California June, Part 1: Disneyland

On our first day in Southern California, daddy and I went to Disneyland.  Mommy had to work and would be arriving late that night, so we had the whole day to spend at the park.  Good thing, too, because we had so much fun we did not want to leave!  Disneyland has always been special to daddy, and I can see why.  To delve into multiple realms of fantasy, to be fully engaged in such a festive and well managed environment; you cant help but smile.

We went straight to Fantasyland first, riding Mr Toad's, Dumbo, the Tea Cups, and Alice in Wonderland before I insisted on getting my first set of mouse ears (see above).  The marketing geniuses at Disney added a tower in the park in honor of Rapunzel, which of course made me giddy:

Next, we rode  Its A Small World.  I was excited to spot Jesse the cowgirl:

and here's a video of the ride:

We spent the afternoon in Adventureland and New Orleans Square.  Daddy's favorite ride is Pirates of the Caribbean, but he wasn't sure if I could handle it.  So we started on Pirate's Lair (the island formerly known as Tom Sawyer's), to see how I did with pirates and skeletons.  Turns out, I couldn't get enough!  Like I told daddy, I dont think skeletons are scary - skeletons are normal anatomy.  Ghosts, however, are scary.  We skipped the haunted mansion.

One of daddy's favorite birthday celebrations as a kid was when he and some friends went to Disneyland and spent the entire afternoon running around Tom Sawyer's island.  We crawled through the same tunnels and lookouts (now modified for the pirate theme):

After our adventure on the island and a little lunch, I felt ready for Pirates of the Caribbean and asked daddy to go on it.  I was a little scared at first, clutching daddy as we entered the dark part of the ride.  But as soon as the first waterfall was done, I was laughing and smiling.  What a thrill!  When we were done, my first words were: "lets do that again!"  So we did.  Again and Again.  4 times!

After that warm up, Splash Mountain was a piece of cake.  And I even rode in the front!
And here's a clip from the Jungle Cruise:

After almost 10 hours at the park, we headed out to Knott's Berry Farm and picked up a kick-butt chicken dinner.  We took it to mommy when she arrived at the airport that night.  On to Alisal in Solvang!