I've been to Disneyland more times than I can count, having grown up within driving distance. I've been with numerous friends over the years and, of course, my family. Some of my favorite Disneyland memories are from crazy, whirlwind trips that involved driving all night to get there and then doing the Disneyland thing on a serious budget. This was way, way, way before runDisney was even invented and before I was at all a runner.
In fact, many of those memories are from my early twenties/college days. And let's just say, many of those experiences did not involve good, clean, Disney approved kinds of fun, but more the typical, I'm finally an adult and can travel by myself, but I'm a college asshole, and therefore require more supervision than your typical 5 year old.
But before I get to my own shenanigans, I should explain where this train of thought came from. I'm not even sure what I was looking for a few nights ago, but I stumbled upon a Reddit thread (although, seriously, I have no freaking clue how Reddit actually works if I had wanted to reply to anything that I saw) titled,
There are 8368 comments. Well, let me just say, this took up about several evenings to get through and that, of course, led to searching out more threads. If you want some mindless entertainment, here's a link to this not so PG thread with stories from cast members that spans decades. Great stuff. More great stuff even more entertaining than the first link.
I started thinking about some of the craziest stuff I had seen and done at a Disney Park.
The first thing was one time I was there with some friends for New Year's Eve 1998-1999, which I do not recommend due to insane crowds. This was pre-fast pass, so every ride was over 2 hours waiting time. I was in New Orleans Square and if it hadn't happened right in front me, I would never have seen it.
A man walked up to a woman with a little boy and proceeded to try and literally take him for her. I have no idea if this man was a stranger or is he was the father and there was a custody dispute. It happened so fast, the woman could barely react. Disney security was on the situation so quickly, it was shocking. The area was jam packed and they whisked the man off within seconds of it happening. Like I said, had I not been staring in that direction, I would have had no idea what had just happened.
Another memory was a couple of years prior to that. Let me preface this by saying I was probably 19 or 20 and this was during a time in my life where I was making not so great life choices...daily.
Anyway, seven of us piled into a friend's suburban and drove to Disneyland. We decided to splurge and actually stay on Disney property, but of course, we had no money, so this meant we had 7 college kids staying in one room at the Disneyland hotel. Classing it up, right?
One of the guys on the trip brought enough weed to keep us occupied for the whole weekend. And we definitely over did it. We then decided we should have dinner at the Blue Bayou. If you've eaten there, you know that there's no way a group of 19 year olds have the money for that kind of Disney dining. We could barely afford to buy churros.
Of course, since we had no money, we ordered salads and had bread and water. We were also high as kites, trying to keep our cool, all the while totally making jackasses out of ourselves. I distinctly remember one of the guys "whispering" in a voice loud enough to be heard from space, "do you think the waitress knows we're high?" Yep. Pretty sure the whole restaurant knew. And the yeti on the Matterhorn is terrifying when you are high. Just FYI.
Later, we rode the elevators at the hotel like it was a ride. You know, the type of stuff that, were I to witness that kind of behavior today, would make me go bat shit crazy. (let it be known that I do not condone drugs, kids. Drugs are bad, mmmmm'kay?)
One other cool memory occurred on Space Mountain. It was another whirlwind trip and the parks were insanely crowded. Possibly New Year's Eve, and definitely before fast passes. We waited in a two hour (at least) line. We finally get to the loading area and the freaking ride breaks down. We were the next group to get on the ride. We were not about to leave the line in hopes it would be back up soon, so we plop ourselves down on the floor and decide to wait it out.
Eventually, after waiting for quite awhile, we whipped out our lighters, because it's the 90's and everyone I knew smoked, waved them in the air concert-style and began singing, Kumbaya. Everyone else around us joined in, eventually spreading to the walkways above. I don't even remember who I was with at the time, but I remember that experience every time I ride Space Mountain at Disneyland.
Anyone else have funny stories to share?
Posted with Blogsy
