I had a trip to San Diego planned before I got laid off. When I got a job so quickly, I was still able to go on my trip. We visited Braidwood, Matt Strebe and Chuck Perkins while we were there. We haven’t gone to San Diego since they moved down there and it was a trip long overdue.

While we were there, we went to Disneyland. I can’t make a trip to Southern California without worshipping at the altar of the Haunted Mansion. It would go against everything that I am. Here is what I learned this trip to Disneyland:

Other people really don’t want to hear about Walt Disney’s old apartments in Disneyland or other nerdy details that Mike and I have learned over the years.

The Winnie the Pooh ride is the scariest ride in Disneyland. It’s scarier than Big Thunder. It’s scarier than the Matterhorn and its abominable snowman. It’s scarier than Space Mountain. Timothy Leary with a budget couldn’t have made a scarier ride.

The new Buzz Lightyear ride ROCKS!! You get to shoot and control the ship and it keeps score! I thought that the guns and ship control were non-working things that would make the kids happy, but they really work! Most importantly, the ride keeps score so you can kick your friend’s butt.

Speaking of Disneyland with kids, it’s way better than just going alone as an adult. The first day, we went with the Strebe family and it was so fun to see his children enjoy Disneyland for the first time. It was almost as if I were experiencing it for the first time.

Anyone can eat at the Blue Bayou restaurant. All you need to do is make a reservation. It’s the restaurant that is in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. I used to think that it was a private club or something, but the entrance is right there in New Orleans Square. You can just go up to the Cast Member and put your name on the list. They will tell you when you can come back. Next time, I’m going to go there first thing to get a reservation right at lunch time. The prices were really reasonable and the service was excellent. We watched the pirate boats float by in the dark ambiance. I felt so privileged to eat there.

Innoventions is LAME! Don’t waste your time in there. You won’t learn about any new things. I can totally visualize how to fix it, but I’m not an Imagineer, so I really shouldn’t waste my energy on it.

It’s easy to drop serious money at Disneyland and that doesn’t even include the price of admission. I could have spent more, but Mike drew a line at the Haunted Mansion model home.

We had a lot of fun in San Diego. It was great to see our friends in their element. Whenever we’ve seen them over the last five years or so, they have been visiting family in Salt Lake and we feel lucky to see them for a couple of hours. This visit, we were consciously visiting them, so we got to see them every day. It felt really good to get that much face time. Can’t wait to go back!