The Happiest Place On Earth

yes, we went to Disneyland this Friday. We drove from home around 5:30 am and got there around 7:10 am -- we were amazed by how many people already there. We had a BLAST....we're still quite giddy about it. It truly was an amazing experience. It was Hazel's & my first time visit there, and everything went perfectly. Thanks to Quinn who planned it all. He downloaded a software to schedule all the rides we want to do, and the software arranged it which one to do first (email him if interested). We studied the map & the schedule beforehand and when we were there, we knew what to do. We did 22 rides/attractions from 8 am till about 2 pm. I had to giggle when someone in the line bragged that they did 5 rides in 1 hour, ....because we did 9 that time already. We spent more time doing the rides than the wait in line. Quinn got 3 fast passes, which was so AWESOME when people were so backed up in lines. I felt like we're riding the luxury lane there. :)

Our favorite ride was The Peter Pan's Flight -- I really felt like flying. Our craziest ride was Matterhorn Bobsled, but Hazel LOVED it (me & her dad screamed the whole time while she was just giggling). Buzz light year and Autopia are pretty cool too especially because we used fast passes and being in front of the crazy lines.

It helps also because I packed food like PB&J, hot dogs, granola and drinks to hold us for a little longer before we had to eat lunch to avoid the lunch rush. And by the time we had lunch, we weren't that hungry so we just split a meal (which saved us some money because really the food was pretty pricey). After lunch, we then went to the right spot to watch the parade. Hazel fell asleep unfortunately, otherwise she would've LOVED it. I did. I got teary eyes during it. I think it was really the time that hit me -- "I'm really here, and I love this, and I'm taking my daughter here" moment. My mom took me to Euro Disney when I was 17. I felt like I did my job alright because I could take Hazel there that day. I didn't think we could take Hazel until we moved here permanently (who knows when that would be exactly), but Quinn internship this summer permitted us to do it sooner. And I'm grateful.

We spent the night in the hotel nearby after we're done because I wanted to see LA the next day. LA wasn't that all glamorous. We did have an okay experience, but we could leave it without. It would've saved us money and energy, but hey Live and Learn! I will post the LA pictures next time.