Inspy Romance

Inspy Romance—Fall in Love With a Good Book

Hello, Disneyland! It’s Research! I promise! & #Giveaway

by

“No. Really! It’s research!”

My new accountant wasn’t sure whether or not he could believe me.

Because, well, it’s Disneyland!

Of course, everyone’s going to try to find a way to make it at least a little cheaper.

But it really was research.

And I even managed to convince him.

Now, I wasn’t traveling from almost the exact population center* of the US to California just to spend two days (and a ton of money) to see the Mouse, but as long as I was doing it anyway, why not apply some of it to a book?

Amiright?!

The reason I was headed to CA was to be the nanny for some of my best friends. They were headed to a three-day seminar and didn’t want to leave their six-month-old at home with grandparents, etc., so they asked if I wanted to tag along.

Duh.

We were going a couple of days early just so we could hit Disneyland before they had to check in.

But the best laid plans of mice and… well, you know…

The night before we left, Missouri had pretty much every weather known to man – the only warnings we didn’t have in the state all at the same time were a blizzard warning, hurricane warning, and heat advisory.

Our area was under a dense fog warning, a thunderstorm warning, a tornado warning, and a winter weather advisory – all at the exact same time (though the fog had actually lifted by the time the tornado warning hit).

So none of us had much sleep the night before we left, (in fact, the other mom got actually zero) but we’d be in California by three or so, right?

Nope.

Our plane’s de-icer didn’t work, and it was freezing fog outside.

Our 11am flight didn’t leave until 830pm** and for various other reasons, we didn’t get to our hotel until almost 1am. We had to be on the 430am shuttle back to the airport. We landed in California about 8am, got the rental, went to the airbnb, unloaded our stuff, loaded the amusement park stuff, and headed out.

We didn’t park in the best lot (we didn’t know there was more than one at the time), but made it to Main Street USA in time for our 1150am lunch reservation.

We paid the little bit extra for FastPasses on our phones (SO worth it) and hit about 8-9 rides of the rides we really wanted to go on while we were there that day, but left about 9 or so, exhausted. (We also used rider swap where two of us went on the ride while the other stayed with the baby, then swapped and two other ones went on the ride.)

By the time we made it to California Adventures on Saturday, it was nearly 1 in the afternoon – catching up on sleep was a priority Saturday morning, plus a Walmart run so we weren’t paying $4.50 a bottle for water anymore.

Also, matching t-shirts.

We stayed until Disneyland itself closed at midnight.

We didn’t get to take advantage of the FastPasses*** quite as much because it was busier and the good ones were already mostly gone by the time we arrived that late.

But we had a great time.

We spent several hours in CarsLand. It’s literally an exact replica of Radiator Springs.

If you know me much at all, you know Cars is one of my all time favorite movies – and not just kids’ movie.

I didn’t get to meet Doc Hudson but…

I met Lightning.

I met Mater.

Mater promised to teach me how to backwards drive!

I saw Red.

Got my picture taken with Stanley’s statue.

Raced around Willy’s Butte.

Won the race around Willy’s Butte.

Ate at Flo’s V8 Cafe!

Did a Facebook Live from Flo’s V8 Cafe!

Did my first three Facebook Lives**** ever (except the Macy’s parade on my personal page) on this trip.

While we were in the parks, I also met Mary and Bert (did you know Disneyland is inside one of Bert’s chalk drawings?), Nick Wilde and Officer Judy Hops, Captain James Hook, Goofy, one of Cinderella’s mice, Maleficent (she called me a vermin!), and, of course, Mickey and Minnie.

I was so incredibly impressed with how much the actors and actresses with full heads on were able to convey emotion and have full discussions without ever saying a word. (Officer Hops hasn’t found the missing mammals yet.) And the “face” actors stay in character completely (I think I might have heard Bert break character for half a second when it was just the two of them for a moment). Mary and Bert were fantastic! Later, we saw them doing a show with songs from the movie. Maleficent called the mouse from Cinderella a rat then called me vermin as she turned. (Those were the only “face” actors we saw.)

So how does this translate to research?

Well, my current couple are both widowed. His children are 6, 8, and 10 or so. Her ten kids range in age from 12-26. They decide that, before they get toooooooo involved, they’re going to take at least the minors to a theme park for a couple of days and spend them like normal people – and not cut lines and such like royal families are likely to be able to do – just to make sure they can get along as a big, blended family.

They won’t have the kind of flight delays we did (hello private jet!), but they will wait in line under the watchful eyes of their undercover security details.

I spent most of yesterday over at my friends’ house in their rec room. I wrote about 5K words total. I’d wanted more, but spent about an hour planning out the rest of the book (with help from dear friend and plotting guru, Jennifer Major) then another hour figuring out what these two amusement parks look like (with a lot of help from that other mom).

They’re not too far from Serenity Landing, Missouri where much of my US based books take place. It’s possible we’ll see an old friend or two pop in to help with directions or something.

My hero? His name is Thor.

There just might be an area of Norse mythology so that Thor will have to get his picture taken with Thor ;).

Watch for Thorliana’s story coming next month! To be among the first to see the cover/title reveal and get preorder information, join the Serenity Landing Book Club or my newsletter!

For your chance at an ecopy of Thorliana’s story when it releases, let me know what kind of things you’d like to see in your ideal theme park!

*According to census.gov: “the place where an imaginary, flat, weightless, and rigid map of the Unite States would balance perfectly if all residents were of identical weight.”

**Because of the fog the day before, flights were full of people who’d been delayed already. There was no room for three of us anywhere. We were told they rounded up people in Dallas trying to get to Springfield, put them on a new plane and sent them in then took us back. I was in the restroom when the plane landed so I’m not sure if anyone actually got off or if they just sent a new plane for us because the next day was already oversold too.

***With the FastPass thing, we also got the pics taken by their photographers – about half the ones in this post are those

****You can find them:
At the airport
In Disneyland (I don’t know why it’s sideways)
At Flo’s V8 Cafe

Carol Moncado (154 Posts)

When she's not writing about her imaginary friends, Carol Moncado is hanging out with her husband and four kids in the big yard of their southwest Missouri home, teaching American Government at a community college, reading, or watching NCIS. She's a member of ACFW and RWA, President and founding member for the MozArks ACFW group, and a category coordinator for ACFW's First Impressions.


Comments

  2. Hi Carol, sounds like a whirlwind, crazy, fun trip! I do not cope well without sleep, so I would have struggled big time!!
    I love crazy rides at theme parks- doesn’t have to be roller coasters, but just fun rides that are unexpected- like being in a dark/near dark ride, going forward then suddenly backwards or down… I also enjoy rides where you can sit with a group and go around together. I cannot imagine taking a bunch of kids and trying to keep track of them though! When my boys were smaller, and we went anywhere with crowds- I used to write my mobile number on their arms in sharpie in case they wandered off/we got separated. Can’t imagine royalty doing that:)
    Blessings:)

  3. Love the post and photos. We have Movie World in Queensland which I would like to go to as I would love to see the café from The Music Man. As for rides I am not sure about now but I do love roller-coaster. I am not good on the rides that spin you as my balance is now an issue. But I use to love going on Roller-coasters.

    I would love having my photo taken with the different characters that would be so cool. When I went to Dreamworld (also in Queensland) they had Kenny and Belinda Koala and I got to have a photo with them.

  6. One of my dreams are going to Disneyland. Maybe one day when the kids are older. My ideal theme park will not be too busy with short lines. Lots of food and atmosphere. I get extreme vertigo so can’t do any rides, so there needs to be lots of other interesting stuff to do. Lots of costumes, music, interactive displays etc. Also a quiet place where you can take the kids to rest, especially if they get over stimulated. Maybe a quiet indoor garden with loungers etc.

  8. Hi Carol! Thanks for sharing your experience. While I am not fond of amusement parks, I have been to many, including Europa Park in Germany in 2002. In 1984 visited Disneyland with our sons ages 3 & 6. In 1990 visited Disney World with 3 sons ages 12, 9, and 3 months old. In 2012 visited Disney world with my oldest son and our 2 grandsons ages 7 & 5. While living in Chicago in the 1980, we visited Six Flags in Gurnee, IL many times with our older sons and church youth groups. Around 2002, a fun excursion to Six Flags was with my SW Michigan high school school paper editors. A new roller coaster was built. High school newspapers applied to interview the creators of the new ride and we were able to ride for free, then write an article for the school newspaper. The students met journalism students from the Midwest. Eye opening experience to learn all the details of physics, math, writing involved in creating a new ride. I prefer the amusement parks of the “olden days” where there was more entertainment venues, not just rides – since I am not fond of heights or spinning upside down. One note about going out with a large group of kids: have them wear bright identical T-shirts. Schools do this, but already read about in a Swedish pastor’s series in the 1970s. The family had 10 kids. Best wishes. Thanks for sharing.

  9. Nice research! ? Love the bit about Mary and Bert’s chalk drawing.

    My theme park wishlist: someday want to visit Lego in Florida, because it’s supposed to contain a bit of the Gardens park my parents visited just before I was born.

  10. I have been to Disney World. My mom took her children and grandchildren on June. What fun we had! We had to corral four children, and that kept us busy. We loved roller coasters, and the rides that were tired back to movies. I can’t wait to see how this large group deals with the crowds, tired children, and other details of visiting an amusement park.

  11. My ideal amusement park would have no sharp drops or any upside down rides! Not a wild ride person!?

  12. I have never visited Walt Disney World, but I want to so bad. I don’t think I would ride the scary roller coasters.

  13. A parade is always fun – with lots of music and floats and characters. (Or a night time one with lights.)

    If it is summer – then a mix of indoor (AC!) shows / live musicals and outdoor rides.

    I’m thinking Thor needs a mountain-type rise with a near miss from his hammer.

    A trick driving show (think “Lights, Motor, Action at WDW Hollywood Studios).

  14. What an adventure. I can’t wait to see how thy ye research plays out on the book. Can’t wait for the book..?

  15. oh my, well this will for sure be a remembered time. sounds like you had a blast anyway. good for you. how wonderful that you could help out with the baby. Thanks for sharing your story with us today. Many years ago, my husband and I had a conference in LA, our kids were 2 and 4, so we invited my husbands youngest sister who lived in CA at the time to take the kids to Disney for the 3 days while we were busy. She loved it and the kids got to spend time with their Aunt Barb, who they didnt know until then. Afterwards the four of us spent two more days at Disney.

  16. I love amusement parks. Sounds like an epic vacation, even if most of it was done on little sleep. Memories, right?

  17. You chose a really fun place for a research! I really enjoy rollercoasters, I think it’s a must in amusement parks.
    Disney is fascinating for it’s magic, we felt like entering a fairy tale first time we’ve been there, and I think that’s one of the things that fascinates people and keep them going there.
    Another park I’ve enjoyed going to is Knott’s Berry Farm‎. The park has a very interesting story as how it begun (as a berry farm) and they had a lot of entertainment for all kinds of tastes, it’s a park that really surprised me when I went there.

  18. I was in my late 50’s the first time I went to Disney. I loved it but I can say my daughter got to go when was about 11 with my cousin and her family. Then a year later when I was there with close friends she and a nice came down and we spent a day together at Disney.
    My favorite theme park would be Disney then Dollywood would be the next one especially at Christmas with al the lights

  19. It sounds like great fub! I am a Disney World frequent cisitir, but haven’t made it to Disneyland yet. I would love to see Radiator Springs! I am looking forward to taking my son for the first time sometime in the next year.

  21. If you’ve been to Disney World, Disneyland will be a disappointment. I don’t have experience with California Adventure but Disneyland is basically Magic Kingdom.

  22. My sister and I went to Disney World with our husbands a few years ago. It was fun. She and her husband went to Disneyland a few years later. They said it was quite different. We should probably try sometime. ;)

  23. I love books about single parents! I’d want a petting zoo at my ideal theme park…and lots of shade.

  26. Well, traveling nightmares always seem to make the trip more memorable, right? Ha! Sounds like a great time though once you got there. And I’d love to see all you saw in a book. :) I haven’t been to Disney, so all of it interests me. Thanks for sharing your crazy, derailed, awesome trip with us.

  27. Hey everyone! Thank you so much for stopping by!

    I’ve been working so far today – including another scene at that imaginary theme park ;).

    It was fun!

    Okay – off to check your comments!

  29. Hi Wemble! It had its moments, that’s for sure! But baby girl and I slept a lot after we dropped mom and dad off at their seminar ;).

    We used dog tags when we went to Disney. It had the kids’ first names, Mom, Dad, Aunt (who was with us) and cell phone numbers for the three of us in case we got separated and they needed to get a hold of us.

  30. I might have just written a scene where there’s pictures taken with characters. ;) It was great fun!

    Then a couple of moments that are, in the scope of the story, even better because of how unconsciously a couple of characters denote their changing relationship. Made me sigh happily :).

  31. In some ways, I liked Disneyland better than Magic Kingdom. Everything is so much closer together that it’s far easier to get from one side of the park to the other. A lot (but not all) of the rides are similar. The castle was under construction while we were there which bummed me out. I love Toon Town (even though we didn’t spend much time there) and CarsLand in California Adventures. Disney World is getting a Toy Story land though… ugh! I need a transporter and the $1.6 billion lottery that still hasn’t been claimed… ;)

  32. I like smooth ones! We did the Matterhorn and it was WAY jerkier than I remembered (though I haven’t ridden it in probably 25 years so maybe it was smoother then?). I like the others so much better!

  33. If you go to Disneyland, splurge the $15/day for the MaxPass on your phone. You can choose the FastPasses there and it’s SO convenient. That’s the only way we were able to do so much the first day we were there. It wasn’t as busy so there were more options still compared to Saturday.

    One thing that continually impressed me about Disney is that there were strollers parked unattended near EVERY ride/attraction. But you never hear about things being stolen. We didn’t leave anything of great value, but people do it all the time. I’m sure it does happen that things are stolen, but if it was a real issue, you know it would be all over the internet…

  36. The baby was asleep in a front carrier when we saw Mary and Bert. So in her pic with them and mom/dad, Bert’s sleeping too ;).

    That sounds like a great trip! I hope you can take it someday!

  37. That’s awesome! I want to do that when I have a huge bunch of descendants and do the matching shirts and all ;). I would like to go back to Florida when we have like 10 days and do 5 at Disney again and 3 or so at both Universal parks which then also gives time to rest some.

  38. Hah! We had a FastPass for the Guardians of the Galaxy ride. My friends went first while I watched the baby. I was going to go with him afterwards.

    Yeah. Turns out it’s basically Tower of Terror with a different interior designer.

    She was Not. Pleased. by this because she wouldn’t have ridden it if she’d known.

    I didn’t go ;).

  39. I was super bummed that Space Mountain was closed when we had passes near the end of the second night :(. I don’t do anything too insane, but I like smooth coasters.

  40. Oooo! Parade! I forgot about that! We didn’t see one (except the small marching band on Main Street during lunch the first day). I’ll have to remember that.

  42. How fun! You definitely need more than a day per park to do it all! We never did ride Peter Pan or a couple of others that we wanted to (no FastPasses), but did get most of it.

  44. One thing that kind of bummed me out this trip is that we were so harried when we got there (if we missed our reservations, they still would have charged us) so we didn’t get that magical feeling.

    It was still pretty awesome though ;).

    When we took the kids to Florida a few years ago, I insisted we ride the ferry across the lake the first time because of the magic factor. Someone else with us tried to insist we ride the monorail because it was faster, but I put my foot down that time. So glad I did!

  46. Radiator Springs was fantastic! I have some friends that live just south of Atlanta – they go to Disney at least once a month it seems. They have a very special needs kid and did a Make A Wish type trip once. When they saw how amazing everyone was to their son – and how much he was able to enjoy it as well, they knew they needed to be there more regularly.

  47. Fun! As much as I love Disney, at least when we were there a few years ago, Universal seemed to be more cutting edge for rides. I think part of that is catering to a different crowd though…

  49. I have several about single parents. This one seems less single parent-y than the others – probably because the Queen Mother’s children are all at least double digits (and only 3 are still minors) and Thor spends a lot of time at work but has an extensive familial network to help him when he can’t be home in the evenings (which is fairly often on the page in books, but there’s a lot of time between books and between events on the page when he can be…)

  53. To read a little more about the rest of the trip, be sure to sign up for my newsletter! I’ll also be sharing a little more, including the picture in the header in my newsletter next month :).

  54. Fun times. My daughter and son in law just ran the Princess Run in FL on Saturday morning and then left on a Disney Cruise.

  55. Never been to Disneyland but we’re frequent visitors to Disney World which has everything we love – kid-friendly and teen-approved rides, food options that appeal to everyone, great shows and fireworks, fantastic security.

  56. What a crazy trip! We had a less stressful but very packed trip to Disney World with our adult kids. We watched the babies while the rest of the party did the rollercoaster. We did some rides all together that were fun and very tame. My one request was the carousel! My daughters organized all the fast-passes and meal reservations. We literally ran for a ride they couldn’t get fast passes for, as soon as the park opened. We only waited an hour or less in a very long line. We counted that as a win, since some people waited several hours.
    Looking forward to your book!

  58. I’m so excited for your book! I LOVE Disneyland and Disney World. I grew up in Southern California, so I’m partial to Disneyland. My favorite thing about both properties is how many of the rides are family friendly even for babies, but they’re still entertaining to adults. At least they usually are to adults who enjoy Disney movies. I also love the character meets! Seeing my kids meet beloved characters is definitely a highlight of each trip!

  59. Carol, I didn’t have a chance to comment yesterday (and I don’t need to be entered in the drawing). I first got to visit Disneyland in 1959. My mom was really brave, and during Easter vacation she took me (10 years old) and my 2 cousins (9 and 7) to Disneyland all by herself! She drove all the way from the San Francisco Bay Area to LA with 3 kids! I think we must have stayed with relatives. Back then you got a book of tickets, and the rides/attractions were grouped by letter. A rides were the best ones, and you only got a couple of those tickets. It went on down to B rides, C rides, etc. I remember really liking the jungle cruise and Swiss Family Robinson treehouse. Lots of fun memories.

  60. Carol, I’m sure it was a fun research trip. Since I’m a Californian, I choose Disneyland too, although my kids would prefer Legoland lol

  62. I have still never been to Disney, with or without the excuse/pretense/pleasure of researching. But, I have three young boys so hopefully in a couple of years we will make the expedition!

  63. I’m not into coasters or thrill rides, so other ride options are a must for me (and something I love about Disney). I also really enjoy looking around in souvenir shops with a lot of variety.

  64. Hi Carol! I llllloooooovvvveee your books and Disney World is my happy place! Disney cruises are the next happy place! There’s something so magical about Disney. Walt did an amazing job with letting adults be kids again. Find a way to take this off as research!

  68. Research? Lol! I love your royal books. I guess they are making a trip to Disney. Wish I was there.

Discover more from Inspy Romance

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading