Glitter is a Good Look on Him: Sam's First Disneyland Trip
The first day I met Sam I jokingly promised that I’d buy him a ticket to Disneyland in exchange for him allowing me to interview him for the LA 2028 Paralympics, but I never thought he’d take me up on it… Nevertheless, less than three months later, he did...good thing my promise wasn’t empty! Having never been before, he didn’t know what to expect...especially not me turning into an excitable 6-year old at about 5:30am when we woke up and got ready to go. I asked him, “Are you excited yet?” through the bathroom door at least a half dozen times… Sorry!
Before we arrived, he had no concept of what Disneyland was; he thought it was going to be like a standard amusement park with a focus on thrill rides. I knew no explanation I could give would do it justice, so we agreed to just let him be surprised. As soon as he got through the gates, he was clearly amazed by the immersive nature of Disneyland’s architecture and design. He filled with the wonder of a small child, taking everything in. We started with some of the classic rides, Pirates of the Caribbean and then Haunted Mansion. As we pulled up to the talking skull-and-crossbones Sam heard distant yelps and turns to me and goes, “There’s about to be a drop, isn’t there?” just before getting splashed in the face. Definitely a highlight for me was to see that goofy grin misted over as the chorus of “A Pirate’s Life for Me” breaks out.
Mickey Ears definitely need to be a staple in his wardrobe.
Now that Sam had become immersed into the Disney culture he was excited to go all in! After seeing all the Disney attire around, he was thrilled to visit “The Mad Hatter”, one of Disneyland’s main ears shops. Now, many of you have probably seen pictures of us on this trip wearing matching Mickey ears headbands, and many people have assumed that I forced him into wearing these or that he only did it out of being a supportive partner. Alas, you’d be wrong. Sam went through pair after pair of ears before he decided on the pair he wanted and I agreed to wear the matching ones. Check out the options he went through below and see if you agree with his choice.
We hit every ride we could fit in to our short trip, but unfortunately we could not hit them all. Sam, being the ultimate thrillseeker that he is, loved all the adrenaline rush rides. He giggled his way through Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain and the Matterhorn. Next, we went over to Disney’s California Adventure Park to hit all the big rides. After the Incredicoaster he was eager for more and we sped over to the Guardians of the Galaxy ride and although he did mention that the drops probably bruised his butt, in true Sam fashion he demanded to do it again.
The next day we got a chance to go into Disney’s new Galaxy’s Edge. Galaxy’s Edge was so immersive that it didn’t feel like we were even inside Disneyland anymore. The Star Wars nerd inside me definitely squealed in joy upon seeing the Millenium Falcon and Tie Fighter. Okay, let’s be honest, some of the squealing was external, too.
Since this was still during the soft opening where the general public wasn’t allowed in we were able to ride the new attraction Millenium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run twice in a row. It’s a fantastic and interactive. Sam and I were chosen to be pilots. The pilots have to work together as one has up and down control while the other controls left and right. Therefore, as you can imagine there was a lot of yelling directions at each other as we attempted to co-pilot. I guess the real question is which one of us is Han and which is Chewie?
To round out the experience, Sam decided to get a little token for himself. Adorable, it is.
At the start of the trip, he was in his standard black jumper and black jeans and by the end he was in glittery ears and a Disneyland jersey asking when we could go back…So… maybe he liked it?
