Disneyland with Thomas

We got up early today to head out to Disneyland. This would be Thomas' first time going to Disneyland. He visited Disney World about five or six years ago. I love taking "new" folks to the Disney parks.

We got to the park around 10:30am and headed to Disneyland first. My friend Lydia had purchased a 2 day park hopper ticket last month but only used one day. So she gave me the ticket to give to someone else.. so Thomas was able to use it. It's President Day here and the kids are out of school so I knew it would be busy.. and they didn't disappoint.

First thing we did was go to Star Tours and get a fast pass, then went over Space Mountain to get in line but the ride was broken down. I then decided to take him over to Indiana Jones Ride but on our way Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster opened so we jumped on that ride first. After that we headed over to the Indy ride and guess what.. it was broken down as well.

This visit hasn't started out well, we got in line for Pirates and that ride actually didn't break down. We then headed over to Big Thunder Mountain and got in line. After about five minutes in line they announced that the ride had broken down and to leave the line... our bad luck continued. We went back to Indy and Space Mountain and both were still broken down. We did Haunted Mansion and then had some lunch. Of course being at Disneyland we had to go to The Little Red Wagon and get a corn dog. Thomas had never had a corn dog before so this was this was his first one. And the fact that he ate it in two minutes would suggest he enjoyed it :)

After lunch we headed back to Indy and this time it was open so we got to ride one of my favorite rides at the part and Thomas really enjoyed it. Next we went to Big Thunder Mountain and it was open as well.. yay!!! Thomas really enjoyed this ride.. I got some video of the ride.. check it out below.

After Big Thunder we headed over to Fantasy land, we didn't plan to ride anything but when we got to the Tea Cups we had to take a whirl... and of course there is video of it.

After the Tea Cups we rode It's a Small World, it's a ride that Thomas wanted to go on because Thomas said when he hears about Disneyland he hears about It's a Small World. We then headed to Towntown and walked around before heading back to the magic castle to get a picture. After that we headed over to Disney California Adventures. First thing we did was get a fast pass for Screamin' and then got in line for Tower of Terror. I think that was the longest line we stood in, but it was worth it. Thomas is a quiet and reserved guy, but on Tower of Terror I actually heard him gasp as we fell multiple times. It's one of my favorites over at DCA.

After Tower of Terror we headed over to Goofy's Sky School and of course it was broken down so we went on Mickey's Fun Wheel, it's a giant Ferris wheel and we rode one of the swinging cars and had a blast. After that we went back to Goofy's Sky School and Thomas really enjoyed that ride.. it looks simple but man is it loads of fun with all those hairpin turn.

We then headed over to Screamin' to use our fast pass and we had an awesome time on that. Thomas really enjoys roller coaster so I knew he would love that one. When then had a half hour to kill before dinner and Thomas suggested the Swings. I've never done these swings at DCA but there was only a 5 minute wait so we did those and it was a short and fun ride.

At 7pm we were meeting up with our friend Jen so we headed over to our meeting place in Downtown Disney. Jen showed up, but locked her keys in her car. We went to a few places and the wait time was crazy but finally decided on House of Blues, there wait time was 35 to 45 minutes. I needed to rest as my back was killing me so I sat down while Jen headed back to her car to get her keys and Thomas checked out a musician who was playing some drums near by.

We finally got seated and had a very nice dinner. We finished around 10pm and said our good byes to Jen and then headed back to Disneyland. We still have our fast passes for Star Tours and Space Mountain. So that is how we finished our fun day at Disneyland. We rode Star Tours and on our way out I had to get Thomas a souvenir and the best is of course Micky ears but since we are geeks we put a Star Wars twist on them and got the R2D2 version... and yes I got his name put on the back of them.

After that we did Space Mountain as our final ride and I think that was a nice way to end the day. Space Mountain was going to be our first be wound up being our last ride. And like I said Thomas is a big fan on roller coasters and this one is one of the best at the parks.. it was a nice way to end the day.

Over all it started out a bit rocky with rides being closed and though it was extremely busy because of the holiday we did manage to ride all the major rides and get a few smaller rides in there as well. But for me the most important thing was spending time with a great friend and getting to know him even better... and he had a great time.. so win win for everyone.

You can check out more pictures from his two day visit (Vasquez Rocks & Disneyland) HERE