Story #38

Once upon a time a  young newlywed couple went on a honeymoon to Disneyland. They had such a marvelous time, they returned a few years later to "the happiest place on earth" for a second honeymoon. That was back in the days of "15-Adventure Ticket Books" filled with 1A, 2B, 3C, 4D and 5E tickets all for the price of $9.25. E-tickets were for the most popular rides like Pirates of the Caribbean and Country Bear Jamboree, and lesser tickets were for less popular, smaller rides. Of course, Sleeping Beauty's Castle was still there back in those days so the young couple made a wish at the wishing well to go back again someday.

That wish came true! Once that couple became parents of five fun-loving children, they devised a plan to go to Disneyland as much as possible. To save money, the smart-thinking couple only took part of the family at a time. The first family adventure was in the spring of 1991 with Emily, Shelly and Betsy. One of the best parts of that trip was eating Mickey Mouse waffles and pancakes for breakfast one morning.

The next family Disneyland adventure was just days before Thanksgiving in 1993 with Emily and Shelly again, plus Tom this time. The whole park was decorated for Christmas! However, driving home on Thanksgiving Day was not much fun with heavy traffic and no turkey dinners left by the time they arrived in Cedar City that evening.

Five years later (1998) Betsy, Tom and Hayley were the lucky ones who got to fly to Disneyland! It was so rainy one day, they waited until noon to head over to the park. By then so many soaking-wet visitors were leaving that the lines were much shorter for the rides . . . and best of all the sun came out for the rest of the day! That may have been the same trip where the whole family rode "Big Thunder Mountain Railroad" over and over until closing time one evening!

Another five years later (2003) was Hayley's turn for her second visit to Disneyland. The best part of that trip was the room service! Every morning Hayley was so anxious to get going, she went down to the hotel's free breakfast buffet and came back with as much food as she could carry (including bananas in her pockets) so her slow parents would hurry up.

 

It looked as if trips to Disneyland were coming to an end once the five fun-loving children grew up, until one day when the couple realized their children had children that might like to go to Disneyland. In fact, when Emily's family was planning to meet Shelly's family at Disneyland in 2008, the very caring grandparents of her two little boys offered to come along as "babysitters"! After arriving one Sunday evening around 6 p.m., they immediately left for the park and stayed until it closed--11 p.m.! During this trip 2-year-old Brody was in love with Buzz and 7-year-old Zach stretched himself tall enough to ride nearly every ride (including "Tower of Terror"--his favorite!)

Five years later the very caring grandparents decided to give their whole family a Disneyland trip as a Christmas gift. The whole crew traveled there in early February 2013 . . . including one brand new little grandson born to Betsy and Brandt just the November 20 before. Parker Even Shaw may not remember the ride on the Storybook Canal in Fantasyland with 20 other family members the last night of that vacation, but his Grandpa and Grandma remember . . . and are patiently living happily ever after while impatiently awaiting a return trip to the "happiest place on earth".

Happy Birthday Parker!

Love, your Disneyland-loving Grandma

 

P.S.
Parker Evan Shaw is now a four-year-old lover of snack bowls while he watches "Rescue Bots", "PJ Masks" or "Mickey Mouse" . . . a Ninja Turtle lover who does his ninja training by jumping all over his parents' bed . . . a lover of dirt who likes to dig . . . and a cute little brother with a missing tooth smile who probably, too. would like to go back to Disneyland someday!