Post Convention - Day 1 (Saturday) DISNEYLAND!

Saturday morning, Convention over, and we still had to get up early. Susan Bek of the Diocese of Los Angeles, with whom we worked to plan, design, and implement the Children's, Infants', and Toddlers' programs, arranged for everyone involved in the those programs and the Discovery Center to have breakfast at Club 33 and a Park Hopper ticket for the day. We gathered outside of Guest Relations beginning at 7:30 and were escorted into Disneyland, down Main Street, through Adventure Land, the French Quarter, and into Club 33 for a wonderful breakfast in a private dining room.

Here are Ruth-Ann, MerLynne, me and Kathy on the balcony of the dining room:


Followed by the obligatory outside the front door shot:


The four of us spent our day with Trudy and Joe Ardizzone, who worked tirelessly on the Discovery Center. Joe played tour guide. We got a fast pass for the Indiana Jones ride and then went here for our first ride of the day:


After years of seeing the ride on TV, beginning with the Wonderful World of Disney as a kid, I finally got to experience the Pirates of the Caribbean in person. Lots of fun, and the only ride on which we managed to get wet. From here we went to the Jungle River Cruise, which was fun mostly for the boat driver's corny jokes. Then Indiana Jones! Three rides in an hour, not bad for a sunny summer Saturday.

Then it was on to Tomorrowland for Star Tours and Astro Blasters, followed by a trip on the Monorail. And what visit to Disneyland would be complete without a visit to, yes, It's A Small World:


After a stop for Mickey ears (you thought after 49 1/2 years before getting to Disneyland I'd come home without hears?) and lunch, we exited Disneyland and went across to the plaza to California Adventure, which is built where Disney's parking lots used to be. An aborted trip to the Ferris wheel and then the California Screamin' roller coaster. By that time I was getting hot and a little crowd-weary, but we had fast passes for Soarin' over California. That was great! It also refreshed us. We had ice cream (no sugar added butter pecan for me) while watching the Pixar parade.

Back to Disneyland for the Finding Nemo submarine ride (which used to be 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea), and then our final ride for the day, the Haunted Mansion:


We were planning to leave before the fireworks, but shopping took longer than we expected, so we stayed to watch Tinkerbell and Dumbo flying over the castle along with the fireworks.

I can't believe I stayed the whole day and enjoyed it! I figured that by lunch I'd be ready to pack it in. But I really had a good time. I could go back.

Oh, one more button for the collection:


Peace,
Jeff