disneyland withdrawals

Do any of you Disney-aholics out there go through withdrawals when you haven't been to the park in a while? I know, I know, I went in October! So 4 months isn't really long enough to be having withdrawal. For a normal person. But I'm a Disneyland Addict! I REALLY REALLY miss my favorite place. We normally go on a late February/early March trip, but since that's right when I'm due, we had to cancel it this year. So I won't be going back until fall! (yes, we're already planning our unborn child's first trip! big surprise!)

So - as a way to curb my withdrawal and enjoy a little Disney magic, I thought it'd be fun to share some memories from past trips that I never got around to writing about here on the blog.

On our last trip to Disneyland this past October, I made the mistake decision to buy my first Vinylmation. I'd never been very impressed or excited by Vinylmation in the past, but the Toy Story 3 series was just too darn cute! I REALLY wanted the Jessie, but Vinylmations come in blind packages, so what you get is a total surprise. There are 11 different characters and one mystery "chaser" in the Toy Story 3 series, so the odds of getting the exact one you want isn't very likely.

But I decided to buy a Vinylmation and just see what happened. The cool thing is that they do Vinylmation trading in the parks now, so if I got one I totally hated, I could trade for something else until I finally got something I wanted to keep. It really was the trading aspect that made me decide to finally buy a Vinylmation.

So here I am in "Le Bat en Rouge" in New Orleans Square in Disneyland opening my very first Vinlymation (I actually don't think they sell Vinlys in this location anymore, but they did back in October).


Here we go! Let's see what I got . . .


Oh no WAY!!! Really??!


YES!! I GOT JESSIE!

I quickly realized that getting the exact character you want out of the entire 12 character set was both the fastest way to get HOOOKED on Vinylmation and also a fast track to less exciting, even somewhat disappointing Vinylmation purchases. But like I said, if I got one I really didn't want, I'd trade around throughout the day until I found one I wanted. That's actually how I got one of my favorite Vinyls, Buttercup from Toy Story 3. I found him in a trading box & about had a heart attack! I was so happy!!


(this is an iPhone photo from right after I actually traded for Buttercup in a trading box at California Adventure)

Vinylmation is a LOT of fun. And since that first initial Jessie purchase, we now have 15 Vinylmations. (YIPES. That's a lot.) I had a lot of fun buying/trading in Disneyland and then again in Disney World too. I've bought 2 at the Disney Store here in Utah too. They aren't quite as fun to buy as the experience of buying and trading them in the parks.

What is my favorite Vinlymation in my collection?? It's HANDS DOWN this special Times Square Disney Store edition Lady Liberty Minnie that Josh got me for Christmas.


He won't tell me how he got it (its only available in the Times Square Disney Store) but I LOVE that he went to the trouble of getting it for me. It's by far the coolest and cutest Vinyl in my collection.

I have to say I feel a little better after writing this post. A little of my Disneyland withdrawal has been satisfied. At least for the next few hours, until I see one of those Let the Memories Begin commercials on TV. You know the ones I'm talking about. Where the parents tell the kids they are going to Disney World. I can't help but get choked up EVERY SINGLE TIME I see them.



*sniffle* what?! I'm pregnant and the hormones are ragin'!

But anyway . . . there you have it. A fun Disneyland memory from our last trip to Disneyland and my newest Disney addiction. Do you guys collect Vinylmation? What was your best blind purchase and/or trade?? Do you have any other awesome/addicting collections?