Day 1

Overview

Here we are at Disneyland, reporting on our first morning of activity at the Magic Kingdom. To maximize our time here, we decided to use Ridemax (www.ridemax.com). Ridemax is a massive online database of Disneyland wait times. You plug in the date and the attractions you want to hit, and Ridemax produces an optimal itinerary to minimize your wait time. We especially enjoyed passing people waiting in long lines, while we had no more than a 15 minute wait anywhere.

Morning Attractions

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

• Raymond: “It was fun, but I closed my eyes because it went really, really fast.”
• Amelia: “It went fast, it had lots of curves. I didn’t know that roller coasters would be so fun.”
• Mommy: “It certainly was exciting.”
• Daddy: “I hurled… just kidding. I had fun watching how excited the kids were on their first roller coaster.”

Astro Orbiter

• Amelia: “It went around in the sky. It was fun. Daddy said he was almost going to hit his head on Saturn.”
• Mommy: “It made me sick.
• Daddy: “The centrifugal force was like... wow.”
• Raymond: “It was really fun.”

Star Tours

• Mommy: “Intense!”
• Amelia: “It felt like I was going to crash, but again it was really fun.”
• Raymond: “I don’t think so”
• Daddy: “Chillin’ with Raymond, who said, ‘I don’t think so’ to the whole ride was enjoyable.”

Jungle Cruise

• Daddy: “After the Star Tours trauma, it was nice to just take a cruise through the jungle.”
• Raymond: “It was good and greatest.”
• Amelia: “Daddy said that Captain Andrea was cute, but he deleted it. I like the animals, and you thought it was really cool.”
• Mommy: “I liked the piranhas the best.”

Enchanted Tiki Room

• Raymond: “It was kind of fun”
• Amelia: “There were colored lights above the fountain that made it look like colored water.”
• Mommy: “Brought back memories.”
• Daddy: “Like Amelia, I thought the fountain was really neat.”

Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters

• Raymond: “I killed all the bad guys. It was fun.”
• Amelia: “Well, I’ll tell you how it worked. You get a laser gun, and try to shoot the letter ‘Z’ on all of the bad guys, and I achieved the rank of Space Ace”
• Mommy: “
• Daddy: “What a fun concept: making an interactive video game out of a ride! Earning the rank of Planetary Pilot with my 26000 points wasn’t bad either.

Honey, I Shrunk the Audience

• Raymond: “Things stick out of the movie, and that’s scary.”
• Amelia: “It was fun. Raymond says it sticks out at you because it’s 3-D. It was my favorite so far.”
• Mommy: “Even though knew it wasn’t real, the mice freaked me out.”
• Daddy: “The 3-D seemed so real, that I had to flinch a couple of times.”

Tarzan’s Treehouse

• Raymond: “It was kind of fun, but the animal sounds scared me.”
• Amelia: “We went across a rope bridge between two trees, and I tried to climb a rope. I thought it was a clever idea.”
• Mommy: “I enjoyed the hands-on exhibits at the bottom.”
• Daddy: “Some of the views up there were great, and the lush jungle setting was relaxing.”

Disneyland Railroad

• Raymond: “It was fun.”
• Amelia: “I liked the dinosaurs and the Grand Canyon. They both looked so real, even though they were just pictures.”
• Mommy: “Even with a simple transportation system, Disney had to go all out on it.”
• Daddy: “I was also surprised that there were some dark ride segments to it.”

Evening Attractions

Snow White: An Enchanted Musical

• Amelia: “It was a really neat show. I liked it. The background moved, and the dwarves’ house spun around.”
• Mommy: “It was great! I was really impressed with their set”
• Daddy: “Remarkable! Much more of a professional production than I expected. I was particularly impressed with the magic mirror.”
• Raymond: “It’s kind of good to watch.”

Mark Twain Riverboat

• Mommy: “I loved the view.”
• Daddy: “It was neat to see all the way around Tom Sawyer Island.”
• Raymond: “I think it was great.”
• Amelia: “I thought it was kind of boring.”

Pirates of the Caribbean

• Daddy: “One of my favorite all-time Disney rides.”
• Raymond: “When I got water on my clothes, I got all wet.”
• Amelia: “It was amazing that it looked like you were outside when really you’re inside the whole time.”
• Mommy: “One of my favorites.”

Mad Tea Party

• Raymond: “I swirled around fast, and didn’t bump into other people.”
• Amelia: “We went in a pink teacup, and it was already in the middle, and we spun around and around, felt like we were going to crash, when we really weren’t.”
• Mommy: “I opted out on this ride.”
• Daddy: “I should’ve opted out on this ride. I was certainly dizzy after the ride.”

Remember… Dreams Come True

• Amelia: “The fireworks were really, really neat. They heated up Mommy and Daddy.”
• Mommy: “My favorite ones were the happy face fireworks”
• Daddy: “I was stunned to be inside of a ring of fireworks being shot off from all sides at the same time.”
• Raymond: “It was kind of fun, and I’m tired.”
  

Highlight of the morning

• Amelia: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Mommy: Seeing the kids as they entered the park
• Daddy: Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blaster
• Raymond: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Highlight of the evening

• Mommy: Pirates of the Caribbean
• Daddy: Snow White: An Enchanted Musical
• Raymond: Spinning on the Tea Cups
  
• Amelia: Remember… Dreams Come True (Fireworks)