Travel

Disneyland, Day 2

Our last day at Disneyland...sigh...so sad. Seems like it always goes so much faster than you want it to. Travel tip: If you decide you want to add another day or two or a Park Hopper, you can do that providing you haven’t already initiated the use of your last day. Meaning if you’re on the last day of your trip you may not be able to do it (you definitely won’t if you’ve already entered the park – you’ll end up paying full price). If you bought a 3 day pass and on day 2 decide you want to add another day, go to your hotel lobby (if staying on Disney Property – some of the “Good Neighbor” hotels can do it too, but you’ll need to check with them) or the ticket window at a park and they can help. It is definitely cheaper to add onto an existing pass than to purchase a separate one so plan accordingly.

We join the massive crowd of people headed into Disneyland at opening and immediately notice almost the entire crowd is headed toward Fantasyland or Tomorrowland. No matter what your plan was, if you see this, go the opposite direction! It doesn’t matter what park or when it is, go the other way.

With everyone headed right, we go left into Adventureland. I forgot – the Jungle Cruise is closed (they’re building the new Star Wars attraction so there are actually quite a few things closed). Bummer! My poor kids will not be able to see the backside of water this time. The crowds are so small so we decide to hustle over to New Orleans Square (we may or may not come back and hit Indiana Jones later - this is where nearly all of the few people we were walking with are headed).

In all of my years visiting Disneyland I don’t remember this happening. We walked right onto Pirates of the Caribbean. The few people in front of us walked straight on so there was, literally, no wait at all. I think this will forever be one of my favorite rides. I love the ambiance, the banjo & fireflies that set the mood, the damp water smell, the pirates...it’s just that one ride that I look forward to more than any other in the parks. As much as I’d love to keep riding it (especially since there’s still no line when we get off) I know I can’t. I know we’ve got to take advantage of the crowds being so small while we can.

Haunted Mansion...probably my number 2 ride. My oldest was a little “iffy” about this one, but he ended up loving it as much as me I think! Again, the crowds...Once we crossed the outer gate to the mansion, it was a straight shot in with maybe 1 or 2 minutes waiting. Like Pirates, I’d love to ride this one again but let’s keep going while we can!

Confession: I don’t like Splash Mountain. Oh, don’t get me wrong – I love, love, love everything before the drop. That drop though? I’m a big ol’ chicken with that one for some reason. Seems like the older I get, the more poultry-ish I become about it! So I do the mature thing – send my husband and kids without me. Ha ha! Here’s what’s really crazy. Have you ever been in a line for Splash Mountain that only had a 5 minute wait time? Not even kidding! They were in and out so fast. And the picture that Disney takes as you’re hurling to your possible death? Worth every penny of that $15!

Hidden around the corner is the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. I love Pooh & Tigger is one of my very favorites but it’s hard to see that building and not miss Country Bear Jamboree. So many great memories of that show as a child, but I put those away and we ride Winnie the Pooh. (Again, walked right on) I am very pleasantly surprised – they did a great job with this ride! It definitely hasn’t had the press it should and it should certainly be on your “must ride” list on your next visit. After the ride, we exit to find no lines waiting to get pictures taken with Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore (my husband’s favorite). So fun & such great character experiences!

Because of the construction, that’s about all that’s open on this side of the park. Definitely a bummer, but we’ve all got a “rumbly in our tumbly” so it’s time to go in search of food. One thing about getting to the park early is that not all of the food places are open yet and the ones that are have crazy long lines. Somehow we ended up in Tomorrowland at the Galactic Grill right as they were starting their lunch service. Let’s talk about the food. It was weird. Don’t get me wrong – it was pretty good, but weird. Everything is Star Wars themed so the “First Order Burgers” we got (Chorizo, Beef blend with fried Cherry Peppers & a Spicy Lime Aioli) were great tasting, they were served on black buns. Yes, on purpose. Did they taste different? No. It was just weird. The lemonade was themed (“Dark Side” or “Light Side”) and had light up ice cubes in it. That was pretty cool.

Order placed, waiting for food and we grab a table at the edge of what seems like a lifted portion of the dining area. No sooner do we snag that table then people start flocking to the dining area. Did we miss something? Hmmm...guess we’ll see. We get our food, sit down and start eating & going over the plan for the rest of the day. Then we hear it...the Star Wars music. Wait – what in the heck? We look out toward this stage we hadn’t noticed before and see a long line of young Jedis (kids in Jedi cloaks with light sabers) lining up in front of the stage facing it as smoke starts to come from the door in the middle of the stage. Without realizing it, we had managed to grab a front row seat for the Jedi Training Show and watched these young Jedis take on Darth Vader & Kylo Ren. That was so unexpected and so awesome!!! You bet we stayed for the whole show!

After lunch, Dad heads back to the hotel because he has a class (it was really hard trying to plan this trip around the kids’ Spring Break & his when they were at different times). It stinks that he can’t be there for everything, but we’re glad he can be there for some of it and that he was willing to do this. It wasn’t easy trying to juggle a trip and school.

We decide to try and hit some of the rides we missed the first day and go back to Fantasyland. Another Travel Trip? If you see a character you’d like to get a picture with and the line is too long? Take it from the roadway. Ha ha! Yep – that’s how we got the picture with Captain Hook & Peter Pan.

On to Alice’s Caterpillar Ride. Our luck with short lines? Yeah, that’s definitely over! We exit Alice to find the Mad Hatter walking around so we chase him down to get a picture. I was, honestly, starting to think he might need a hearing aid the way he didn’t hear anyone trying to stop him. True story! We did eventually get the picture though. Then we decide we probably should have bought hats for both the boys - we grabbed a safari hat for Taylor this morning at the Adventureland Bazaar because he was already sporting a sunburn, but didn’t get Nate one. A quick stop in the Mad Hatter Store for a Goofy hat and we’re off to stand in line for an hour to ride Dumbo.

We definitely found the crowds! After Dumbo, we decide Casey Jr would be fun (since the Disneyland Railroad is shut down). That wait was so long, so hot & so miserable! Not sure it was worth it, but we did it. While we’re on the ride, we pass the waiting line for Storybook Canal Boats and I about choked. I have never, ever seen a waiting queue like that for that ride. It, no joke, was probably a 2 hour wait. It was never my favorite ride so I’m struggling to figure out WHY it has a line that long. No thanks!

We’re exiting Casey Jr and headed to get drinks when I see a character tucked away signing autographs and taking pictures without much of a line. I’m not sure why, but for some crazy reason, my boys refused to go stand in line to meet Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother. Hmmm...imagine that. I still took her picture wih some random strangers in it.

Hold on – do I see a popular ride without a long wait? YES!!! The wait time to get on Pinocchio was only 15 minutes and the line was inside out of the sun where it was cooler. We get in line, make the last turn to the staging area and guess what? The ride breaks down. Of course. Ha! The kids want to leave, but I point out we can sit on the cool floor inside and rest for a few minutes out of the hot sunshine. If it takes longer than 10-15 minutes we’ll leave. They agree so we hang out for about 10 minutes until they get the ride up and running again. Sometimes the rides break down and they’re down for hours, this was one of those lucky times where it was an easy fix.

Remember when I told you about the Disney Chase Visa Meet & Greet opportunities? They are at specific times with rotating characters so you have to make sure to check on them on the day of your visit. After we get done with Fantasyland, it’s time to head over to Tomorrowland for 2 of those visits. The first with Chewbacca and the second with Kylo Ren.

In all of my years meeting Disney Characters, there have been some crappy experiences and some really good ones. Meeting Chewie, even to this day, was the absolute best experience ever. Chewbacca speaks Wookie so it’s a lot of weird noises but he was astounding. The boys walked in, super excited to meet him and he saw their “First Visit” buttons. He started flapping his arms, jumping up and down, pointing to the buttons, clapping his hands and making all sorts of excited sounds. He hugged them and spun them around. It was the type of character meet you hope for – it was perfect and a memory that will truly last a lifetime. I even got in on it and typically mom kind of hangs back from those meetings. Chewbacca pulled me in for a big hug too. It was incredible.

The second one, Kylo Ren, was a lifetime memory too but in a much more sinister way. He was so in-character it was crazy creepy! We’re in a “holding area” by ourselves, an imperial guard steps out followed by Kylo Ren who beckons us in with a simple, menacing “Join me”. Both the kids were a little nervous following him. He points to where he wants them to stand for the picture and stands stoic in the middle. After the picture is taken, he turns to Nate and tells him “When you are ready, I will find you.” It was a seriously cool experience!

We’ve been able to do most everything we wanted so we decide to do the one thing we haven’t been able to work into the schedule yet. Go back to the hotel for an evening of swimming. We go pick up our pictures, make a stop for ice cream (I let them get anything they wanted this time) and then one more essential stop before leaving the park: Ears. No trip to Disneyland is complete without a set of ears. Nate picked out gold C3PO ears & Taylor picked out Lightning McQueen.

Back to the hotel to swim. We time it just right as dad is finishing up his school work so he & the boys head down to the pool. I opt out as I realize just how badly sunburned I got today! Instead, I sit on the balcony and watch the boys down below in the pool playing and the sun setting behind Space Mountain. This has been such an amazing time and I’m so glad we did this.

After swimming, we decide pizza from the Pizza Hut in the hotel sounds like a pretty good ending to a pretty amazing time. The sun is down, the jammies are on, the pizza is being eaten and then BOOM! “Wait are those…..” Sure enough – we scramble outside and see the fireworks going off across the street. We haven’t been in our hotel when the fireworks went off before so we didn’t realize we could watch them from there! It was so cool to be able to do that. The best part? Did you know if you have a car alarm that Disneyland fireworks will set the alarms off? True story! To this day we still laugh about the car alarms and the fireworks.

Thank you Disneyland for a magical adventure. Tomorrow we start a different kind of adventure. Our drive home will take us through multiple National Parks including The Grand Canyon, along Route 66 & the town that was the inspiration for Cars and through Bedrock. Should be fun!

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