The Happiest Place On Earth!

It's been a few years since we've been to Disneyland and I was just aching to stand in a few lines so we packed up the van and headed to southern California. Of course the kids had a great time. Charisse had a great time... and ok, I had a great time too (the lines were short!).

The Trip started out just like all our family vacations: FIRE!

This is the view from our hotel room. Can you see the Matterhorn?

Disney all dressed up for Halloween

Did I say it wasn't crowded?

Ready to ride! Brenner knows who to sit next to when it comes to roller coasters

Smile

Wheee!

Just how fast can we spin?

When Tyler was 6 or 7 yrs old he really wanted to ride the Dumbo ride. Charisse waited in line with him but when it came time to ride he would not let her ride with him, he wanted to ride alone. So a 30 something year old woman had to ride Dumbo solo too :). Finally, Tyler let her ride along.

California Adventure... the Disneyland where you can buy beer.

Standing in front of the Hollywood Tower of Terror ride

The Hollywood Tower of Terror is a pretty fun ride that does a pretty good job of mixing "roller coaster" fun with "Disney" fun. "Disney" fun is what I use to describe most if not all the rides in Disneyland. These rides are more about what's going on outside of the car you're riding in then what's happening to the car. There's always so much stuff to see. "Roller coaster" fun is all about what's happening to the car you're in (it's fun falling, right?). So the premise of this ride is that in the 1930's the hotel was used for Hollywood types but a strange thing happened back then when lightning hit the hotel and fried the guests and made the elevators sometimes fall. In great Disneyland fashion the ride looks like the lobby of an old hotel and they show you a movie explaining all this to you before you actually get on the ride. Then when you're on the ride (elevator) the elevator door opens and you can see down a hotel hallway and the ghosts you saw down in the lobby in the video show up standing in the hallway beckoning you to come... then they disappear, everything goes dark, the door at the end of the hallway starts to twist like the Twilight Zone scene and suddenly the elevator falls about 3 floors. The elevator then goes back up and falls and falls again. Rinse and repeat. Great fun. Only one problem. Brenner was afraid to sleep that night (even in a hotel room with everyone sleeping in the same room) due to this ride. Not due to the falling, but due to the whole story behind the ride. He was worried that it was true and didn't like the ghosts. Nothing's more fun than rides like this with an impressionable 7 yr old (see Indiana Jones below). It probably doesn't help when his dad feeds his paranoia :).

In the elevator

Since none of our friends and family could join us, here's a video ride for you!


Ride California Screaming Coaster from Jon Finch on Vimeo.

Having a good time

Brenner at one of the Parades. Tow Mater is his favorite.

Tyler loves Tikis

Waiting in line for the Indiana Jones ride. As the video tells you (while waiting in the line), DO NOT look directly into the eyes of the Idol (or you'll turn into a skeleton). Brenner really took this to heart! The first time we rode this ride, I looked down at Brenner when the ride gets to the idle and he was scrunched down low in his seat using the hand rail on the ride as a shield to block his eyes from looking directly into the eyes of the Idol. He was proud as a peacock when we exited the ride telling me that he DID NOT look at the eyes and wanting to know if anyone else did look. All the other times we rode it he knew the point in the ride where he Idol was and he closed his eyes during that part so he was safe!

Brenner (and his map) in anticipation of the big parade.

This is a restaurant very close to our hotel and directly across the street from the Disneyland entrance/exit. Buffet for $8.69? How can we possibly go wrong? Aaaggg... you couldn't pay me to eat there again. My advice: if you're at Disneyland and tempted to eat at the Kidd's, resist the urge (unless diarrhea is a friend of yours).


A few brief clips in Disneyland


Disneyland from Jon Finch on Vimeo.

I'm someone who likes "roller coaster" fun more then "Disney" fun so Disneyland isn't my favorite park to visit (but I do like watching the kids have fun, which is really why we're there anyway). Regardless, one thing that Disneyland has figured out is smiles. It doesn't matter how stupid your question or how many times that stupid question has already been asked that day, the Disney worker will still smile and kindly answer it. I don't know where they find these nice people and I'm sure they cull hundreds to find the ones they have, but being nice seems to be a requirement to work at Disneyland. We spent 3 days at the park which in retrospect was one day too long. We rode everything more then once within two days. The third day was more relaxing but it was re-repeats of the previous two days. We should have spend day 3 at Knotts Berry Farm instead!