My First 5 years as a Disneyland Annual Passholder

2005: The Year of New Beginnings

I began my adventures as an Annual Passholder for Disneyland back on March 2005, 2 months before the 50th Anniversary celebrations at Disneyland was to start. Back then, the Premium was less than $500 and you had to take your photo for your AP card at the Annual Pass center in Disneyland after you got the pass. There was no such thing as monthly payments when I got mine, it was either you had the money or you don't buy the pass at all. I was young for my age. Being only 13 years old when my mom bought my pass, I was somewhat restricted to leaving early but being able to arrive either at park opening or an hour after it opened.In addition, I was dropped off at Downtown Disney in order to use the monorail to get in. I began having the urge to go every week, evident that I either ask if I can go or simply just get ready to go to Disneyland without asking the night before and they would allow it if the latter happened. Once it got to the 2nd half of 2005, I began arriving at park opening and staying till closing and that trend would be the norm. Spent New Years Eve with the family at Disneyland, securing a hotel room at the Disneyland Hotel and doing the countdown at the Castle. This was also the first year riding the Indiana Jones Adventure in Adventureland and would become my 2nd home.

2006: A Pirates Life for Me

The first time my family renewed me and my sisters pass would further cement my love for the place and some fun moments. This was also the year that i began being friends with the Cast Members that work the parks. It was also the time that Pirates of the Caribbean got the movie additions in the ride. The premiere of the POTC sequel "Dead Mans Chest" took place at Disneyland and i avoided the parks that day. I rode POTC within the 1st few weeks of it being reopened. The first time i rode it since it came back, i got front row! While it was a fun year, it was also a year of sorrow as my Grandma on my fathers side passed away later on and my pet bird also died. Disneyland would be my place to be happy in those dark times.

2007: Family begins creating Magic

Pirates once again ruled for most of 2007 with me spending a lot of time at Tom Sawyers Island after it got a Pirates theme. It was also a time of celebration and struggle for my sister as she graduated from High School but also faced some drama which i will not explain here. She eventually landed a job at Disney working in the Paradise Pier area of California Adventure doing attractions. It was during her first few months working there that trips to the parks would be different as I would now see my sister create magic. It was this and my first 2 years as an APer that i got inspired to try to land a job there too in the future. As fate would have it, the Pier would become a new place for me to hang out years later as a new show came to life and I met new friends at the Pier.

2008: Teaming up with Indiana Jones

This was the year that I was waiting for. The new Indiana Jones movie was scheduled to be released into theaters in late spring and Disneyland was to have Indy have some adventures in Adventureland. I spent a lot of time in Adventureland during the time that Indy was out, helping him chase down a raider that wanted his map. One of the performers that played as Indy would eventually start calling me Dr. Manny. To this day, I still believe he heard about me through my Adventureland Cast Member friends. Whatever the case, he was Indy on the final day of "Summer of Hidden Mysteries" and we parted ways after the final show ended. It was also the year that Golden Dreams, a theater attraction that closed for the Little Mermaid Attraction at Paradise Pier ended its run and my sister remembers crying on the final night as she worked that attraction as well.

2009: Graduation from High School and the Year of the Dragon

This was the year as I finally graduated High School. It was an interesting Senior year for several reasons and looking back, I wish it could've been more fun. For one, I didn't have a full schedule of 6 classes like most seniors. As I had extra credits to satisfy the amount of credits that i need to graduate, I was granted early dismissal on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday as I did not have a 6th period. I could've gone with my mom when she went to work all those Fridays that I left early so long as I did my homework either before Friday hit in the week or during the weekend. I also bought my ticket to Grad Nite which was at Disneyland. Back when I graduated, Grad Nite was still at Disneyland and we had the park to ourselves the whole night after it closed to the public. I remember the ride to Disneyland and the walk to the gates and going through a TSA style security check before I got in. As I couldn't wear a hat (they were strict on the dress code in the old model) i went in without a hat but I was going to buy a new Fedora anyway from the Indiana Jones Adventure outpost anyway and I was able to buy one and still use my Annual Passholder discount. That was also the year that Fantasmic had problems with their new Dragon which did not debut in June as hoped but eventually made its debut on the first day of September which I was able to see after my college classes ended for the day. It would be another year of sorrow as my other Grandmother on my moms side died after Halloween and made the trip to the Philippines for her funeral. That loss would hit me the hardest because she would spend time at Disneyland with the family. Last time we spent time as a family was back in 2004, the year before I became an Annual Passholder.

2010: A World of Color emerges

Out of all the announced projects for California Adventure, World of Color was the one I was highly anticipating as I've been curious to see how Disney was going to create a full on water show on the scale of Bellagios fountains. For months leading up to the first time I saw it, i would hang around Paradise Bay to see the show coming to life. Very rarely though did I see the fountains actually turn on but when I did, I got goosebumps. My sister was able to secure tickets a "Preview" night for Cast Members after WDI was done with the programming. The first time would leave me speechless as the show is best experienced in person. To this day, the first time seeing it in person would be the best night i saw World of Color. This was also the year that DCA started doing "Street Parties" in the Hollywood area of DCA with Glow Fest and later ElecTRONica. I spent my first NYE in years at DCA at World of Color and has been the place to do the countdown since.