Disneyland at Christmastime

This week we traveled two-and-a-half hours north to Disneyland to celebrate our youngest child's 10th birthday. Last spring my parents took the entire family (myself and our four kids and my brother and his two kids) to Disneyland, and it cost the same to purchase limited annual passes as it did to buy three days' tickets. So we used our passes and thus only had to pay parking ($14!!!!) and a few snacks since we packed our lunch, plus gas. Not a bad way to celebrate a tenth birthday!

This is a shot of Fantasyland taken from the Disneyland Railroad. We only went on two Fantasyland rides: Peter Pan (which terrifies Elizabeth for some reason) and the Matterhorn Bobsleds, one of my favorite rollercoasters.

New Orleans Square is my favorite area, and I adored the beautiful decorations for Christmas. Two of my favorite rides are in this area, each of which we rode twice: Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion (which scared me until at least my mid-twenties). The Haunted Mansion was totally changed for the holidays to The Nightmare Before Christmas -- it was quite incredible. The movie is not a favorite of mine as I've only seen a scene or two, but the change of the Haunted Mansion was quite extensive. Wow!

Although I took loads of photos in New Orleans Square (especially while the kids toured Tom Sawyer's Island which is not wheelchair accessible so I could not climb about with them), we spent a great deal of time in Adventureland which is the boys' favorite area. We went on the Indiana Jones ride twice and the Jungle Cruise twice as well. We love the Jungle Cruise not for the ride itself but for the wisecracking tour guides with their corny jokes and lines as they take us on a tour of the rivers of the world.

Yes, more photos of New Orleans Square which is full of beautiful shops; I love the estate jewelry store best. And I think the best food in the park is also located in New Orleans Square. Oh, yes, we also caught the Disneyland Railroad from New Orleans Square and rode around the perimeter of the park, getting glimpses of each area of Disneyland: Fantasyland, Adventureland, Frontierland, New Orleans Square, Critter Country, Main Street USA, and Tomorrowland.

The Christmas Tree on Main Street USA was incredible -- it had to be 3-4 storeys tall! Main Street is the major shopping area although we spent very little time there except for taking photos of the tree and the Christmas lights.

But the most beautiful object in the park was Sleeping Beauty's Castle, all lit up with (obviously fake) snow on top and Christmas lights. It was so gorgeous; this photo doesn't do it justice in the least.

We were exhausted after the day in the Magic Kingdom; we left our house at 7:30 AM and parked by 10 AM; we got on the tram back to the parking garage at 7 PM and got home by 10 PM, making a stop at Starbuck's on the way home. We had a great time together celebrating Benjamin's 10th birthday; I was so thankful for my electric scooter that conserved my strength and helped keep my chronic pain at bay ... very important!