Scavenger Hunt

Tiffany and I came up with a game to play while at Disneyland and would love for you to play!

It's called "Fanny-Pack Photo Scavenger Hunt!"

The Rules:

- You must not duplicate fanny packs. Only one photo per (if the fanny pack exchanges carriers you may count it twice).
- You must not show a persons face. If you get them in the shot you must crop it.
- You must do your best to be inconspicuous about it, you don't want to be thrown out of the park.
- You must have fun.

On our last trip to Disneyland we were able to count 26 (that's right, count 'em) - 26 whole fanny packs. And that was just the number of ones that we could get a photo of!

They are shown here for your convenience:

This was taken pretty far away, sorry for the blurriness.

Right next to us in line!

A teen rocking the 'pack.

Complete with watch (watch may not be included).

A break in the line, must - take - picture...

Another one right next to us! This one with more pockets.

I thought I had already got this one, but it was different!

Another teen, who says they're not cool anymore?

Covert pack. Still got the pic!

A couple...of packs. How cute!

Largest pack I have ever seen.

"Grandma, can I wear your fanny-pack?" "No."

Almost couldn't use this one, but the kid moved right out of sight.

Woah, crotch shot. I'm just here for the pack dude.

Almost got away. No chance!

Three for one! Amazing!

For the sporting enthusiast in your life - All-utility Fanny Pack (on sale now!)

Thought I had lost this one, but turned a corner and there it was!

You remember that picture of City Hall on my other post?
This was the real reason. We just didn't want to look so conspicuous.

Hold your cash and passes, or a Coke...you know, whatever!

Almost out of light, but got this one in real quick.

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Someone Lost a Nickel (and Other Wild Stories) - Part II

And now the thrilling conclusion to the wild stories of our Disneyland trip:

Space Mountain - Ghost Galaxy
It's no secret that Space Mountain is one of the best rides at Disneyland (although Justin would probably disagree with me...)

We were especially enthused about it this time because it would feature the new additions for Halloween -- the Ghost Galaxy (ooooooooohhhh! *Ghost noises*).

This was one of the first rides of the day. And frankly, it sucked. No matter how enthusiastic we were for it:

Anticipation is always better than the real thing.

The first time we rode it just seemed to go really slowly. I was not afraid of anything ghostly and it failed to provide the experience that it promised.

How is that possible? This is one of the best rides there and it was non-eventful. I wasn't completely upset about it, but it was not a good opener to our day (which turned out to be quite traumatic anyway, i.e. the Previous Post).

After all the terrible luck we had with ahem...snacks and wet rides, we decided to try Space Mountain again. I mean we had Fast Passes, why not use them?

Quick Side Note: Did you know that you can use Fast Passes later than the time shown? It's true, it was confirmed by several employees. You can't cash them in earlier than the time shown, but if you happen to get soaked on a ride and are unable to make it to your time slot because you are buying new clothes and changing, you can just return to the ride and hand them the late ticket and it will be accepted. We did it like three times this trip because of certain setbacks...

Anyway, back to the story, we decided to ride it again. This time with Fast Passes. We flew to the front of the line and were able to get on the ride within minutes.

The second experience was in no way similar to the first. This ride was fast, freaky and fun. Tiffany pretty much closed her eyes and screamed the entire time. The ghostly parts were still a bit "whatever" but the ride itself was a vast improvement.

We were even stopped by a survey taker (with those cool little electronic surveys and the red uniforms), which I had been secretly hoping would happen ever since the first time we went to Disneyland last year. I was able to express my enthusiasm for the ride which left me content.

Someone Lost a Nickel
After riding Space Mountain for a second time and being more pleased with it this go around, we headed to another ride across the park to which we had a Fast Pass for.

We again flew through the line and made our way to the second line that led to the launch point.

Tiffany stopped. The thought came to me that she was hurt in some way. This was the opposite of the case. She bent down and picked something up. She spread it in her fingers to get a good look at it and then her eyes went wildly alert. She came quickly up to me and told me to put that something in my pocket. No questions asked, I stuffed it in. It felt like money.

Once we stopped at the back of the line Tiffany said she thought she saw a $100 symbol on one of the bills. I slyly pulled the bills out and counted. It was not a little bit.

This is not an accurate representation of the denomination,
but it is similar to the method of discovery.

What my dear wife had discovered on the ground was nothing other than a wad of cash.


We both began to smile from ear to ear. This was a great discovery. The first stages of emotion were of utter giddiness and joy for what had been found. We discussed briefly about its origins, but mostly we discussed what our course of action would be.

Tiffany was under the impression that we should try and find an employee to inquire about lost money. I was less enthusiastic about this idea, especially if the employee happened to be dishonest.

We decided to tweet/text the question to our friends and family. What would you do? You find a great deal of money on the ground with no one around to claim it. Do you -

Take it to a lost and found?
Keep it and count it a blessing?

We went ahead and rode our ride, hoping that our respective group would answer the question for us and make the decision for us. Go ahead, ask yourself these questions. You found some money, what do you do?

Now for what we decided to do --
We had checked our responses and talked with Tiffany's mom. The consensus was to just keep it, but there was a really strong minority that said to return it. This didn't help at all. It made it worse actually because the line became more and more blurred.

If it was just a few bucks or even less than $50 I would have no problem just keeping it. The owner most likely counted it a loss and has moved on. But this was more than that. Not a lot, but definitely enough to help us out in our low economic state.

After much deliberation and soul-tormenting, we decided that we would feel less guilty about ourselves if we just turned the money in. We were careful to whom we spoke to and to who we gave the money. This led us to the Disneyland Lost and Found (next to California Adventure on the left-hand side). We stood in line and waited our turn to file a claim.

While waiting in line Tiffany struck up a conversation with a woman waiting in line in front of us. She had lost her lanyard with not only her collected pins, but her family's tickets, their hotel room, and I think she mentioned some money. We instantly felt for the lady and her family. That is a truly terrible thing to have lost (or in her case, possibly stolen). We mentioned how sorry we were and that we hoped she would find it. She was grateful and continued on to fill out a lost claim.

The woman that handled our claim was very friendly indeed. She joked and laughed with us as we described the situation. She told us about some of the weirdest things that she had heard have been returned to their department (A glass eye was one of the wildest). She mentioned that a kid once found $1,400 on a money clip and had returned it. The owner believed the money to be lost and decided not to pursue it. A few weeks later, the man's girlfriend bugged him to go ahead and see if the money had been returned so they went to check. When the employee pulled out the money clip with all the money still there, the man fainted to the ground knocking his head against the pavement!

Once the claim was filed, the employee handed us a claim ticket along with four Ultimate Fast Passes to any ride in the park (good to get up to six people into a ride), she gave it to us for being honest. Hooray for Disney rewards!

Even though I wouldn't have felt completely bad about keeping the money, I'm glad we turned it in. Speaking to the woman in line at the Lost and Found was a very encouraging moment that helped me realize it was the right thing. My wife the ultimate in integrity was once again right in her decision to turn the money in. She has always been an example of honesty to me and I appreciate her for it.

BTW - if the money isn't claimed within 30 days we have 30 days ourselves return and claim it or it will be donated to charity, so maybe it is a happy ending after all!

Secret
Tiffany knows what this picture is about. It's a secret and it's between us. No fear though! I will make up a story for you to think is the real reason for this picture.
As we went to inquire about a lost and found we entered the City Hall. As we were walking in we saw none other than comedic legend Mitch Hedburg! How could this be? Hedburg is one of my all-time favorite comics and unfortunately he's been dead for several years! I guess there was a bit of ghostly magic at the park that day.

(Okay that wasn't true, but it did happen to us in downtown Hollywood the other day. We also saw Hulk Hogan driving a Scion from Wisconsin. It was a very surreal experience because it happened within a few seconds of each other).

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Someone Lost a Nickel (and Other Wild Stories) - Part I

This weekend some very weird things happened. First off, Tiffany and I went to Disneyland.
That's not the weird part, but it was at Disneyland that these wild things happened. I will now entertain you all with tales of these most fateful exploits (in two parts):

Sugar Shock
There are times in your life when you do something completely stupid, and you know it's stupid, and you know it will not end in a good way, but you do it anyway. After spotting a particularly enticing cupcake with a giant dollop of frosting, I became obsessed in eating one.

This was a very bad idea. After going off sugar for a good month, then starting a 1500 calorie diet since then, my body is physically unable to process something with such a massive amount of both sugar and calories. I knew this before starting.

The Cupcake in Question

I did it anyway. I ate the whole thing. Pretty quickly too. Soon after (and we're talking within the next few minutes) my stomach started to feel absolutely terrible. It felt like the whole machine was rejecting the new oil and the gears were grinding.

We got into the Splash Mountain line (which is another story), and I continued to complain about my stomach - to which Tiffany replied that she didn't want to hear it anymore because I did it to myself.

The ride was terrible (for two reasons, the second is explained below). I felt awful the whole time. Once we were done I made a beeline for the nearest bathroom, which as it turns out is not too close. I became more and more impatient and enraged as my path to the restrooms became more and more crowded.

Fortunately for me (and everyone else) I made it in time to do my business.

Lessons learned: No one should eat that much sugar, no one. It is probably a good idea to go to the bathroom when needed and not wait. And finally, remember that those paper seat covers offered in most restrooms for sanitation purposes do in fact dissolve in water. Think about that when you try and use the toilet soaking wet (again, details below).


Wet Blanket
If there's one thing I have learned more than anything during this fateful trip, it's that you should always bring an extra pair of clothing when riding potentially soaking rides. You'd think like the cupcake, I'd know better. Well I didn't.

For some stupid reason, we were put in the Splash Mountain log-boat with four other very large adult men. The ride is designed for two parents and four kids (or less). Our combined weight wasn't enough to cause the ride to jam, but it did put pressure on the water level - forcing a great deal of it to come into our boat after slight falls.

We were completely head-to-toe soaked by the time we got to the first singing bunny. And that doesn't include that last drop into the brier patch.

I look like I'm having a good time, but really I'm not.

I was already not feeling very well on the ride and the soaking added insult. The final trip through the scenery to the unloading dock was particularly shameful and painful. It was out of a sad movie - the train came passing through and everyone stared, the people behind us were swearing and carrying on about the water, and the ride got backlogged (get it) and we had to wait to get out.

Needless to say, I wasn't in a happy place. After using the restroom (uh...see above), it was increasingly apparent that we were going to need to change.

We live about an hours drive away (without traffic) so I didn't want to go all the way back just to get new clothes. I was pretty sure we didn't have anything in the car. It didn't matter to me, I needed to change. I felt completely terrible. My shirt had become a heavy, wet, uncomfortable mess (a lot like a wet blanket) and I was being very irritable and cranky with Tiffany.

We decided to head back to the car to figure it out. On the way we passed by a Quicksilver store at Downtown Disney. We ducked in real quick to see what we could find. Awesomely, they had a sale going and we were able to find a new shirt and pair of shorts for me, a shirt for Tiffany and fresh socks for both of us (because our shoes were squeaking something awful).

Our Fresh Digs

With a fresh pair of clothes and a new desire for a great day, we headed back into the park. The new clothes (especially the shirt) made a world of difference. We were cheerful again. Able to conquer any new problems that may come our way (which they did...)

Untrusted Phone Call
This is more anecdotal than the others - but while waiting in line for Toy Story Mania (which is soooo good btw), Tiffany's brother Adam called. He didn't believe us when we told him where we were, so to preserve our reputation we took a photo of Tiffany's phone next to the California Screamin' ride and emailed it to him on my phone.

He didn't know what it was, but he believed us. Now he wants to come to Disneyland too. He's welcome anytime because we don't mind going again.

Can you believe me now?

More to come soon!

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