A Day at Disneyland

We went to Disneyland for the day yesterday. We made it only onto five rides/attractions, but with only six hours to be there, we did what we could and just enjoyed being there.

After accidentally leaving our stroller in Phoenix, we made an emergency stop at the Target at Harbor and Chapman. We considered renting a stroller at the park, but figured it would be less expensive to buy a cheap umbrella stroller that's much less bulky than our regular one.
Despite the crowds, there was no wait for a tram from the Mickey and Friends structure, nor at security or the main gate.



We hopped onto the Ward Kimball at Main Street and rode to Tomorrowland, where we got fastpasses for Buzz Lightyear and caught Captain EO. I really liked the floor moving in time to the music, although I was disappointed they didn't have any purple 3D glasses.

After EO, we went back to the Tomorrowland station and rode to New Orleans Square and had lunch at the Hungry Bear Restaurant. My Bacon Cheeseburger was frigid by the time it was served (I really need to suck it up and get lunch at the Blue Bayou one of these days).



We had a 20 minute wait for the Haunted Mansion. Leota's head, which wasn't floating during our last ride in February, still remained stationary.

Thought we'd try Pirates, but it had a long wait, so we took the kids to the Tiki Room. I don't watch the show anymore, I've started watching people as they watch the show - with humorous results!

We redeemed our Buzz Lightyear fastpasses, and I got my highest score yet - level 5 (thanks to the attraction coming to a full stop twice - although outside of the range of diamond targets.



After Buzz, we caught a Billy Hill show. I was surprised to learn the show's been shorted to add an additional set. While I really like Billy Hill, I was expecting a full show and was disappointed to not see Puddle Prance or the Devil Went Down to Georgia.

We took Big Thunder Trail to Fantasyland to check out the line for the teacups and Small World, which were both beyond our desire for waiting in line. We wandered into Toontown, where my wife came across a family friend from Utah she hadn't seen in over ten years.

In Toontown, we walked through Mickey's house, but opted not to wait for a picture, it was getting to be time to head back to the airport.

While my description may sound rushed, we really just took our time today enjoying the small details that really make the park fun. As a kid, I would go to the park once every two or three years. Since having an annual pass off and on over the past six years, I've gone from having to get on every ride come hell or high water, to today's experience, which was very mellow, despite the crowds. I paused to listen to the band performing at the French Market. I took the time to photograph a waterfall I hadn't noticed before on Big Thunder Mountain.



I sat back and relaxed on the train, not worried about where we were going to get off. For the first time, I really started to people watch, and to see someone enjoying an attraction for the first time. While I didn't get to do everything I wanted to do, I still enjoyed myself, and so did my family.



Well, almost. My daughter really wanted to ride Soarin', but we didn't make it over to DCA.