Disneyland & date recap

Rugrat discovered the joy of roller coasters on this trip. He was apprehensive about Space Mountain and wanted to "work up to it". So, the first roller coaster we went on was Big Thunder and he loved it. Then we went on the Matterhorn (which I despise, because it's 40 years old and has no padding in the seats anymore and is bumpy as hell). He loved that one too. Finally he felt ready to tackle SM. When it was over I turned around to look at him (he was sitting behind me with Babydaddy) and he had this look of absolute terror on his face and then as I watched he broke into a huge grin and said, "That's the best ride EVER!" So we rode SM a bazillion times. He wouldn't ride California Screamin' (the big roller coaster at California Adventure, with a loop) until the very last day, a few hours before the park closed. He finally decided to ride it, and then THAT was his new favorite ride and he rode it about a half dozen times more before the park closed. LOL

Not a whole lot of people there (Monday-Wednesday) so the lines were short. Haunted Mansion (all decked out in Nightmare Before Christmas finery) was incredible. We went on all our favorites, usually multiple times. We hit Fantasyland on Tuesday morning, when we used Early Entry (you get in one hour early), so we walked right on all the FL rides. No waiting for Peter Pan; no waiting for Dumbo. It was excellent. The weather couldn't have been better - sunny and hot, perfect t-shirt & shorts weather. It actually hit 95 degrees on Monday!!

We had a nice time visiting with Mom & Stepdad too. They left at about mid-day Tuesday, so we had about a day and a half there together. As usual, our visit together was too short and we didn't get a whole lot of time to just catch up & hang out (because we were so busy going on rides!) but it was fun nonetheless.

The only downside was the food. It was terrible. Cold and horribly overpriced. There were a couple of bright spots: the bakery next to Carnation Cafe on Main Street sells great croissants and coffee (all our "real" breakfasts were pretty awful, with cold eggs and "icky" - Rugrat's word - waffles and pancakes). The Napa Rose in our hotel (Grand Californian) was excellent, but incredibly expensive so we only ate there once. White Water Snacks was good - the food is actually cooked when it's ordered, and it seemed less expensive than in the rest of the park (chili cheese dog & lots of hot, fresh fries for about $6). Mostly it seemed like the food was cooked and then left under heat lamps all day, so you'd get chicken strips that were cooked an hour ago and barely warm from the lamps. It was just gross.

Now....Monday night! My date with GG went REALLY, REALLY well. So well, in fact, that I am not going to jinx it by giving details. Let's just say that the chemistry and attraction was definitely still there (but I was a good girl and restrained myself). And he is coming up to the bay area to visit family at Thanksgiving. :-D

P.S. Pictures coming soon!