1981 - Family Trip #1 - Disneyland

Saturday 11 April 1981 -  Disneyland

Matt and Rab meet George

We were up fairly to day and after a breakfast of yoghurt etc in our room, left for Disneyland. Matt was so excited as we got closer - it was a 20 mile drive from our hotel. We got there about 09.00 and already there were hundreds of cars parked and quite a crowd at the gate. We took the ferry over to Magic Kingdom and caught a horse drawn (George was his name) tram up Main Street. Matt was overjoyed and even Rab was impressed by the neatness and colourfulness. I really don't know when they cut the lawns and do the gardening - presumably between 02.00 when they close and 08.00 when they open! Our first "trip" was to Adventureland and we visited the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House. From there we went to the Singing Tiki Birds, which I quite enjoyed, but which Rab and Matt thought not so good.

Matt and Rab ride the tram

The line for the River Adventure, our next choice, had a forty five minute wait but and we didn't want such a long time. We went instead on Tom Sawyer's raft across to an island in the lake and had a bite to eat there - a hot dog for Matt and turkey sandwiches for Rab and me. The food was OK but one helluva price. Matt thoroughly enjoyed his visit to Fort Clemens on the second island and the trip back via an abandoned mine. At this stage it was about 13.00 and very hot indeed. We wandered through Frontierland to Fantasyland, where Matt and I had rides on the Flying Dumbos and the Carousel and Rab joined us for Toad's Mad Ride.

That Monorail was SO futuristic!

At this stage, the crowds were becoming very thick and the lines getting longer and longer, so we decided to call it a day, especially as Rab was not feeling too well, with a sore throat and ears – perhaps caught from Vicki. Originally, we had planned to go to Sea World in the afternoon, but after a ride on the Aerial Gondolas to Futureland, we made our way via the Monorail to the car park and went back to the hotel, getting there at about 14.45. Matt and I had a quick dip in the pool and then Rab and Matt had a snooze, while I read in the sun by the poolside.

Rab wasn't feeling too hot when she woke up, so Matt and I went off and got a pizza and a couple of burgers with fries on the side and we just had that for supper. Rab didn't feel up to going out again, so we left her watching TV and trekked back to Disneyland to see the Electric Parade and the fireworks. They were both well worth the trip. 

The floats in the parade were excellent and the one I liked particularly was a blue mushroom with a red beetle at its foot. We went up the Swiss Family Tree House to watch the fireworks, which were spectacular. I was a bit worried about how long it would take to get back to the hotel after the show, because there were literally thousands of people there, but the Disney organisation demonstrated its efficiency and we were back in about 5 minutes more than the normal time. Poor Matt was very tired because the fireworks were only started at 22.00, so he slept all the way back.