Disneyland

Excerpts from the family journal

[December 1981] "On the 19th we gathered up the kids and flew...to Disneyland. [On the airplane] Gordon & Laura each sat at the windows, but they kept them (the windows) shut to keep the sun out of their eyes. The nuts and 7-Up were a big hit...we rented a car and drove to the Disneyland Hotel, where we got our room. ... We ate at the hotel coffee shop, where Laura practiced her favorite habit of spilling her drink all over the table twice.

..."Then we rode the monorail into Disneyland. First we rode Autopia, despite their warnings about my very pregnant condition. Then Small World (a big hit) and King Arthur's Carousel, which was Laura's all-time favorite. She liked to sit on the horse and say 'Up... Down... Up... Down.' She could never have enough. Then we rode the People Mover, another popular ride. ... We bought the kids each a Mickey Mouse doll and a set of Mouseketeer ears. Then we settled down on the sidewalk to watch the 'Fantasy on Parade.' While we waited, a man walked up and gave us 6 reserve-seat tickets, cause he was leaving. So we had very nice seats for the parade... The kids were awe-struck--the various characters (Alice, Peter Pan, Wendy, etc.) would stop and shake their hands and talk to them. Gordon was hooked on Peter Pan for about a week after that. And when Mickey Mouse and then Santa Claus went by, they were so thrilled I thought that they would never get over it. After the parade, we rode the train around the park, back around to Tomorrowland, and got on the Monorail and went back to our hotel.

"...Monday...we rode the submarine and then took the trolley down Main Street and rented strollers [smart!]. We stopped for pineapple spears and juice and then went to Pirates of the Caribbean. The kids enjoyed it tremendously, especially Gordon [what a surprise--yarrrrr]. We bought him a pirate gun afterwards, and a plastic hook for Margaret in memory of David's joke. Then we rode the Jungle Cruise...Haunted Mansion...Bear Country Jamboree... Then we got a couple of balloons and went on Mission to Mars, which was very dull, but Gordon wante to ride in a rocket, and the rocket jets were out of the question--David gets migraines on that sort of thing, and I am too pregnant. [Then back to the hotel for naps. Afterwards]...we..went through Peter Pan and rode the Carousel again, at the kid's insistance. Then we turned in the strollers [and] walked back to the Monorail and left. We bought Laura a box of 10 little Disney books, and dressed up for dinner at the Shipyard Inn....Then bed--Gordon with his gun, Laura's books, and both balloons."