Disneyland and other news...

Last week was Bill's birthday. We had a very nice party attended by many friends and family. The BBQ was great, but the company even better. After the party we hung out with his sister, had a bottle of champagne and went to bed. The next day we got up and headed for the house of the mouse for a few days.

New things about Disneyland.
1. It will not be our last trip with the stroller though I thought it would be. We used it more than ever before on this trip. Don't know why, but the girls were much more in need of being carried, so it's a good thing we had the stroller to put them in.
2. Pirates of the Carribean is constantly changing. Of note this trip is that the crab is missing from the first scene after the waterfalls. The girls were the first to notice this as it is one of the first things they look for. That, and the seagull on the pirates hat. Also, they've added a boat to the scene where Cap'n Jack Sparrow is hiding out in the dress shop. The pirates over the archways have changed too. One is now holding a powder keg and the other two are posed differently though still drinking. The disturbing part is that all the pirates were a bit more dressed up. They were a little too fancy, and not as piratey as they use to be.
3. WE GOT TO RIDE THE NEW NEMO SUBMARINES BEFORE THE GENERAL PUBLIC! Woo hoo! That's right, we got to preview them before their official opening date. We got to do this because as Annual Passholders we entered into a drawing to be one of the first to see it, and we won. It was pretty cool. The submarines are roomier, don't have that diesel smell anymore, and have been spruced up a bit. The ride, while still a submarine ride had a few Disney special effects that were surprising. Bill tells me there is a YouTube video out there with the whole ride posted, but I don't want to link to it as I think that spoils it for when you get to ride it. BTW, it officially opens today.
4. ToonTown has way better pizza than the Pizza Port in Tomorrowland.
5. There is NEVER a time when Peter Pan does not have a line. This is not true for the rest of the rides. Everything else we could time so we didn't have massive line waits.
6. The girls are now tall enough (barely, and only because they had shoes on) to ride the bumper cars over in the bugs life area of California Adventure.
7. Kids meals come with a whole tray of fresh fruit in the picnic area just past the bugs life area whereas in the rest of the park you get a fruit cup with the kids meals for the same price.

I'm sure there's more, but that's it for now.