Hey guys!  Are you ready for my birthday recap?  (**waits patiently and hears only groans**)

So, on the magical day of my birth, my knight in shining armor (that camera-shy boyf of mine) and I (cranky and not-so-camera-shy) took a trip to Disneyland in Anaheim, CA.  Look, I’ve been going to Disneyland for as long as I can remember, but there is something about going when you are on the brink of 30 (what, 26 counts for “brink of 30,” right? that makes it that more special.  If I may add another factor that made this amusement park like no other, it’s that damn birthday button.  Look, I’m not typically your “look at me, look at me!” person (*brushes off brothers’ voices going, “you have a freakin blog, how ‘look at me, look at me!’ can you be?!”), but having all the Disneyland cast members forced hyped to wish me a happy birthday made me feel like the whole park cared that I was born.  Ok, so I’m exaggerating a little but it was muy fun!

Want to know what was even cooler?  Of course you do!  It was the fact that my boyfriend made it his duty to see that I was well-fed on my birthday.  See exhibit #A below.

You have two choices — 1) hide and pretend it didn’t happen

or 2) just do it and look like a goober doing it, to boot!

Churro for breakfast.

Exhibit #B

A hot fudge sundae complete with two chocolate chip cookies all stuffed in a waffle cone for lunch.

I think the antique-tinge gives it a moralistic feeling, don’t you? Moral: Have your cake sundae and eat it too!

Exhibit #C

A grilled “chicken” sandwich with pesto and chipotle vegenaise (to-die-for! Review of the restaurant to come in another post)

Verdict:  The birthday girl was officially de-cranky-fied.

It was an amazing day.  From Captain Hook scaring me half to death to the delight of the entire line of people waiting for the Pinocchio ride, to the weird picture captured of me in an Herbal Essence-like pose, hands in hair and all, on Space Mountain and to getting over my fear of sitting first in the log on Splash Mountain (irrational fears? Guilty!), it was exactly what the quack doctor ordered for the Cranky One to forget her term papers and stresses.

A few have asked me if there are healthy food options at Disneyland.  Sure there are!  But it depends on what “healthy food options” means to you!   How’s that for an evasive, catch-all answer?!  (I did work for lawyers for three years!).  Ok, seriously, I found that there quite a few healthy snack options, but fewer “real meal” healthy options.  The healthy snacks available include: whole apples, pickles, apple chips, celery and carrot sticks, trail mix, fresh mango, mixed fruit bowls, and baked chips.  It was harder to find healthy food options at the sit-down restaurants.  The best bet is the Bengal Barbecue across from the Indiana Jones ride since they offer skewered, grilled, vegetables (and meats); however, they did seem rather greasy.  The other best option was a plain salad from Carnation Cafe, but a salad of plain lettuce and carrots for $8 just couldn’t beat a huge ice cream sundae for $5, so you can see where my stomach, sweet tooth and frugal sensibilities converged in a sweet love affair with a cherry on top. You can always choose to dine at Downtown Disney which has a host of restaurants with dishes that are more easily adaptable to health concerns.  Or, you could always choose to drive to Irvine where the boyf and I dined for our vegetarian feast at the Veggie Grill.  Or, shh, bring in your own snacks!  I brought an apple, banana, and cranberries for snacks.  If it’s not your birthday and you insist on staying in character (so to speak) whilst at an amusement park, you can go so far as to eat a healthy breakfast at home, bring your own lunch packed and stored appropriately in your car, bring your own healthy snacks into the park and then eat at Downtown Disney for dinner.

Sure, eating a churro (approx. 326 calories) for breakfast and an ice cream sundae (approx. 970 calories) for lunch may not be the smartest investment of calories at face-value.  But on a deeper level, it was a smart investment in my mental health and attitude towards eating without guilt.  If you can’t eat an ice cream sundae on your birthday when you’d like to, then it’s time to reevaluate your relationship with yourself. Birthdays and special occasions are not necessarily a free-for-all, eat like crap circumstance, but they are certainly opportunities to (re)evaluate how food does factor into your life and how it should. And that, my friends, is where I’ll leave it — if I must practice moderation in food, I think I must also practice it in yapping.

What is your general philosophy on eating while at theme/amusement parks?  On your birthday?

<3,

The Cranky One

Tags: amusement parks, disneyland, Downtown Disney, healthy alternatives, healthy food, healthy snacks, theme park dining