Tuesday morning (May 15) we got up and had breakfast at Jamba Juice in Downtown Disney before spending our first day at Disneyland! Because we were staying at Disneyland's Grand Californian Resort we got a "Magic Morning" (early entrance into Disneyland) both Tuesday and Thursday mornings, this meant we got into the park at 8:00 a.m., while the general public had to wait until 9:00 a.m. When we got into the park, we headed straight for Tomorrowland where Joel and Dean immediately loaded the Astro Orbiter and had fun riding that. We then rode Space Mountain and Star Tours, again with no wait at all! After that, we ate the most delicious chocolate parfait from Tomorrowland Terrace (I may or may not have had 4 or 5 more of these during the course of our vacation, one of them served in a gigantic R2D2 bucket).
After stuffing ourselves with the best parfait ever made, we immediately boarded (without a line) It's a Small World, which became one of Dean's Top 5 Favorite Rides (I haven't figured out if Dean loved It's a Small World only because he really loved it or partly because of how much Tutu hated it). We rode It's a Small World 4 or 5 times total for the trip! After It's a Small World, we got in line for Autopia. This was the first (and one of the few) time we had to wait in line for any length of time - we ended up waiting probably 15-20 minutes to ride this ride. This is the ride where kids get to drive the little cars on the track. I can remember riding this ride at Disney World with my Dad when I was a kid. I also remember a very similar ride, but with old time-y cars - but I can't remember where that was (Silver Dollar City? Six Flags? I have no idea...). Dean and I rode together in one car and Joel was behind us. Dean steered the car, but he couldn't reach the gas pedal so I had to push that for him, but he still loved being able to drive his own car!
After Autopia we headed over to New Orleans Square and immediately loaded Pirates of the Caribbean (no wait at all! Walked right onto the boat!). Dean "kind of" liked this ride, he wasn't too crazy about all the mean pirates but he sure liked the treasure room with all the jewels, gemstones and such! After that we waited in line for less than 5 minutes for the Haunted Mansion, which was another "kind of liked" ride for Dean. While in line for that, I got a phone call from someone special and made plans for a very special surprise for Dean, who was waiting for us outside of Tarzan's Treehouse...
Sarah!! Dean was so excited! Even though it's been almost 2 years since Dean's old babysitter Sarah moved from Maui to San Diego, they still have such a special bond! We were so happy that Sarah's mom let her miss school for the day on Tuesday and they drove up to spend some time with us while we were at Disneyland! And it was even more cool that we totally surprised Dean! When we saw her outside Tarzan's Treehouse, I said "Dean! Look who's at Disneyland!!" As soon as he saw her he ran and launched himself into her arms and gave her the biggest hug. He tried to play it off, but he cried a little he was so happy! Sarah and her mom, Elizabeth, got to spend about half the day on Tuesday with us and Dean was in heaven! My mom and Joel went and rode the new Indiana Jones ride while Dean and Sarah explored Tarzan's Treehouse.
We did lots of fun stuff with Sarah. Dean and Sarah and Joel rode several rides in Fantasyland - the Mad Tea Party (spinning teacups), Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Pinocchio's Daring Adventure, and Peter Pan's Flight. We had lunch in Fantasyland then Dean talked Sarah into riding It's a Small World with him again.
By early afternoon Dean was getting pretty tired. We decided to ride Splash Mountain and then say our goodbyes to Sarah and Elizabeth before heading back to the room for a rest. Dean LOVED Splash Mountain. He rode in front, so of course got the most wet of all of us, but he laughed and laughed. There is a camera right in the middle of the big drop on this ride and they have the photos posted for you to see when you exit the ride. Our photo was HILARIOUS. We took a picture of it. It's not that good because of the glare, but you can clearly see Dean, me and Sarah at least and our faces are so funny - look at that joy as we all scream on our way down that big drop!
We took a train ride around the park then said goodbye to Sarah and Elizabeth. I really can't say how special it was to spend a little time with them while we were there! On our way out of the park we passed Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and noticed there was no line at all, so decided to go ahead and ride it. It wasn't as much fun as I remember when I was a kid, but Dean absolutely LOVED this roller coaster ride! It was another one in his Top 5 Favorite Rides!
We took a little rest break for a few hours at the hotel, then we headed back to the park for a few hours in the evening. We rode a few rides again and had dinner at Disneyland, then called it a pretty early night. It was a pretty perfect first day at Disneyland!!
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