So we went to Anaheim recently to visit the mouse (this entry has been in draft state for almost exactly two years—and here I thought I was behind on my book reviews!—so some of it was written while the trip was fresh in my mind, but most of it was thrown together based on some scribbled notes). Here are a variety of observations:

• We took Shuttle Express to the airport. On the plus side, we got the van to ourselves, no doubt due in large part to the fact that the van came to pick us up at 3am. On the minus side, we had to get up to catch the van at 3am, since they budget 90 minutes to get to the airport, and want to get to the airport 90 minutes before the flight leaves. As it was, we got to the airport well before 4am. This was a bit of a bummer, since the train to the north satellite (whence our flight left) doesn’t run between 1am and 4am (or some such pair of times). Further, the food court at the north satellite doesn’t really get going till sometime after five, so getting breakfast was a bit troublesome.
• We used AAA vacations, largely because I’m lazy. I’m reasonably satisfied with the package we got (though, again, due to my laziness, I didn’t shop very hard to find better deals). We stayed at the Paradise Pier hotel (I wanted to get us into the main hotel, but it was booked). The monorail doesn’t stop inside any of the hotels just now, but the walk to the Downtown Disney station isn’t unbearable.
• Lanyards: It is helpful to have one’s credentials handy, including one’s fast passes (about which more anon), and a variety of trip-arranging outfits are considerate enough to include lanyards for just that purpose with their trip paraphernalia. I constructed a world in my imagination where the branding on one’s lanyard was a token of pride or shame, though I can’t at this late date remember what brandings were available other than the AAA affiliation that we wore. Lanyards get a hearty endorsement from me.
• Next up, a variety of recommendations I received before we went, and how they worked out:
  • Fast Passes: by all means, make use of as many as you can. They aren’t completely magic for the most sought-after rides, but there’s nothing like being able to go do something else for an hour or so while you’re not having to wait in line.
  • Early Entry: another good thing, if it’s available to you. Exploit any opportunity to minimize the lines. I recommend targeting one or two rides and sprinting there at once.
  • Fantasmic: my consultant strongly recommended this evening effects show, and I suppose it’s worth the time if you have nothing else pressing, but I wouldn’t go too far out of the way for it.
  • Fireworks: Fireworks are, well, fireworks, though the mouse does surely put on a convincing show. Again, if you have the time, give them a look, but don’t sweat it if it doesn’t work out.
• Hold on to your hat when riding anything. I lost my most favorite hat in the world on the water ride with the bears. It apparently never made its way to where a cast member could recover it, or the mouse’s lost and found sucks a lot, because they never got it back to me.
• I was struck by the number of folks who remarked on my They Might Be Giants T-Shirt. It makes me think that visiting the mouse is a good way to meet folks who like what you like. My librarian got good response from her “What happens in the library stays in the library” shirt, too, but I’ll leave any of those stories to her.
• Finally, I have a note that I meant to talk about the food, but I can no longer remember what I wanted to say about it. Next time, I may be tempted to go for one of the meals-included packages, since we ended up eating a lot of theme park food anyway, and it might be just as well to embrace the cruise shipness of it all.

I expect we’ll visit the mouse again one of these years, but I think we’d rather go someplace with a little more history first.