Yes, you all read that correct. I have been on a mini-vacation for the first half of this week. I flew down to Orange County on Sunday morning (EARLY) with Miss Megsy for some Disneyland fun. We went to Disneyland and California Adventure Monday and Tuesday, and flew back home Wednesday afternoon. I’ll take it from the start.

Megsy and I flew out of SFO to Orange County- our flight left at 9AM so we had to leave San Jose at like 6AM. two hours later than I usually leave for the airport so it wasn’t too bad for me. We parked at a great little place right by the airport called “Park N Fly” (Park N Fly SFO) that I’m linking because I liked them so much. Super easy to use and plenty of shuttles- all the good stuff.

Got to SFO and my vacation began a little bit too much like a business trip. I work my rump off to get 100K Status on United, and when I get into the 1K & First class line I see two people standing there. They continued to stand there for like 10 minutes while Megsy and I waited. I caught a glimpse of their status card and they were just Premier so I was a little pissed off about that- as I always am- when people use the wrong damn lines, especially the line I am in.

Frustrating me further was the fact that the Priority Security line lady was letting in ANYONE. Ugh. What is the point of having a status with an airline with perks like priority check in and security lines if the employees at the airport aren’t even going to try to enforce them? Sorry but it’s a huge pet peeve of mine. Maybe I’ll write United (another) letter.

Thankfully, we finally got through the security line and it was smooth sailing from there (at least until we go back to the airport in a few days…). We had breakfast, got on our plane which was more or less on time and touched down at Orange County Airport. Took a cab to our hotel and checked in. We supposedly got an upgrade but I think all the rooms are actually the same at this Marriott, but since we weren’t spending much time in the room except to sleep, I didn’t really care.

We actually had all day there before we were going to use our Disneyland 2-day passes so we walked around Downtown Disney and did a little shopping and browsing and had some lunch. My best friend, Greg, came and joined us for a little bit while we were out there and we went to the Rain Forest Cafe. I’m not sure how but we managed to get a great table by the bar without having to wait. We had a few drinks and had some appetizers and it was good fun. Greg went home and Megsy and I went back to the hotel to rest up for our big day coming up.

We woke up at 7AM so we could be at Disneyland when it opened at 8AM. Unfortunately, by chance, we just happened to pick the line that ended up merging into another line and taking about 20 minutes to get into the park. It may not sound like a lot, but that 20 minutes could easily have been a walk-on ride of any of the big rides. So we kinda missed out on that, but we did end up getting on Space Mountain in about 20 minutes, and then grabbing a fast pass for later right after. I won’t summarize the entire day ride by ride but we went on a lot. We took a break at about noon and went back to our hotel to rest and then went back later that night about 4PM. A wise idea because Disneyland is a crazy place during those mid day hours.

I surprised Megsy with reservations at the Blue Bayou restaurant which is kind of a Nikl family tradition I think at this juncture. It’s the restaurant that is inside and all the boats for Pirates of the Caribbean cruise by when their ride starts. It’s pretty cool. Megsy and I stayed until about 10.30PM and we were in the candy shop when I see what I think is a familiar face. Turns out I had spotted my cousin, Shannon, and her two little girls, right there! I called out to her and said hello and we decided we would meet up the next day.

The next day was more or less the same only we decied to sleep in a big and just go to California Adventure to start. We got there about 9.45AM and went in. I modified my master plan a little bit and then I modified it again on the spot when we saw the line raging at the very opening. Megsy got in line for stand by, I got a fast pass (which was already an hour out), and then I met up with her right while she was in line. That was a super fun ride I must say. After that we went on the Rapids ride and it was pretty fun- neither of us got too wet. The rest of the day played out very similarly to the first. We stayed at the park until about 3PM and went back to the hotel because we were meeting Meagan’s Aunt and Uncle for dinner. We met up with them and had a fun dinner out in Newport. I got to ride in a Hummer for the first time- it was all I hoped it would be!

We returned to the park dedicated to staying until closing- and we did. I had (very smartly) grabbed a fast pass for Indy at about 2pm which already had a return time of 11PM. We rode that and then walked onto Pirates. There was NO line at 11.30PM so we asked for our own private boat and we got it. That was pretty cool. After that we did a little late night shopping at Main Street but we were both very tired and our feet were killing us. We crashed pretty quickly and then flew home the next day.

That’s the basic synopsis of our very fun trip to Disneyland. And for those who don’t know I used rewards points for almost the entire thing! 50,000 United points for our two plane tickets, 135,000 Marriott points for 3 nights at the Marriott Fairfield Inn right by Disneyland and two 2-day Park Hopper passes. Basically all we paid for was taxis, food and souvenirs and I think we still managed to spend a small fortune. I don’t think I could post a blog without some commentary on Disneyland, though, so here we go.

In general, I have to say, I had a great time and I enjoyed my trip to Disneyland. But, that doesn’t mean I don’t have a few beefs, though not all with Disney.

Major Beef #1: Parents (also known as bad parents). Some of the things I witnessed only confirmed that you should have to apply to go to Disneyland. Here are some tips for parents going to Disneyland:
- If your kid can walk they do not need a stroller.
- If your kid is 5 or 6 they REALLY do not need a stroller.
- If your kids are fighting in line- stop them- don’t watch them.
- If your kid is throwing a temper tantrum then the procedure is simple: ride The Jungle Cruise and toss them into the water. If that doesn’t shut them up then nothing will- go home.
- If your kid is a newborn then you and your family don’t belong at Disneyland. No Exceptions.

Major Beef #2: Lazy People. Now look, this is going to sound cruel, but hear me out. Not everyone needs a wheelchair, or worse, an electric wheelchair. Having a leg that hurts shouldn’t warrant you a wheelchair. Missing a leg should. Being fat shouldn’t warrant you a personal people mover (electric wheel chair for those who don’t get the subtle Disney joke-reference). Being hugely obese also does not warrant a personal people mover. If you’re that big how are you going to fit on the rides, anyway? This may sound brutal, but it isn’t. And the reason is that there were plenty of overweight people at Disneyland who managed to get off their lazy butts and walk the park like normal, dignified human beings. This isn’t a jab at overweight people, just the ones that are too lazy and pathetic to not walk around like everyone else. There were just way too many personal people movers out there for people who shouldn’t have needed them.

Major Beef #3: Lines and the lack of Fast Passes. Disney, Disney, Disney. Obviously you have the Fast Pass technology, so stop farting around sticking Jack Sparrow in 3 locations on Pirates of the Caribbean and start implementing Fast Pass for ALL your rides. Further, take it to the next step and let people get more than one at a time. Give Fast Pass a more complex database that let’s you have a bit more flexibility with the system, perhaps even an online feature for people to login to prior to their visit, and maybe pick a few rides and their desired ride time and create a pseudo-itinerary. This way, you could pick your top three rides, figure out when you want to ride them, and when you get to the park, go to a Fast Pass machine and print them out for yourself. My biggest criticism of Disney- hands down- is the lines, they’re just unbearably long! And here you have this great technology that you are only utilizing to about 30% of its capacity. Let’s get the Imagineers on this ASAP.

Major Beef #4: People who can’t walk. A few simple rules for walking:
- Don’t stop randomly and unexpectedly in the middle of the walkways.
- Don’t park your stroller wherever you want to.
- Don’t stand at the start of the Fast Pass line and ask a million questions, meanwhile, creating a bottleneck that’s preventing me from entering the line.
- Don’t try and sneak your kid on if they aren’t tall enough. It’s not going to work so stop wasting everyone’s time.
- If you’re walking too slow for my taste I’ll probably bump into you. I will neither stop nor apologize- pick up the pace!

Alrighty, I think that covers most of my complaints, so like I said, all in all it was a very fun trip. To Disney’s credit it is worth mentioning a few things they do right:

1. The park is always super clean
2. The rides really did have a tremendous amount of thought put into them. They’re all as fun to ride and examine as you would hope and the detail that goes into them really enhances the experience.
3. The fireworks display was crazy awesome.
4. The prices are not as bad as they could be.
5. Fast Pass still a life saver in its partial implementation.
6. Again, rides are a lot of fun- once you finally get on them.

And this concludes my blog on Disneyland! Here is a link to my Flickr online photo album for all your picture viewing needs:
Pictures!