Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We pillage, we plunder, we rifle, and loot,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot,
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

i've just had a wonderful time down at disneyland earlier this week with james!! i'm really happy that the company ski trip now includes airline tickets down to la, a ticket to disneyland, park open from 7pm-1am for employees only, some free meals, and a hotel room!! i can't even begin to imagine all the work that it took to organize this, but it was a blast!!

we decided to drive down, so we could enjoy sprinkles cupcakes on the way back....muhahahahaha!! :) driving down, james actually had to swerve a few times to avoid tumbleweeds, which made me crack up quite a bit. i think i've seen them before, but they were ALL over 5 on the way down. once we got there, we checked in, and headed over to downtown disney for some dinner at the espn zone. if you're ever in downtown disney and hungry, DO NOT eat here. the food is overpriced (which i expected), but it's totally nasty and bland. and, they charge more for drinks here than at bars in the city. totally lame. i'm not even sure of the whole point of downtown disney, actually. lots of random stores like illuminations, sephora, and some anne geddes shop. it's like a small mall, but there's no exciting shopping. maybe i'm spoiled by malls in the bay area.

anyway, james' hotel roommate, and tons of other people didn't end up going on this trip, which really surprised me. it sounded like almost everyone's roommate ended up not coming, which meant everyone had their own room to themselves. which sounds like an incredible waste of money and time for those who organized the trip. i know there were SEVERAL hotels for everyone to stay at, and if the organizers could have saved half of their resources....but i digress.

february is really the month to go to disneyland if you hate crowds!! i don't think we ever waited more than 15 minutes on a ride!! the weather was beautiful when we were there, and it was only chilly during the evening.

since there were so few people at the park, we ended up getting a table for 8 at the restaurant at the blue bayou (inside of the pirates of the caribbean). we actually walked in and got a table in about 2 minutes. which i hear you usually need to book your reservation a day or two in advance. hahahahahah!! it's sort of over-priced, but the service is wonderful, and it's really a romantic setting when you're inside. my meal was excellent, and it was a nice place to relax and not have screaming kiddies run around.

from 7pm-1am, disneyland and california adventure were only closed for common folk!! actually, since the park was so empty, it was just families that left, and employees took over!! there really was no wait for any of the rides, and you could basically stay in the same seat once the ride was over for most of them. dinner was free, and there were tons of stations set up for free ice cream, snacks, fruit, etc. also, we got to see a really cool fireworks show after dinner was served!!

disneyland had all the free food, and california adventure had the giant party/booze. there were djs, a band, TONS OF BOOZE with long lines, and a run on vodka near the end. we ended up doing tons of rides at disneyland, and then coming over for the party. there were gaming sections, pool tables, but not nearly enough dancing. i guess that's what happens when 70% of the company are dudes, and most are self-proclaimed super geeks.

it was a total blast, and i loved how you felt like a kid, and that the park was open just for you. AND that this isn't just the one company party...but one of several. totally spoiled!!

on the way back, we stopped off at sprinkles for some cuppicakes!!! my only sadness was that there's a cool chocolate cupcake with marshmellow frosting coming out in a few days, and i totally missed it!! other than that, it was a great trip, and a fun mini-vacation!!