Disney after dark

Two weeks ago, on a Monday night after work I headed to Disneyland for an employee only night. My friend Maral does PR for Disney games and kindly invited me as her plus one to her company holiday party at the theme park. I had never been to Disney after dark or during Christmas time, but now I think it's the only way to go. Every tree and ride was decorated for the holidays, so many pretty lights and massive Xmas trees too. It was really magical and even more so when they made it snow on Main Street using sudsy bubbles that looked like snow and rained down on everyone. The popular castle was also lit up to look like an ice castle, even the Haunted Mansion was decorated with holly and of course holiday music was playing everywhere. Living on a coast where it's hard to decipher if it is winter, this outing really helped me get in the mood.

Best of all, the lines for the rides were all under a half hour. We also went over to California Adventure to try the new Toy Story Mania ride, which was a lot of fun and felt like you're at an old school carnival. What's great about this ride is that it's really interactive and has you take part in the ride by aiming a gun and shooting darts at 3D ballons, tossing rings at screens, etc.