Disneyland 2006

Sunday, the 1st-Today Daryl and I went to Disneyland with Mike and Sonia and Maurissa. Sonia had never been to Disneyland before yesterday when she and Mike went together. It rained pretty hard right when they were in the middle of a roller coaster ride. They said it was like being in a washing machine. Today, on the other hand, was a nice day to begin with but then it got rainy around 2p, right when we were having lunch. It wasn't a huge downpour, just an annoying drip, so it was much more bearable than the previous day, when the all of the shops ran out of rain ponchos. In fact, we did just fine with our water resistant clothes and umbrellas. It was nice to just go to all of our favorite rides and not have to bother with the ones that bored us, especially the ones that had huge lines. Space Mountain was the first choice for many and I got a lovely picture to prove it. (They did this ride twice, it was so good.) We also loved the Haunted Mansion with the decorations from the Nightmare Before Christmas. While you're waiting in line, they have signs with the lyrics for Christmas songs changed to fit the macabre theme. Jack Skellington welcomes you in through the gates and Oogy Boogy appears as a topiary in the garden. And it's even better on the inside. I recommend seeing this display if you can. I believe they set it up around the holiday season and it's well worth the wait in line. (Daryl has better pictures of the decorations on his blog, so check over there if you'd like to see them.) We also found the It's a Small World Ride to be a lot more bearable around the holidays because instead of singing just one song they sing two songs over and over again, It's a Small World After All and Jingle Bells (although apparently the mermaids sing a slightly different version-yes, this ride has MERMAIDS.) It's a little bit surprising to see the veiled harem girls singing and dancing to a Christmas song, but the holiday decorations are so vast and lavish it goes by too quickly to really stick in your brain. While we waited for Maurissa to get her raincoat, we explored the candy store at Pooh Corner and boy, do they have some serious candy there. I got a caramel apple with almonds and I couldn't finish it. My first bite was all caramel and nuts. It served as my dinner. Maurissa took a while and when she finally arrived she told us she couldn't find the car and after walking up and down the parking lot a few times decided to chuck it and come back to us. Too bad she didn't take her phone with her because both Daryl and Sonia remembered exactly where the car was. Mike and Sonia took the opportunity to take pictures with Pooh and his friends. We actually saw Piglet this time! He was so cute! He even gave directions to a lady who asked where the bathrooms were. It was adorable. No, really. We went on the Indiana Jones ride and this time I closed my eyes when the blowdarts shot out so I could enjoy the ride fully since the last time I was on this ride something got in my eye from the air shooting out and I missed the majority of the sights after that. This time I looked around for Hidden Mickeys but didn't find a one-or at least not one I'm convinced was really a Hidden Mickey. Although we did show the others the obscenity (if you look at just the right angle) of one of the statues in the park. Then everyone stopped for ice cream, except for me and I got my quarter eaten by a fortune teller. Gypped! We drove back home in a sensory daze and collapsed into bed.