Wednesday, March 11, 2009

The Happiest Birthday on Earth!

Living in So. CA, it's a given that you'll go to Disneyland some time in your life. We are only about an hour away, so we can go whenever we like, if we could afford it!

The people in marketing at the House of Mouse are ingenious in making 2009 the Year of Celebration, letting people get in for free on their birthday with an online registration.

My daughter's birthday was on January 2nd, so she was the first to start off this D-land freebie, but really the laughs on us. Yes, we save $62.00 in ticket price, but they getcha in the parking, food, stuff, taking the day off of work and the other people you bring along with you, because it's not cool to go to Disneyland alone. It took almost 45 minutes, just to get the ticket. Then we had to wait to get into the park. In the park it was crowded and we had to wait hours and hours for the fun rides like Space Mountain and Haunted Mansion. It was really cold too, so we shivered while we waited. I forgive, because after all, it was the 2nd day of the promotion and I guess a lot of people were getting busy in May, which ironically is the month of Mother's Day, in order to have January birthdays. It was still decorated for Christmas and we got to frolic in soap bubble snow, the closest thing to the cold stuff we get in SoCal, so overall it was pseudo-fun.

I decided that I wanted to go to D-land on my birthday on March 1st, as well. Conveniently, my birthday fell on a Sunday, so we didn't have to take off work. We headed off early this time because last time we got there mid-morning and suffered for it. We found parking right away, we got our tickets quickly and they even gave me the two-fer special since we were SoCal residents, which means we can come back within 30 days and go to CA Adventure for free! We got through the ticket turnstyle in a snap and we even took time to take a park survey. They gave me a birthday button which was cool and when you put it on, something magical happened. EVERYONE wished me Happy Birthday! I tried to count all the birthday wishes and hoped to have as many as my age, but I was short a few. I guess I could've counted the ones I'd already received from friends and family. After a quick pic with my new boyfriend Goofy (He kissed me on the top of my head) we went on Indiana Jones first because last time it was a 100 minute wait and we love Indy, but nope. This time, it was barely 10 minutes. It was pretty much like this for most of the morning, we walked right into the front door of the Haunted Mansion. That is incredible! We even took a picture of it to savor the memory. We walked into Pirates, The Jungle Cruise, where we were not disappointed by the groan worthy cruise director and rocketed through Buzz Lightyear's ride. The weather was warm, the crowds were light and the day was splendid. I believe I smiled the whole day. Which is so not like me!

I decided that I wanted to do stuff that I had never done. We went on the big ship Columbia and toured around Pirate Island, which used to be Tom Sawyer Island. Then we went onto Pirate Island and it was cool, checking out caves, walking on wobbly bridges, being trapped in a cage made of bones and finding the big booty...ya know the pirate's treasure. As it got hotter, we stopped at the Pizza Port for cold drinks and water misting. We were even able to find a table and fill up our water bottles from the fountain dispenser inside without anyone giving us the evil eye.

The heat started getting to us so we left kind of early for going to an amusement park. We had to work and go to school the next day anyway. All in all it was a wonderful day and I want to thank the Mouse for giving me a fun gift that I enjoyed immensely! The next birthday will be in October, which will be near Halloween. Oooh, the perfect time for the Haunted Mansion! Can't wait!