A Park to Remember

Today, I had the honor of going with my cousin on his first trip to Disneyland. It was my second trip, I went when I was 5. It was going to be the first time I would actually remember the experience though. Until this summer, I had the monopoly in my family as being the only one that had gone to Disneyland. That streak was broken when my brother went with some friends at the beginning of summer. But back to today. I went with my cousin and his church youth group. It was both a high school and junior high event.

We got to the park around 9:30am. At first, I was disappointed we had to stay with the group. The reason I was disappointed is because it took the group over an hour to get in the park. We were standing around in front of the park waiting for some people to arrive. I didn't know if I would ever make it inside.

Once we finally got in, we waited a little bit more. Why, I'm not sure. But once we finally got moving, boy did we move. The youth group leaders were old seasoned pros. They knew which order to do the rides in, and had one person get fast track tickets for the group. Fast track tickets are a new feature at the park. It allows you to go to a kiosk, man do I love that word, and get tickets for the popular rides in advance. After an hour time period or so after you order the tickets, you can basically cut the whole line. That way you can spend your hour or so doing something other than standing in line. It is so cool. It kind of feels like cheating, but anyone can do it. Man the looks you would get when you were passing everybody else by in the regular line. It made 45 to an hour ride wait times in line to more like 10-15 minutes. It was great.

A little after lunch, we broke into smaller groups. I stayed with my cousin. Speaking of lunch, I didn't order any from Disneyland, or dinner for that matter. I couldn't bring myself to spend 10 bucks on a "cheap" meal. I ate snacks that were packed with me. Are you supposed to bring snacks into the park? Technically, I think not. They say they don't allow outside food in the park, but the lady who checked my backpack didn't say anything, thankfully.

The smaller group we broke into had a very helpful leader. She was willing to do whatever the group wanted, but at the same time, knew what she was doing. I would have been lost in that place, but she knew where everything was. The four other kids in the group were also friendly.

Now, on to the rides. Boy were they fun. I think I hit all the major rides once or twice. I enjoyed all of them. Speaking of which, the park was packed. Well, not at first. The later in the day, the more people there was. I bet twice the amount of people were there at 9:00pm than at 2:00pm. It was crazy. People were everywhere. I almost got ran over twice by some crazy people in electric wheelchairs. One lady I had to literally jump out of her way when she raced by.

Back to the rides, I mean it this time. Splash Mountain was a hit. My cousin and I went on it twice. The second time, we made funny faces for the picture it takes halfway down the waterfall. I would have bought the picture, but you couldn't see us that well and it was really expensive. Space Mountain was also a hit. We went on that ride twice also. It is basically a crazy roller coaster in the dark. It was probably my favorite ride of the day. I also enjoyed the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Also rode this one twice. Some of the new Jack Sparrow animatronic pirates look so real, it took me until the second trip to figure out they weren't real. Indiana Jones ride was also fun. There is part where a large rock is rolling towards you, like in the movie. It is exciting. That ride is so jolting. Maybe a quick story will put it in better perspective. I had a pair of sunglasses, a new phenomenon since I arrived in LA, in my pocket. The ride was so intense, it broke the glasses. The piece that broke off was lost forever on the ride. In my pocket! How it broke or where it went I will never know. Also went on another roller coaster twice, the Matterhorn water ride twice, the jungle boat tour, and a buzz lightyear ride. Okay, I must admit, that wasn't all the rides. I also went on a teacup ride, and a Winnie the Pooh ride.

There are a few rides I didn't go on though. I didn't want to wait almost 2 hours to go on the new, well new after a 10ish year hiatus, submarine ride. Why it is called submarine, I don't know, it doesn't go under water. I also didn't go on the small world ride. To state it more clearly, I wouldn't go on that ride. That is one of the only rides I remember from my trip over 10 years ago. I hated that ride. I also remembered the Dumbo ride, but didn't go on that this time.

I bet I walked five miles today. It is so much walking. My feet still ache after hours upon hours of waling and standing. They also hurt because of the large blister on my big toe. My shoes must have rubbed my feet wrong or something. Other than that, no major negative experiences from this trip.

Overall, it was a great day, no it was spectacular. The park was even better than I thought it was going to be. It was also special/more fun to be there with my cousin on his first trip. As we were walking towards the bus, the fireworks show erupted overhead. It was so loud and intense that car alarms were going off in the parking lot. To some up the trip in one word, I would have to say magical. Yes, what they say is true, either that, or Disneyland had good marketing. Probably both.