As a college student in LA, there are certain things that you are almost expected to have done before you graduate. These activities include going on a hike to the Hollywood Sign, going to Hollywood, getting In-N-Out (almost a law if you like burgers), going to the beaches (Santa Monica, Venice, Manhattan, etc.), and getting Diddy Reese cookies. However, one thing that I think every student should do but I hadn’t done until now is go to Disneyland!
The gang in front of Snow White’s castle!
I had been trying to go for quite some time over the past four years but things never worked out. That all changed when on the Sunday right before school started, I went to this magical land of happiness and joy with some of my friends. We got up early that morning so we could get there soon enough that we could avoid the lines. Well, luckily, the longest we ever had to wait in any one line was about 30 minutes! This is a rarity not only for Disneyland but any major amusement park. Not having to wait in lines made my entire first experience that much better! Plus the rides were pretty awesome.
The first one we rode was the Indiana Jones ride. It was incredible how realistic they made the experience: they simulated darts being blown with air-blasts and actually me me think that the boulder was going to crash into us! We then went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride where I got to see Jack Sparrow and his mischievous self. At this point, as an engineer, I was amazed at the detail included in both of these rides and how realistic all of the robotic characters looked (I had to really look to see that Harrison Ford and Johnny Depp weren’t actually there).
My Laboratory! Found it next to Tarzan’s Treehouse…
Waiting in line for Indiana Jones. I have some wicked awesome facial expressions
Getting ready to go to the Pirate’s ride!
Afterwards, while waiting to use our fastpass for Space Mountain, we rode the Matterhorn Bobsleds (which was a fun little roller coaster) and the Finding Nemo rides. With the Nemo ride you ride in a “submarine” and go look for Nemo and all of the other characters from the movie. I thought that Disney very convcingly gave the illusion that you were actually underwater looking at all of these fish and the coral reef. Then, we finally rode Space Mountain!!!! WOOOOOOT! It was so much fun 🙂 I actually think that it was the first time I had ridden a big boy roller coaster since high school….hmm…that’s sad :'( Anywho, we then got on Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters ride where I destroyed my friend. Granted, our friend in another car got over 200,000 points so I can’t really brag.
Waiting in line for Astro Blasters. Andria’s just upset because she know’s I’m going to outscore her
I did beat her. And I also beat my friend Alex! I guess that means I’m bi-winning
Then, after getting a late lunch, we watched the Disney Characters Parade. Afterwards, on our way to riding it’s A Small World, I tried pulling out Excalibur but failed 🙁 To cheer me up, we decided to go say hi to Mickey! By this point, we were all exhausted from a long day of reverting to a childlike state and decided to call it a day. I can’t wait to go back!
Disney Princesses
Mickey rockin it out on the drums
Goofy just chllin on his float. He was always my favorite Disney character
IT WON’T BUDGE!
Mickey Mouse! I think we were the oldest people in line waiting to see him
