January 29 - Disneyland, Anaheim, California

Quote: “It’s on America’s tortured brow,

That Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow”

I have to admit I hadn’t been looking forward to Disneyland. But to my surprise, I enjoyed the day. We walked and walked, which was great after the cramped flight, and after the heavy food at breakfast (actually I just had a fruit bowl, but there were a lot of heavy choices).

I think the reason I enjoyed it is that I was brainwashed. I think Disneyland brainwashes people. ‘It’ makes you “ooohhh” and aaaahhh” over the incredible fakery. And because we went in winter time, we had minimal lineups for rides, never more than 15 minutes. Our first ride was the Indiana Jones-style river cruise. It was gentle, but great effects. We later went on the Indiana Jones Adventure, which was less gentle but still pretty mild (no hair-raising upside-down-at-high-speed type of moves). Similarly the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, which had the best effects I think, sailing through all these pirate scenes and battles. None of the Disneyland rides were particularly scary - it was more about the effects.

Disney’s California Adventure had a few more thrill-seeking rides, including our favourite, California Screaming. The Mali-Boomer was a rip off really, just shooting up and then coming back down once. We were there till it got cold at around 6pm. All day though, the weather was fine. Warm even, in the sun.

Things we’ve learnt:

A: Good SPFX, but the rides weren't as scary as I'd thought.

B: Fake stuff is considered superior to, or at the very least as good as, real stuff here. Including food.