Wet and wild day at Disneyland

Well I lasted about 8 hours at Disneyland. What an old fogie. And no, we did not run down Main Street when they opened the gates. They gave the birthday girl a big button that said "Happy Birthday" and wrote my name on it. All day long people were wishing me happy birthday, employees of Disneyland, other people with birthdays and just anyone who happened to notice. What a brilliant idea on Disneyland's part. Anyone who got in free for their birthday brought an entourage to help them celebrate, all paying full price. It was fun to have so many people wishing you happy birthday...we did manage to get on quite a few rides before it got crowded. Indiana Jones, Big Thunder Railroad, the Haunted House, Peter Pan (the most crowded, go figure), the new and improved submarines, Pirates of the Caribbean, Winnie the Pooh (we'd never been on that one), the new and improved Small World (it's going to take a lot more to improve it before I go on it again), and Splash Mountain. A word to the wise: do NOT go on Splash Mountain early in the morning, do NOT sit in the front seat, and do NOT spend a lot of time doing your hair if you plan to go on Splash Mountain. We did all of the above and were drenched. Only my shoes and socks stayed dry; my hair got soaked and you know how I slave over my hairdo, and my jeans stayed wet all day. Even my underwear was soaking wet. Live and learn. Karen put up with my cowardice -- I would NOT go on Space Mountain, Judith knows why...bad Magic Mountain experience. 8 hours was long enough to see what was new, people-watch, and have enough Disneyland experience to last me another 10 years. I highly recommend taking advantage of the free admission on your birthday. We only paid for parking and lunch and I had a really great time. Check out the photo of the throng of strollers at midday...I think they were parked near the submarines.