3rd Annual Disneyland Birthday Celebration

The older I get, the simpler I like keep my birthday celebrations. In the earlier days, particularly back in New York, it was all about dinner with a huge group of friends, followed by a bar and then a club. So much fun but quite tiring. Now, my idea of a perfect birthday is a day at Disneyland with K. It all started 3 years ago when admission was free on your birthday, but the tradition has stuck and I hope will continue. Sadly, I lost my camera memory card with most of the pictures from Disneyland, as well as a birthday lunch at Villetta (disappointing, ok not great) and birthday dinner at Sushi King (very fresh and tasty, as usual).

We had an awesome day at Disneyland on Saturday, as usual. Weather was just about right, in the low 80's. Fortunately I had lots of Lululemon on to keep me cool; the UPF Run: Sun Blocker long sleeve top was a total lifesaver during the daytime with the strong direct sun. It kept me cool and comfortable and I didn't get any color at all. The Lululemon Travel Pooch was also a good call, as I could easily access and secure my tickets and fast passes. With judicious use of the fastpasses on Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Indiana Jones and Big Thunder Mountain, we got to go on all the rides we wanted and more, despite being a busy Saturday in the middle of the summer. I'd say it was less crowded than the last time we went in May, given that a lot of the annual passes are blocked out on Saturdays. We got to go on a lot more rides with the longest wait being only about 20 minutes. We went on Pirates, Big Thunder Mountain (2x), the Haunted Mansion, the Columbia boat, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Tea Cups, Indiana Jones. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch of Bay Cities that we brought with us, in New Orleans Square, an afternoon Dole Whip float, and dinner at Cafe Orleans where I got my usual Monte Cristo, which was actually a little disappointing this year, as it wasn't very hot and the bread to filling ratio was off with too much bread. Too bad; next year we might have to try the chicken at the Plaza Inn which I've heard good things about. We had plenty of time to catch Mickey's Soundsational Parade, visit the petting zoo and watch the fireworks. The only ride we missed was the revamped Star Tours, as fast passes ran out quickly early in the day and the wait was still two hours at 10:00pm. There's always next year!

Fireworks at our favorite vantage point by Big Thunder Mountain Railroad