Wow, this was a difficult day. Sean and I needed to have a few chats along the way. I guess I thought he knew what Disneyland was, with rides and the whole bit, but all of them seemed to scare the crap out of him. This made for a very long day. I did manage to talk him into Pirates of the Caribbean and I am proud of him for that, and as I later figured out he really would have been scared on a few of those rides. Still I would say that in the end it was good day. We got to understanding each other a bit better and that made for some very earnest conversations. He is such a kindhearted guy and ultimately very timid and I don't see that as a bad thing, it just means rethinking our week a bit. Part of that was going out by myself later while Sean watched TV at the hotel. He was fine with it so it worked out. I got to ride most of the rides I really wanted to go on, and it was a lot of fun. They have done an amazing job of keeping people busy, there really is something for everyone.
The park feels almost otherworldly, it feels like a real escape and I think even the oldest person would feel young again there. It's like time doesn't really work there and that is fascinating to me. As odd as it may sound coming from me I think the commercialism is part of that. When you go in there is very little that aint Disney. Disney candy, Disney clothes, Disney this Disney that. Crazy. But cool. As near as I can tell their product is solid too, and not as pricey as I expected, some of it is but really I was impressed. The park itself is really really well laid out. I thought it was awesome just walking around when I wasn't trying to convince Sean to try something, anything. *sigh* I will definitely be back though, I'd come back tomorrow if I could. Now onto some ride ratings.
Pirates of the Carribean:
Very cool. Generally I enjoyed the "old skool" rides over the new ones like Indiana Jones. The inclusion of the movie characters was a nice touch but kind of unnecessary really. It was an incredible ride with very cool effects and gives you such a feeling of awe when you go through it (a lot of the rides are like that). It wasn't at all scary, and there was so much to look at.
Star Tours:
In a word, dated. It was a lot of fun though, it almost has a throwback feeling to it now. I felt like a little kid as I dove towards the Death Star and fended off Tie Fighters, very cool.
Indiana Jones and the Interminable Line:
Loved the ride. Hated the line. Not the outside line but the way you are tricked over and over again into think this is it and then it isn't. When you finally do get to ride it is really cool, lots of twisting and turning, lots of cool movie references, this was one of my favs.
Haunted Mansion:
My fav of the day. Seriously. I had so much fun on this one and riding it at night added to it. The effects were just so incredibly cool and I don't mean cool for the time they were made, I mean cool for today even. Some of the effects seriously blew me away and I have no idea how they pulled them off and I loved that. I find it odd and kind of funny that there is a ride at Disneyland that has such a morbid sensibility to it. I has great time on this one.
Soarin' over California:
Kinda cheesy, and the artificial scents were very artificial, but it was a lot of fun. Basically it simulates flying over different scenes of Cali, as though you are on a hang glider. I think the best part is that it is "hosted" by Patrick Warburton, that guy just makes me laugh.
By the time I got back to the hotel that night I was utterly wasted. My feet were sore, my back was killing me, and I wished I had packed my chiropractor with me. It led to a tension headache, but you know what? I was happy. It was fun to ride those rides and made me a lot less anxious about the rest of the trip and I managed to come up with a bit of a plan for the next few days that would make both Sean and I happy even if it did mean he had to wait for me at the end of the ride. He is happy to be here, and I need to remember not to make the trip something that he doesn't want, but be creative about how I have fun. Things are lookin up.
If you want pics, they are on Facebook!
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