Celebrating in Disneyland

We're at Disneyland in California to celebrate our birthdays. Rick's is today, mine (a new decade) is in August. Since the big Disney park theme right now is Celebrate Today! we figured, what better place to do it?

Our flight got us here in time to spend a few hours in Disneyland, so we got Rick his birthday button and went inside to wander around a little. Crowds are very light so we had no problem getting right onto any rides we wanted. When we got hungry we decided to try out the new Celebration Roundup and Barbecue at Big Thunder Ranch in Frontierland. We had our photos taken with Jesse (Woody's girlfriend from Toy Story) and were entertained by Woody, a cowgirl singer, and a honky-tonk piano player while we waited for our food. It was pretty good - the usual barbecue fare - ribs, chicken, cornbread, beans, cole slaw - and for dessert, cupcakes made to look like ice cream cones, brought out in this big colorful metal ribbony-looking contraption (see photo above). Even though the show is geared toward kids, it was something new to see and we enjoyed it, although I doubt we would bother to go back again.

We're staying at the Grand Californian this trip. Our room looks into a tree-filled courtyard that the monorail runs through. We're also right adjacent to Downtown Disney. Our balcony is just above and to the right of the World of Disney sign in the photo above. This resort is decorated in arts and crafts style right down to the bedspreads and light fixtures. It's a luxurious, but very comfortable and relaxed place, with a tuxedoed pianist playing in the lobby throughout the afternoon and evening and always a fire burning in the giant fireplace. After our time in the park we had a drink in the Hearthstone Lounge before calling it a night.

These are just a few photos from today. The rest are on Flickr. I'll update them, and this blog, daily for the rest of the trip.