Disney - Day 2

We were disappointed to say the least when Matt woke up feeling worse - not better - this morning. He couldn't open his eyes but a blink, which made darn near everything extremely difficult. Character building for sure. (My character, mostly.)

I brought breakfast up to our room as we weighed our options. My conversation yesterday with our eye surgeons back home led to a referral to a local eye surgeon. We decided an appointment was our best choice - we obviously wouldn't be going to Disney if he couldn't open his eyes.

A quick phone call and we had a 1pm appt. I cried at the thought of sitting around for 4 hours, feeling Disney slip through my fingers. But we put on a movie, rested, and made the best of it. 

An expensive cab ride took us to Anaheim regional medical center, where a really great doctor gave Matt a hard time and a contact lens bandage. The outlook isn't great: there's a sore shaped like Africa on the surface of his cornea, and every time he wakes up, the trauma of the eyelid opening rips off the healed layers (great mental image, right?!) So we learned today that diabetic bleeding in the eye is the leading cause of blindness in America - and Matt has it. Time will tell what the result will be, whether he'll lose vision in that eye or not, we just don't know. It will most certainly involve more advanced procedures, not the least of which included words like "laser" and "retinologist", when we return home. Did I mention eyes make me queasy?

There was a whole lot of hassle involved in the trip to the Dr, but I'll spare you the details of how we spent a half hour trying to sort out Matt's insurance info, only to find his insurance card in my wallet...

A taxi took us from the hospital to the hotel and then to Disneyland. We were just plain in a hurry and the few extra bucks to the taxi seemed worth it.

Today's Disney docket was California Adventure. There's not a lot to draw me to California Adventure but there are a few must-sees that we wanted to hit...

And then there was our little agreement. I wanted Matt to go on Tower of Terror with me - but he hates sudden drops. He wanted me to go on California Screamin' with him, but I hate upside-downs. We compromised and agreed that we would each overcome our fears for one another. Romantic, eh?

But first, we walked the path to Paradise Pier to find Goofy - Matt's favorite - conducting an imaginary orchestra. I took a bazillion pictures and then talked Matt into riding the Ariel ride. What a blast from my past - I teared up a few times at the beautiful scenes from one of my childhood favorites.

After Ariel, we headed toward California Screamin' and I couldn't shake the nerves. I kept telling myself that no one had died yet, and I wasn't likely to be the first. The wait seemed to take forever and the nearer we got, the more of my obituary I had composed in my head. I was tempted to back out, but I knew how disappointed Matt would be and I just couldn't do it to him. I finally asked the couple in front of us - who were talking like they owned the place - about the ride, and they were at least a bit reassuring. Matt told me later that he had his own hesitations about the ride and I'm sure glad he didn't share them with me - I'm not sure I could've gone through with it if I'd known he was nervous.

The ride was nothing short of incredible and exhilarating. They knew just when to slow it down to show us the most magnificent views of California Adventure, and I forgot about that beautiful principle of physics called centrifugal force that kept me firmly in my seat the whole time we were upside down. It was in the middle of that loop that I thought to myself "we're going to need to ride this again!" Matt loved it as much as I did.

We moseyed toward Tower of Terror, crossing through Carsland and enjoying the scenery, but opting out of the rides. We were starving but wanted to get the big rides out of the way before adding food to the mix of our already churning stomachs.

The look on Matt's face the whole time we waited for Tower of Terror said "Feel free to change your mind, ANY time now..." But I was set. This was my favorite California Adventure ride when mom and I visited last year, I wasn't about to let him miss it. Lucky for me, he loved it - or he might never trust my opinion again!

We were ready for dinner, so we headed through Hollywood and over to Soarin' Over California. We ate and then soared - what fun! Even though I'd done it before, I still felt like my feet would be dragged through the river, that I'd fall out into the dessert, and the golf ball would graze my head. There was a lot of positive self talk happening, you know the kind: "Self, if it wasn't safe, it wouldn't be here. Self, you're only 10ft off the ground. Self, no one has died yet, and you won't be the first. "

After Soarin’, we thought we'd stay for the Color show so we headed toward Paradise Pier again, hoping to get one more ride on Screamin'. The wait said 25 minutes, and Midway Mania said 30. Midway Mania was on my list, so we jumped in line - even though 30 is over my usual limit for waiting in a line. It was worth it! Midway Mania, with its hybrid of beautiful scenery and interactive games, definitely makes my list of favorites. And I love the premise of being inside a toy!

We hopped off Midway Mania and Matt talked me into going the long way around PP so he could get ice cream. We were shocked to find no line at Screamin', and that they were admitting people for just 2 more minutes. So we hopped in again, and it was just as brilliant the 2nd time. I think Space Mountain just got bested on my list of favorites.

Finally we found the ice cream Matt had been waiting for, and realized how tired we were. We'd only been in the park for 4 hours or so but the anxiety and stress of the day were catching up to us. Standing around to wait on a show that didn't start for a half hour was more than we could tolerate, so we wandered off to buy some gifts and get to bed early... But here it's 11:09pm and I'm just finishing up my account of the day. So much for early.