A Disneyland visit with Ruston - Part 1

It's Sunday and that means we're at Disneyland! There's going to be a lot of firsts today, so I'm really looking forward to it. It's also really exciting because Uncle Ruston is going to be joining us, making it even more special.

It was only 7 weeks ago that we met up with Ruston to go to Blue Bayou together, but it seems like longer than that. 

Two special people are celebrating a birthday on the same day (Ruston and Ian) and it's tradition for the two of them to get a picture together for it. Ruston is celebrating a big milestone too! A year that should be celebrated with gold. Along with a card, T and I got him a golden Mickey ears (from Disneyland's 50th anniversary) with his name on them. They don't sell them anymore and I had to find them on eBay. Getting them embroidered with his name on them was interesting too. The hat shop didn't want to do it because they couldn't replace it if it got messed up. I was willing to gamble and they turned out great!

Ian and Alli both made him homemade birthday cards, both choosing yellow paper to represent gold.
They made very good use of their creative station, cutting out shapes, using stickers, tape, flaps to lift up, and pockets to hide things in. They decorated the bag too.

Alli's card.

Ian's card. I like the tree that's made of marker and cutout leaves.

Inside there's an eraser that's a cloud that is raining.

And a black sky where you can lift it up and see stars.

Ruston was very thankful. The kids loved making them for him.

The park opened a little over an hour ago and rides aren't too bad yet. Ian was really excited last week to be tall enough for Indiana Jones. I wanted to give him a feel for what the ride was going to be like, so, the night before we watched clips from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Classic scenes like the rolling boulder, grabbing the fertility idol and escaping from the temple, being covered by tarantulas, and falling into the Well of Souls and being surrounded by snakes. Then we discussed the Temple of Mara at Disneyland and how there were bugs, mummies, rats, fire, snakes, and how you definitely shouldn't look into the eyes of Mara.
Ian - I don't want to ride it tomorrow.
Uh... Alright buddy. If you don't want to go on it tomorrow, you don't have to.
Ten minutes later.
Ian - I'm going to ride it, but I might close my eyes.
Very brave Ian. I'm proud of you.

And because Indiana Jones is a ride that Theresa will do, she's going to take Ian on his first ever visit to the Temple of Mara.

Alright Alli. It's just me and you. What do you want to do?
Alli - Gadget's Go Coaster!
Let's do it!

She loves this ride.

And we're not just going once. We're going to try to set a new record.
There's no running in the queue, but skipping is okay. As soon as the coaster stops, Alli jumps out of the seat and wants to go again. I reminded her that Ian currently holds the family record at 6 times on Gadget's Go Coaster.

And speaking of Ian, let's check in with him.

The queue for Indiana Jones is known for being very well themed.

Unfortunately there's one more thing that Indy is known very well for. Breakdowns. After 30 minutes in the queue, making it through every room and standing across from the loading platform, Indy went 101 and everyone was escorted out. You're getting the full experience Ian.

Alli and I aren't slowing down. We never did get to re-ride, instead having to completely exit the ride, go through the queue, and line up again. In the early part of the morning, there were no lines, and we could make it back around in about 3 minutes.
And so in 40 minutes, Alli and I set a brand new record! 10 rides on Gadget!

Theresa happened to make it for our very last lap to get a picture of us together.

Someone is very proud of herself.

Big number 10 girlie! Congratulations!

Wandering through Fantasyland, the Pearly band was about to hop on the carrousel, so everyone decided to take a ride with them. Alli knows which horse she likes and it's not Jingles. This pink and purple horse is just for her. I wonder if this horse has a name?

After Fantasyland, I wanted to ride Haunted Mansion, but the Fastpass line stretched nearly to the exit!
I wanted to ride Winnie the Pooh anyhow. My hat is an older hat from Tokyo Disneyland. The design is a bit hard to see when I'm wearing it normally, but if I look upwards you can tell it's a Pumpkin Pooh.

Alli and Ian - I want to ride with Uncle Ruston!

Pooh was celebrating a birthday and so are we.

Let's all get a treat!

Everyone got something tasty.

Mine is only sold at this location. I think Pooh has his eye on it.

This is a chocolate loving girl and this rice krispy treat is loaded with M&Ms.

Ian got himself a Tigger Tail. I thought it was just regular white chocolate, caramel, and marshmallow. Ian said he tasted orange though, and sure enough after being offered a bite, it does taste of oranges. Like a creamsicle almost.

I don't know what part of "pose for the camera" means balance on one foot and stick your leg in the air, but that's what ends up happening.

Now the line for Mansion is a little more reasonable.

Ruston found a fellow Candlelight choir singer.

Ian and Ruston riding together.

Alli, Theresa, and I were chosen and won a surprise from Lock, Shock, and Barrel.

Alright, let's try this again. Indy was down for a while but it's finally running again. Ian is going to give it another go.

He's taking "Don't look into the eyes of Mara" pretty seriously.
Actually he said he did look into Mara's eyes but kept them closed for a lot of the ride after that. I'm okay with that. Super proud of you buddy for conquering your fears and riding it anyway!

Hey Alli, what do you want to do while they're on that?
Alli - Gadget's Go Coaster!
Again? It's quite a bit of a walk and the line is much longer now, but, sure why not. Move that record up one more! Now it's 11!

Just as fun as the first time.

We'd were really wanting to double Ian's record, but Ruston has to leave soon and it's going to take us another 15 minutes to get through this line again. I asked and she'd rather say goodbye to Ruston than ride for a 12th time. Good girl.

Meanwhile at the front of the castle, the two birthday boys are getting their photos.

Each of them are holding up their finger for how old they're turning.

Ian, what did you think of Indiana Jones? Did you like it?

It's been a fun morning together!

Time to say goodbye. It's been fun Ruston! Looking forward to seeing you again!