A Day with Winnie the Poop

Last week Matt and I tried to go on a date to Disneyland. We failed utterly and completely. Today I went back for a date with my little Mr. It was (almost) perfect.

We left first thing in the morning and got there nice and early. We parked in Downtown Disney like we're not supposed to because the parking is on Matt's pass and I didn't want to pay $14. In Downtown it's free for 3 hours and $6 an hour after that. So I figured if we were there from 8-12 we would save $8. So we parked there, then while walking to the front I saw the Monorail entrance, which takes you right into the park. It was line-free, and I haven't been on it in a while. Since the theme of the day was Try New Things, it fit the bill, so we hopped on. Glorious. Ben got to ride a choo choo and Mommy got to skip a few steps. We call that "Everyone Wins." Except that when I got off the Monorail and down into the park I realized that I had no idea where my phone was. Poop. So we hung out with Raul for a while as people searched the trains when they came into the station. No luck. Because I'm of the opinion that stuff is just stuff, it's replaceable, a morning at Disneyland with my munchkin is not, I decided I would have fun, not worry about my phone, and check in at Lost and Found later. Except that for the next two hours while I was having fun all I was thinking about was my phone. Mostly, though, because my uncle works at the park and I was supposed to call him to hang out.


We did, however, manage to squeeze in some good times. We went on Autopia, which was basically the highlight of Ben's entire life. He LOVES automobiles, really any mode of transportation. So getting to drive one was a pretty big treat. Mommy wasn't super pleased with the fact we got shuffled around several times on the loading strip and ended up waiting an extra ten minutes or so while the monkeys operating the ride tried to figure out where we were supposed to stand. But whatever--Ben just counted the cars and shouted out their colors (which he apparently knows). I let him sit behind the steering wheel and "drive," which he liked for about thirteen seconds, then he just wanted to label everything while I tried to steer and accelerate from the passenger side. He had the time of his life.




Then we strolled for a bit, headed to the little ones area, and meandered. I have given up on the Storybook land rides--they're way too scary. Snow White ends with the scariest witch ever, and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride actually sends you to Hell. The line for Dumbo was too long, so we went to Toontown, which is B's favorite anyway. He could spend all day there. Lots of buttons to push and knobs to turn. And cars. The boy really likes cars. He also apparently loves Mickey Mouse, which is funny to me because I don't remember ever introducing them. Maybe he watched it at daycare. Whatever the reason, he has been running around saying "Mickey Mouse" for days, so I thought it was only fair we visited. So we went to Mickey's house. Ben went nuts. We also saw Buzz Lightyear on the way, who is Ben's newest obsession. For the first time, Ben didn't freak out with the characters. He couldn't get enough of them. Well, the first thing he did upon meeting a character (or anyone else) was show them his Lightening McQueen shoes. THEN he'd smile, give them a high five, and what have you. I didn't get a picture with Buzz because he was doing the whole annoying "Walk with me" thing. And I got a lame picture with Mickey because I was too lame to ask the cast member to take a picture. But I did man up with Goofy (or "Foofy" as Ben says) and ask his handler to take the picture.



After Toontown I figured it was time to track down my uncle. We did the Mark Twain Riverboat (another first for Ben), then asked the cast members how I could get in touch with my uncle. They said I should go to Lost and Found and find my phone. I asked them what I should do if whoever had found it had chosen to keep it. They had nothing for that. So I went to Lost and Found (which was outside the park, so it was a big time sucker). They didn't have my phone, so they had me fill out a thing. Probably to file away with the 100,000 other idiots who think some schmuck from Ohio will find it and do the right thing.




Anyway, we went back into the park and tried to track down my uncle. He works on Tom Sawyer Island, so we went to the docks and asked if they knew him (because out of the thousands of people who work there he's so popular everyone must know him). Surprisingly, Jeffrey did. So Jeffrey went to call my uncle. While he was gone and Ben and I waited, I gave Ben a snack. Then I opened up the stroller canopy because it was hot. Lo and behold, guess what was hiding in the canopy? My phone. Of course. Because while I thought to empty the diaper bag and search it three times, it didn't occur to me to check the canopy. I called my uncle, who didn't answer, and I left him a message. Then Jeffrey came back, said he called my uncle, and he was coming to see me. Turns out he didn't have his phone with him, either. Awesome. But it didn't matter, because then we spent a half an hour exploring the island with one of the guys that built it (that would be my uncle). Ben was in boy heaven. Dirt, caves, pirates, ships--what more could a little man want? Nothing, I tell you. Ben did not, however, appreciate the skeleton hand and eyeball that popped up in the cave. But hey, if that's the only thing he didn't like out of a long morning of waiting and worrying, we didn't do too badly.





In fact, Ben was a champ. He normally refuses to spend more than 10 seconds in his stroller, but today he was all about it. I only had to hold him in lines, and even then only a couple because he kind of likes playing in line. He was awesome. It probably helped that I was plying him with snacks every 30 minutes. Hey, I've learned a few tricks in my two years of motherhood.

After the island we went on the Winnie the Pooh ride (1. I had no idea this existed until recently; 2. Ben calls him Poop). Ben liked it, which kind of surprised me because it was pretty dark in there and he normally hates the dark ones. Maybe it was because whoever built it was all doped up on hallucinogens (it's really really weird). At any rate, it was a success with the midget.

But after that the heat was getting out of control and we were both tired and hungry. So we called it a day. The last score? The lady in the parking booth validated my ticket and we didn't have to pay that $6. Bonus.

Next week is our last week before we are blacked out for the summer, so I think we're going to do the rest of Disneyland and California Adventure. Maybe I'll keep track of my phone. And maybe I won't be so stingy with money and rigid with naps, and we can spend more time there. Maybe. Maybe we'll just spend the day with Poop.