Birthdays at Disneyland- Monday, July 17, 2006

We put on our matching blue t-shirts and began our day at Disneyland. The three girls had really been looking forwards to it. Whenever Emma saw a castle or Mickey, she had been saying, "Emma going to Disneyland."

We started at Guest Services and told them it was Anna's birthday. She immediately got a phone call from Goofy wishing her a happy birthday. She also got a sticker that she wore that said it was her birthday. Any cast member that saw it had to wish her a happy birthday. One of the first that saw it also asked her, "Is your birthday really the same day as Disneyland's?" It turns out that Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955, which made the day Disneyland's 51st birthday. (It also meant that the new "Disneyland's 50th year" t-shirts we were all wearing were officially out of date, but there were still so many 50th anniversary signs around, it didn't seem to matter.)

We started the morning in Tomorrowland, and rode nearly everything there before lunch. One of Anna's favorites was Space Mountain. We had lunch at a plaza where Buzz Lightyear was signing autographs. Then we started in Fantasyland at It's a Small World (probably Emma's favorite).

By then the heat had gotten unbearable. It was in the 90s. Emma wanted to sleep but we couldn't find a cool place to take her. Even Julie felt like she might pass out. After getting some water we decided that the smart thing to do would be to take the shuttle back to the hotel and cool down. When I told Anna this, she actually lit up and said "Yay! Thank you Daddy!" She's always ready for swimming.

The break in the day did us all wonders. We ate cheaply at a Taco Bell and saved a little money before returning to the park, renewed and refreshed. We started with a movie about Disneyland's 50 years, hosted by Steve Martin (who used to work there) and Donald Duck (who still does). We stumbled across a special birthday ceremony for Disneyland in the town square, and then we went to where we had left off in Fantasyland. Emma didn't like a lot of the rides. She usually sat with Julie, but we tried her riding with me on the Pinocchio ride. By the end of the ride she was frightened enough to scramble over the top of the seat back to Mommy. She held in there though. Anna was nervous about the Haunted Mansion, but when it was done she wanted to go again. She said that she liked it when the ghost sat in our car and said they would follow us home. She also laughed at the pet cemetary out front.

Emma was very cute in a new Cinderella dress. It was hard to get a picture of her, but she kept spinning around and watching it twirl. Anna decided to get a leopard pillow.

We stuck around long enough for a night ride on the Jungle Cruise and the fireworks on Main Street. Even with an obstructed view like we had, the Disney fireworks are among the best I've ever seen, and had a special Disneyland 50th anniversary score that they were choreographed to. After we returned to the hotel, I took Anna for a special nighttime swim. I know she enjoyed her birthday a great deal.

We're going to sleep in on the 18th!