This is not a bad thing. You're finally growing up. At this rate, you'll have reached a high-school maturity level in no time.

After a very long week, there were few things that could have gotten me up at 7 in the morning on a Saturday. Disneyland was one of them. We'd wanted to go at some point this semester, and Lauren's sister Kristin's visit, combined with the discounted tickets Lauren and Jenn got through their ABC internships, made it the perfect occasion. While the three of them are seasoned Disney World veterans, I had never been to either Disney before. Shocking, I know, but I was so excited to finally see what all the fuss is about.

We'd only been inside for a few minutes when we got sidetracked. A brief venture into a gift shop so Kristin could buy sunglasses turned into us spending too much time trying on all of the silly ear hats.

Afterward, we stopped by the castle to take pictures. I've been told this castle pales in comparison to the Disney World castle, but since I had nothing to judge it against, I thought it was awesome.

Then it was time for the first ride of the day: Buzz Lightyear! Which Jenn is ridiculously good at, by the way.

In our search for a mid-morning snack, we were entertained by how literally everything at Disney is Mickey-shaped.

After traveling through the galaxy on Star Tours, the awesome Star Wars motion simulator ride, we decided to tough out the long line for the Finding Nemo submarine ride and indulge our 5-year-old selves. It was very cute and had some impressive graphics and entertaining commentary.

After the submarine, our FastPass time for Space Mountain was finally up! And it's probably my new favorite ride. In case anyone is not familiar with Space Mountain, it's a high-speed roller coaster completely in the dark so you never know when the next drop or turn is coming. Our on-ride photos at the end of each ride we went on are very indicative of our feelings toward each particular experience. Case in point, how genuinely thrilled we all look in this one.

After that, we had lunch at a Mexican restaurant in the park and rode Thunder Mountain and the Haunted Mansion. Naturally, we couldn't pass up some photo opportunities with Disney characters. Note how I'm being squished by Br'er Bear, who decided the second before the picture was taken to pull us all in tighter.


Then it was time for Splash Mountain. Now, here's the thing: I love water rides. I love water parks, and water slides, and log flumes, and river rapids rides. I find them so much fun that I don't mind being wet. I will readily admit the conditions were not ideal: it was chilly outside, and we still had many long hours of walking around ahead. But there was no way I could go to Disney for the first time and NOT ride arguably the most famous water ride ever. Jenn agreed with me and put aside her own dislike of water rides to accompany me. Kristin refused flat-out. It took us a long time to convince Lauren, but she finally caved, agreeing I deserved my Splash Mountain experience. We knew going in that it would be the perfect experience of the day to document with my FlipCam. So to answer your burning questions (did Lauren succeed in her quest to remain dry? Did the ride break down like it did on Jenn and Lauren's previous Splash Mountain experience? Just how wet did I end up getting?) you must watch.


After Splash Mountain, we decided it was time to take advantage of our park-hopper pass and head over to California Adventure, which Lauren will talk about in the next blog post (this day was simply too much fun for one blog)! But in conclusion, I couldn't have asked for more with my first Disney experience, and I hope it was only the first of many!

-Erin