Disneyland

Not to be confused with Disneyworld, please!  Poor Disneyland.  Seems nobody east of the Mississippi has ever heard of you.  We heard from more than two people who thought we were going to Disneyworld.

We took a trip to southern California to finally meet our great niece.  She will be two in December so we thought it was about time we meet this little cutie.  Here she is just arriving to Disneyland for our family day, which turned into a short visit at the park because it was very hot and very crowded due to a fund raiser for a local hospital.

I suggested that everyone bring bathing suits along because it was very crowded the previous day.  I thought it would be a nice break to go back to the hotel and relax in the pool in case it was still crowded for our family day. But what happened was that my great niece ended up napping in Tomorrowland while hubby, kidlet and I went back to relax in the pool.  We met up with them a couple hours later for dinner  and we had an enjoyable time at the Rainforest Cafe.  My niece and her daughter returned the next evening as well so we got to see more of that little cutie pie who is my great niece!  How did I get this old??

Since we were going all the way to California hubby really wanted to fulfill one of his bucket list items: to stay at the Disneyland Hotel. It was very nice!!  Here are a few photos I took in and around the Disneyland resort.

The carpet outside of the elevators:

The hallway carpet was really magical:

We could see the Matterhorn from our room! I’m told that Disneyworld does not have this ride.  One more reason to visit Disneyland instead of Disneyworld I’m thinkin’.

The pools and jacuzzis from our room:

A cool picture of Walt Disney and Sleeping Beauty’s castle in our room:

In downtown Disney, we happened upon a group of young ladies all dressed up who were celebrating a Quinceañera, a Latin American celebration of a girl who is turning 15.  They were all so beautiful!  And they were kind enough to let me take their picture:

And what would a post of mine be without a flower? Bird of Paradise were in bloom everywhere and they are so gorgeous!

And one ride photo.  Space Mountain is a very fun roller coaster and at the end there is a huge flash of light when your picture is taken.  You have a very short time to view the photos on the wall to decide if you want to purchase them. We saw people taking photos of the photos so we did the same thing.  Our good friends came to the park with us one day and this is the five of us on Space Mountain:

Last but not least for this post is a photo of Mickey’s magical hat from Fantasia at one end of downtown Disney where the hotel is.  It was a most magical time at the Disneyland resort, one we won’t soon forget.  I’m updating because I forgot to mention the fabulous fireworks that we just happened to see the evening of family day.  Everyone except my other niece and her hubby went home and the five of us got to Main Street just in time to see the fireworks.  I have to say this display blows the doors off the fireworks on the mall in D.C., now formerly the best fireworks I’ve ever seen.  This fireworks show is not to be missed!! If you’re there in the off season, the fireworks show is only on the weekends so plan accordingly!

Have you ever visited any Disney resort? Which resort do you like the best? What is your favorite ride?