Newbie survives Disneyland!
I posted several weeks ago about our visit to Disneyland during the opening of Carsland. We only planned to do Disney for two days, on the 14th and 15th of June. Well, I am back to say our trip was a huge success and all my planning worked out very well! Several reviewers kindly suggested that we try to change the dates or add more days, but that wasnt possible in our budget or for our trip plans plus, two days at Disneyland was perfect for our family.
Heres a rundown:
Our party included my husband, myself and our three kids (ages 4, 6, 9). I was very stressed about our trip because CA would be closed on the 14th and the 15th was the opening of Carsland and we all know how hyped it was on the boards and how big of a crowd opening day would involve. Because we only had two day-one park tickets, we didnt have access to early morning entry, so that posed another problem.
With my heart nearly pounding out of my chest, we lined up outside the gates on the 14th. We were the first in line. Once they started taking our tickets, we made a bee-line to Adventureland. I had my turning plan in hand, thanks to The Unofficial Guide online (paid for the online subscription for a personalized plan $6 for one year). Once in Adventureland, we realized we were the first people in there or at least it seemed. We rode our first ride, the Haunted House, with only two other people. Did Splash Mountain next empty car, after empty car, we even had the option to not even get off and ride again. We wore our ponchos so no one got wet that early in the morning. We proceeded into the rest of our touring plan and had success everywhere we went!!!
Both days of our visit went pretty seamless! We waited in line no longer than 10 minutes for any ride and over the course of the two days; we did almost every single ride (some of them twice). We used our fast passes as advised. Took our 3 hour break mid-afternoon for naps and swimming. We arrived at the park gates both days at 7:00 am and left around 9:30 pm. Our kids were troopers and made it so much fun!
Two days to visit Disneyland was ample for our family. Our kids told us that they honestly didnt think they could do another day even if we had tickets for another day. They were pretty wore out and felt like they had done everything they could have possibly wanted to do.
Things well remember forever
Took advice from this board about how to get our kids picked for Jedi Training, and they got picked!
Daughter wore Chip and Dale shirt to parade and Chip and Dale were so stinkin excited to see her shirt they ran over and hugged her, nearly lifting her off the ground.
Splash Mountain broke down with us on the ride, right before the first drop. Next time attempting to ride it, made it to the very front of the line and they shut it down due to some riders getting a random rash and they had to send in one of Disneys medics to check them out and had to do a thorough investigation of the ride. Bummer we had to leave the ride again!
Sat in the front and center of Billy and the Hillbillies and the main Billy character noticed our son was missing his two front teeth and proceeded to offer him his (the fake, funky teeth he wears for the show) and made him part of the show for several minutes, until son was in tears. Whoops! It was pretty cool to be part of the show though. LOL!
Overall, very great visit to Disneyland. We are planning our next trip in three years, where we plan to get a 4 day pass and see Carsland!
I posted several weeks ago about our visit to Disneyland during the opening of Carsland. We only planned to do Disney for two days, on the 14th and 15th of June. Well, I am back to say our trip was a huge success and all my planning worked out very well! Several reviewers kindly suggested that we try to change the dates or add more days, but that wasnt possible in our budget or for our trip plans plus, two days at Disneyland was perfect for our family.
Heres a rundown:
Our party included my husband, myself and our three kids (ages 4, 6, 9). I was very stressed about our trip because CA would be closed on the 14th and the 15th was the opening of Carsland and we all know how hyped it was on the boards and how big of a crowd opening day would involve. Because we only had two day-one park tickets, we didnt have access to early morning entry, so that posed another problem.
With my heart nearly pounding out of my chest, we lined up outside the gates on the 14th. We were the first in line. Once they started taking our tickets, we made a bee-line to Adventureland. I had my turning plan in hand, thanks to The Unofficial Guide online (paid for the online subscription for a personalized plan $6 for one year). Once in Adventureland, we realized we were the first people in there or at least it seemed. We rode our first ride, the Haunted House, with only two other people. Did Splash Mountain next empty car, after empty car, we even had the option to not even get off and ride again. We wore our ponchos so no one got wet that early in the morning. We proceeded into the rest of our touring plan and had success everywhere we went!!!
Both days of our visit went pretty seamless! We waited in line no longer than 10 minutes for any ride and over the course of the two days; we did almost every single ride (some of them twice). We used our fast passes as advised. Took our 3 hour break mid-afternoon for naps and swimming. We arrived at the park gates both days at 7:00 am and left around 9:30 pm. Our kids were troopers and made it so much fun!
Two days to visit Disneyland was ample for our family. Our kids told us that they honestly didnt think they could do another day even if we had tickets for another day. They were pretty wore out and felt like they had done everything they could have possibly wanted to do.
Things well remember forever
Took advice from this board about how to get our kids picked for Jedi Training, and they got picked!
Daughter wore Chip and Dale shirt to parade and Chip and Dale were so stinkin excited to see her shirt they ran over and hugged her, nearly lifting her off the ground.
Splash Mountain broke down with us on the ride, right before the first drop. Next time attempting to ride it, made it to the very front of the line and they shut it down due to some riders getting a random rash and they had to send in one of Disneys medics to check them out and had to do a thorough investigation of the ride. Bummer we had to leave the ride again!
Sat in the front and center of Billy and the Hillbillies and the main Billy character noticed our son was missing his two front teeth and proceeded to offer him his (the fake, funky teeth he wears for the show) and made him part of the show for several minutes, until son was in tears. Whoops! It was pretty cool to be part of the show though. LOL!
Overall, very great visit to Disneyland. We are planning our next trip in three years, where we plan to get a 4 day pass and see Carsland!
