Terrifying California Adventures

This weekend I once again visited the happiest place on earth.  Yes, I know we seem to go a lot but we figure this is the only time in our lives we’ll be able to pick up and go when we want.  It’s amazing to me that we’re only 6 hours away from California. 6 HOURS!  In Nebraska there’s not much 6 hours away.  Definitely no oceans!  And, you really have to plan for weather conditions so about any 6 hour drive in the winter is a gamble.  Plus, with “the move” being up in the air , we’re taking every opportunity to visit while we can.  I really will miss being right next door to CA though.  I absolutely love the ocean (minus the sharks of course!) and am so grateful when we’re able to go.   Since my mom and I ditched the guys during our last California trip, I planned another California trip for the four of us.  It was actually pretty perfect timing too since we were all in need of another vacation (yes, already!). 

Friday afternoon we left town and drove straight to Anaheim.  We arrived around 8, checked in, and headed out for dinner.  We were even lucky enough to have a perfect view of the fireworks show with our dinner.  Any place that has regular fireworks is alright in my book!  The night was pretty relaxing and a great start to the trip. 

Saturday morning we woke up early and headed to California Adventure.  After going on Soarin’ Over California, we were feeling pretty good.  Mr. C and my dad wanted to check out The Tower of Terror so that was our next stop.  The wait was only 10 minutes so the guys got right in line.  Here’s the conversation that followed after they left that eventually led to very poor decision making on the part of my mother and I:

Me: You didn’t want to go on that, right?

Mom: Well I had thought about it.

Me: Really?

Mom: Hmmmm

Me: Should we just go? It can’t be that bad.

Me: We should just go!

Mom: Ok, why not.

We then proceeded to call the guys and get in line for this ride that we had decided wouldn’t be “that” bad.

I should mention that the girl working out front of the ride was listening to us this whole time, and looked at us rather strangely when we walked by her into the ride entrance.  I’m assuming she was thinking something to the effect of “suckers!” when we walked by her.

My mom is not at all a fan of roller coasters or heights.  I think she hates heights more actually, so when I saw she wasn’t nervous, it made me feel like even more of a loser for being scared so I figured I should suck it up and go with it.  In case you aren’t aware, the ride is basically an elevator that drops you down multiple floors, then takes you up and does it again, multiple times.  And yes, we were aware of this fact when we got in line.  I know – CRAZY!  We just didn’t think it would be that bad.  We were sooooooo wrong.  The first few seconds were fine, the elevator went up a floor and there was a little talking and something we were supposed to look at, ghosts or something.  Then the little girl behind me started screaming.  This is when I lost it.  I began screaming and didn’t stop until the ride stopped.  I don’t remember exactly what happened other than the elevator going up and then dropping so far that I thought I was going to just die from being terrified.  The elevator did this a few times, stopping at the very top for a look over the park.  I didn’t see much though because my eyes were closed and I was concentrating on screaming and not dying…or peeing my pants.  WORST ride of my life.  In the beginning it was just Mr. C holding my hand.  In the end I was holding Mr. C’s hand and my mom’s hand.  My mom was holding my dad’s hand.  Mr. C says I was also leaning towards my mom, shaking and screaming.  I think we practically ran off the ride.

After the ride we got to see our pictures.  My mom and I looked terrified, Mr. C looked like he was having fun, and my dad was laughing.  We’re pretty sure he was laughing at us.  Thanks dad! 

After that we stuck to some “boring” rides.  The next one was actually the ladybugs that spin around in circles.  I’m pretty sure that’s considered a kiddy ride but it was wild enough for us after the Tower of Terror.  We did end up having a lot of fun after, hitting different rides and shows.  After going on the amazing Toy Story 3D ride which we all LOVED, we headed over to the Ferris Wheel.  I’m not sure what my mom’s issue was but she had some serious judgment problems that day.   The woman is terrified of heights but somehow we convinced her to ride the Ferris Wheel (I should add it didn’t take much convincing).  I thought she was going to puke at the top.  Somehow she made it through and we went on to enjoy the rest of our evening.  The water/lights show “World of Color” was amazing, trauma-free, and something I highly recommend!  I do wish that Mr. C would have let me sit on his shoulders so I could have seen better but he always seems to decline that request.

At night the park changes and the TRON events were pretty awesome.  Mr. C was crazy excited when TRON was coming out so I figured he’d want a t-shirt but I think he was worried about looking too nerdy to actually buy one.  I picked out a super awesome looking one while he and my dad went on the Tower of Terror that night.  They thought it would be so much cooler at night.  My mom and I of course neglected to go.  I was much happier shopping than riding that terrible thing again!

Next post – Disneyland and the beach!