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http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-living/ci_17001058?nclick_check=1
Hicks: No trip to Disneyland is complete without ralphing
By Tony Hicks
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 01/05/2011 11:00:03 AM PST
Updated: 01/05/2011 11:00:13 AM PST
She just couldn't stand it anymore. Not with talking birds, harmonizing plants and drum-beating tikis overhead, all flooding her senses.
My 2-year-old, whom we call Lucy because that's her name, jumped off her seat and began dancing in the aisle of the Tiki Room at Disneyland last weekend. The first trip to Disneyland is almost a rite of passage in my family, and I knew that this wonderful child -- who finds absolute delight in every leaf, stick and rock in our backyard -- might be in danger of exploding in a burst of sensory overload.
It was close. Especially at the Tiki Room, where people watched her as much as the show. Finally her squealing, clapping and dancing just wasn't enough. So she simply began to spin in circles for a couple minutes until she hit the floor, got up, and did it again.
That's what Disneyland is supposed to do to a kid. Especially one of my kids.
In our DNA
To be a Hicks in Disneyland is to be in one's native environment. It was my grandmother's favorite place and pretty much the only big vacation destination to which we traveled as kids. So the sickness has been passed down through generations.
No, really "... we get excited to the point of sickness. My 2-year-old upheld another Hicks family tradition at Disneyland last weekend. That's right. She hurled.
From what I remember, this unusual tradition started Bicentennial weekend in 1976, when
my aunt spent much of the trip in Disneyland's version of sick bay. Meanwhile, for reasons unknown, my 9-year-old stomach pretty much went off like a nuke at a lemonade stand in Adventureland. Just seconds later, my then 1-year-old cousin exploded in equally horrible fashion.
Déjà vu
Two years ago -- also in Adventureland -- my now 9-year-old let loose just after midnight outside the Tiki Room, thanks to a churro that went down the wrong pipe, mere yards from where daddy had his own accident so many years earlier. I admit to getting a little misty about it "... .
Two years later, nearly to the day, my 2-year-old gagged on a grape while we were waiting for the train ride. She gave us a funny look "... then scattered tourists in every direction.
She was fine afterward; we all usually are. It must be like being in love or something, when you get that queasy feeling in your stomach.
This trip was really special, both because it was my little one's first and because it was over New Year's, one of the busiest weeks of the year. It affirmed my assertion that Disneyland's crowds can be tamed if one knows how (get there early, hit the less-popular rides in
the early afternoon, take a break and get your kids a nap, then go back and stay until everyone goes home and some guy in a Goofy suit begs you to get the hell out).
Of course, it wasn't so special at times because of Lucy's two older sisters having periodic fits. But, as I'm sure everyone can relate, being denied the seat one wants on the swing ride at California Adventure is nearly as traumatic as being forced into a labor camp in the former Soviet Union.
But the good far outweighed the bad, especially during the squealing delight of "It's a Small World," "Pirates of the Caribbean," and, of course, one's first viewing of the incredible "World of Color." And that was just me. Imagine how excited my 2-year-old was.
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-living/ci_17001058?nclick_check=1
Hicks: No trip to Disneyland is complete without ralphing
By Tony Hicks
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 01/05/2011 11:00:03 AM PST
Updated: 01/05/2011 11:00:13 AM PST
She just couldn't stand it anymore. Not with talking birds, harmonizing plants and drum-beating tikis overhead, all flooding her senses.
My 2-year-old, whom we call Lucy because that's her name, jumped off her seat and began dancing in the aisle of the Tiki Room at Disneyland last weekend. The first trip to Disneyland is almost a rite of passage in my family, and I knew that this wonderful child -- who finds absolute delight in every leaf, stick and rock in our backyard -- might be in danger of exploding in a burst of sensory overload.
It was close. Especially at the Tiki Room, where people watched her as much as the show. Finally her squealing, clapping and dancing just wasn't enough. So she simply began to spin in circles for a couple minutes until she hit the floor, got up, and did it again.
That's what Disneyland is supposed to do to a kid. Especially one of my kids.
In our DNA
To be a Hicks in Disneyland is to be in one's native environment. It was my grandmother's favorite place and pretty much the only big vacation destination to which we traveled as kids. So the sickness has been passed down through generations.
No, really "... we get excited to the point of sickness. My 2-year-old upheld another Hicks family tradition at Disneyland last weekend. That's right. She hurled.
From what I remember, this unusual tradition started Bicentennial weekend in 1976, when
my aunt spent much of the trip in Disneyland's version of sick bay. Meanwhile, for reasons unknown, my 9-year-old stomach pretty much went off like a nuke at a lemonade stand in Adventureland. Just seconds later, my then 1-year-old cousin exploded in equally horrible fashion.
Déjà vu
Two years ago -- also in Adventureland -- my now 9-year-old let loose just after midnight outside the Tiki Room, thanks to a churro that went down the wrong pipe, mere yards from where daddy had his own accident so many years earlier. I admit to getting a little misty about it "... .
Two years later, nearly to the day, my 2-year-old gagged on a grape while we were waiting for the train ride. She gave us a funny look "... then scattered tourists in every direction.
She was fine afterward; we all usually are. It must be like being in love or something, when you get that queasy feeling in your stomach.
This trip was really special, both because it was my little one's first and because it was over New Year's, one of the busiest weeks of the year. It affirmed my assertion that Disneyland's crowds can be tamed if one knows how (get there early, hit the less-popular rides in
the early afternoon, take a break and get your kids a nap, then go back and stay until everyone goes home and some guy in a Goofy suit begs you to get the hell out).
Of course, it wasn't so special at times because of Lucy's two older sisters having periodic fits. But, as I'm sure everyone can relate, being denied the seat one wants on the swing ride at California Adventure is nearly as traumatic as being forced into a labor camp in the former Soviet Union.
But the good far outweighed the bad, especially during the squealing delight of "It's a Small World," "Pirates of the Caribbean," and, of course, one's first viewing of the incredible "World of Color." And that was just me. Imagine how excited my 2-year-old was.