Just One Disney(land) Day!

[GenevieveRaqs]

I had a workshop out in Long Beach this week, so DH and I decided this was the perfect opportunity to finally experience Disneyland Resort...even though we would only have one day!

We're WDW vets. We've always gone at off-peak times, and we know the parks well enough to know what to hit first and/or use FP for. We're not the spreadsheet type. So planning a trip to a park I'd never laid eyes on, in JULY, while trying to squeeze as much as we possibly could into a single day was daunting, to say the least. I read some threads here, looked over maps and lists of attractions and finally said, "Screw it, we're gonna wing this thing!"

The one thing I did commit to memory was the wide-right technique for riding Radiator Springs Racers. More on that later...

We landed in SNA at about 9:30 p.m. local time Monday. This was already 11:30 p.m. our time, and we were beat by the time we arrived at the Quality Inn and Suites off Manchester. The hotel was...okay. Pros: Walking distance to the parks, cheap rates (especially with advanced purchase), free breakfast. Cons: Sketchy bathroom, tiny room, not-so-great breakfast. But, for what we needed--a single night's sleep before hitting the parks and transferring to my conference hotel--it was adequate.

The alarm rang early (I hesitate to use the word "bright" for 5:30 a.m.) the next morning, and these two non-morning people jumped out of bed with a cry of, "We're going to Disneyland!" We were out the door by 6:45 and at the gates before 7 for an 8 a.m. opening at DCA...with only one family in front of us! The woman turns to us and says, "Just so you know, we have a group of 75 people meeting us here this morning." With a voice full of shock and dismay, I stammered, "Oh..." Then she broke into a wide smile and said she was kidding! Whew!

So we're at the gate, ready to run...er, walk quickly and with purpose...to the rope for RSR. Will we get to ride? Find out in the next installment of Just One Disney(land) Day!

 

[GenevieveRaqs]

And before we go any further, can I just tell you how many times I quoted Sheldon Cooper that day? (Oh, let's be honest, ALL the days leading up to this trip...)

"We stayed for the California Adventure water show. It was pure Disney magic!"

Can you tell I was a LITTLE excited about seeing WOC?

 

[GenevieveRaqs]

On your mark, get set, go!

There was some confusion when the gates opened at 7:30...and wouldn't you know it was in our line! The CM, who must have been new, opened the gate on the wrong side. So, while throngs of people from the other lines were filing through the gates, we were waiting for the gate to be reopened correctly. Noooo! It felt like forever, of course, but it was only a minute or two before we were through the gate and on our way. We didn't-run-but-pretty-much-did to the rope, keeping ourselves to the right as far as possible. I had a moment of doubt--should we have gotten in the FP line instead? But there we were...touching the rope on the very right end! (This was starting to feel a lot more like stop-and-go traffic in L.A. than any sort of race in Radiator Springs, but still...)

"Honey, we're going to ride RSR!"

Cars is probably my least favorite Pixar movie. Yet I can quote every line and it has a special place in my heart because it was our DS's favorite movie for a couple of years. We watched it once a day, minimum, for about two years. We weren't able to bring DS5 on this trip, which made me feel just a little guilty. Work paid for my plane ticket, and I used all of my Skymiles to fly DH out. We just couldn't swing the $800 ticket for DS, and I couldn't take DS without DH because I had to be at a conference the next day. So perhaps what happened next was a little bit of cosmic payback for going to Radiator Springs with out our little McQueen fan...

A CM walked up to the rope and asked us not to shoot the messenger. RSR would not be open when the rope dropped at 8, and they didn't have an estimated opening time. We were able to hear her announcement because we were right in front, but most of the crowd was still trying to figure out what was happening. We made a quick decision to get out of the huddled masses in all that confusion and try to get in the FP line. I couldn't believe it! We had done everything right, and our plan was still foiled. After maneuvering our way through the growing crowd, we realized the FP line was wrapped all the way around the building and through several switchbacks. Did we want to use up 45 minutes of prime morning ride time in an FP line for one ride? No, we decided, we did not. I was disappointed, but there was no time to dwell on it. The parks still weren't officially open, so we high tailed it across the way to Disneyland.

 

[GenevieveRaqs]

While the entrance to WDW, with the train station high above on the hill, is grand and impressive, the DL entrance felt so tiny and charming--it seemed like a fairytale village! I loved walking through the tunnel and seeing Mickey right there on Main Street giving out hugs and autographs. While I completely understand why this doesn't happen at WDW, it's really the way it ought to be.

I had read about how small Sleeping Beauty Castle is to Cinderella's, but I was still surprised by just HOW small! Again, it felt like we had been transported into a little fairyland.

We waited outside Adventureland for the park to open. When it did, the herds filed past the Tiki Room and straight for Indiana Jones--and we went with them. There was a CM over to the side trying to wave people further into the park. "Don't stop here!" he shouted with a smile. "There's no wait for Jungle Cruise. No wait for Pirates. No wait for Haunted Mansion! Keep going, keep going!" We chuckled...and ignored his advice. We got into the IJ single rider line, and basically walked right on. We'd never done single rider at WDW, but it was fantastic! We settled on single rider as our first choice whenever possible. IJ was a great ride! I especially liked the huge skull room--so impressive.

We continued through Adventureland and into New Orleans Square. PotC is one of our favorites at WDW, and we were excited to experience the longer version. Again, we walked right on. Now, I thought this version was great--I loved the extended cavern scenes, the talking skull before the first drop, the waterfalls--but there were a couple of things I found a bit odd. The bayou scenes at the beginning were very well done--I definitely felt like we were down in Louisiana. But this is Pirates of the Caribbean, not Pirates of New Orleans! Perhaps we're supposed to be leaving from New Orleans and heading to the Caribbean? I'm not sure. The other thing that struck me as strange was the change over to an upbeat version of Yo-Ho, Yo-Ho while you're still in the cavern/skeleton scenes. I really like the dark and foreboding feel of traveling through those dark caverns in the WDW version. It's like you never know what might happen around the next bend. That is diminished somewhat by the happy-sounding soundtrack. All that picky stuff aside though, I really did love seeing the full, Walt-approved version!

Next it was on to Haunted Mansion, another of our favorites back home! Being from the South, we had to laugh a little bit about the exterior. "It's just not scary at all! It's just a really pretty house," I said. "I know--it just looks like where you grew up!" DH said. (It really does look a lot like my parents' house in Alabama.) HM was another walk-on for us, and we loved the ride, as always. I missed some of the suspense of the long hallways between scenes at WDW, but I thought the DL version had a much better ballroom scene. (I especially liked the lady with the birthday cake!)

With BTMRR down for refurb, we made a quick exit through Frontierland and headed for Fantasyland. Will my 6'5" husband be able to fit in a Matterhorn bobsled? Find out in the next installment of Just One Disney(land) Day!

 

[Jenna319]

Subbing!

 

[wiigirl]

Following along.

 

[GenevieveRaqs]

Thanks for following along, guys!

But, silly me, I forgot to introduce myself! So, hi, I'm Genevieve. I'm 31 and work in international programs at a university in Alabama. I love travel (hence the job!) and am definitely a princess-and-sparkles girlie girl--I would have been ALL OVER BBB as a kid. I'm a connoisseur of cute. (DH had to talk me out of going out on the pier at our Long Beach hotel to talk to the sea lion who was hanging out there. I am SURE he needed a hug. ) I also dabble in novel writing and belly dancing.

DH is 32 and works as a paramedic. He loves kicking back with a good root beer and a book and playing video games. Epic Mickey is a fave, and he was excited to see how the real Disneyland compared to the layout in Wasteland. He's a D.C. man at heart but certainly doesn't turn his nose up at a good Marvel series. I lovingly call him "Sheldon." At one point during this trip, he says to me, "I'm wearing a Captain America t-shirt, a Disneyland junior firefighter badge and mouse ears. I am not cool, but I'm having a great time!"

We have one son, who is 5 and starts kindergarten in two weeks. He loves Hot Wheels (or Hot Cars, as he says) and Legos and makes us laugh with his totally unexpected thoughts on life. We weren't able to bring DS with us for this trip, but we definitely plan to take a family vacation out that way in a few years.

 

[GenevieveRaqs]

We entered Fantasyland through the castle, as one should. Seeing the Sleeping Beauty dioramas was on my priority list--it's such a small thing, but those quaint, almost old-fashioned details are what make Disney in general (and Disneyland specifically) so appealing to me. We saw a sign inside the castle that said Enchanted Chamber, but the door seemed very much closed. Oh, surely the inside chambers aren't closed?! After trying half a dozen locked doors (wonder where all of those go...) we finally realized the entry was at the back of the castle. And the walkthrough was just as enchanting as I had hoped.

Since it was right there and there was no wait, we hopped on Pinocchio, a charming, classic dark ride based on a movie that terrified me as a child!

Breakfast was feeling like a long, long time ago by now, so we stopped for popcorn. I've seen Disers rave about how great Disney popcorn is and, frankly, I didn't get it. The last time I had popcorn at WDW, I thought it was just okay, nothing special. So I don't know if it was because DL popcorn is different, if it was fresher because it was early in the day or if we were just that starving, but it was delicious!

We were headed for the Matterhorn but decided to detour to iasw so we could finish up our snack. I know it gets a bad wrap, but I love Small World! I knew the DL version was different, but I didn't realize quite HOW different the scenes were. I'm ultimately glad WDW didn't add the characters, but we enjoyed spotting them on the DL version. And I thought the moving postcards in the finale scene were much better than our stationary "goodbye" signs.

And then it was off to the Matterhorn. I remember watching little Disney Channel segments about this ride as a kid. It's just one of those DL icons--we couldn't possibly NOT ride. But it took some convincing for DH. Like I said, he's a tall guy. He won't ride SM at WDW anymore because the seats are just so uncomfortable for him, and since the Matterhorn bobsleds are essentially the same, we were a little worried. But we hopped in the single rider line and hoped for the best. DH got on the train before mine, so I caught his eye and asked if he was okay. He had time to give me a thumbs up before they were off. Man, that is a rough ride! It was fun, and I'm glad I did it, but I'm not sure I'd want to do it again!

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I'm in! My kids and I just did a day each in DL and DCA July 4th weekend. The crowds were suprisingly light that week. I was going to try to do both parks in just one day but chickened out. I can't wait to see how you guys did it. Did you make it back over to RSR?