightmare! Once we got in and went around the park, it was getting hot and the chills in my body had left. We stopped at the Disney merchant booth so I could buy a pair of Minnie Mouse ears. It was a must since this was Disney!
Now people that know me know that I am absolutely in love with Star Wars, the old and the new.The first ride we went on was farther from the entrance. It was the Star Tours. The first ride we went to was an indoors motion simulator ride. It was 3D and very fun. There were lots and lots of moving around in the ride, even though it was just the seats that were moving. The screen in front of us was 3D featured so it felt as if we were actually in a ship and moving. Towards the end of the ride, the screen C-3PO and R2D2 had crashed us into another ship with the front pointy part of the ship piercing the front of the ship. As my boyfriend and I were sitting in the front, it scared the heck out of me because it felt so surreal.
After the ride, the exit hallway took us to the merchandise store where we found an entire room dedicated just for Star Wars. They sold costumes and actual Star Wars figures that were expensive. For those that know me, my favorite character is Darth Vader. They had a Darth Vader statue but he was super skinny and his face looked so weird. Nevertheless, I took a picture with him and so did my boyfriend. I was hoping to see a Darth Vader in costume around the Star Tours area but he was only in the showing and was not around to take pictures with people. We went on the rest of the Star Wars rides, which one included a rollercoaster ride (not a fan of rollercoasters but this one was fun). Since we hadn't eaten anything since the morning, we stopped at the Galactic Grill to eat lunch and then went on our way to another section of the Disneyland Park.
We got lost a couple of times, trying to find the section of Mickey's Townhouse but ended up going into the Fantasyland section. Exploring around Fantasyland was nice but it was super crowded. It wasn't a surprise since we did go on a Sunday. However, the rides and attractions there were mainly for the little kids so we just decided to check out Sleeping Beauty's castle and take a selfie with it. We wanted to get one of those couple pictures together in front of the castle but there wasn't anyone we could ask. It wasn't until some girl came up to ask me to take a picture of her and her boyfriend and, in exchange, would take one for us as well. Thanks to them we were able to take a couple picture in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle. What a sight!
Next, Disney Princess characters were having a meet and greet so we stood, waiting in line just to see the princesses that impacted my childhood. I wanted to see Ariel but she wasn't there today. It was just Princess Aurora, Snow White, and a new princess Disney had created: Elena of Avalor.
After talking with the princesses and taking pictures with them, we went to explore Adventureland where we went on a Jungle Cruise and saw statues of animals on land and in the river. Let me
Once we finished the Jungle Cruise, we went to check out Tarzan's Treehouse which told his history from the movies. It looked really real. We explored more around Adventureland, checking out the different attractions and food places around there but everything had a very long line to it so we decided we weren't going to wait in line for it. We went around Frontierland which also didn't have much and the lines were long. We stopped at a food booth where I got a special Frontierland sweet tea and my boyfriend just got water. I know. How plain. Just kidding. Water is good.
By then, we had basically finished exploring the attractions at the Disneyland Park so we opted to go home. It was a 4-hour drive back home so it was time for us to go. Plus, we were getting tired from standing too long and moving around. My feet were in pain! We went out from the gates and stood to wait for the bus to come get us. The buses finally arrived after a few short minutes and we were on our way to where we parked our car. You know, after leaving, it finally hits you. Well, the thought of being at Disneyland and being in California actually hit me. I was actually there, enjoying my Spring Break with my boyfriend, at Disneyland. It was an amazing thought and it felt so nice. I was so happy to be there.
To end this article, I want to share a quote with all of you. It's a quote said by Jawaharlal Nehru from his book The Discovery of India. He was the first Prime Minister of India and a huge figure in Indian politics before and after India had won its independence. He said, "We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm, and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open." It is true. When I was about 12, maybe 13, years old, I had gone with my family to San Francisco for an Asian conference and explored around the area. It doesn't matter if it was Disneyland or Hollywood, it was still a part of California. But when I was younger, I didn't appreciate it. Now that I'm older, I see the beauty of this part of the world that I hadn't seen before. I have my eyes open now.