Matt and I are going to California on Sunday for a week’s vacation. We’re spending two days at Disneyland and the rest of the week in San Francisco.

I’m excited about our trip. First, Matt’s never been to the west coast, so I’m looking forward to vicariously experiencing his first trip to California. Second, while I’ve been to California a few times, I’ve never been to Disneyland! I’ve been to Walt Disney World in Orlando a few times, and I’ve even been to Tokyo Disneyland. But I’ve never been to the original Disneyland in Anaheim, opened in 1955, the only theme park Walt fully designed and had a chance to visit.

Matt and I went to Disney World last October, a little less than a year ago. So we will have been to Walt Disney World and Disneyland within the same year. (Not quite like visiting them within the same 24-hour period, but still pretty cool.)

The only thing I’m bummed about is that the Pirates of the Caribbean ride will be closed, because it’s supposed to be even better than the one in Orlando. I’m also a little worried that our time there will be rushed. We were originally just going to go to San Francisco, but then a few weeks ago, Matt suggested that since we were going to California, maybe we could go to Disneyland too. It sounded great to me. So we added it to the beginning of our trip, kind of as an afterthought. Fortunately it’s one of the least crowded times of the year, and we don’t necessarily need to see the stuff that’s duplicated in both parks, so we should be fine.

And oh yeah, San Francisco should be fun, too…