Earthquake at Disneyland

I'm not sure if this is good omen or a bad one, but on our very first full day of our 7-month adventure overseas, a 5.4 magnitude earthquake struck California. Its epicentre was 29 miles south of Palm Springs, which is 90 miles east of Disneyland, but we certainly felt it there. Ellie and I were having our portraits done and so we were both sitting on cane chairs in an archway of a building that was supposed to resemble old-time New Orleans. Our chairs shook and rattled - being Disneyland we wondered for a moment whether this was some sort of "special effect" but when the imitiation gas lamps above our heads started to sway crazily and the portrait painter started to look worried, we realised that this was not planned! :-)

There were a few after-shocks, but nothing major. The biggest impact for us was that they closed all the really fast rides at Disneyland so that they could check for structural damage. While we waited for things to re-open, Ellie and I went on the Winnie-the-Pooh ride. It was not high on our list of preferred rides, but it was better than standing around listening to all the cheerful Disney employees telling us that things would be back to normal "soon".

Eventually we were able to ride 'Splash Mountain. It was fun, but not as much fun as the earthquake! :-) The photo at the top of this blog shows Ellie and I on the Splash Mountain ride. The photo belows shows the 'New Orleans' section of Disneyland where we were when the earthquake struck.




Oh, and when we were sitting having our portraits done, Gwen Stefani wandered by with a huge entourage. We were hoping to see the Jonas Brothers, but I guess Gwen Stefani will have to do.