The Happiest Place on Earth

When we were in California over the holidays there was one thing I wanted to be sure we did, and that was stop at Disneyland. It also helped that the boy's birthday was December 23, which meant as long as we went on his birthday he got in free.

We made it to the park around 9:30, where I snapped a quick picture of Sleeping Beauty castle.
Speaking of Sleeping Beauty castle, Disneyland has recently reopened the castle walk through for the first time since I was little.
It was exciting to be able to see the displays I hadn't seen in at least over 10 years.

Since we arrived at the park relatively early we were able ride a good amount of lines before any major lines formed. And while we had a few rides with multiple hour wait, we still made it through quite a lot. (I tend not to use fast passes, mainly because I never did growing up since they didn't exist back then.) Out of the big roller coaster type rides we rode: Big Thunder Railroad, Star Tours, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion (which was A Nightmare Before Christmas themed since it was in December), Matterhorn, Roger Rabbit, Go-Gadget Coaster and Space Mountain.
The only "big" ride we didn't ride was Splash Mountain, only because the boy was adamant that he didn't want to get wet.

We even went a quite a few of the more family friendly rides, which were: The Tiki Room (more of a show than a ride really), Peter Pan, Dumbo (which I haven't ridden since I was really little), the Disney Railroad (another one I haven't ridden in probably 20 years), Finding Nemo Submarines (first time riding since they've reopened), Winnie-The-Pooh, the Jungle Cruise, Tarzan Tree House, and Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters.
Yes, the boy did completely crush me on this ride.

Speaking of the boy, he even agreed to take a picture or two, at least as long as he was wearing a silly hat. (If you remember this post you know how much as an ordeal this can be!)
We even got a picture wearing the bride and groom Minnie and Micky hat because he wanted a picture wearing a top hat.

This was also my first time at Disneyland since I've been living in Louisiana, which means I saw New Orleans square in bit of a different light.
Its funny because every time I've been to New Orleans it feels a bit like I'm in Disneyland! I mean is there anyone else whose been to New Orleans who thinks the French Market looks suspiciously like Cafe Du Monde?

And while we're on the topic of restaurants, for lunch the boy and I went to the BBQ place. This is something else that used to be there when I was little, but has been gone for a while and just brought back. They've redone the way it works a little, its now served family style and all you can eat, but it was just as good as I remembered.
And since you can't go to Disneyland without having at least something sweet, I made sure to have a churro by the end of the day.

While we weren't there till closing, we did stay till almost 11. Which meant we got to watch part of Fantasmic as well as the fireworks, and of course got to see the park all lit up. Here's one of Its a Small World covered in lights.
And ending this post the way it started, with a picture of Sleeping Beauty Castle.
Overall, it was a great day. But at the happiest place on earth how could it not be? I've been to Disneyland so many times growing up, you might think I'd eventually grow out of it. But every time I go I seem to love it even more than the last!

~Shoshanah