Disney Kidd
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 28, 2015
- Messages
- 352
I generally only go to Disneyland for the day, and have been posting a lot of day trip reports this year. Here are a few of my most recent reports:
Disneyland Diamond Anniversary Day Trip Report
California Adventure Diamond Anniversary Day Trip Report
I Can Use My Annual Pass Again Day Trip Report
I’ve been so busy working that it’s been almost two months since I last visited Disneyland. I was beginning to worry that I wouldn’t find time to squeeze in a trip before Halloween Time ended, but luckily my brother and I found a day off together. We went to Disneyland on Wednesday October 21, 2015 and both parks were only open until 8! We left San Diego around 9:30, but didn’t arrive until around 11:30 because we ran into a few pockets of traffic. On the way up, as we always do, we discussed our goals for the day.
My Goals:
I had never eaten at the Taqueria by Tortilla Joe’s so that’s what I decided on. Since my brother discovered his love for Earl of Sandwich, he hardly ever eats anything else. The Taqueria was sort of like a chipotle, you could build your own burritos and tacos. I built a big, vegetarian burrito, then met my brother at Earl of Sandwich. The burrito was just ok, and it completely fell apart, so I had to eat it with a fork and knife.
We then proceeded to the monorail, but it was broken. Our fool-proof plan failed! We had to then walk to the Disneyland front entrance, but I love the decorations, and wanted to investigate possible magic shots, so it wasn’t a huge deal.
I love how the entrance is decorated, but it definitely looks better at night.
For Halloween Time, the photographers can do magic shots with the cauldron as well as Zero. We took a picture that was supposed to include Zero, but it didn’t show up in my account!
We got distracted with a few more magic shots, but then continued on our main mission: getting a Fastpass for Space Mountain! At this time, it was around 12:40 and our return time was from 2:15-3:15 – not too bad! I told my brother that fastpasses for Buzz Lightyear were disconnected, and we could get one for that too; he was shocked that it worked! Our Buzz fastpass had a return from 1:10-2:10. I am a huge planner, so I had the idea of going to the other side of the park, then returning around 2, riding Buzz, and then riding Space Mountain.
Luckily, the waits in Frontierland and Adventureland were miniscule. We got in line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at 1:00, and only waited about five minutes. We were in line for Indiana Jones at 1:15. We had to wait about twenty minutes for this one, but it wasn’t so bad. The ride broke down towards the end, right when the big boulder was about to roll over us. So we were chilling with Indy and the boulder for a few minutes which was a bit awkward.
We were off Indiana Jones at about 1:45 and went to check out Haunted Mansion Holiday. The wait was around thirty minutes. I think the decorations look amazing at night, but luckily this attraction stays put until Christmas so I’ll get to see them then too. We decided to wait in line and then ride Space Mountain. We were fine missing our Buzz Lightyear return time, and decided we would try to ride it later.
We got to Space Mountain at around 2:50, and found a new fastpass system. We scanned our tickets and then proceeded through the fastpass queue. There were a lot of people monitoring the new system and writing notes. It seems they were just testing this out to see if it’s an efficient process or not. I did a little investigating, and it appears this is not evidence that they will add magic bands at Disneyland.
After Space Mountain, instead of riding Buzz, we headed over to California Adventure, and walked through the front gates at 3:15. We immediately went to Tower of Terror to get a fastpass. Our return time wasn’t until 6:55! The parks seemed to be getting a lot busier now, but California Screamin’ rarely has an atrocious line, so that’s where we headed. On the way, we stumbled upon a sneak peek for The Good Dino playing in A Bug’s Life Theatre. The movie looks really cute, and the theatre is interactive just like the show It’s Tough To Be a Bug.
On the way to California Screamin’, we took a little rest break with Stitch. Our legs were killing us! We waited about five minutes for California Screamin’, and were off the ride at 4:30. We both love Radiator Springs Racers and wanted to get on that ride using single rider. Seeing Stitch with the ice cream, gave us a craving, so we took a pit stop at the Cozy Cone. This was probably the longest line we waited in all day.
We were in line for Radiator Springs Racers at 5:00, and only waited around ten minutes in the single rider line. We didn’t want to wait until 6:55 to ride Tower of Terror so we got in the normal queue, and waited around twenty minutes. The park was only open for a few more hours so we decided to get a few more rides done at Disneyland.
I got a great view of the new Toy Story Enchanted Window and absolutely loved it! Now, I’m just awaiting for the last two to be unveiled: Aladdin and Frozen. My brother really wanted to ride Matterhorn so we got in the single rider line. There were probably about five people in front of us, including a little girl, who was so excited about how short the line was. A few guests from the regular line, saw us here and followed. The little girl actually explained to them that this was the single rider line, and they left to get back into the normal line. They still got on the ride before us.
We were off Matterhorn at 6:50 and got in line for Star Tours. This was about a five minute wait, and no, I didn’t get chosen as the rebel spy. It’ll happen one day. At this point it was about 7:10. We tried to get on the monorail to avoid all the traffic with the parade, but it was broken again! We slowly, but surely made our way to the front of the park. We used Pixie Hollow to get out. If you’re looking for a good place to watch Paint the Night, this is it. There was no one there, and a great view of the parade. It took forever for us to get to the exit, but I didn’t mind because I got to see bits and pieces of the parade. This was probably the earliest my brother and I have ever left Disneyland, but we were absolutely exhausted and couldn’t imagine staying longer.
All in all, I loved my annual trip to Disneyland for Halloween Time. It’s just not as good as it used to be. The Halloween Screams fireworks used to be available for all guests, not just those attending the Mickey’s Halloween Party. They used to also have the Halloween Carnival by Big Thunder Ranch. I went there in years past, and I loved when they would summon a mystery villain. Last time, I got Cruella De Vil. But still, there’s a lot to look forward to. I can’t wait to return for Season of the Force and the holiday season!
Disneyland Diamond Anniversary Day Trip Report
California Adventure Diamond Anniversary Day Trip Report
I Can Use My Annual Pass Again Day Trip Report
I’ve been so busy working that it’s been almost two months since I last visited Disneyland. I was beginning to worry that I wouldn’t find time to squeeze in a trip before Halloween Time ended, but luckily my brother and I found a day off together. We went to Disneyland on Wednesday October 21, 2015 and both parks were only open until 8! We left San Diego around 9:30, but didn’t arrive until around 11:30 because we ran into a few pockets of traffic. On the way up, as we always do, we discussed our goals for the day.
My Goals:
- Main Street Enchanted Windows
- Special Halloween Magic Shots
- Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy
- Haunted Mansion Holiday
- Haunted Mansion Holiday
- Tower of Terror
I had never eaten at the Taqueria by Tortilla Joe’s so that’s what I decided on. Since my brother discovered his love for Earl of Sandwich, he hardly ever eats anything else. The Taqueria was sort of like a chipotle, you could build your own burritos and tacos. I built a big, vegetarian burrito, then met my brother at Earl of Sandwich. The burrito was just ok, and it completely fell apart, so I had to eat it with a fork and knife.
We then proceeded to the monorail, but it was broken. Our fool-proof plan failed! We had to then walk to the Disneyland front entrance, but I love the decorations, and wanted to investigate possible magic shots, so it wasn’t a huge deal.
I love how the entrance is decorated, but it definitely looks better at night.
For Halloween Time, the photographers can do magic shots with the cauldron as well as Zero. We took a picture that was supposed to include Zero, but it didn’t show up in my account!
We got distracted with a few more magic shots, but then continued on our main mission: getting a Fastpass for Space Mountain! At this time, it was around 12:40 and our return time was from 2:15-3:15 – not too bad! I told my brother that fastpasses for Buzz Lightyear were disconnected, and we could get one for that too; he was shocked that it worked! Our Buzz fastpass had a return from 1:10-2:10. I am a huge planner, so I had the idea of going to the other side of the park, then returning around 2, riding Buzz, and then riding Space Mountain.
Luckily, the waits in Frontierland and Adventureland were miniscule. We got in line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at 1:00, and only waited about five minutes. We were in line for Indiana Jones at 1:15. We had to wait about twenty minutes for this one, but it wasn’t so bad. The ride broke down towards the end, right when the big boulder was about to roll over us. So we were chilling with Indy and the boulder for a few minutes which was a bit awkward.
We were off Indiana Jones at about 1:45 and went to check out Haunted Mansion Holiday. The wait was around thirty minutes. I think the decorations look amazing at night, but luckily this attraction stays put until Christmas so I’ll get to see them then too. We decided to wait in line and then ride Space Mountain. We were fine missing our Buzz Lightyear return time, and decided we would try to ride it later.
We got to Space Mountain at around 2:50, and found a new fastpass system. We scanned our tickets and then proceeded through the fastpass queue. There were a lot of people monitoring the new system and writing notes. It seems they were just testing this out to see if it’s an efficient process or not. I did a little investigating, and it appears this is not evidence that they will add magic bands at Disneyland.
After Space Mountain, instead of riding Buzz, we headed over to California Adventure, and walked through the front gates at 3:15. We immediately went to Tower of Terror to get a fastpass. Our return time wasn’t until 6:55! The parks seemed to be getting a lot busier now, but California Screamin’ rarely has an atrocious line, so that’s where we headed. On the way, we stumbled upon a sneak peek for The Good Dino playing in A Bug’s Life Theatre. The movie looks really cute, and the theatre is interactive just like the show It’s Tough To Be a Bug.
On the way to California Screamin’, we took a little rest break with Stitch. Our legs were killing us! We waited about five minutes for California Screamin’, and were off the ride at 4:30. We both love Radiator Springs Racers and wanted to get on that ride using single rider. Seeing Stitch with the ice cream, gave us a craving, so we took a pit stop at the Cozy Cone. This was probably the longest line we waited in all day.
We were in line for Radiator Springs Racers at 5:00, and only waited around ten minutes in the single rider line. We didn’t want to wait until 6:55 to ride Tower of Terror so we got in the normal queue, and waited around twenty minutes. The park was only open for a few more hours so we decided to get a few more rides done at Disneyland.
I got a great view of the new Toy Story Enchanted Window and absolutely loved it! Now, I’m just awaiting for the last two to be unveiled: Aladdin and Frozen. My brother really wanted to ride Matterhorn so we got in the single rider line. There were probably about five people in front of us, including a little girl, who was so excited about how short the line was. A few guests from the regular line, saw us here and followed. The little girl actually explained to them that this was the single rider line, and they left to get back into the normal line. They still got on the ride before us.
We were off Matterhorn at 6:50 and got in line for Star Tours. This was about a five minute wait, and no, I didn’t get chosen as the rebel spy. It’ll happen one day. At this point it was about 7:10. We tried to get on the monorail to avoid all the traffic with the parade, but it was broken again! We slowly, but surely made our way to the front of the park. We used Pixie Hollow to get out. If you’re looking for a good place to watch Paint the Night, this is it. There was no one there, and a great view of the parade. It took forever for us to get to the exit, but I didn’t mind because I got to see bits and pieces of the parade. This was probably the earliest my brother and I have ever left Disneyland, but we were absolutely exhausted and couldn’t imagine staying longer.
All in all, I loved my annual trip to Disneyland for Halloween Time. It’s just not as good as it used to be. The Halloween Screams fireworks used to be available for all guests, not just those attending the Mickey’s Halloween Party. They used to also have the Halloween Carnival by Big Thunder Ranch. I went there in years past, and I loved when they would summon a mystery villain. Last time, I got Cruella De Vil. But still, there’s a lot to look forward to. I can’t wait to return for Season of the Force and the holiday season!
