WardFam
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2012
- Messages
- 291
I love reading short trip reports so I thought I would try one of my own. (Mine ended up not being so short - oops!) We had some Southwest credits that were expiring and we have Universal and Disneyland APs right now so we made a quick weekend Southern California trip. Saturday we went to Universal and my DH and oldest DS went to the Rams playoff game. Sunday I took my 2 youngest boys 11, 8 to Disneyland for the day. I knew it was going to be busy so I went in planning to use Maxpass and just soak in the atmosphere. We actually got a lot done in that one day!
DH dropped us off at 7:30 and we headed to security. Definitely look around for shorter lines - the ones closest to DL were really long, but the ones by DCA weren't bad at all. We made it into Disneyland and pretty close to the front of rope drop. So nice to be dropped off! While waiting for rope drop we made our first MP reservation for Matterhorn.
We "walked with purpose" to Space Mountain and ended up being pretty close to the front of the line, we rode Star Tours, used our Matterhorn FP and made another for FP HM. The boys were catching Pokémon and led us over near Toontown so we decided to go in! We met Pluto, rode Gadget's and Roger Rabbit and even explored the houses. I used maxpass to get an IJ FP then we walked over to HM catching Pokémon and pin trading on our way. By this time HM already had about a 40 min wait, but we basically walked right on with FP. Got another FP for IASW then we rode POTC and stopped for a snack of Beignets and frozen lemonade. YUM! Got another FP for BTMRR, Rode IJ and got Buzz FP then rode BTMRR and Buzz. It was about noon now and DCA FP times were starting to get into the evening so we got a GOG FP.
Maxpass worked so well. I set timers on my phone and as soon as we either used our last FP or our window opened we immediately got another. I loved not having to run all over the park and even booking for DCA while in DL!
We rode IASW, grabbed a Screamin' FP and then stopped to get snacks and watch the parade. It was about 12:40 when we got off IASW and we found a great parade watching spot on the front row, but within 5 minutes the place was packed! We got some food to eat while watching the parade and it was nice to sit down and relax after our ride packed morning. I had snagged a 3:20 Blue Bayou reservation 2 days before which was a surprise for my boys and they were so excited. We knew we had some time without FP and the lines were getting really long so we rode Matterhorn using the SR line, watched some Mickey cartoons on Main Street and played on Pirate's Lair for awhile.
It was about 3:00 when we got off Pirate's Lair, but I decided to check into BB to try and get a spot by the water. Within 5 minutes we were seated at a great spot right on the railing! My 11 year old was able to order off the kid's menu and I was able to order the Monte Cristo which wasn't on the menu anymore so it was perfect. I loved the ambience and it was a fun splurge.
The lines were still really long after our late lunch so we climbed the treehouse and watched Mickey and the Magical Map. We grabbed a TSMM FP and hopped over to DCA. As we walked into the park we found a photopass photographer and had a few pictures taken even some magical shots with Groot!
We rode GOG (love the changes from TOT) grabbed a Goofy's Sky School FP and headed over to Paradise Pier, grabbing a free Ghirardelli's chocolate on the way. It was the last day Paradise Pier is going to be open so it was pretty packed with everyone getting one last ride on Screamin' so we were pretty happy to have a FP! We rode Screamin', grabbed a Soarin' FP (which I was surprised was still available) and our TSMM was still 30 minutes away so we rode Sky School and the Golden Zephyr then went back to ride TSMM.
We got a Buzz FP, rode Soarin' and got a yummy caramel apple snack before hopping back to DL. It was about 9:10 when we got off Buzz and the fireworks started at 9:30. The area around the hub was packed, but the further you went down Main Street there seemed to be plenty of spaces to watch. I love DL fireworks and it was fun to see the Holiday version.
By this time we had been at the parks for 14 hours and we were exhausted! My kids had done so great and it was a really fun day. Researching maxpass and using it well, getting a late lunch reservation and finding some new things to do in the afternoon all helped our day feel super successful. I am so glad I was able to see all the holiday decorations, the IASW and HM layovers were so fun and the whole atmosphere was just magical. I might have mixed up some of the order I got FP - I'm just going off memory, but I think I'm pretty close. I hope this helps someone and let me know if you have any questions!
DH dropped us off at 7:30 and we headed to security. Definitely look around for shorter lines - the ones closest to DL were really long, but the ones by DCA weren't bad at all. We made it into Disneyland and pretty close to the front of rope drop. So nice to be dropped off! While waiting for rope drop we made our first MP reservation for Matterhorn.
We "walked with purpose" to Space Mountain and ended up being pretty close to the front of the line, we rode Star Tours, used our Matterhorn FP and made another for FP HM. The boys were catching Pokémon and led us over near Toontown so we decided to go in! We met Pluto, rode Gadget's and Roger Rabbit and even explored the houses. I used maxpass to get an IJ FP then we walked over to HM catching Pokémon and pin trading on our way. By this time HM already had about a 40 min wait, but we basically walked right on with FP. Got another FP for IASW then we rode POTC and stopped for a snack of Beignets and frozen lemonade. YUM! Got another FP for BTMRR, Rode IJ and got Buzz FP then rode BTMRR and Buzz. It was about noon now and DCA FP times were starting to get into the evening so we got a GOG FP.
Maxpass worked so well. I set timers on my phone and as soon as we either used our last FP or our window opened we immediately got another. I loved not having to run all over the park and even booking for DCA while in DL!
We rode IASW, grabbed a Screamin' FP and then stopped to get snacks and watch the parade. It was about 12:40 when we got off IASW and we found a great parade watching spot on the front row, but within 5 minutes the place was packed! We got some food to eat while watching the parade and it was nice to sit down and relax after our ride packed morning. I had snagged a 3:20 Blue Bayou reservation 2 days before which was a surprise for my boys and they were so excited. We knew we had some time without FP and the lines were getting really long so we rode Matterhorn using the SR line, watched some Mickey cartoons on Main Street and played on Pirate's Lair for awhile.
It was about 3:00 when we got off Pirate's Lair, but I decided to check into BB to try and get a spot by the water. Within 5 minutes we were seated at a great spot right on the railing! My 11 year old was able to order off the kid's menu and I was able to order the Monte Cristo which wasn't on the menu anymore so it was perfect. I loved the ambience and it was a fun splurge.
The lines were still really long after our late lunch so we climbed the treehouse and watched Mickey and the Magical Map. We grabbed a TSMM FP and hopped over to DCA. As we walked into the park we found a photopass photographer and had a few pictures taken even some magical shots with Groot!
We rode GOG (love the changes from TOT) grabbed a Goofy's Sky School FP and headed over to Paradise Pier, grabbing a free Ghirardelli's chocolate on the way. It was the last day Paradise Pier is going to be open so it was pretty packed with everyone getting one last ride on Screamin' so we were pretty happy to have a FP! We rode Screamin', grabbed a Soarin' FP (which I was surprised was still available) and our TSMM was still 30 minutes away so we rode Sky School and the Golden Zephyr then went back to ride TSMM.
We got a Buzz FP, rode Soarin' and got a yummy caramel apple snack before hopping back to DL. It was about 9:10 when we got off Buzz and the fireworks started at 9:30. The area around the hub was packed, but the further you went down Main Street there seemed to be plenty of spaces to watch. I love DL fireworks and it was fun to see the Holiday version.
By this time we had been at the parks for 14 hours and we were exhausted! My kids had done so great and it was a really fun day. Researching maxpass and using it well, getting a late lunch reservation and finding some new things to do in the afternoon all helped our day feel super successful. I am so glad I was able to see all the holiday decorations, the IASW and HM layovers were so fun and the whole atmosphere was just magical. I might have mixed up some of the order I got FP - I'm just going off memory, but I think I'm pretty close. I hope this helps someone and let me know if you have any questions!
and Fun 
Day! 
