After a few days of running around town, making appearances with family, hitting up Ralph’s and Long’s, and otherwise basking in the So-Cal heat wave, Lin and I crashed Disneyland. Together with her brother, Nate, we managed to hit up all the major rides (minus Indiana Jones and Space Mountain due to repairs), and even get a good lunch in.
StarTours was once again the major pleaser, along with Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Tom Sawyer’s Island, confirming my top-three list from First Grade. I can’t say enough how awesome it is to feel like you’re flying along side a team of X-Wings down the DeathStar trench. That said, the ride could use a good update. Nate and I discussed the benefits of getting the ride involved in a pod-race somehow, and I feel like it could use some speeder bike elements, racing through the trees of Endor and whatnot.
This trip’s surprises as far as entertaining rides were the Matterhorn, Splash Mountain, and the Teacups. The Teacups wins this category, though, by virtue of how entertaining it was to ride with Lin and Nate. I think those two have some sort of euphoric spinning pre-disposition hard-wired into their genetics. Further surprise came from the Peter Pan ride, where I remember it being a long and very impressive ride, this time around it seemed short and not-so-impressive. Go figure.
Yesterday, St. Paddy’s was celebrated in good form with some corned beef and stewed veggies, followed by an appearance from Nate’s Pipe Band (that’s Bagpipes) and a few drinks at the bar down the street.
And finally, tonight is our last night in town, with an early morning tomorrow and a (hopefully) painless flight to get us home by mid-afternoon.