After 26 years I have finally been to Disneyland. I have wanted to go my whole life and I finally went. My in-laws gave the family a trip to Disneyland for Christmas. That is the reason that we have been doing Disney things this month. We figured that it would be easier to accomplish this month's mission if we did Disney things since we were going to go to Disney land for a week.

It would be impossible to do a day by day so I will try to hit the highlights!

Downtown Disney: This was the first thing we did. Downtown Disney is outside the park and is basically a glorified strip mall. A very cleverly disguised strip mall. Everything has a Disney touch. Everything is also very over priced. Granted I come from Chico, things are cheaper in Chico. We ate several dinners in Downtown Disney. First was House of Blues. I wanted to eat there so badly. I LOVE blues music and the Blues Brothers. I was pissed to find Heavy Metal blaring in the speakers and a SHITTY beer selection. My father-in-law paid $7 bucks for a freaking Stella Artois. Give me a break. We also ate at the Rainforest Cafe, which thankfully had slightly better beer selection. There was also a Mexican restaurant with really good carnitas. Everything was over priced and for the most part mediocre. But that's not point, the point is the experience. Which was worth every penny.

Disneyland Rides: Are the best. They are best combination speed and ambiance. My favorite ride was probably Indiana Jones, but there were so many others that I really enjoyed. Haunted Mansion was such a trip for me. I used to wait every Halloween to watch Disney's Halloween Treat and the Haunted Mansion ride is in the opening! I was singing the opening song in my head as we went though the ride. Matterhorn is fun, but made for midgets. Keith and I snuggled into the car and my knees were up to my eyeballs. I also LOVED the Grizzly Rapids in California Park. Got soaked but I didn't care it was so much fun. Splash Mountain was closed which was a bummer.

Churros: Churros are all over the place in the park and I am pretty sure I ate at least ten. They are so expensive but so tasty. While waiting in lines a churros and my ipod touch kept me happy.

Characters: Being a Disney geek, the character experience was so important to me. I saw: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, Goofy, Chip, Dale, Terk(Tarzan, gorilla), Meeko(Pocahantas, raccoon), Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Belle, Ariel, Tianna, Jasmine, Aladdin and the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella. The Parade we saw had Mary Poppins and Bert and Peter Pan and Wendy. It was so great to see all these characters but I didn't see the ones I really wanted to see. The character I wanted to see most was Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) she is my favorite princess. I also wanted to see Cinderella, Snow White, Maleficient, the Queen, Prince Phillip, Cruella and Mad Madame Mim. None of them were to be found. I went in thinking there would be characters everywhere. But there weren't, we found most of them by accident. I was so sad! I know it seems silly but I really wanted to see Aurora. I was super glad about all the others I did find and Keith and the family waited so patiently for me to get all my pictures and aside from one comment about making a shiv out of a churro everyone was super nice about it.

My trip to Disneyland was everything I could have hoped. Minus the lack of Aurora, it was perfect. I wish the shows would have been running but Keith and I got a sneak peek of the new water show via the glass elevator at our hotel, so that was cool. I definitely decided that should Keith and I have kids before we get to go to Disneyland again, we will wait until they are about 6 or 7 to take them. I saw too many parents with exploded diapers and exhausted faces. How can an infant appreciate Disney anyway?

My in-laws were so generous and fun during the trip. It was so cool to hang out with them and act like a bunch of kids. We really had a wonderful time. I also have to thank my sister for lending me her super fantastic small back-pac. It was the perfect size! It was the perfect accessory to the Disneyland trip. You can see most of our Disney pictures at Keith's flickr page