Jared's family graciously invited me to go with them to the Disneyland Resort. We departed the estate at 3PM so we can spend our Friday evening at the park. I'm not used to leaving for Disneyland later in the afternoon. The way it was with my family is we left at 10AM and stayed there until the park closed.

The nice part about the trip is that I was able to take Jared to attractions he has not been on since he was a kid. We first stopped by the Disney Gallery which lead us to Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Both of us have not been on it in a while since it closed temporarily. I took a shot of the Capitol Building and joked that Michael Bay should use it in a movie.

We decided to go grab our fast passes for Space Mountain. While we were grabbing our fast passes, we ran into our friends, Julia and Caitlin. It's a small world after all! It was nice seeing them before Julia had to go back to New York.

We headed straight to the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Jared unlocked the "Getting Owned by Your Girlfriend" achievement.

We made our way through Fantasyland. Much to Jared's dismay, we went on It's a Small World. To my surprise, they still had the holiday theme going on. As our boat was entering inside the attraction, the whole place lit up like the fourth of July. Even though it's long passed the holidays, it was still nice to see It's a Small World donning their holiday spirit. Shiney lights are shiney.

We went around Fantasyland's dark rides. Jared had not been on those rides since he was little. He forgot how messed up and "dark" these attractions were. There's nothing like culminating a wild ride through a trip to hell, killing an old hag, and turning bad kids into donkeys to be shipped to the salt mine. That Jack in the Box guy still gives me nightmares. "You know...for kids!" We made our way to New Orleans Square since we were meeting up with the rest of Jared's family for dinner. Unfortunately, plans went FUBAR, so we had to settle for the Mexican restaurant in Frontierland. Though I was in the mood for Italian, I did enjoy the spicy enchiladas at the restaurant. Neither of us have ate there previously, but we would not mind stopping by again.

The family and I went on Big Thunder Mountain right after a filling meal. While the line circled to the entrance, the load time was quick and we were on our way to the run away train in less than ten minutes time. Jared and I had our fast passes ready for Space Mountain. Before that, we checked out a few more Fantasyland rides to allow our stomaches to settle before emabarking on another thrill ride.

The wait for Space Mountain was worth it. After doing Disneyland's most popular attraction, we went next door to Star Tours and started geeking out over Star Wars while in line. No seriously, we usually end up debating which Death Star is it in the ride and talk about theories supporting for or against.

Crowds were lining up in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle for the Remember Dreams Come True fireworks display. I figure it was probably a good time to meet up with the rest of the family and call it a day. Yet, I underestimated Disney. Jared and I were able to sneak in a spot in front of Penny Arcade to watch the show. It was reminiscant of the display done a few years ago where there was music from the park synched to the fireworks. As the show was ending, we went to Gibson Girl to grab ice cream.

With 15 attractions under our belt, we were able to call it a day. Many thanks to Jared and his family for making this trip possible!

Quotes & Inside Jokes

"You know...for kids!"

"Do Julia and Caitlin count as an attraction?" - Jared

"Now you know we call Space Mountain Critical Point."

"I wanna see your getting off face."

"I'm going to throw up on Jared!"

Final Attraction Count List

1. Disney Gallery
2. Mr. Lincoln
3. Celebrate Parade
4. Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters
5. Matterhorn
6. It's a Small World
7. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
8. Sleeping Beauty's Castle
8. Pirates of the Caribbean
10. Big Thunder Mountain
11. Pinochio
12. Snow White
13. Space Mountain
14. Star Tours
15. Remember Dreams Come True

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