A very Disney day.

I went to Disneyland a week ago.  It was my very first time ever going to a Disney theme park and I was so super duper freaking excited because OH MY GOD THEY HAD SLEEPING BEAUTY'S CASTLE AND I WAS SO EXCITED BECAUSE I LOVE HER!!!!

I am so serious. Princess Aurora is my favorite Disney Princess and Sleeping Beauty is my all time favorite Disney Classic.  It's a hard life being a feminist and a Disney Princess lover...you just have to reconcile your feelings and tell yourself that its ok, over, and over, and over again, and then you can just believe it.  But seriously, Sleeping Beauty.  There was some drama surrounding the whole going to Disneyland because the duo I was supposed to go with were sick and I don't know my way around Hong Kong and I probably would have gotten lost or kidnapped.  In the spirit of Walt Disney, my dreams really did come true and on Saturday morning we were off, and by off I mean I was running to and fro in an attempt to keep pace with my guide and catch the bus and the ferry and the subway.  It was sort of not a dream come true for a fat girl with short legs and a fractured spine.  It was worth it,  sweat, blood, and tears for Walt Disney.

I went on the Jungle River Cruise, Space Mountain, Grizzly Gulch, The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and one very special, very Disney ride that if you actually read the post and/or scroll through the photos, you can see!  I ate ice cream for lunch and my snack because, Disney.  Bought some adorable polka dot pink and white Minnie Mouse ears that I must find an occasion to wear, the occasion being EVERYDAY EVER. 

I also bought myself a Disney t-shirt, a photo frame and a gift for a friend who might read this blog so I won't say what it is.  I also purchased a Darth Tater for my nephew for his birthday, and even though I could get it in the states, I bought it at Disneyland Hong Kong and that is cool.  I also bought an adorable beach towel for my niece for her birthday, its Stitch and it has a little hood.. cutest dang thing ever.

I walked about Sleeping Beauty's castle, walked some more, took some more photos and enjoyed everything that I love about Disney and promised myself that if I ever have children, I will NEVER EVER take them to Disneyland, ever.  You couldn't pay me to do that with a bunch of children.  I used to beg my parents to take us to Disney World and they always said no and clearly, for good reason. 

I also watched the Legend of the Lion King and there may have been some feelings, I may have cried a little...I can't help it.  The Lion King ALWAYS makes me tear up.  It's just so damn sad. 

I will however, make it a point to attempt to visit Disney World at some point in my life, because Disneyland was spectacular and magical and I can only imagine how insane Disney World must be.. 

Ticket to Disneyland with Slinky Dog, maps and guides and my fast pass for Space Mountain!

Main Entrance

Fountain at the entrance.  At night it was lit up with all different colors.

Main Street from the entrance.

The bridge into Disneyland!

The Monsters University exhibit on Main Street.

Buildings on Main Street, and the Ragtime band playing on the patio.

While exiting Main Street, a vendor who was selling balloons was separating the ribbons and a gust of wind blew them around me so I snapped this photo of the balloons.

The vendor still separating balloons.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle!

A far away shot.

A quick pose in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle before heading away from Fantasyland and to Adventure land.

The first ride we went on was the Jungle River Cruise, which apparently has a cult following on Youtube..seriously.  If you look up Jungle River Cruise, you can find video of people posting their favorite Captains, and I think a guy named Captain Bob is the most famous..He might have his own video channel.  The Captain can make or break the ride, and ours was pretty entertaining.  He brought the cheese and it was delicious.

Entering Adventureland.

Tiki water cooling station.  They played drum beats and would spit out water at you on random notes so you never could tell when water would actually come out. Exciting and infuriating all at the same time. 

Outside drum exhibit..kind of fun.

Rhino statue that I thought was super cute.

Adventureland was either too much for this guy or not adventurous enough...

Tarzan's tree house on the Jungle River Cruise.

Tarzan's  tree house again.

Elephants.

Sneaky elephants that like to spray you with water.

Danger, Danger.

The Water God

The Fire God

I missed the shot of the Water God spitting water on the Fire God.  The fire was actually really close to the side of the boat that I was on and it was mildly uncomfortable.

Just part of the set ruins.

Being classy while standing in line to watch The Legend of the Lion King.  It was hot, but at least they had giant, industrial strength fans for us while we waited in queue.

So. Many. People.

The Legend of the Lion King...It was spectacular and I loved it.  The Lion King is one of my favorite Disney movies and this production was wonderful.

Bidding adieu to Adventureland.

The best land in all the park: FANTASYLAND.

A Dumbo shaped shrub..I'm  not sure what the fancy word is for  this...

Wishing well.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs statues from the bridge that takes you into Fantasyland.

A chance encounter with Merlin..I didn't get to take photos with any of the Princesses, which was sad, but I missed Aurora anyway and she was the only one I would have wanted a photo with. I did see Belle and Snow White though...

Waiting to ride Space Mountain!

And then it happened, we went to It's A Small World and I actually rode on it.. yep.  It was terrifying and weird, just as I had always expected it to be.  Also some of the dolls were totally out of control, possibly borderline racist as far as the portrayal of their ethnicity went. YAY!!

Apparently the magic of It's A Small World doesn't work on everyone.

But I was excited, OBVIOUSLY. Its Disneyland!!

Yep.. It's A Small World... I did it and I have the pictures to prove it.

I was handsomely rewarded with berry delicious ice cream for lunch..see what I did there??

Just being stupid in Tomorrowland.

Fantastic space statue in Tomorrowland. 

Which is also where I rode Space Mountain, twice.  So much fun.  I now understand why people love Space Mountain, I have seen the joy and I want more.

Fantasia Mickey.. how do you NOT stop and take a photo of a Mickey from Fantasia statue?! If you don't, you clearly have a burning hatred living inside your heart for music and cartoons and that makes you a horrible person who should just go home already.

And Dumbo, because.

Just a couple of shots of some of the stores in Fantasyland.  This is where we went on the Winnie the Pooh ride as well.

We rode in little hunny pots that took us through the store of the Blustery Day.  The ride was pretty adorable and the set was fantastic, so wonderful.

These were all the "pages" of the book that were blown away by the wind.  You passed by them while standing in line.

It was actually much more difficult to get photos of the set than it seemed on the ride, it didn't move super fast but it was dark in there so most of the photos came out a bit blurry.

Once we finished there we walked around a bit and then headed over to the Monsters University exhibit.  It was packed and the queue was 30 minutes, so we figured it would be awesome and something really cool.. well it was neat, but not worth the 30 minutes we spent wasting time.  You got to take pictures with Mike and Sully and then go to a photobooth and pay to have a MU id card made.. super neat idea but such a long wait.

I didn't pay for the id card, we just went the free picture route.

It was already past 7:30pm by the time we finished at Monsters University, so I went and did some shopping  while waiting for the fireworks display, which was multimedia.  They have an LED screen that seemed to appear from nowhere and Tinkerbell flies down and scatters fairy dust and then the castle lights up.  There is a light show that is displayed on the castle and a medley of songs play from various Disney movies and shows and the lights and fireworks are set to the music.  It was unbelievable and it lasted at least 20 minutes. The show started and ended with "A Whole New World".  Each light display and firework set was themed to the music too..for Mulan's "I'll Make a Man out of You" the fireworks were red and they even had pyrotechnics for it.  For the love songs they did a display that looked like fair dust and and stars.  One of the best fireworks displays I have ever seen. EVER.

And the fountain lit up at night.  This was a very long post for what was a very long day at Disneyland, but it was an experience I will never forget and one that will always be special.