nuttyskadork
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 13, 2022
Here is my trip report from a quick trip. I haven’t been to Disneyland since 2001 and my last WDW trip was 2009 so there was a lot of new things to hit up plus familiar classics.
The trouble is our California vacation also wanted to leave time for a concert, beach time and to top it off two playoff games! Go Oilers!
In the end, my time at Disney was two days long with an additional half day before heading to the airport. I expected to use the half day to see what I missed but other than a couple of the classic Disney dark rides I was able to hit everything I wanted on day one and hit my favourites multiple times.
Day one - California Adventure
As we were checking out of our Manhattan Beach hotel I didn’t arrive at the park until 10 am. I sprung for Genie+ for all three days but didn’t realize just how good it was until day two.
My first stop was heading for avengers Campus. The crowds gathered for the stunt show so I used that chance to hit up Spider-Man in the single rider line. I rode in less than thirty minutes.
Booked my first Genie for TSM and was going to use Lightning Lane for Radiator springs but was pleased to see the single rider lane again. Rode within 20.
Headed towards Pixar Pier and waited in line for Ariel. About a 15 minute walk or so as the line moves quickly.
Used my genie+ on TSM. Then hit Incredicoaster with Genie right after. Had a bit of a gap between reso’s so hit Philarmagic. Explored the trails then hit Grizzly River Run. Popped back to the hotel to check in and change then rode Soarin and booked genius for Guardians. Waited in line for Mike and Sully which was an hour wait. While it’s an improvement over Superstar Limo - yes I rode that back in the day… definitely not worth an hour. After Guardians, Found a pub to watch the Oilers game in DD then came back with LL to hit Goofy Sky and Jellyfish which was an easy walk on. Short wait at toy story and then caught the late showing of World of Colour (fantastic, by the way)
Day two
Disneyland park
Now here’s where things get interesting. Once I figured out the Genie+ system I was able to ride all day
Arrived at 7:15 for an 8:00 park open with about 200 people in front of me at rope drop. Took less than an hour to ride Rise of the Resistance which blew my mind. Used my first Genie pass on Indiana Jones with no wait.
Had a few spare moments before my Millenium Falcon genie+ kicked in and saw there was zero wait at Winnie the Pooh so figured why not? No wait at all at MF so walked on as an engineer then was able to get a walk in at the Cantine. The drinks were great - the Baatu bites are just a really fancy trail mix though. Genied Haunted Mansion then took a round trip on the railroad with no real wait. Snagged a coffee to wake up while enjoying tiki room. Genied big thunder then lined up for Mr Toad which sadly broke down before I could ride.
My next genie was for Splash but as it was the heat of the day it was a bit of a wait so used the single rider line at the Matterhorn! Still a bit of a wait but glad I was able to ride as it was down for a chunk of the afternoon.
Genied Splash then snagged a dole whip before heading to Tomorrowland. I honestly though Tomorrowland would be day two but it was only 3:00. Short 20 minute wait for Star Tours. Love the new shows!!
Genied onto Space Mtn and then Mr Toad while waiting for IASW.
then went to redeem a Genie for buzz but it broke down so used it to ride Splash again. As I came back for my Matterhorn Genie (wanted to ride at night) I saw Buzz was working again so got in with a short wait.
Skipped the first parade and took advantage of low waits for star tours and buzz again then crossed and did the night time jungle cruise. Caught the mickeys mix show (no fireworks) and it was awesome.
21 Millennium falcon - single rider
22 Splash mountain (3) - walk on
Main Street electrical parade snippet.
23 Indiana Jones (2) - genie
24 Star tours (3) - walk on
25 Space mountain (2)- walk on at close
Day two
1 Pinocchio’s daring journey - walk on no wait
2 big thunder (2) genie
3 millennium falcon (3) single rider
Breakfast ronto wrap
4- splash mountain (4) standby 20 minute wait
5- space mountain 2) genie
6- buzz (3) genie
7- star tours (4) genie
8- Star Wars rise of the resistance (2) genie PAID
9- haunted mansion (2) genie
10 Matterhorn (3) genie
The trouble is our California vacation also wanted to leave time for a concert, beach time and to top it off two playoff games! Go Oilers!
In the end, my time at Disney was two days long with an additional half day before heading to the airport. I expected to use the half day to see what I missed but other than a couple of the classic Disney dark rides I was able to hit everything I wanted on day one and hit my favourites multiple times.
Day one - California Adventure
As we were checking out of our Manhattan Beach hotel I didn’t arrive at the park until 10 am. I sprung for Genie+ for all three days but didn’t realize just how good it was until day two.
My first stop was heading for avengers Campus. The crowds gathered for the stunt show so I used that chance to hit up Spider-Man in the single rider line. I rode in less than thirty minutes.
Booked my first Genie for TSM and was going to use Lightning Lane for Radiator springs but was pleased to see the single rider lane again. Rode within 20.
Headed towards Pixar Pier and waited in line for Ariel. About a 15 minute walk or so as the line moves quickly.
Used my genie+ on TSM. Then hit Incredicoaster with Genie right after. Had a bit of a gap between reso’s so hit Philarmagic. Explored the trails then hit Grizzly River Run. Popped back to the hotel to check in and change then rode Soarin and booked genius for Guardians. Waited in line for Mike and Sully which was an hour wait. While it’s an improvement over Superstar Limo - yes I rode that back in the day… definitely not worth an hour. After Guardians, Found a pub to watch the Oilers game in DD then came back with LL to hit Goofy Sky and Jellyfish which was an easy walk on. Short wait at toy story and then caught the late showing of World of Colour (fantastic, by the way)
Day two
Disneyland park
Now here’s where things get interesting. Once I figured out the Genie+ system I was able to ride all day
Arrived at 7:15 for an 8:00 park open with about 200 people in front of me at rope drop. Took less than an hour to ride Rise of the Resistance which blew my mind. Used my first Genie pass on Indiana Jones with no wait.
Had a few spare moments before my Millenium Falcon genie+ kicked in and saw there was zero wait at Winnie the Pooh so figured why not? No wait at all at MF so walked on as an engineer then was able to get a walk in at the Cantine. The drinks were great - the Baatu bites are just a really fancy trail mix though. Genied Haunted Mansion then took a round trip on the railroad with no real wait. Snagged a coffee to wake up while enjoying tiki room. Genied big thunder then lined up for Mr Toad which sadly broke down before I could ride.
My next genie was for Splash but as it was the heat of the day it was a bit of a wait so used the single rider line at the Matterhorn! Still a bit of a wait but glad I was able to ride as it was down for a chunk of the afternoon.
Genied Splash then snagged a dole whip before heading to Tomorrowland. I honestly though Tomorrowland would be day two but it was only 3:00. Short 20 minute wait for Star Tours. Love the new shows!!
Genied onto Space Mtn and then Mr Toad while waiting for IASW.
then went to redeem a Genie for buzz but it broke down so used it to ride Splash again. As I came back for my Matterhorn Genie (wanted to ride at night) I saw Buzz was working again so got in with a short wait.
Skipped the first parade and took advantage of low waits for star tours and buzz again then crossed and did the night time jungle cruise. Caught the mickeys mix show (no fireworks) and it was awesome.
21 Millennium falcon - single rider
22 Splash mountain (3) - walk on
Main Street electrical parade snippet.
23 Indiana Jones (2) - genie
24 Star tours (3) - walk on
25 Space mountain (2)- walk on at close
Day two
1 Pinocchio’s daring journey - walk on no wait
2 big thunder (2) genie
3 millennium falcon (3) single rider
Breakfast ronto wrap
4- splash mountain (4) standby 20 minute wait
5- space mountain 2) genie
6- buzz (3) genie
7- star tours (4) genie
8- Star Wars rise of the resistance (2) genie PAID
9- haunted mansion (2) genie
10 Matterhorn (3) genie
