Today we spent the day at Disneyland with our two children and my parents-in-law. We had gotten discounted tickets from a local community group we are associated with. Otherwise, the $59 one-day cost the park charges would be too prohibitive. We managed to spend under $110 total, including parking (the children are under 3, and thus free of charge).Believe it or not, but my parents-in-law have never been to Disneyland. My wife's explanation is that they don't like to do conventional things for fun, like traveling in the state or visiting amusement parks. The chance to spend the day with their grandchildren was what convinced them to go, though I had some doubt whether they would think it worthwhile.
The park was really crowded. We planned to get to the gates before the 9 AM opening, but cars were backed up trying to get into the parking garage, and there were long queues to get through security and then through the front gates (I really miss the pre-California Adventure parking lot right next to Disneyland).When we got to Fantasyland and saw the long line for the Peter Pan ride, I knew my plan, to get through some popular rides before the crowds arrived, wasn't going to work.
But despite the crowds (damn you, Disney marketing department and the 50th anniversary campaign), we managed to have a fairly enjoyable day. My parents-in-law seemed to have a good time, both in spending the day with their grandkids and enjoying some rides and shows on their own terms.
Here are some photos I found interesting:
A detail from the Dumbo ride
A couple of close-ups of a model of Disneyland on opening day, 1955. It is housed in a 50th anniversary exhibit, displacing the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln show in Main Street.
The original Fantasyland
And the original Tomorrowland, the area of the park which has undergone the most change
I can't resist the chance to complain about the now twice-annual price increases at Disneyland. Here is a link to an Orange County Register story about the latest price increase, the fourth since March 2004. Among the items in the 50th anniversary exhibit were old A-B-C-D-E ticket books and more recent "passports" from someone's private collection. I noted that a one-day ticket from 1991 cost about $25, half of what the tickets cost two years ago. I am pretty sure that when I was in junior and senior high school in the 1980s, the cost of a one-day ticket was in the $12-16 range. Unfortunately, it's simple economics that a company will charge what the market will bear.
