Day 2

Somehow it feels we've been here for a looong time. But I still don't have that feeling of being in another country - I'm pretty sure that I just took an extraordinarily roundabout route to the gold coast.

We had our early wake up call for the first day, for breakfast in Goofy's Kitchen.

Did I say breakfast? Then what the hell were those peperoni pizzas and hot dogs doing there? And how did anyone conceive of a peanut and jelly pizza? And that glass of orange juice I ordered - I'm sorry waiter but you seem to have brought me a bucket. And no - I don't need it refilled.

We had many characters come by for photos - and I must say Cinderella was very cute. Some to think of it, so was Aladdin.

Back from breakfast and the girls got ready for their first workshop and performance as Disneyland. Having seen them off, Suzy, Connick and I caught a taxi to the local Target for a spot of shopping. We bought a couple of cheap phones to keep in touch. Cell phones mind you - but certainly very mobile. Is there something wrong in the world when for $20 you can buy a phone, have unlimited calls to mobiles (sorry, cells) for 10 days, and then throw it away. At least we're here for a bit longer, so we might buy some more credit (sorry, airtime) and make it really worthwhile for the phone company.

Connick bought a Nerf gun - because he assured us it was ever so much cheaper than at home.

We also stocked up on cheap cereals, snacks and bottled water (24 bottles for $4 ... bargain). I don't recommend the US version of Cheerios. Very bland compared to our Australian 4 grain Cheerios.

We caught a bus back, and found that by appearing a little clueless and failing to have correct change, the driver waved us through on a vastly reduced fare. So, not entirely dissimilar to the tactic I employ when using trams in Melbourne.

The girls' first performance at Disneyland put a tear in most of our eyes. I blame the long flight and lack of sleep for leaving us in an emotionally fragile state. Imagine being 13 and dancing at Disneyland! Imagine being 13 and doing ANYTHING at Disneyland! I wouldn't suggest that dancing troupes on slightly obscure stages are big crowd pullers at Disneyland - but we did hear some very positive comments from a few of the non-parents who stopped by to watch.

In the afternoon, we hit the rides. But Monday was a very busy day. We decided to start using fast passes. For those who don't know, every two hours you can get a fast pass ticket for one ride. The ticket allocates a time, usually a couple of hours later, when you can walk straight to the front of the queue. You return at that time and walk smugly past the regular queuers.

What you don't expect is to find that the fast pass will have you return more than 7 hours later!

The wait times seem to have a lot to do with the rate of, what the Disney folk like to call. "technical difficulties". During our first two days at Disneyland, I have experienced most of the good rides having "technical difficulties".

Our fast pass ride on the Soaring Over California ride was a long wait - because the ride had been experiencing "technical difficulties". It is nonetheless a very cool ride.

I had my own "technical difficulty" on the California Screamin' rollercoaster - when I forgot to remove my splendid hat. Actually, I did remove my hat. I removed it by thrusting my head forward through the air at a rather cracking pace. Still waiting for it to turn up in lost and found (my splendid hat, that is - not my splendid head).

We had tea in a Mexican restaurant in Downtown Disney, then raced back to the park for the 9:30 fireworks display. We were running late, but lucky for us so were the fireworks. Due to - you guessed it - technical difficulties.

When it did start, we were becoming quite impressed - what with Tinkerbell flying across the sky and all. That was until the show came to an abrupt and unexpected halt - followed by an announcement that "we're sorry that fireworks show can not continue due to technical difficulties".

Suzy and I raced across to Space Mountain - one of the rides we'd been unable to get a fast pass for due to "technical difficulties". Another feature of the rides is that for those without a fast pass, there's always a sign telling you how long the wait will be. It turns out these signs are not always very accurate. A 25 minute estimated wait time was pretty close to one hour in real time. And that's adjusting for the time dilation effect caused by the speed of the rollercoaster.

When Jesamine, Rachel and I turned up for our 11:15pm fast pass on the Indiana Jones ride, it became a long wait as they sorted out some "technical difficulties". Suzy had also had a long wait for this ride earlier while they addressed some "technical difficulties". Luckily for the attendant and fellow queuers, we had two insane 13 year old girls to to liven things up. Jesamine and Rachel were in fine form, keeping everyone amused with their "Ossie" accents and refusal to give a straight answer to even the simplest question.

"So, are you sisters?"
"We're twins"
"Really?"
"Yes. We're born 11 days apart."
"What?"
"Well, we're mostly twins - but also mostly not twins"

Much merriment ensued.

Anyway, it made for a late night, as we eventually got on the ride and left Disneyland some time after midnight.

And can I just say before closing - the weather here is unbelievable. Warm days with clear blue skies. And still neither mosquito nor fly to be seen.