Waving to Mickey

It's the first of several accounts of my adventures in Anaheim for GenCon SoCal last weekend. I'll start by answering the question some of you may be asking: did I go to Disneyland? The real answer is no, not really. But I did get a bit of the Disney experience -- a minor contact high or something, if you will.

It started Friday night, when I met up with my old roommate from back in my Virginia days. He and his mother drove down (fighting monster traffic) to spend the evening with me. We had dinner and caught a movie (Casino Royale -- my review of which will be coming at some point here). The theater was in Downtown Disney, the big outdoor mall-ish area near the theme park. I got to see a lot of the tourist shops, and the fun "rare signatures and memorabilia" store there.

Then on Saturday night, I ended up having another throwback to days with "Da Company," meeting up with former co-workers and some old volunteers to have the traditional dinner at Buca di Beppo. ("Buca di Beppo!") Afterward, we went to the executive lounge on the top floor of the hotel, with a perfect view overlooking Disneyland as they ran their fireworks show for the evening. I got to see the whole thing -- though granted, without the narration.

So, no rides. No visit inside the actual theme park. But reasonably close to it. I got to spend good time with some friends -- sort of the extended family, really. I think I enjoyed that more than I would have the amusement park, certainly given that I was sick for the entire duration of my trip.

But that's a story for next time...