The night and the morning after

After our nap we snacked and got ready for another attack on the mouse.  When we arrived at about 5:30, the sun had set and the place was packed.  And I mean packed.  I haven't seen so many people at Disneyland since I was once there in August.  Thank goodness we had fast passes!  We rode Indy and Pirates and then made it over to Space Mountain and then watched the fireworks and enjoyed the Haunted Mansion and ended the evening with a trip down Splash Mountain.  After that, we caught the train and rode around to main street and limped on home.

We all got to bed sometime around midnight.  And the next morning, Saturday, was our one early entry day.  We knew we had to bite the bullet, get up early, and hit it.  So we did!  We were at the gates at 6:50.  But so were many other hearty souls.  The lines were long, but Fred found the shortest and fastest and we were soon inside and headed for Ruben's favorite.....Space Mountain.  What a wake up call!  Then it was over to Adventure Land and we rode the "Jingle" cruise.  The ride was the same but the lame jokes were holiday related.  Emily wanted to ride the canal boats (one ride she had never done) so we went over to Fantasyland and also rode the teacups and then went back to adventureland for Indy.  Buy then, Jeff and I were dragging our asses so we bailed and we went to the IHOP for lots of coffee and pancakes.  Em, Ru and Fred rode Splash Mt. and got fast passes for the evening, and got to the hotel just a few minutes after us.  We all met at the pool for swim and sun and then retired for naps.  Here are some pictures of last night and this morning.

The big tree

The castle at night

Wheeeee!

Princess's and their protection in the morning line.

Em and Fred hold each other up.....note how empty at 7 am.

Waiting for space mt.

We miss the "wildest ride in the wilderness".  They are remodeling it.

photo opportunity

about to be swallowed

before and after spinning teacups

The real thing

Ahhhh the hot tub for my aching knees

Sun in large doses

Roses in December in SoCal

Our rooms at the Tropicana side by side.

Jeff here with my take on Disney.  There are so many different levels to examine that I feel like I am looking at a bermuda onion.  My first thought is whoa!!!!! Too many people.  People stopping in front of you, people cutting in front of you, people being rude, crass and vulgar - in other words people being people.  After the initial dunk and emersion into this witches cauldron, you suddenly feel yourself caught up in the Disney magic.  No expense has been spared on the rides.  The experience is as real and vivid as it can possibly be.  Autotronic people look like real live people, jungles feel like jungles with the cloying sweetness of lush growth surrounding you, night birds cry out as blasts of hot air encompass the vehicle which delivers us to our grand adventure.  Adrenaline flows freely as we sit on a ledge between life and death, giant boulders rolling towards us, space ships on a certain collision course, giant cobra's reaching out to bite us and then suddenly breaking free to safe haven where we scuttle over to our next sensory overload.  I find myself deep into the fantasy and singing at the top of my lungs, "Zippity doo dah, zippitty day" with my fellow adventurous souls.  Yes, there is truly Disney magic and it resides right here in Anaheim, California. Yes, everything is outrageously overpriced by a factor of four but somehow, it doesn't matter to us adrenalin junkies, just give me another crack at "Space Mountain".