In May, I celebrated my 30th birthday. While most members of my generation have adopted the “Dirty Thirty”, I wanted to do something more fitting of my personality (and save myself from regrets). Anyone who has ever taken a glance at my Instagram (@anthropojenic) knows that I love Disneyland. Being an annual pass holder, I try to go at least once a month, but for my birthday, I wanted to go big.
What does that mean?
Well, being that we go so often, we don’t do a lot of the “touristy” things. We hardly ever buy souvenirs. We don’t eat at the expensive park restaurants. We don’t see the shows. So for this trip, I wanted to do it all. And thanks to a little careful planning by my then boyfriend (now fiance) Hank, I had the most magical 30th birthday.
Check out the highlights.
Click on the photo to see a larger version.
First item of business, buying ears and a Disneyland t-shirt to start the day. True story – I’ve never owed a Disneyland t-shirt. Thus, I decided it was time to buy one. Of course, Hank had to get ears too and the BB8 ears were way too cool to pass up.
Our big step outside our comfort zone was to visit Fantasyland. I know that may seem odd to some of you. If it does, you probably have kids. Being without children, I avoid Fantasyland like the plague. That’s really the little ones’ main territory and on most days it’s not worth the extra stress to manuver tots to get from Point A to Point B. The rides there never seemed worth the risk of accidentally trampling someone’s child. Essentially, while most people avoid Disneyland because there are so many kids, I have a more concentrated avoidance – the land of Dumbo. So! We ventured into Fantasyland and I showed Hank all the fun things – the Sword in the Stone, the Evil Queen peering from the window, the Sleeping Beauty story. Of course, there were the rides too, but I really wanted to show him the little things that most tourists miss or overlook. Needless to say, we survived and had a blast!
After a full day of adventuring, my wonderful fiance booked dinner at Ariel’s Grotto in California Adventure. Not only did we get to meet a bunch of princesses, but the food and ambiance were totally worth the price. Check out that ceiling! The lighting and sounds created the sensation of being underwater and the entire space was incredibly vibrant! Even better, Ariel’s Grotto is one of the few places in Disneyland Resort that serves alcohol – and they do it in style! My cocktail came with a souvenir ice-cube that changed colors! Disney truly is magical!
To top off the day, we planned to watch ‘World of Color’ in California Adventure. We were in the right place at the right time apparently as a woman walked up to us and asked, “Are you staying for World of Color? Would you like our passes?” Here’s the thing about World of Color… it’s very popular. The area around the show can get very crowded and little uncomfortable. So you can get Fast Passes or Diner’s Passes (by eating at restaurants in California Adventure) to get premium locations for seating or standing, depending on pass. This glorious woman handed us one of the premium standing passes. We could not have felt luckier! The location was perfection and Hank got to enjoy his first ever World of Color show up close and personal. And yes, we got wet.
I loved celebrating my 30th birthday my way. While we went somewhere we go at least once a month, it was nice to go all out! What a blast! I encourage doing it more often. Treat every day like it’s your birthday!
Here’s to being thirty, flirty and thriving!