Since I took the kids out of school a week before the winter break to go to my cousin W's wedding in Los Angeles, I was going to make the most of the trip. Go big or go home, right? The kids had never before experienced any of the Disney amusement parks so I took them to Disneyland. Actually, I took them to California Adventure because I've been to the old Disneyland part a bunch of times and if I'm going to spend $300 on just the tickets, I want to see something new myself.
All the planets aligned and it was the perfect day to go. There was a 30% chance of rain and it was a slightly wet Tuesday morning before schools were out for the holidays so the park was as empty as it would ever be. The kids got to ride everything they wanted, sometimes many times, and we never had to wait more than 20 minutes. Usually the wait was more like 5 minutes or less. There was even this outdoor adventure playground area that seemed completely empty except for the three of us. There was a set of tire swings hung from zip lines in there and the cast members supervising that activity just let the kids stay on and ride over and over. At Mr. Destructo's insistence, we did all ride this one splashy water attraction and got wet. I told him jokingly that it was all his fault that my socks got wet and that my shoes squished with all the water inside. He was genuinely sorry that his sister and I ended up so splashed upon.
My plan was to stay for pretty much the entire day because I definitely wanted to get my money's worth. We got there a few minutes before the park opened and stayed for almost 14 hours until we saw the big fountain and light show at the end of the night. After dinner and before the big finale show, we had some time to kill. My aunts and uncles had very generously given the kids some hong bao so I told the kids they could spend a bit of their money and choose a souvenir to bring home. But since we still had some traveling to do before we got home, it had to be something that would fit easily into their backpacks.
Mr. Destructo eventually decided he wanted to buy a Vinylmation figurine. It's basically a little plastic figure with Mickey ears. He wanted one from the Marvel characters line, especially Spiderman. Which would have been fine except that these stupid little figures come in blind boxes. Blind boxes do not belong in the happiest place on earth. And two of the characters available are (gasp!) girls (eew!). I explained to Mr. Destructo that the boxes are all the same on the outside and that there is no way to know what is on the inside. I pointed out that he could get one that he doesn't want, like Spiderman's girlfriend, Mary Jane. But Mr. Destructo could not be dissuaded.
He chose a box and I paid for it. As soon as I paid for it, Mr. Destructo ripped open the box. The cashier very helpfully handed us a pair of scissors to cut through the opaque silver baggie inside. Mr. Destructo reached in and pulled out, you guessed it, Mary Jane Watson. He immediately hung his head, pushed Mary Jane towards me, and said in a defeated monotone, "You can have it." Seeing how dejected Mr. Destructo was, one of the sales staff told us that another store in the park traded those figures. Super, let's go get a new one, problem solved.
As we made out way to the other store, I thought this was going to be a simple thing. We go to this other store, they pull out a box full of these stupid plastic figures and we rummage through it until Mr. Destructo finds one that he likes. But that's not how it works. The sales lady in the store did pull out a box full of figures but it was a completely opaque black box with 15 compartments whose contents were not visible to you. She explained that each person could only trade once a day. That is, you could only ask to see the figure inside one of those compartments each day. Or it wouldn't be fun. She really said that. I was thinking that way is among the least fun ways I could imagine. You know, since I'd already spent $12.95 plus tax on a stupid piece of plastic that my kid hated and it made him all sad at the end of an otherwise really great day and now here was yet another opportunity to make him feel worse. Not fun at all.
But what else could we do but play the ridiculous game? The only good thing about their rules was that we could each pick a compartment since it was one choice per guest, not per stupid plastic thing that you want to ditch. Mr. Destructo chose first and it was a hideous creature that none of us recognized. The sales lady said it was a character from Mickey's Christmas Carol. Whatever, next!
Then Penguin Girl chose and out came Scrooge McDuck. Mr. Destructo was not impressed with Scrooge McDuck even though he came with a little cane. We tried to convince him it was a good character. No dice. The sales lady said we could trade for McDuck and I could still use my chance to choose. Mr. Destructo would not agree that McDuck was better than Mary Jane but I made the trade anyway. Then it was my turn. I chose and out came the Lizard from the Marvel comics!
Mr. Destructo's face instantly lit up. I wish I had caught his expression on my camera. It was priceless. Crisis averted.
He chose a box and I paid for it. As soon as I paid for it, Mr. Destructo ripped open the box. The cashier very helpfully handed us a pair of scissors to cut through the opaque silver baggie inside. Mr. Destructo reached in and pulled out, you guessed it, Mary Jane Watson. He immediately hung his head, pushed Mary Jane towards me, and said in a defeated monotone, "You can have it." Seeing how dejected Mr. Destructo was, one of the sales staff told us that another store in the park traded those figures. Super, let's go get a new one, problem solved.
As we made out way to the other store, I thought this was going to be a simple thing. We go to this other store, they pull out a box full of these stupid plastic figures and we rummage through it until Mr. Destructo finds one that he likes. But that's not how it works. The sales lady in the store did pull out a box full of figures but it was a completely opaque black box with 15 compartments whose contents were not visible to you. She explained that each person could only trade once a day. That is, you could only ask to see the figure inside one of those compartments each day. Or it wouldn't be fun. She really said that. I was thinking that way is among the least fun ways I could imagine. You know, since I'd already spent $12.95 plus tax on a stupid piece of plastic that my kid hated and it made him all sad at the end of an otherwise really great day and now here was yet another opportunity to make him feel worse. Not fun at all.
But what else could we do but play the ridiculous game? The only good thing about their rules was that we could each pick a compartment since it was one choice per guest, not per stupid plastic thing that you want to ditch. Mr. Destructo chose first and it was a hideous creature that none of us recognized. The sales lady said it was a character from Mickey's Christmas Carol. Whatever, next!
Then Penguin Girl chose and out came Scrooge McDuck. Mr. Destructo was not impressed with Scrooge McDuck even though he came with a little cane. We tried to convince him it was a good character. No dice. The sales lady said we could trade for McDuck and I could still use my chance to choose. Mr. Destructo would not agree that McDuck was better than Mary Jane but I made the trade anyway. Then it was my turn. I chose and out came the Lizard from the Marvel comics!
Mr. Destructo's face instantly lit up. I wish I had caught his expression on my camera. It was priceless. Crisis averted.
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