The Disney Dork Blog: A Four Hour Visit to Disneyland...

So last weekend I went to California to visit a friend. My friend lives in Riverside, which is about an hour from LA and 40 minutes from Anaheim. Since I was only visiting for the weekend, I had no Disney plans in mind. It was meant to be a hassle-free, no agenda weekend. My friend doesn't like to drive on the LA highways, so I decided to rent a car so that I can do all the driving over the weekend.

On Friday night, we had meet up with some co-workers of my friend and we went to a beautiful hotel that had a small lounge where a jazz trio was playing. So we stayed up late listening to Jazz, having drinks and talking.

On Saturday morning, I asked my friend what we were doing during the day since we have dinner reservations for the World Famous Magic Castle, home of the Academy of Magical Arts, later that evening in LA. I asked him if he wanted to go for a drive and do some shopping. I thought we might head to Fullerton and shop at the Disney Park outlet store. My friend was still tired from the night before and did not feel like shopping. So I decided that I would go shopping on my own. So at 12 noon, I headed out towards Fullerton.

As I was driving on the California highways, I asked myself a simple question: Should I spend money at the Disney outlet store or should I spend my money at Disneyland? After a quick second, I had my answer. I re-directed my GPS system to take me to Disneyland!

After 45 minutes of driving, I was parked at the the Toy Story parking lot. I was able to park close to the shuttle bus boarding area. I quickly got on a bus and within 5 minutes I was walking towards the security checkpoint. They checked my messenger bag and off I went to purchase a one-park, one-day ticket for Disneyland. $80 later, I am walking thru the Disneyland turnstile gates.

So here I am. Walking down Main Street. In the middle of a busy, beautiful Saturday afternoon. What to do, what to do. I know I will only get to ride a few attractions, but which ones. After taking some pics of the Castle and Central Plaza, I head towards Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. As I approach, I see Cast Members are blocking the entrance. It seems the ride is having some issues, so its not running now. I then head towards New Orleans square to see what the wait times are for Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean.

I see that Haunted Mansion has a 30 minute wait, so I jump in line right-away. This is my favorite Disney attraction of all time, especially the Disneyland version. The line moves fast and soon enough I'm in the attraction. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Haunted Mansion attraction. Trivia: Disneyland's Haunted Mansion is the same age as I am. Haunted Mansion opened on August 9th 1969. I was born on November 29th 1969. 1969 Rules!!!

After Haunted Mansion, I start walking towards New Orleans Square, when all of a sudden I hear Mardi Gras music playing. I look towards the Rivers of America and I see that Minnie, Mickey and Goofy are leading a Jazz Parade. Its the end of Mardi Gras week and Disneyland is celebrating with its New Orleans Bayou Bash. I watch Mickey and Minnie throw beads to the crowds. Here is video of their performance:

After the performance, Mickey and Minnie are being led away. I try to catch up with them so I can take some pics of Mickey and Minnie in their Mardi Gras costumes. All of a sudden, we ended up in the back courtyard of New Orleans Square. Cast Members were set up so that you can get your picture taken with Mickey and Minnie. I saw that there was only three people in line, so I got in line for my picture. Before they started taking pictures, Chip and Dale joined the fun. Here are my pics with King Mickey & Queen Minnie with their court:

After taking pictures, I realize that I am hungry. So I go check if I can get a seating at Cafe Orleans for lunch. I am seated in 10 minutes. Since its Mardi Gras week, I decide to have a bowl of gumbo and a side order of pom frittes. My lunch is very tasty!!!

After lunch, I walk over to Pirates to see how long the wait is. The area by Pirates is very crowded and packed. I notice that there are new roped lines installed by the entrance of Pirates. When were these installed? These weren't there when I visited in October of 2010. It seems confusing and I didn't know which way to turn.

I finally figure out how to enter the line. As I make my way into the lines, I almost bump into a group of guys. As I excuse myself, I realize one of the guys looks famaliar. It turns out it is Filipino-American gay comedian/actor/writer Alec Mapa. I tell him that I enjoy his work and comedy and that I loved his performances on the TV series UGLY BETTY. He says Thank You for the compliments. I ask if I can take a picture with him to which he says yes. One of his friends takes my camera and takes our picture. I then realize that the next day is Oscar Sunday. How Hollywood. Here is our picture:

After taking the picture, I get into line to ride Pirates of the Carribean. Its only a 25 minute wait. Another great, classic Disney attraction.

After Pirates, I walk over to Fantasyland. I take some pictures of the area. Plus I wanted to see what work is being done on the Matterhorn Bobsleds. I see that there are posted signs detailing the history of the Bobsleds, so I take pictures of these signs.

After taking pics in Fantasyland, I head towards Tomorrowland. I'm sure Space Mountain and Star Tours both have long lines. And they do. I take some more pictures and decide its time to leave Disneyland and head back to Riverside to get ready for dinner in LA.

So without question, this is the shortest visit to a Disney theme park I have ever done. And while I only visited Disneyland for 4 hours, it was worth it. I rode a couple of attractions, had lunch, saw Mickey & Minnie, meet a celebrity, took a bunch of pictures. I guess this visit will hold me over until my next Disney trip. With the pictures I took on this trip, I was able to create some panoramic pictures to use on my blog and Facebook pages.