Day 5: Disneyland!

Disneyland was not on our itinerary when we started planning our Great Western adventure. The Grand Canyon was our primary destination, and we later decided to extend the trip to L.A. to visit Jennifer and Morgan and Sam, to see the art museums, and to let the kids get wet in the Pacific. Plus, it's way more expensive than our budget would allow, and Pablo doesn't enjoy rides. But when I talked to Jennifer about the trip, Disneyland was the first thing she mentioned, which is highly appropriate since amusement parks--specifically, Six Flags--was our thing growing up. As it turns out, Jennifer knows actors who work at Disneyland, and she was confident that she could get us tickets that were discounted or even free. I told her we probably couldn't turn down free, and the next time we talked, she had, in fact, scored three free tickets. And just like that, Disneyland was on our schedule.

Since Jennifer had made this happen, we decided to wait to tell the kids until she was with us. When we got to L.A., I told her she ought to tell the kids that we have three possible options for the following day's activities. The first two would be really boring. Only after she'd mentioned them would she mention that option #3 was Disneyland.  Option #1 was visiting a basket-weaving center, where they could actually learn to make baskets themselves using palm fronds.  My encouraging comment at the time was--"Hey, Pablo, arts and crafts!"  Option #2 was walking around Jennifer's campus to see where she took classes and to check out the botanical garden there. The kids politely nodded their way through both of these ideas.

Jennifer only lives about 20 minutes away from Disneyland, which was very convenient.  We started the day by taking the train to "New Orleans," where we visited the Haunted Mansion. Morgan and Sam--who are Disneyland frequent flyers--met us when we came out.  Pablo dug the Mansion and requested that the Indiana Jones Adventure ride be our next stop. He was less pleased with it, and was pretty much done with the park's "challenging" rides after that. The Jungle Cruise was next (I wasn't a fan.)

We had a delicious vegetarian lunch at the Bengal barbecue.

After riding Peter Pan's flight, Jennifer, Mari, Pablo and Nina headed to an adjacent Disney park--California Adventure--where Jennifer's friend who scored the free tickets for us was performing in an hour-long production of "Frozen." The free tickets Jen had acquired were good for both parks. The tickets Emi, Morgan, Sam and I paid for were just good for Disneyland, though, so we took on some of the more adventurous rides--Big Thunder Mountain, Matterhorn Bobsleds, and Space Mountain (with a tame "Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage" in the mix as well)--while Pablo and Co. were musicaling.
All who saw "Frozen" were well-satisfied with their choice, as were the ones who stayed behind to ride roller coasters.

When we all got back together, those willing to get wet headed to Splash Mountain, and Jennifer volunteered to accompany Pablo on the nearby Winnie the Pooh ride instead.

I believe Nina got the worst of the wet.

After a turn on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and a walk through Sleeping Beauty's castle, Morgan and Sam invited all of us to an expensive dinner at The Blue Bayou, where they'd made reservations earlier in the afternoon.

We ended the evening with Main Street Ice Creams, Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters (Sam and Pablo were the best marksmen in our crew; Nina and I were the worst), and we concluded the night with Star Tours, a simulated Star Wars journey that was the first "scary" ride that Pablo enjoyed.

We couldn't have asked for better weather, better company, or more generous friends.