Disneyland with Grandpa. No princesses necessary. #Disneyland60

Every time Father’s Day rolls around, I usually write something about my husband (how he freaks me out, the things I learn from him, blah blah blah)… but I rarely write about my own dad.

Because Dad is kinda private. You can’t even ask him to take a picture (with his own grandkids!) without him resisting… because the guy just doesn’t like taking pictures. Even if you’re at Disneyland…

My dad has been surrounded by princesses (two daughters, three granddaughters) but he’s a real BOY. When I was a little girl, my dad would build cars (from scratch) and race those cars round and round a local racetrack on the weekends (with my mom and sister and I watching him in the bleachers, my mom pointlessly screaming “Stay in the back and be safe!” against the loud roars of all the cars… no one could hear you Mom). He’d also clean my teeth and tell me I was a good patient (he’s a dentist). I remember him pushing a lawnmower in our backyard (before everyone just hired a gardener to do it). He’d also swim laps in our pool every night (wearing a snorkel mask, which my sister and I thought was hysterical). And let’s not forget about how much of a stage parent he could be when my sister and I would perform onstage somewhere and he’d insist on attending the soundcheck rehearsal just to make sure everything was working right (you did NOT want to cross him after the performance if the mic did not work right…).

My dad also likes roller coasters and would ride all kinds of questionably-dangerous upside down contraptions anytime we’d go to an amusement park as a family. He also really likes Disneyland (as much as a 60-something grandpa could really like Disneyland).

For some weird reason, I’ve always associated Disneyland with my dad. Maybe it was because he once told me how he visited with his family (as a little boy) when the park first opened? Maybe because all of my own Disneyland trips (growing up) coincided with an annual dental convention that’d take place in Anaheim… which would inevitably mean a visit to the park? Maybe because, underneath the Don’t-Get-Dad-Mad warnings I was raised with, he’s really a big kid who likes to have good fun at the heart of it all?

So not too long ago, my mom, my sister and her daughter and my girls and I opted for a banzai Disneyland trip together… with my dad in tow. Just in time to lead in Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration. Six women (counting our three tater tots under the age of 4) and him. Poor guy. I was afraid he was going to get pummeled by princesses…

But not so. You should’ve seen him with his granddaughters — the BEST. (My LadyP nicknamed him “Buckoo” when she was a baby. No idea why, but it’s stuck. So now he’s Buckoo.)

Without even putting any conscious effort into it, our usual quest for princesses and mermaids and fairies at the Happiest Place on Earth morphed into a man-led expedition for classic Tomorrowland rocket rides…

Horseback riding with expertly-fastened safety belts…

And a first class riverboat tour around Tom Sawyer’s Island. (Right after he bought three little girls popcorns the size of their heads… following Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Pinocchio, The Jungle Cruise, a round of target practice at Frontier Land’s shooting gallery and all sorts of Dad-Grandpa kinds of fun.)

We then hopped on over to California Adventure and went crazy in Cars Land (with Mr. Racecar and all)… To my shock and awe, my girls loved every second of this ‘new’ Disneyland. (So did I.) This was Buckoo’s kind of place… no princesses necessary.

Every ride we rode, every activity we did and everything we saw that day with my dad was outside of our regular Disneyland experience. Maybe it was the bright blue diamond “D’s” posted everywhere (reminding me that Disneyland has been creating family memories for 60 years now) or the fact that Buckoo was having fun like a little kid, but that trip had extra magic in it…

Watching my dad interact with my daughters surprises me every time and it surprised me yet again that day… because, even though I (obviously) know him as Dad, he’s a whole different person as Grandpa. (Who IS this man?!?) Much less intimidating. Lots more fun. Which probably explains why the hell I opted to jump on the upside-down-tangled-and-terrifying-in-the-best-way California Screamin’ roller coaster at California Adventure’s Paradise Pier alongside him when he declared he wanted to ride it. (I started to think WhatamIdoingIhave2kids!?! as I buckled myself into the seat before takeoff but then figured that, if a 60-something year old man can do this at a theme park that’s 60 years old… then so can I (sorry Dad, but it’s true).

I was so happy I did. IT. WAS. AWESOME. (There’s even a dude – a cast member, I’m guessing – standing at the very top that yells “3-2-1-SCREAM!” just before you plummet down the tracks… crazy!!!) No way would I have jumped on that thing if my dad didn’t… so thanks for that one Buckoo.

My dad has always been a good dad… but he’s a great, fun, phenomenal and most incredible grandpa to the little princesses who call him Buckoo. And seeing him in action at the Happiest Place on Earth made me… well… so happy.

If that isn’t some magic, I don’t know what is. (Happy 60th Disneyland… keep that magic comin’…)

DISCLOSURE: TheFabMom was provided two complimentary park-hopper admission tickets to Disneyland & Disney’s California Adventure for purposes of this post. Disneyland’s 60th Diamond Celebration includes the following new attractions — “Paint the Night” an all-new electrical parade on Main Street, U.S.A. featuring a dazzling new display of more than 1.5 million brilliant LED lights, “Disneyland Forever” firework spectacular and “World of Color – Celebrate! The Wonderful World of Walt Disney” at California Adventure’s Paradise Bay (with hosts Neil Patrick Harris and Mickey Mouse) which features more than 1,200 fountains, lasers and special effects. In addition to these after-dark offerings, the entire Disneyland Resort will glisten and gleam throughout the year in commemoration of the Diamond Celebration. Follow #Disneyland60 for more fun… and don’t forget to take your dad. He might really dig it.