Disneyland

I know I haven't talked about Disneyland, so I'm making myself sit down right now to do it. The main reason it hasn't happened before now is because I've felt like crap - last Friday I started getting a really sore throat, which is always the first sign for me of a sinus infection. Sure enough, I went to the doctor on Tuesday, coughing and blowing my nose every 30 seconds, and had a sinus infection. Thank god for Zithromax...which I've taken about 5 times this year.

Anyway, back to Disneyland. Robbie & I left Sacramento at about 11am last Tuesday (the 29th) for Orange County. We spent most of the flight looking at SkyMall catalogues, which I totally stole (well, I didn't really steal it - it said it was ours to take). They have some crazy stuff in there. We landed, and were met by the Disneyland Hotel limo driver, holding a sign with our names on it. He helped us get our bags, and then we were off to the hotel in a limo, which I've decided is the best way to travel to & from airports.

Our driver told us that there had been an earthquake in Southern California while we were still in the air, which we would've known nothing about. It had a big impact on our trip, but not in the way you might expect. A lot of the rides at both parks were shut down the first day we were there, but many opened back up that day, if not the next. The "Indiana Jones" ride, which isn't my favorite, stayed closed most of the time we were there. We rode it once, and as we were walking out, it broke down again & stayed down until the day we left. Talk about your good timing!

Our room at the Disneyland Hotel was extremely nice. It was the Honeymoon Suite, and had a huge bathroom, and an amazing view of the parks/Downtown Disney. We were able to watch the fireworks each night from our room, although we did watch from in front of the castle one night. Our first night there, we came back to our room to find champagne & chocolate-covered strawberries, rose petals all over the bed & pillows, & a pair of bride & groom Mickey ears.

For most of our time in Disneyland, we didn't have to wait in line for longer than 20 minutes - and that was only for certain rides. "Pirates of the Caribbean" was always less than a 10 minute wait, and we walked onto "Haunted Mansion" several times. We got fast passes for rides like "Space Mountain" and Robbie's favorite - "Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters" (which I beat him on once! And I'll never let him forget that!), so were left with lots of free time to shop, eat, and people-watch. We went to this shop in Fantasyland near Sleeping Beauty Castle called Castle Heraldry Shoppe, and got a really nice plaque with our 2 family crests and the date of our marriage.

Of course, on Friday, Ryan & Chas came to have dinner with us & ride a few rides. We had dinner at Naples in Downtown Disney, where I had the best margherita pizza of my life, and then went to California Adventure Park to ride the new (fun) ride "Toy Story: Midway Mania". Sounds dumb, but really fun! Anyway, in line for the ride, Robbie looked over & recognized Dustin Kensrue. He told Ryan, then leaned over to shake Dustin Kensrue's hand & tell him that he was a really big fan. Ryan & Robbie then started beating themselves up because they hadn't gotten a picture with him. So after the ride, we waited and asked him for a picture. He was really nice about it...and here we go.

Saturday Disneyland got way more crowded, but thankfully that was the day we left. It was actually really nice and relaxing; not rushed, not crowded, not too hot, but an overall great trip!

And now we're gearing up for another great trip - we're going to New York in September!