The Upside When Things Don't Go as Expected

 We took Jakey to Disneyland yesterday.  It was a special middle of the week treat when all of our passes were good and we were able to get a reservation.  He was super excited about seeing all the holiday decorations.  We had been telling him about how Small World was special for the holidays and he couldn't wait to go on the ride.

Even though it was a Wednesday and cold, there were lots of people and the wait for the ride was too long for an almost six-year-old, so we put it off until later, hoping the line would be shorter.  When we saw the wait time seemed manageable we took him and he was thrilled with all the colorful lights and already singing the song as the line moved toward the ride.  

The music changes for the holidays to a mixture of the Small World song and Jingle Bells.  Not only are the lights outside the ride changed from white to warm colors, but the the inside display has lights and decorations added for the holidays.

Jakey was enchanted as the boat wound through the rooms of singing dolls until....the music abruptly cut out and I saw a long line of boats ahead just before we bumped into the last one in the line and then  the one behind us bumped into us and I imagine it continued on behind us as whatever made the boats move through the water had stopped.

A voice came over a loudspeaker apologizing for the circumstance and said they were working to fix the ride, but if it couldn't be done shortly, the boats would be evacuated with the help of castmembers.

We were stuck just where the Toy Story pair of Woody and Jesse were hanging out.  While the music had stopped, Woody kept twirly his lasso and some animals kept popping up from a hiding place.  Time went on and nothing happened.  We could hear the fireworks booming outside. An infant behind me began to cry.  I was glad I'd stopped at the restroom before the ride.  The man in the front of our boat who had been filming the ride with his phone probably to put on Facebook, put his phone down.

 The voice on the loudspeaker asked for our patience while they tried to work things out.  I looked over the side of the water way and saw an exit sign and figured we'd have to climb out of the boat and over the side to a flat area is we were evacuated.  

Finally, the voice came back and said the ride would start moving momentarily and advised the castmembers not to stop evacuating the boats.  And then there was a rush as the current began to swirl in the water and the armada of boats began to move forward like a long train as we went through the last of the room of dancing dolls with no music.

At last we left all the colors and dolls behind and re emerged to the outside.  To make up for our trouble, they offered a fast pass on our next ride.  Ha Ha about that because when  we got to the Haunted Mansion and imagined going right to the front of the line, the ride was broken.  

I tried to explain to Jakey that while it's nice when things go smoothly, there's no story.  It's the bumps in the road that are interesting and that you always remember.   The happy ride with the catchy song became a memorable adventure.