I met my best friend back in 2003 in core class. When I first saw her with her long blonde hair in her denim J.Lo dress, I knew right away, that she would be my rival for "smartest girl in class." However, who I thought would become my biggest enemy, turned out to become my dearest and truest friend. Now, being the silly children-at-heart women we are, we like to celebrate our "friendship anniversary" by doing something fun every year. In the past we have gone to amusement parks, concerts, city trips and so many other fun places, but this year we decided it was time to celebrate in a big way; we decided to go to Disneyland. Now both of us are Disney fanatics, so it's always been strange to us that we had never before taken a trip to the happiest place on earth together. So at the end of 2013, we began to make plans. Jayme is a member of D23, a Disney club which offers some pretty awesome benefits for the fan of all things magical. Now with this super awesome membership, she was offered the chance to tour the Disney Studios in Burbank, CA. Naturally we both decided that we just had to go and decided this was the perfect time to take our Disneyland trip.
After months of planning, the trip finally arrived. At 4 o'clock in the morning, I rolled out of bed, loaded my luggage into Jayme's car and we hit the I-5 south giddy with excitement that we would be in Anaheim by breakfast time.
When we finally arrived at Disneyland, we were so excited and we immediately made our way to Fantasyland. Peter Pan has always been my favorite ride, so we decided to ride that first! As the day continued, our excitement never dulled. After the early morning and long day of running around, we decided to end the day in the early evening so we could get plenty of sleep for day two.
Day two began even better than day one. We started off the morning opening the park and getting on all of our favorite rides before the crowds came. We spent a good chunk of our day over in California Adventure. After a few rides, we decided to go into the Disney Animation building. If you've never been inside of there, you're missing out. The main room is filled with huge screens that play different Disney movie snippets and show some pretty awesome animation sketches. It's also a very lovely air conditioned room, which feels great on a summer day in LA. ;) One of the most entertaining attractions in the animation building is the "which Disney character are you most like" game. Jayme and I both took the quiz and I think her answer turned out to be a bit more accurate than mine... at least I hope so.
Jayme, the lucky gal she is, turned out to be most like Cinderella!
I myself, turned out to be most like the Evil Queen!
We rode all of the rides in California Adventure excluding California Screamin', as I in no way fancy roller coasters. We unfortunately found ourselves in Disneyland the same night as one of the many Disney Grad Nights. Both parks were filled with teenagers eager to ride thrill rides and who seemed to be very excited to be seniors as groups randomly broke out in "SENIORS" chants all day. As more and more teens piled into California Adventure towards the late evening, Jayme and I decided it was time to head back over to Disneyland for the rest of the night. Disneyland in the night is truly magical. The lights, the atmosphere and just the magical feel of the park at night just instantly fills you with childish bliss. The castle at night is one of the most beautiful sights. Here's a picture of the castle that evening. (Sadly, my camera skills aren't very strong, so I could never capture the true beauty of the castle.)
One of my favorite pictures of the trip came from this evening in Fantasyland. As anyone who has rode the teacups in Fantasyland can attest to, one must attempt to take a picture while spinning like a mad person whilst the ride is in motion. I'd say that for Jayme and I, mission accomplished.
As our fun at Disney came to a close, I felt a bit sad to be leaving my favorite place in the world. Suddenly, I remembered that the next day I was going to tour the Disney Studios and I instantly regained my excitement!
The next day we ventured out to the Disney Studios in Burbank, CA. It was amazing to see just how much history was hidden in the walls of those magical buildings. On the 2-hour private tour, we were able to see some of the original drawing from some of the most popular Disney classics including Sleeping Beauty, The Lion King and my personal favorite Alice In Wonderland. On the tour, we were also able to see some pretty awesome movie props from movies such as The Chronicles of Narnia, Saving Mr. Banks and A Christmas Carol.
The highlight of the tour was getting to meet Dave Smith, the man who created the Disney Archives. He began working for Disney back in the 1970's and spent thousands of hours exploring basements, garages, desks and closets of the Disney homes, offices and studios piecing together what is now today the Walt Disney Archives. Mr. Smith has written a total of six books about his Disney knowledge and expertise. At the studios, I was able to purchase his book Disney Trivia from the Vault: Secrets Revealed and Questions Answered, which you can purchase here if you wish. he signed my copy and took a picture with me! It was so awesome to meet someone so vital to the Disney company!
While we were waiting for Dave Smith to sign our books, we were able to see some pretty cool memorabilia! We saw Walt and Lillian Disney's marriage certificate, a parking pass from the first day Disneyland opened and the COOLEST piece of memorabilia, the very FIRST ticket to Disneyland!
I was also lucky enough to be able to hold one of Walt Disney's Academy Awards! Eek!
I had such a wonderful and magical time in Disneyland and at the Disney Studios! What a way for Jayme and I to celebrate so many years of friendship! It was such a bummer to have to come home and leave the happiest place on earth, but I take solace in knowing that I will be back sooner rather than later.
Blissful wishes,
Lyss
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