Polly Drops The Deets On D-Land

Polly+Pablo+Jo Ann+Asa (his dad Brian snapped the pic)

Pablo doing his best Grumpy expression....

Polly+Pablo on the Buzz Lightyear ride.... If you look closely, you can see Asa's head—he's ducking.... Read on for details on this bizarre ride.

Jo Ann asked Polly to write the Disneyland post, and write she did.... Here's the full report, beautifully reported by the Carnegie Mellon grad on our team....

Ah, the dentist. Every boy's favorite way to spend the day. Actually, Pablo never bought for a second that he was on his way to the dentist. I've claimed too many outlandish things in the last few years and he's on to me. "No, seriously, if you eat too much, it squeezes out your ears. Also, you can buy baby sisters at Trader Joe's. I'll show you next time we go." So though he was certain he wasn't headed for the dentist, he wasn't quite sure what those two crazy ladies he calls Mommy and Polly had in store. Though he could have been yanking our chains just for the fun of it, I definitely wouldn't put it past him.

When Jo Ann mentioned taking the Pea to Disneyland a few days ago, I pretty much invited myself along. I've had a season pass for a few years, and Dland is a fairly frequent destination of mine. I always come back loaded with stories for P about the things I've seen and heard. I love to paint fantastical pictures for him, and we've spend a lot of time over the last couple years discussing how we were one day going to take the place by storm. There was no way I was missing his first visit to Disneyland in two years.

I arrived at 8:20. Jo Ann and Pablo were already in the car. Jo Ann told me Pablo knew he was going somewhere good today and kept saying "Don't you think we should go now? Isn't it time to go?" until he succeeded in herding her into the car, ready to jet the second I arrived. After a quick pit stop at Starbucks for coffee/cocoa and Winchells for chocolate donuts and apple fritters, whoa, we were headed down south. We met up with Brian and Asa and rolled into Disneyland right after they opened the gates. When Pablo got confirmation that we were in fact at the House of Mouse, he played it cool, but there was no doubt he was pleased.

He was in happy cuddle mode from the start, which my aching biceps are still reminding me. This was a good thing, since his platelets are super low and he'd bruise right now if you sneezed on him. Jo Ann I debated a stroller, but decided against since it would cut him off socially from the rest of us. This meant we had to be extremely vigilant that he wasn't bumped by the crowd as we walked. Pablo was informed of this caveat and he got it. He knows how these things work by now, and though he has to be reminded, he understands the reasoning behind the rules.

I admit I selfishly hogged him all day. As we walked in he asked me if I wanted to sit next to him on the first ride. "Let me make this clear, P, I want to sit next to you on EVERY ride." And so it was. After a power walk down Main Street USA, forty pound monkey on my hip, we headed straight to Peter Pan. Mommy and Brian held our spot in line while Asa, Pablo and I went to try our hand at pulling the sword out of the stone. Turns out neither of us is the true king of England, oh well. In line Asa debated with me whether or not Peter Pan is real or just a dream. He could not be convinced that Peter was really in the room and really took the Darlings to Neverland. I relayed this info to Pablo, who responded that of course Peter is real! In the end we all agreed to disagree.

Back when the Pea was three, Peter Pan scared him. Too dark, and there was a crocodile trying to eat Captain Hook. He was nervous this time, but wanted to give it another go. Weeeellllll, it's still dark, and there's still a croc angling for a piratey snack. Pablo chose Mr Toad after escaping from Peter. He drove the 'motorcar' like the devil was on his tail, because that one was just as scary. However, he was proudly reviewing his driving skills today, so I'll call the Mr. Toad Ride vs Pablo at a draw.

After that, we stuck to bright and cheerful rides. He was happily in jail in the monkey car on Casey Jr. and all wide eyes and swiveling head trying to catch everything on Small World. He LOVED the flying carpets and basically everything else in there. The posse hit Toon Town and he was a man on a mission. We had two things on our list of Must Do: 1. Check out Mickey's house and meet the Mouse. (Check.) 2. Ask Goofy if he does, in fact, know how to bake a birthday cake. (Double check.)

The other day driving home from checking out Batman's *ACTUAL BATSUIT* at the costume exhibit at FIDM, we saw a billboard with Goofy on it. He was holding a birthday cake and asking us to come to Dland for our birthdays. After a conversation about how nice it would be to go to Disneyland, while I smiled to myself with my secret knowledge of the next day's activities, Pablo mused that Goofy may have made that cake himself, and maybe was the birthday cake-baker for everyone. We resolved to ask him if we ever ran into him. Well, the opportunity had come. After posing for a snapshot, P asked Goof if he knew how to bake a birthday cake and of course the answer was yes. Case closed.

Next up was lunch and it was perfectly timed for us to watch the Jedi training that goes down daily in Tomorrowland. P was a little nervous when the loud music started and the Stormtroopers arrived. Then Darth Vader and Darth Maul made their appearance and he said very clearly, as he has learned to do, "I'm scared." I picked him up and held him and we watched all the little kids vanquish Vader with their slick light saber moves. Maybe next time our own Padawan will be ready to take on Vader himself.

By now the crazy cold-then-warm-then-cold again weather had resolved itself to rain. We escaped into Buzz Lightyear. "Is this the one with the laser guns?" Yep, and the little eyes lit up. Asa and Pablo took the helm of our car, with Jo Ann and Brian in the next. The boys were neck in neck in points the whole way and ended in a near tie. Pablo says this was his favorite ride, though meeting Goofy was his favorite part of the day. The ride takes a little picture of you as you scoot past, and we are nothing if not focused. I'm checking the stats, while Pablo stares grimly ahead at his laser target. Asa ducked down at the moment so all you can see is the top of his head. Believe me when I tell you, we were having more fun than it looks! We were just concentrating really hard on the fun.

Pablo climbed Tarzan's tree house, dragging me behind him. He announced that we should live there, so I'm sure we'll be packing bags soon. We had a plan to hit a few more rides but as we crossed into New Orleans Square the rain really started coming down, so instead we veered into the train station. A cuddly and dry ride around the perimeter of the park, and we were let out at Main Street, back where we started. Pablo scored a Goofy doll from the big store on the way to the parking garage and it hasn't left his side since. He snuggled with it as he slept the whole way home in the driving rain, probably dreaming of the next Disneyland P-Storm.