Magic Kingdom

Okay, okay. You were right. I give.
Disneyland was fun. Perhaps not the happiest place on Earth (for me, that will always be a warm, sandy beach shaded by palm trees, and in the general vicinity of a tiki-bar), but I am glad I went. Without kids.

Obviously, the place was designed with the young and young-at-heart in mind. Based on what I saw, though, the best age to take a kid would be around 11. Old enough to enjoy the "real" rides. Old enough to speak, without whining (much). Young enough not to run off to find "cute boys" or follow "hot chicks."

Of course, the rides with a child thing goes much better if he/she had a friend (or sibling), and you could let them out of your sight for a few minutes. Why? Single rider, of course. Families, waiting in line to be seated together at the most spectacular rides waited HOURS. Between fastpass and single-rider, our average wait-time was 15 minutes. Hard to complain about that. The longest wait we had was for "Star Tours" (a droid-guided flight through space inspired by Star Wars)- but that was understandable since it is now closed for "re-imagining."

For me, usually when I get into family-fun situations I get a little wistful. Not so much here. I was able to enjoy my selfish-self quite a bit. It is much less expensive to buy one ridiculously overpriced meal than 4. I spent a measly $15 on souveniers (sorry, just for me!). I could ride - or not ride - whatever I wanted to without having to coax a cranky kiddo into joining me. I could stay late (we left at midnight on Monday) or leave early (7pm on Tuesday). The only limits I had to worry about were my own.

It was Magical.