20 years later i'm going back to Disneyland!!!

[RKKUNK]

Oh and I don't know if this is still happening, but they did have the FP system open for the Haunted Mansion when we were there last. That was before the summer season though.

 

[overlyexcitedMEX]

I am so excited for you! My first visit was when I was 20 or 21 (sadly I can't remember the exact year...whoops!). It was so much fun, but crazy crowded. It was an adults only trip so we had a lot of fun just doing whatever. I am not a parade person, in fact we use that opportunity to get on rides with shorter lines . Parades often annoy me if I can't get from one place to another easily, though. I'm sure they're fun to watch, but we are all about the rides! I've been to disney world once (at 14) and disneyland paris at least 5x, if not more (i lived in france during high school). Disneyland has my heart now, though. We went in 2012, with our two oldest kids, and it was so magical seeing it through their eyes. And then again in January of this year, with our 3 oldest (we also have an 18 month old but he did not come with us). You will have a blast with your wife!

I recommend peter pan first (unless it's still closed), then I would get a fastpass for something you don't want to miss, like indiana jones or space mountain. Then keep getting fps throughout the day for those kinds of rides. Some of our other favorites are teacups, star tours, haunted mansion, pirates of the caribbean, astro orbiter (we call it the rocket ships), big thunder mountain, alice in wonderland. In DCA, we go straight to radiator springs racers, then when that ride is over get a fastpass to ride it again! Other rides over there that we love are toy story mania, mater's jamboree, and...well my husband loves tower of terror. Soarin' and a few other rides were closed when we went .

Love your reply! I kinda feel the same about parades... what i can't stand it's the wait, so we might catch a few glimpses here and there, but i also think that time it's a great oportunity to get some short wait rides.

What can you tell me about the fireworks, i knowthat main street and the hub are the prime places to watch them... but can i watch them all over the park? i mean they're fireworks the show it's up on the sky!! i mean i know that MainStreet gives probably the center, perfect view for wich the fireworks show was designed to be seen... but i could still get a very nice look at them from say tomorrowland or critter country right?

 

[overlyexcitedMEX]

Oh and I don't know if this is still happening, but they did have the FP system open for the Haunted Mansion when we were there last. That was before the summer season though.

Talking about fastpasses... are DCA and DLR fastpasses system connected to each other? Can i run to RSR and get a fastpass and come back to DLR and get Fastpasses?

 

[RKKUNK]

No, they are not connected. So yes you can do that.

 

[RKKUNK]

They have the new projections for the new fireworks. They can be seen on Main St. and on the castle, the Rivers of America that they use for Fantasmic, and on It's a Small World (although I guess they were having some problems with those). They are really awesome and with just the 2 of you, you could probably squeeze in somewhere on Main St. at the last minute.

 

[RKKUNK]

Also, one night we were trying to leave DL during the 11:00 parade and got stuck in the area where the flag is during the parade. They were holding people up there as the parade went by. We had no problem seeing the parade. I have heard the crowds are not as bad for the 11:00 parade, so maybe you could find a last minute place for that too!

 

[ClosetDisneyJunkie]

Tomorrowland is open during EE/MM. You could get in Star Tours and Space Mtn. or go on Space and get a FP for Star Tours and then maybe get a couple of rides done in Fantasyland while you wait for your FP time.

This is basically the approach my friends and I take, except we typically grab the FP to Space and jump on Star Tours (my personal fave). If the FP is then coming up soon we will hit Buzz, the Matterhorn or one of the other Tomorrowland stops if they look quick. If we have more time before the Space FP we will typically hit the Matterhorn and Alice (at minimum).

Even after all of these years Space is often the longest wait in the park, having a fast pass or prioritizing it very early is important if you definitely want to ride it and don't want to wait forever. If you love it you may even want to go Space first (having grabbed a Star Tours fast pass on the way), Matterhorn or something else (and whatever else you can fit in the time), Star Tours on FP and then immediately get another Space FP. on busy days the Space FP will sell out eventually.

If it's hot, and it probably will be, Splash will be very busy. You may not want to do it your first time back and your first time with your wife, but the single rider line for Splash can save you oodles of time. Other than that, you can hit splash relatively early or late when it's cooler and the crowd wont be quite as bad. I actually like going during fireworks if I've seen the show before.

Indy is Indy. It will be long then break down when you get to the front of the line. I kid, I love Indy but it can take awhile. Fastpass helps a lot of course. Single Rider does too but I hate Single Rider for Indy.

Good luck! You'll have an awesome time. Don't forget about DCA. I was really the same as you (went to Disneyland some as a kid, didn't go for years and then started going back as an adult) and I really overlooked DCA, but it's truly an awesome park...superior for adults, in some ways, to DLP. Beer.

 

[overlyexcitedMEX]

This is basically the approach my friends and I take, except we typically grab the FP to Space and jump on Star Tours (my personal fave). If the FP is then coming up soon we will hit Buzz, the Matterhorn or one of the other Tomorrowland stops if they look quick. If we have more time before the Space FP we will typically hit the Matterhorn and Alice (at minimum).

Even after all of these years Space is often the longest wait in the park, having a fast pass or prioritizing it very early is important if you definitely want to ride it and don't want to wait forever. If you love it you may even want to go Space first (having grabbed a Star Tours fast pass on the way), Matterhorn or something else (and whatever else you can fit in the time), Star Tours on FP and then immediately get another Space FP. on busy days the Space FP will sell out eventually.

If it's hot, and it probably will be, Splash will be very busy. You may not want to do it your first time back and your first time with your wife, but the single rider line for Splash can save you oodles of time. Other than that, you can hit splash relatively early or late when it's cooler and the crowd wont be quite as bad. I actually like going during fireworks if I've seen the show before.

Indy is Indy. It will be long then break down when you get to the front of the line. I kid, I love Indy but it can take awhile. Fastpass helps a lot of course. Single Rider does too but I hate Single Rider for Indy.

Good luck! You'll have an awesome time. Don't forget about DCA. I was really the same as you (went to Disneyland some as a kid, didn't go for years and then started going back as an adult) and I really overlooked DCA, but it's truly an awesome park...superior for adults, in some ways, to DLP. Beer.

Thank you four your advice, i'm seriously considering your Space Mountain/Star tours strategy. And ofcourse i am not forgetting about DCA we have 3day Park Hoppers so i am very excited about RSR, Screamin' and Soarin'. And a freezing cold beer after a Hot day at the park sounds enticing to say the least

 

[theluckyrabbit]

...About the "first time visitor" button, We'll be arriving Anaheim on the afternoon of 28th, i was thinking in dining in Downtown Disney that day, could i get a "First Time Visitor" at the disney store there??

It couldn't hurt to ask! You might also be able to find the buttons at the front desk of the hotels on property, but I don't know if they are for on property guests only. Again, it can't hurt to ask. And sometimes vendors in the parks, like the balloon vendors, carry the buttons, too.

 

[RKKUNK]

Security at bag check had a birthday button when we were just there not too long ago.

About the Matterhorn, they just did the refurb where they added the new Yeti effects so the line has been pretty long for that lately. So you will want to do that early before the line gets too long. There is no FP for that ride. But, you can do single rider. The only reason I hadn't mentioned that for other rides is because you said that it is your wife's first time there and I figured you two probably want to ride the rides together.

 

[overlyexcitedMEX]

Security at bag check had a birthday button when we were just there not too long ago.

About the Matterhorn, they just did the refurb where they added the new Yeti effects so the line has been pretty long for that lately. So you will want to do that early before the line gets too long. There is no FP for that ride. But, you can do single rider. The only reason I hadn't mentioned that for other rides is because you said that it is your wife's first time there and I figured you two probably want to ride the rides together.

That is true... We want to do all rides together, the only time i can see me using Single Rider lines are if my wife doesn't go on Screamin' for the 5th time and she rathers do some shopping or something like that

 

[Disney127]

Hi everyone, i've been reading these forums for about 2 months, and now i decided to post a thread... Let me paint you the picture...

I'm a 31 yr old mexican guy (living and working here in Mexico) that haven't been to disneyland since summer of 1995 (back then indiana jones was the hottest ride, and i remember enduring a 3 hour line... worth every second of it!) So back then my family used to go fairly often to the US for shopping and vacation, but then Mexican economy fell down, and my parent's couldnt afford vacationing to the US anymore. So here i am 20 years later, been married for the last 8 months, no kids yet, and finally doing well enough for my wife and I take a nice international vacation so we are going to southern California. We are going to Disneyland Resort on June 29th through July 1st, and i'm waaaaay more excited than a 31 yr old mexican that grows and exports Jalapeños for a living should be... And its mostly becouse of DLR, we'll be also going to Universal Studios, and Seaworld and the Zoo at San Diego. And thats all good, but Disneyland just sits close to my heart. I'm also excited about going with my wife, she´s never been outside of Mexico, obviously never been to Disneyland, so im really excited about seeing that amazed look in her eyes.

I'm staying at the Ramada Maingate, I'm expecting to be fairly crowded at the park, so i'm considering taking the internet's advice and go back to the hotel room to rest mid day, of course we'll be doing ropedrop, so we are going to Try to do most rides early in the morning or later in the evening. We are also interested in Fantasmic, world of color and the new parade, but since its almost like our first visit we don´t feel to keen on waiting 2 hours saving a parade spot, same with fantasmic and world of color... so we feel that we might not see the shows (or maybe try to catch them on the 3rd day).

So that's my story, this thread it's just a product of being overly excited about our trip, just wanted to share, and if anyone have any tips or advice in handling the crowds, or how to make our trip more enjoyable and/or memorable i would be happy to hear about it!

I can just read the excitement in your words! I am so excited for you and your wife! Like others mentioned before, get to the parks early and have a plan to hit the rides that you want and take a break if needed. Remember to enjoy the sights and atmosphere of the parks. There is nothing like being at Disneyland and forgetting about the 'real' world. We didn't visit DL for 8 years and after that trip, DD and I decided to become APs and go once or twice a year, it can get pretty expensive since we are travelling from Canada but Disney is worth it to us. Between Disney trips, we hit the Disney stores to get our Disney fix!

 

[overlyexcitedMEX]

Hello everyone! Just checking in, yesterday was amazing!!! We did ropedrop to fireworks non stop! Wife said: "i wont be spending 2 hours in a boring hotel room when all this is right across the street" lol!


Had lots of rides done, and a bad sunburn Now we are getting ready for magic morning rope drop, day two! So excited!! wait for my trip report next week!!!

See ya!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Great news! So glad to hear that your trip is going well!

 

[RKKUNK]

So happy for you! Glad to hear that your wife is having so much fun! Can't wait to see a trip report!

 

[AZpharmacist]

Can't wait for the trip report! Have fun

 

[overlyexcitedMEX]

Hi everyone, we are back to real life in Mexico , we had an amazing trip last week, and the high point was of course Disneyland Resort.

It was amazing to see my wife gradually fall in love with DR, let me tell you that i was a little worried that my wife wouldn't enjoy disneyland becouse she hates crowds and isn't (wasn't) really into thrill rides... She had never been outside of mexico before this trip so she haven't ever been exposed to anything better than low-end midway rides, also some of her friends that have beeen in south california told her that "disneyland was fine... but Universal Studios was way better" of course these people must have never done disneyland propperly (if there's even such thing) and we later found that universal has nothing on Disneyland, and it's not just a "they are just diferent" thing, we found Universal Studios to be held on a lower quality standar in general, but that's matter of another topic, this is my Disneyland Resort trip report, so here we go!

Day 0 - Sunday, June 28th

So we arrived to disneyland through the amtrak pacific surfliner at 8:30pm the Anaheim amtrak station it's beautiful lit at night, so that was nice. We took a taxi to the Super 8 Near Disneyland Motel, everything was good, the room was kinda small but this was just for sleeping and hygenic purpouses so i thught it was ok, DW on the other hand thought it was way overpriced for what we got, of course she had not seen Disneyland yet so, i just said "you're right honey" , knowing that we were charged mostly for the convenience to be on walking distance from the maingate and not for high end rooms, nonetheless I was happy to encounter a nice clean hotel room. So we headed over to Downtown disney for dinner, i was excited to see the explanade again after 20 years, i was amazed how familar everything felt, i now understand what i have read in these forums about that feeling of coming back Home when you enter the park. Right as we went through bag check Fireworks started, what a way to start this visit!! we watched what we could from the explaned and went on to DTD (downtown disney? is that correct?) We had dinner at Jazz Kitchen, i've had read nice things about this place and wanted to try it out... not a nice experience, the place was about to close, and eventho the food was ok and the service was good we just felt rushed, so i didn't actually enjoyed it. Im not saying it's bad, it just wasn't the right time to be there... So then we went out and had to fight the crowds that flood DTD after the fireworks show to get back to the explanade and then to our hotel.

So in short, Day 0,

Me: Felt great to be back at disneyland, even if i just got to see the maingate.
DW: Thought it was just "nice", hated moving in the crowds at DTD. Thought dinner was just ok.



Day 1, Monday June 29th. - Morning -

We got up early, thank god we are both morning people.

6:30am We had coffe and cinamon rolls at our hotel room while we got ready, walked to the park, got through bag check at 7:30am, so we waited in line for about 15 minutes before CM let us all into mainstreet. DW loved al the "tidyness" of the park, how everything felt it belonged in this place. She was still a little turned off by all the people already at the park, i just reasured that once the park was officialy open this little crowd would "dilute" around the park. So it did, we took a few videos and photos and waited for adventure land to open.

First ride we did was Indiana Jones, i remembered this to be an amazing ride! a thrilling darkride of sorts, i will say that during our planning for this trip i didn't spoil any rides for my wife, i said to her the bare minimum about the rides i knew and even didn't see any videos from the rides i didnt (all of the ones at DCA). So about indy i just told her, don't worry it's a bumpy fast paced thrill ride, no drops. But here's the thing about my wife... she was too worried about the posibility of being scared that she didn't see much and didn't enjoyed it!! i was thinking: "OMG if she doesn't like Indy, im doomed, she is going to hate everything else".

After that my wife wanted to do Splash Mountain just to get over with it, she was terrified by the drop, in her head whenever she thought about disneyland all she could think of was character photos and that photo of people riding on logs plunging to the abyss while their pictures was taken for the delight of all the people that is sane enough to don't go on these things. Lol maybe not that much but she was afraid of it, and thought she had to ride it becouse not riding it would be like going to Paris and not seeing the eiffel tower or something like that. So she wanted to get over with it.

It was still early so we did, total walk on to the logs, i was so happy just soaking on the place and the nostalgia, i hadn't been here in 20 years, or at any other Disney theme park for that matter so i was just floating on joy, still a little worried about DW, i was almost sure she would love it, but that as a big "almost", so this moment was going to set the tone for the entire visit, either was going to be the thing that made her drop all her fears and just enjoy everything or i would face three days of single rider lines and character photos So we started the ride. She didn't even felt the small drops, nor payed attention to the animatronics she was thinking about that big drop... so the we started ascending, tac,tac,tac,tac towards the light, got a great view of the park and then swooooosh!! it was over, i loved it! i held my arms up high and loved the feel of blood rushing through my veins! but how was DW??? she was laughing so hard! and smiling! she had loved it! the speed, the feel on her gut! she was so happy! she wanted to go again right after it! lol she felt the adrenaline rush, and wanted more! so i just rode the wave, after that we did Matterhorn she loved it! I liked a lot also, amzing yeti animatronics, and the start when you see him walking behind the ice wall. nice! we did Big thunder, also a big hit with her. Everything after that was just amazing, she loved the rush, didn't mind the crowds, loved the themeing everywhere, loved how roomy and confortable line qeues are designed (of course i must take credit on this, becouse of early planning and research, we did not wait in line much, on our first morning just by getting there for ropedrop, using wait time apps and fastpasses we did indy walk on, haunted mansion walk on, splash walk on, astroblasters 5min, BTMR 20min, Matterhorn 30 min, pirates 25 min, star tours on fastpass 10min and so on, We took some really cool pictures, my wife and I were having so much fun! we decided to grab something to eat and head over to this other park across the explanade, see what this california adventure park was all about, this was going to be a totally new experience for the both of us...

I'll continue my trip report later, i'll try to post some photos in the mean time!

 

[overlyexcitedMEX]

Sorry, images too big

 

[overlyexcitedMEX]

Here are a few photos from morning on Day 1

 

[Ellester]

You and your wife are an adorable couple! I'm so glad she fell in love with the parks. Can't wait to read more!!!