Madoc.us: To Disneyland for Julia's Birthday

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Disneyland

The Happiest Place on Earth!™

No, I'm not kidding. That's what Disneyland is. Officially. They've even trademarked that phrase just to be sure it is official.

Well, Julia had never been to Disneyland. Disneyworld, but not Disneyland. So, in late August of '06 we went up there for her birthday. This is also the last year, allegedly, that Disney will be running its special "50th Anniversary" fireworks celebration. It is supposed to be quite the show and that was the primary reason for going now as opposed to later. That and it being her birthday and all. So, with the help of some friends, we went.

Boss and Jeff are long time friends of mine and also friends of Julia's. They had wanted to "do" Disneyland for the fireworks and thought it a great idea to have Julia along for her birthday. They bought her ticket as her gift. They also live within but five or six miles of Walt's place so that made things even more convenient! We got up there Saturday afternoon, lounged by their pool, went and had an excellent dinner with them at this neat Cuban restaurant in old town Orange, named the "Felix Continental Cafe," and then came back to rest up for the next day.

Up bright and early to make it to the park before the crowds hit, we soon found ourselves standing at the gates to Disneyland. Boss and Jeff have been to the park many a time and even have season passes. This serves them and their family well as Boss' daughter, Erin, has a boatload's worth of kids who are just the right age to "enjoy the magic" of Disneyland. This time around we got to tag along with her magic as well. It seems she'd recently broken a couple of bones in her foot. Just enough to put her in a cast and instead of trying to hobble around the ground on a pair of crutches and keep tabs on two of her four little ones, Bradley and Logan, the smart girl rented one of those motorized wheelchairs.

As a side effect, we became part of her entourage and went to the head of each and every line with her. Not a bad way to bypass those long lines that Disneyland is infamous for. Thus Julia got to get the maximum ride experience on her first time at the Magic Kingdom. Lucky us! In short order we did Pirates, the Haunted Mansion, the Indiana Jones ride, Space Mountain, Autopia, Star Tours, the Matterhorn, Big Thunder Mountain Railway, Splash Mountain, Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes, the Tea Cups, and, of course, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Not a bad run for the first time in the park!

I didn't take a whole lot of pictures that day. Another friend of ours, Buster, was along with us and he had his camera out at every opportunity. Thus, most of these shots are his. Thanks Buster!

Space Mountain

Yeah, I'm a cheap bastard. This is the first photo I took that day. It's of the digital picture that gets taken as you're in the Space Mountain ride. The photo is displayed on monitors once you exit the ride and you can get a freshly printed copy of it at the kiosk next to the monitors. This, for a not so modest fee. Screw that. I took a picture of the picture and saved myself the bucks. Buster didn't. He went whole hog. That's him on the left there next to Julia. Boss and Jeff are behind me enjoying themselves. I think I must've blinked when the flash went off. Oh well.

The TWA Moonliner

No, it's not called that now but it used to be called that. And it used to be a whole lot larger too! Back in the 50's the original rocket design was one of the tallest things in Disneyland. That's long and gone but this smaller version reappeared when the revamped Tomorrowland in the late 90's. The rocket is utterly impractical in terms of being a realistic design but it sure looks cool!

The Gang

That's Boss, Julia, Jeff and Buster there. Jeff's neck was starting to fry even that early in our day so he put his hood up for this one.

I pocketed my camera for most of the rest of the day after taking these few shots. I unlimbered it after we'd gotten done with Splash Mountain - and no, there we didn't do it as "Flash Mountain" either. As we were recouping from the excitement of that ride we spied some Winnie the Pooh characters out getting their pictures taken by the adoring crowd. So, the lads - of all ages - rushed over to join in. First up was Winnie himself.

Winnie

Classic stuff here. Logan is having a fine time with one of his favorite characters. I think they'd just gotten off the Pooh ride so it was real fresh on his mind.

Bradley throws a look!

Bradley Looking

Even more classic stuff! The expression on this lad's face is priceless!

The Kids

The Disney folks set this area up for the whole cast of their Pooh tales. No surprise that Winnie got the lion's share and it was funny seeing the juxtaposition of Pooh and Eeyore being right next to each other (though clearly out of photo range of each other) and that no one was mobbing Eeyore like that were Winnie. Well, the lads put paid to that one!

Eyore and the Guys

Walking around a bit we found that Tigger had just come out for his round. Bradley and Logan got to him first and paid a price for that!

Tigger does seem the friendly sort!

After all that roughhousing with the boys Tigger had gotten his tail dirty. Jeff being the helpful guy he is brushed off Tigger's tail.

Of course, for being such the gentleman, Jeff earned Tigger's lifetime friendship.

Buster got into this as well. He also got his little black sheep guy into the frame to boot.

Tigger, Buster and Policky. Buster carried this little black sheep figurine along with him. He's named it Policky and it's a running gag with him and his travels that he asks folks he meets to pose with Policky as he snaps their picture at what ever exotic location he and Policky happen to find themselves at. This time it was with Tigger. Policky has had many other adventures as well.

On the way back from doing the Canoes Julia and I spied this couple. They were all tuckered out from having so much happiness there at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Tired Tourists

We walked by and I then got out my camera and went back. He was doing the head bobbing thing as he nodded off. Another classic Disney moment.

That was about it for my photo taking. The last two that I took were both Policky related. This one is of Buster asking one of the Happiest Trash Collectors on Earth to hold his little black sheep whilst Buster got their photo.

Buster Getting A Pic

The crowd makes it a tad difficult to see but there's the street sweeper dude holding this little black sheep in white clothing figure as this Disney tourist snaps a photo. With this done, Buster declared that he now had photos of the little guy with every single different cast member uniform person holding him. A goal worthy indeed.

Policky and the Cops!

Here's the little guy (that's him right above the "L" in "Police") riding on his new wheels - a genuine Disneyland security golf cart! Fully tricked out, of course! A good way to end Policky's Disney Adventures of 2006.

Anyway, thus marks the end of our Julia's Birthday Disneyland Excursion. I've all of these photos available at their full resolution if you're interested. Just drop me a line.

If you would like to know more about me, then ask me directly. Just click on my email address here:
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In the meantime, I hope you have enjoyed your "stay" at this site. Check back again to see what new images I have added. Until then, stay well, play hard, play safe, and have fun!

Madoc

This page was last updated on: 03 September 2006

Unless otherwise noted, all photographs and images on this page are copyright protected property of Madoc Pope. If you would like to use any of my images you must contact me first before you do so.

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In the meantime, I hope you have enjoyed your "stay" at this site. Check back again to see what new images I have added. Until then, stay well, play hard, play safe, and have fun!

Madoc