Our friend, the Fastpass

Somewhere in between the panels and dealer room, we squeezed in a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth. (No, not Hooters. Disneyland!)



We got there right after it opened, and within an hour rode Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Autopia and the Matterhorn. Which was a god thing, because it was hot and lines were getting long.





When you have sufficient arm strength and don't get sick like Rhonda, the teacups rock.







We had lunch at the House of Blues with Sara's friend from school, Jon Chew. Rhonda found an allergy/asthma kindred spirit of sorts.

After lunch, the lines were outrageous. Splash Mountain had been Fastpass'd up until 10:45. We were hot and tired and wilting quickly. We got a brief reprieve in the Tiki Room, but the line for It's a Small World was hella long so we went back to the hotel.

We drove back for dinner at the ESPN Zone. Yes, drove a block-and-a-half, that's how tired we were. We figured we could park at Downtown Disney at 8, and with validation, stay there until 1. Unfortunately, we were not the only ones with that idea and it took a long time to park. Then we had to wait half-an-hour at ESPN.



At the ESPN Zone bar, Al Davis's decision-maker dartboard. Complete with areas such as, "Demand Coliseum Repairs", "Sue Oakland", and "Bench Marcus Allen". Oh, Raiders, how I hate thee.

What was sweet is we got to sit in recliners in the front row of the restaurant, right in front of the giant screen with about a dozen video feeds. The bad news is the Dodgers were on the big screen and they were winning.



We went back to Disneyland after dinner with the sole purpose of riding the re-opened Pirates of the Carribean, starring an animatronic Johnny Depp. The line was ruthlessly long in the afternoon and we timed it right, getting there after the fireworks were over and during the second Fantasmic show. It wasn't changed too much, so that's a good thing.

By the time that was over we were thoroughly exhausted and passed on Small World again. (Turned out to be a good idea, as Sara fell asleep on the five-minute ride back to the hotel.) Despite the fact we only went on like three rides after noon, we all had a good time.





I even got a tan! That totally goes against the stereotype of the pasty, pale, sun-starved otaku! We even wore bright clothes, not the standard otaku uniform of black t-shirt, black pants, and optional trenchcoat.