Yesterday, July 18, I met my brother Bruce at Disneyland to celebrate his birthday and our own 50th anniversary of our first trip to Disneyland on July 18, 1955. On that date our parents took us to the park as a surprise for his birthday.

It started with a 7 AM breakfast with Bruce and his friends from South Carolina. They had come out here just for the weekend to celebrate the 50th on the 17th. Bruce has known Gail for many years since their days participating in the Renaissance Pleasure Faire. Gail came with her husband and their son who happens to be Bruce's godson. Bruce and JD spent the whole day together on Saturday as JD had never been to Disneyland before. And considering Bruce knows Disneyland like the back of his hand (or better) which better person is there than him to show a first timer around?!

The family left on a shuttle to catch their flight home at 8 AM and Bruce and I headed over to the park. Because Bruce no longer drives I was able to park in his hotel parking spot for free. That was nice! The first thing we did was go to City Hall so Bruce could get his birthday sticker and then throughout the day various cast members would wish him a happy birthday. For his birthday I had given him a shirt I found at the Disney Outlet Store and I had one also so we both wore our matching shirts. We got a lot of comments about them. A few people thought we worked there!

Then we went and got a fast pass for Space Mountain. This ride has just reopened after a long rehab and that rehab was well worth the wait. That ride is the best it has ever been. We also went on Small World, Matterhorn, Roger Rabbit's Toon Spin, saw ASIMO the robot, went to DCA and did Tower of Terror, Screamin (BIG roller coaster), Crush Turtle Talk, and the movie California Dreams. By now it was 3:30 and we were hungry so we left the property and went across the street to McDonalds and took our food back to his room. There we ate and watched the news and enjoyed the air conditioning for about an hour.

At 5 PM I went back to the park and went into the special 50th Anniversary exhibit and looked at everything and watched the movie they had done about the history of the park (very well done). Then I walked around Main Street and got a spot on the curb for the parade. After the parade I remet Bruce and we went over to the hub to see if we could get a good spot for the fireworks show. That was to start at 9:25 and it was now 7:30 and there was no good spot left. This is a fantastic show and people get spots hours in advance. So we went over to the Carnation Plaza area and sat on some chairs and ended up with a side view of the show. It was interesting seeing it from that angle, but I would never sit there again.

After the show we headed over to Rivers of America for Fantasmic. Bruce knows a good spot and we were able to wait there until 10:30 PM when that show started. It has been a couple of years since I last saw it. It is a really terrific show. Afterwards we sat and waited for the crowds to thin out and then left the park and called it a day. Bruce is planning to go home later today and I got home last night at 11:45. Paul and Jennifer were still up so we talked a bit and I took a shower and then hit the hay. I didn't get up until 9 AM. That's the longest I have slept in for ages.

It was quite crowded at the park. Bruce said it was more crowded yesterday than it was on Saturday or Sunday. We think some people were scared off by talk of large crowds and decided to come on the 18th. So that was really the only down side.

I did not take my camera as Jennifer took pictures when we were there in June. Bruce took pictures and will post them on his blog. When he does, I will insert a link here (edited to add link 7/20). I took a picture of him with his camera standing next to a picture of Bruce the shark from Finding Nemo. That will give you some idea of the shirt I am talking about.

So, all in all a very good day. Jennifer is enjoying her time here at home to sleep in and basically do nothing. She is planning to go to Bible Study tonight and spend some time with her friends. I am going to hand bell practice.