lørdag den 3. december 2016

Disney Delay


 Monday morning I took some time to relax after a busy weekend. The ferrets helped.


But then I headed to Disney for a long lunch with Andrew!
It was fun being shown around a bit. I love the notion of seemingly ordinary buildings having an extraordinary output. And afterwards we just sat and talked for a long while and it was good to hear his unique view on the industry.


There were some areas where photos were not allowed, but it was just a good experience being on campus. And experiencing the danger of their no-lights crosswalks.


 I made my way to Westwood to stay at Mira's. I got into her apartment with some help of the neighbours and then headed for campus through a surprisingly xmassy frat row. I met up with Hannah. We went to what we thought was a guest panel - in fact it was a Screenwriting class that had a special guest. Whoops.


 But Meg LeFauve's talk was very good and I felt empowered again after a CTN that was maybe a bit too male. 
I then met up with the tiny girl after her work and we talked until sleep took me in its' arms (in my own old bedding, surreal).


Tuesday morning Hailey came to pick me up and we drove down to Anaheim. The minute we got into the park, she got a corn dog because she had not eaten breakfast haha.


The minute I stepped into the xmassy park, I felt something I had not felt in the Anaheim park before: the magic. I always have fun at Disneyland, but this was a first time having a magical experience. Something about those decorations made everything so sparkling!

 

We went over to California Vacation to check if there were any Frozen fastpasses left, since Hailey has not watched the show. I was surprised to find out that they don't do Frozen FP anymore! So we checked out the Sorcerer's Workshop instead. 
And we also got our hands on some Season of Light World of Colour fastpasses! I was surprised to find out that it was actually possible to watch both the fireworks and the water show the same night.


This version of Disney Animation is crazy compared to the one in Paris. The details are so good!


We went back into Disneyland in time for the winter parade! As always, I almost liked the parade dancers' outfits better than some of the face characters. But I mean, look at those cute elfs!
And I wondered aloud more than once how weird it was to have more than 3 Christmas trees in one town square.


We saw Facilier walking about and he had such a good character presence! When we spotted a chance to get a meet and greet, we went for it. He was super.


We went on the festive version of Jungle Cruise that I had tried back in January too. It was fun to see it in daylight though! And we got our energy back with a Mickey pretzel.


The castle looked so pretty. And the lights turned on as the sun started to set. We saw this mystery bird too??


It got cold, so I put on another layer and was Sorcerer Mickey just like that. So naturally we went into Toon Town.


We had wanted to go on It's a small world to see the Christmas version, but the parade had JUST finished and the line was ridiculously long. Lights were lovely to look at though. I don't think I need a Tivoli trip this December.


We decided that we would have to queue for everything on a busy Thanksgiving weekday, so we might as well wait for Nightmare. It took over an hour, christ.


But we were awarded with a live swing band on the Rivers of America afterwards! And then we grabbed food and hot coco and headed for the castle. It's funny that I kind of know my way around the park now. I know where to charge my phone, where the shortest lavatory lines are - and how to get the best fireworks spots with the least amount of waiting. We got this prime spot even though we waited less than 45 minutes.


And by the gods, the fireworks were over the top. My jaw just dropped several times. And it even started bloody snowing. We then rushed from one park to the other to get to Paradise Pier!


The Season of Lights show was incredible. It moved me to tears (again, a magical first for Disneyland US) and I was so surprised to see them include Hercules, Tarzan, Esmeralda, Up, and other "obscure" Disney films. I died a little when they started playing "Baby it's cold outside" with a Cinderella projection, and the usage of "Blue Christmas" accompanying Sadness was quite clever too.


After that, we were busted. Our feet tired, we made our way past the many Christmas decorations and the palm trees. An ever odd combination.


In the early hours, I left Mira's to visit Natasha. We had an Academy baking morning. Or Friendsgiving. Whatever you want to call it, it was lovely.


I rushed from Santa Monica to Hollywood Blvd (where they now also have Supergirl, woo) to make the Moana screening.


I got there too late for the band but in time for Moana herself and her movie. Hannah and I then got Poke afterwards and talked about the film and life in general. Before I had to go to LAX, that is.


I got to the gate in time to endure a hell of a delay until the flight was finally cancelled. After 9 hours in LAX I got to a hotel room at 4 in the morning.


Tired did not even begin to cover it, but I tried to make the best of it.


It was a fancy hotel after all.


I went back to LAX, expecting a 1 o'clock departure.


We waited in the gate all day until the flight was cancelled again. Too tired to draw, I spent the day watching the Macy parade and calling up friends.


Friday I was rebooked to a flight home through Stockholm. But it was later that night, so I called up Jay to see if he wanted to go to the Broad with me.


It was cool to finally get around to visiting! I'd been meaning to for months.


I liked some of the pieces there. And I never get tired of my man Roy.


Modern art can sometimes feel a bit too modern for me, but I liked how crafty some of the pieces on display were!
Jay then took me back to LAX.


I've never felt happier to leave an airport. And I was so wrecked that I actually slept around 6 hours on the plane from Los Angeles and then all the way through the one from Stockholm.