Jack's first trip to Disneyland

momandjack, originally uploaded by laughograms.

So, what with Jack's arrival and my absence from the home Genevieve has been more or less a prisoner of our apartment for weeks. So we decided, after looking around at others' experiences on the Internet, to head down to Disneyland with Jack for the afternoon! And what a great decision it was. Jack was awesome and we had a GREAT time!

First we visited California Adventure. Genevieve made some use of Disney's excellent baby care/nursing facilities while I wandered off to ride the Tower of Terror. I returned in time for corn dogs and the Disney/Pixar Block Party Bash parade. What an extravaganza! Giant floats from each Pixar movie, and I mean GIANT, with whirling bits and giant characters. Alas, high-spirited teen dancers accompany the floats, but for the little kids they are a treat, as the kids get to join in the parade at different stops along the route dance with the performers.

California Adventure was closing up, so we headed over for an evening at Disneyland. Everything at Disneyland has a fresh coat of paint and lots of gold filigree to celebrate the park's 50th anniversary. Even the signature Mickey head icon at the entrance has gotten the royal treatment. As you'll see below, Sleeping Beauty Castle is adorned with crowns and gold, and all over the park things are shiny and spiffy.

Now, Jack was more or less ignorant of all this because a) he is 5 weeks old and b) he slept through the whole thing, except for those few moments in the peaceful Disney nursing facilities when he was dining. But we found out it is OK to take even a baby this small on almost all the rides in the park, with the exception of the big thrill rides like Matterhorn (basically anything with a height limit it out). Lots of people do it and it makes sense, on slow rides like Pirates or Haunted Mansion. Anyway, our plan was to ride one of those two but we ran out of time after the parade and fireworks displays.

I realize there are few pictures of Jack himself amongst these Disney trip shots, because he was asleep. But G and I were just psyched to bring him there, a place we enjoy so much, it was just so fun. Funny to think that Jack visited Disneyland first during its 50th year and will be able to visit it on its centennial! God willing, we'll hang in there and be right there with him.