Disneyland

Well it is true .. Disneyland really is 'the happiest place on earth'.

Our trip to Anaheim started well. We flew back from Vegas to LA and then caught a shuttle from the airport to Anaheim. It dropped us at our accommodation which turned out to be an absolute gem. We stayed at the Ayres Hotel which calls itself a 'European boutique style hotel'. It was delightful with a bedroom, lounge room and kitchenette (at a bargain price). Without a doubt, the cleanest place I have ever seen. They even provided free hot cooked breakast, wine and cheese in the afternoon and freshly cooked chocolate chip cookies on the reception desk all afternoon. Russ was in heaven.

We went for a walk, organised our transport to Disneyland, and had some dinner.

Next morning we were up bright and early to catch our local bus to Disneyland. I was sooo excited. Through the gates, the first thing I saw was the beautiful garden with Mickey's face made out of flowers. We jumped on the train which does a circuit of the whole park so we could get an overview and plan our attack!!

First stop was Adventureland and a ride on the 'Pirates of the Carribean'. It went underground, up and down rivers and passed lots of intricate tableau of various parts of the story. It was so much fun and quite exciting. We then walked for ages looking at everything including the full size pirate ship, paddle steamer and the Matterhorn (the ride was not operating at the time). We took heaps off photos and also watched people on stomach-turning rides which we passed on!!

We stopped for a quick lunch at a terrific place which looked as though it had been transplanted directly from New Orleans. There was even a jazz band playing while we ate.

After lunch we headed for Fantasyland. It's stories from Fantasyland had always been my favorites when watching Disneyland on television when I was young. It exceeded my expectations. Everything was pink, glittery and pretty (even the rubbish bins were pretty). We saw magic castles, stages beautifully set for productions and lots of special rides. I watched the Tea Cup ride for ages, but soon realized that I still could not do that without being violently ill.

Russ was interested to see the interpretation of Alice in Wonderland. Apparently there was a version of this story in the early seventies which featured Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Sir Robert Helpmann as the Mad Hatter. This version inferred that Alice's adventures were caused by a drug inducted haze. We lined up for the Alice ride for ages with heaps of families of all ages and sizes and thankfully we were by no means the only adults in the queue without kids!!!! We rode on carriages made from sections of a very long caterpillar and saw a traditional version, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Followed this up with The Little Mermaid. Rode in gorgeous clam shell carriages through water and paths. The story was again represented with lovely displays, some of which I managed to photograph as we floated past.

Tomorrowland was next. We did a round trip on the Monorail, checked out some interesting exhibitions and again avoided the scariest rides. I probably would have been happy to go on most things, but Russ really does hate them and I did not want him to feel bad saying no all the time, or worse going on rides and being terrified, so we watched and enjoyed them that way.

It was then time for what I had been really looking forward to .... Mickey's Parade. We found ourselves a fantastic spot, seat in the shade and right on the corner of the main street. Before I knew it there were the most incredible floats and characters were passing us. Honestly, it is so hard to describe individually. Just the most amazing array of colorful costumes, dancing, well known characters, movies scenes and everything you could imagine and then more!!! It was just wonderful and I could have watched the whole thing aver again straight away. I took sooooo many photos!!!!!

After that excitement, we went for a long walk down main street. There are souvenir and food shops everywhere. We ate a quick dinner, finished with yummy ice-creams (we were at Disneyland after all) and then found the Disneyland Town Hall where we were presented with special badges as first time visitors. We then did some souvenir shopping. Mostly for other people, but I am now the very proud owner of a pair of pink glittery Minnie Mouse ears. Another thing to cross off my bucket list!!!

In the replica of the Ford's Theater, we found a video and displays on the development, building and opening of Disneyland. It was really interesting and informative. In another room there was a video about Abraham Lincoln, his life and presidency. We then went into the replica of the theater where he was shot and watched the most incredible lifelike fully moving figure of Lincoln which was sitting in a chair and then stood and delivered the Gettysburg address. It was incredibly moving and realistic.

Our final event of the exciting day was to watch the fireworks over the Fantasyland castle. Just beautiful and even included Peter Pan and Dumbo flying through the air in appropriate parts of the story. Honestly, it looked just like the fireworks shown in the opening of every Disneyland episode on tv (if you are old enough to remember that!!!!).

After 13 exhausting hours, we made our way back to our bus stop and back to our hotel to grab some rest before tackling Disney California Adventure Park!!!