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Disneyland Resort Anaheim, CA Weather: Sunny and warm days, cool nights Crowds: Light (for Disneyland) A disclaimer: I LOVE Disney. I suppose many coaster fans might scoff at such a claim. After all, what kind of thrill can you get from Peter Pan's Adventure? Now, if you ask me personally, anyone who doesn't enjoy Disney is a heartless, soulless bastard who has no concept of what true joy is. With that said, it's important to at least appreciate what Disney (the family and the company) has done for the entirety of the amusement industry. If nothing else, the amazing standards they have set for ride systems and coaster technology, design innovation, efficiency, cleanliness, friendliness and immersion make even the best parks seem sub-par. You may prefer the thrill rides somewhere else, but just keep in mind that a park like Islands of Adventure wouldn't exist if it weren't for Walt Disney. Considering all that - I'm not going to swoon much here, or at least not any more than Disneyland objectively deserves. As with all my trip reports, I hope to present an unbiased account of my visit. While you certainly won't get the same experience, hopefully there are a few tips or insights that you can use to your advantage when YOU visit. Ok, let's get to it! For you Disneyworld-centric people out there, a trip to Disneyland could NOT be more different. Yea, sure, west coast Mickey is as delightful as east coast Mickey - but the overall visit experiences are night and day. Anaheim is a real city, there is industry, manufacturing, and everyday people walking down the streets who AREN'T on vacation (suckers!). For someone who grew up vacationing in Orlando, this was quite a startling realization. The fact that Disneyland doesn't have 47 square miles of real estate to play with in southern California is the heart of this divergence. On the negative side, you're not nearly as removed from the real world as you are in Orlando. Cheap hotels and restaurants here far as the eye can see. Walt hated that. Don't get me wrong, he was a genius at getting you to escape the everyday, and the berm - both physical and psychological - that encloses the park is nearly impenetrable. From inside the park, you'll only really notice this on the top of the taller outdoor rides - Maliboomer most of all. Hopefully you'll be able to forget the actual world beyond the park perimeters, but it seems a little harder here than when you have billions of acres of flat, barren swampland surrounding you. You'll really notice it when you leave the park property. One step out of the gates and you're in the heart of a busy city. Seriously, try not to get hit by a car. This is big difference between the two properties. In Orlando, you may leave the Magic Kingdom, but you can enjoy weeks of vacation without stepping off Disney owned or operated land for a second. Of course, there are hotels at Disneyland, and you technically also never need to leave the property, but one - you're severely limited in your hotel options (three at Disneyland versus thirty-freaking-two at WDW), two - people besides J.D. Rockefeller can afford hotels at WDW, and three - you would probably never consider spending more than 3 or 4 days at a time vacationing at Disneyland. And that's the big anti-Disneyland argument, there isn't nearly as much to do. It's true. There isn't. You could spend 3-4 days and see pretty much everything the resort has to offer. Given that same task at Disney World, and you're talking weeks, not days. Look at me, bashing the heck out of this beloved resort. In case you haven't figured it out, these deficiencies are the very same reasons why Disneyland is so wonderful. First and foremost, everything is RIGHT THERE. No shuttle buses to get around, no monorail to get between parks, no 30+ minute commute every time you want to get anywhere else. Not only might your non-Disney hotel literally be across the street, it will cost a fraction of what you'd pay for the only slightly nicer official resort hotels. Competition is wonderful like that. Also easy on your wallet is the ability to see everything in a few days, no need for a $300+ 5 day park hopper. A 3 day pass at Disneyland is around half that. In short - in Anaheim you can enjoy the wonderfulness of Disney with great convenience, efficiency, and value. In order to maximize this advantage, we once again planned our trip for the second week in January. This off-peak visit means cheaper lodging rates, no crowds, and an opportunity to enjoy the warm southern California climate in the dead of winter. (Ok, so maybe the Bay Area doesn't really get cold, but still.) Anyone who intentionally plans a summer visit is insane. I'll trade one or two closed-for-rehab attractions for lines and crowds everywhere cut in half. Starting off what has become an annual trip to Disney, we set out on our 365 mile road trip from San Jose to Anaheim at about 2pm. With a wonderful In-n-Out Burger stop almost exactly halfway through in Kettleman City at 5:30pm, we were making great time. Through no small miracle we made it past all the craziness that is I-5 in LA and to our hotel at right around 8:30pm. Awesome. This would be a 4 night stay, arriving Friday night, enjoying the parks Sat, Sun, and Mon, and then on the road Tuesday morning. We stayed at the Anaheim Fairfield Inn. Not the Ritz, but decent enough considering we spent essentially zero hours awake there. At around $100 a night, we were satisfied. The key feature of this hotel: it is across the street from the park - specifically Space Mountain: View Larger Map We were able to enjoy the fireworks from the top floor balcony after we got settled in. So close they were setting off car alarms in the hotel parking lot. Day 1 Another nice feature was the in-hotel convenience store where we would grab breakfast goodies each day for a few bucks. Saved money and time not having to find a croissant in the park. With pastries and juices in hand we were out the door around 7am. Why the god-awful hour? Magic Mornings, of course. Buying a 3+ day pass gets even non-resort guests into the parks an hour early on certain days. A 3 day pass gets you one early entry, and since we knew we'd have zero energy to get up so early on day two or three, we were thrilled our fun would start an hour early right away. Only certain attractions are open for this extra time - most of Fantasyland and both Matterhorn and Space Mountains. The plan was to hit a mountain or two, and then check out how many people were queuing up for Finding Nemo. We had no intention to stand in what was up to a 3-4 hour wait for this new attraction, so we were willing to use 30 minutes of our "extra" time waiting around until it opened with the rest of the park. The magic started right away. I don't know if it was because of the Million Dreams thing, or because of the genius of Disney, or just common sense, but here is my interaction with the series of cast members guiding us into the park. Cast Members: Right this way to Finding Nemo. Me: What? It's open?!? Cast Members: It sure is. Right this way. Me: Holy shit! Cast Members: Enjoy! Bam, at LEAST two hours saved. We made the trip back to the lagoon and threaded through the empty queue. The gratefulness of guests was palpable, even in the off-season wait times were stacking up from 90-120 minutes, more on a Saturday (which this was). Thanks to a brisk walk we were the second party on the very first sub of the day. Awesome. The anticipation of a new E-ticket attraction plus the charm of that Nemo movie really added to the excitement. I had the vaguest memories of the 20,000 Leagues attraction from WDW in the 80s, so it was a thrill to be back in subs! The ride itself was cute and fun, though not mind-blowing. Fortunately early reviews had described it as such, so our expectations were not super-high. Either way, it was definitely a fun experience and a perfect way to start the vacation. With only 15 minutes of our magic hour gone by, we had to adjust our plan by cramming in a bunch more rides. Matterhorn is Nemo-adjacent, so we walked on. We overheard the couple ahead of us ask for "two singles" and watched them comfortably climb into their separate seats. If you just say you have two people, they will cram you into one "seat". We followed suit and found ourselves gleefully avoiding some moderate bumps and bruises from this aging coaster thanks to the extra room. Yes, it's gotten rough. No, they're not going to remove it. Quick visit to Tomorrowland had us walking onto Space Mountain. The rehab has done this ride wonders. The line (if there had been one) absolutely flies, the quickest I've ever seen single station operation go. The effects are good, though I didn't consider them lacking in years past. My only complaint would be the number of flat block sections. Obviously to get the high capacity you need these brake platforms, but I think they throw off the ride pace. It's like drop, turn, flat, turn, drop, flat, spin, hill, flat. Fortunately there are no such sections at the high(er)-G finale giving this ride a top-notch finish. Overall, puts the Orlando version to shame. When the camera flash at the end interrupts the 3 minutes of pitch-black, you have no idea which way is up (and your picture will prove that). I'm glad to see the "Rockin" theming/soundtrack from last year gone. The new on-ride music is terrific, reminiscent of the great Incredibles theme. Try to resist the urge to clap along. We headed back towards the hub and hopped on Buzz Lightyear. It’s an interactive shooting ride, but this one has much better theming and design. It's not just 2D painted characters that you find in most Sally dark rides. Buzz and those weird green aliens are really there, and interactive. You totally get to stick it to Zorg at the end, too. Now granted, I am historically pathetic at these rides, but I am at least able to beat a girl. Sorry babe, but it's nice to not get my ass kicked every time. Totally passing by an open Star Tours, we figured our time would be better spent in Fantasyland for the few minutes before the park opened. We went on Snow White, Pinocchio, and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride in short order, walking on each. Nothing overwhelming here, just classic Disney at it's best. The park had just opened so we hopped in line for this land's marquee attraction, Peter Pan's Flight. Instead of walk-on, we had to settle for a 5 minute wait. Lame. Another wonderful ride - I love the flight over London. With most of the east side of the park done, we kept going around the back to Frontierland. People must not know about this shortcut, because the path from just next to Casey's Circus Train right to Thunder Mountain is almost always empty. Not quite a walk-on, but close - and we were on the wildest ride in the wilderness. This one brings back a lot of memories, my first ever coaster ride was on the Florida version. An exciting ride plus unmatched theming plus some really campy fake animals makes Thunder Mountain the ultimate mine ride. Only down side - no goat! Its hilarious braying can usually be heard right when you come off the second lift, but the entire thing was gone. Apparently the southern California sun had taken a toll on its fur coat and it was being repaired. Sad, but understandable. No surprise, Pirates was next. The somewhat recent improvements seem to have added a good bit more excitement to this ride. The new Captain Jack animatronic figures are amazingly lifelike. Always a great ride, we walked on and floated through the bayou and dropped into the ride. More good-old Disney fun here. Watch out though, I caught one of those "cannon ball" air blasts upside my head and was surprised by how much force it had. Also, outer seats are prone to some water spritzes, again more than you might expect. Once more, Florida's version doesn't match up. Back out onto the New Orleans Square streets we zipped through a few stores, but figured we'd have more time to window shop when the park wasn't still completely empty. Trying to avoid the surge of incoming visitors, we headed to Splash Mountain. A little background here. I LOVE this ride. Best Disney ride, hands down. (Well, technically the Florida version is better, the original here has some shortcomings). Essentially, not everyone feels the same way. After last year's dampness debacle, only immediate McDonald's french fries (and my sweater used as a towel) got certain people speaking to me again. The mistake, I claimed, was that we sat in the front. It's single file here (as opposed to 2-across in WDW) so the head of the log takes the brunt of the - no pun intended - splash. Using this knowledge, plus some "I don't care, I'll go on it without you", we settled into the very back of the log after a 2 minute wait. The ride itself was wonderful. The ultimate combination of storytelling and Disney thrills. No need for the play-by-play here: ride it, live it, love it. The key concern here was the wetness factor. Too wet, and I might be sleeping on the floor. But dry, I might get to go on it again! Looks like the universe had something up its sleeve, as it's wont to do at times. As it turns out, the "first wave" splash is almost nothing back there. But watch out, the second-wave "over the side" is huge in the very last seat. That was me. Anything touching the seat will get soaked, and seeing as I was sitting down, it was a certain portion of my person. Whatever, karma, revenge, I don't care. It was worth it. Since it's right there, and we had never been on it, Winnie the Pooh was next. Definitely an up-to-date incarnation of the typical kids dark ride, I was slightly impressed considering my pathetically low expectations. Worth a spin, and I might even go on it next visit. With the highlights of Frontierland all but experienced (minus a down-for-maintenance Haunted Mansion), we were off the face the crowds in Adventureland. By this time most of the guests had worked their way past Main Street and were starting their loops. Finally, it was time for a fastpass. Not that we really needed one, but since we were going to stick around in the area for a bit, it made sense - get a pass for the marquee attraction, go on the low profile rides nearby, then jump the line when it's time. We grabbed passes for Indiana Jones, and took a spin on the Jungle Cruise. Gotta love the awful jokes and deadpan delivery of the "drivers". Probably the best original ride still running. Since our fastpass time window started in 15 minutes, and both the wait and the ride on Jungle Cruise was just about that, we queued up for Indiana Jones. Now if there's no "outdoor" wait for this one, the fastpass doesn't save you anything. It's a little quirky that way, I think you're better served on other attractions (Thunder Mountain and most of the big rides in California Adventure, specifically). Either way, we probably waited a good 15 minutes - and in Indiana Jones you need at least that long to soak up the unbelievable craftsmanship of the queue. Terrific ride, unique if not thrilling. A little worn down from a hectic morning, we took a rest waiting for the next Tiki Room showing. This has got to be the best place to wait in line while sitting, and even enjoy the garden show. I almost hate to admit it, but this was my FIRST time enjoying this attraction. I suppose it wasn't the most appealing experience if you're looking for a thrill ride, as I usually tried to do, but I couldn't call myself a Disney fan without experiencing first hand. Kinda fun, kinda cheesy, definitely outdated, but a must-see for any visit. A nice way to take a load off and still enjoy an attraction. It was finally time for our first in-park meal. As much as we love Disney, we love eating, so a lot of excitement about the visit was to enjoy some of the nicer restaurants in the parks. We didn't really start that right away with lunch. We figured we'd head back to Tomorrowland to finish what we missed on our morning loop. Another recent Disney-related development was that I had gotten a Disney Visa, which not only accrues points to earn Disney Dollars, it also gets you some decent in-park discounts. To take advantage of this, we headed to Pizza Port, just to the left of the Space Mountain entrance - after grabbing a fastpass for it of course. There's the pizza, plus pasta and other generic Italian dishes. We split a spaghetti with spicy meat sauce and a giant soda. The portions were big enough to split, so the $14 total was reasonable for two people. A word of warning, I made the mistake of assuming the discount would either be automatic or the cashier would know to include it. Neither were true, we had to call over a manager to void and rerun my card when I noticed I didn't get the discount. It's only a couple bucks, I know, but it was the principle of the thing. As we were finishing up, Honey, I Shrunk the Audience was about to start. They wouldn't let me bring my soda in, but the attendant was sure to give me a countdown of how many minutes I had so there was no need to rush. Ha, imagine a ride attendant at Six Flags doing that! It's one of those "meh" attractions that seemed to pop up throughout the 90s, but worth it considering we timed it perfectly - no wait. Next we used our fastpass for Space Mountain, and took a spin on the Monorail. I had never noticed how different the monorail is here. First, it's MUCH smaller, it's full of seats, and it's "in" the ticketed system (i.e., you have to have used a ticket to enter the park or the Downtown Disney station to ride). I suppose it make sense, here the Monorail is essentially a ride, though it does make the one stop. In Orlando, the Monorail is a significant mass transportation system. You NEED it to get to the Magic Kingdom, and it serves a number of hotels plus EPCOT. No such utility here, and it's pretty evident as it makes a long series of turns touring Tomorrowland on the return trip. The only marquee attraction we hadn't hit yet was the nearby It's a Small World - all decked out in its holiday garb. The seasonal treatment is pretty extensive, even mixing in holiday carols to the usual theme. A nice diversion, though many people swear by this ride. Toontown was nearby, so we went to hit up Roger Rabbit's Spin, a great update on the dark ride, mixing in the self-spin fun of the teacups. We were disappointed to find it down, but it was up again after a quick loop around the fake block. We had to withstand our longest wait so far - a solid 20 minutes. Lots of fun, easily worth it. Figuring we had seen the highlights and it wasn't even the halfway point of the 9am-11pm day, we headed to the front of the park to get to California Adventure. We caught the train from Toontown to Main Street, saving what is actually quite a long walk. Also, this is the leg of the journey where you get to enjoy the quirky nature caves - a series of 3D murals with animatronics used originally for the NY World's Fair in the 60s. Disney Imagineering at its inception. Since we were right there, we decided to catch the 3:30pm Parade of Dreams...uh, parade. There were a few minutes to kill, so we stepped into the Main Street Cinema. This mostly-overlooked attraction has a series of screens playing old, silent Mickey Mouse cartoons along side Steamboat Willie, the one that made Walt and Roy famous. I definitely recommend people stick their head in here if they've never seen it. It's a great reminder of how it all started. The parade itself came and went, surely wonderful for kids of all ages, though not a highlight for me. The parade I love doesn't come out during the day. (hint, hint) Out the front and across the promenade over to California Adventure we went. Say what you want about this park: too small, too generic, too few rides. Fine, when you compare it to Disneyland, those things are certainly true. Compared to almost any other park though, it has so much more to offer. I really love how it highlights the diversity of California, from the beach to the mountains, from Hollywood to the Bay Area - I think it does a wonderful job of capturing how impressive the state really is. It makes me sad for those of you who don't live here. There is NO better ride that gets this across than Soarin' Over California. While it has a different theming treatment than the Florida version (an homage to the history of aviation in California, as opposed to lots of neon lights at EPCOT), the ride is exactly the same. Here's the kicker though - the VAST majority of those riding Soarin' in Orlando have no idea that each and every scene in the film is from California. Yea, it's awesome here. State preferences aside, the ride is simply top-notch. Its simple premise - to recreate the sensation of flying - is executed boldly: hang-glider like vehicles with smooth simulator effects, a ginormous screen, a sweeping score, and even context-specific scents pumped in to seal the deal. This ride will give even the most staunch Disney-hater chills. The ride is really in a class by itself. On the other end of the spectrum, and the other side of the park, is the Tower of Terror. This copy from Orlando is a somewhat abridged version, but still manages to get the job done. Again, the premise is simple: you are on an elevator and you're going to plummet to your death - all thanks to the Twilight Zone. The theming is terrific, creepier than the Haunted Mansion even without the stretching room. Our wait time was about 15 minutes, but this ride is easily worth 3 times that. Maybe not the most gut-wrenching thrill ride, especially if you've come straight from Magic Mountain, but it's one of the rides I point to when people say that Disney doesn't know how to do thrills. The best example of thrills I can point to was up next, California Screamin'. This is what happens when Disney does thrill rides - anything you lose in overwhelming intensity they make up for with overall quality and execution. After the 10 minute wait we pulled down our shoulder harnesses, and that would be the last time we would notice them. Out of the station with great on-ride musical fanfare, around the bend and stopped on the launch zone. As the "tick-tock" of the score ramps up, you are launched. Hills, curves, a vertical loop and a great bunny hop into helix finale, and you are stunned a coaster this intense could be so smooth. Ask to wait in the front when you get to the Cast Member at the bottom of the station stairs. As you're wiping the tears from your eyes, you'll be glad you waited the extra 3 minutes. To step up meal-wise from lunch, we headed over to the Pacific Wharf. It's got a pretty generic seating area, but the food is quite good, and it's known for awesome bread. I recommend any of the sourdough soup or chili bread bowls. Who doesn't love eating the container your meal came in? After dinner was a visit to the wine bar - another unique feature thankyouverymuch California. Here we had an even more relaxing drink after the quick dinner. We took our wine and staked out a bench for the main event - the Electrical Parade. I don't need to go into how much this parade means to me, suffice it to say it pretty much encapsulates all the childlike wonderment and nostalgia I have towards Disney. And that's a lot. It was like stepping back in time, even if it wasn't on Main Street. It had gotten much cooler since dusk, so we walked back to our hotel to grab some extra layers, both to keep us warm for the evening and for sitting. That's right, we were SPENT. We found all we could do was sit and wait for the nighttime fun, first waiting 30 minutes for the fireworks at 9:00pm and then 45 minutes for Fantasmic at 10:30pm. Needless to say we had prime seats for both, but a more efficient guest would have used that time to hit a ride or two and still manage a decent view. No only was there no need for us to try that, we wouldn't have been able to physically do it. These were the "Remember, Dreams Do Come True" fireworks, assuming they change and re-theme them from time to time. All I know is they were amazing. 35 minutes of impressive pyrotechnics timed to great music from all around Disneyland. You'll feel the heat from the flames during Indiana Jones, stretch your neck as though you were looking at paintings in the Haunted Mansion, and generally be in awe that they do this almost every night. The rush to get from the fireworks to the late showing of Fantasmic was messy, as the early showing had just let out before the fireworks started. We found our spot, sat for a while and tried to stay awake. Once again, I am embarrassed to say that this is another Disney first for me, as Fantasmic has been a rite-of-passage experience for a new generation of impressionable customers. Not quite the same grandeur as the fireworks, though still one of the most unique park shows you'll ever see. Definitely still a must-see, and even if you only see it the once, the theme song will stick with you. That let out about 5 minutes before closing, and we found ourselves right in front of Pirates. Having felt a bit lame from our laziness since dinner (4 hours and NO rides), we gave it another ride, and found it to be nice and warm. A very soothing way to end the day. Needless to say, we had no trouble sleeping that night. As tired as you are from just reading this, keep in mind we DID it. (Not that we're complaining!) Day 2 We started much later, no need to rush the gates early, as we were scheduled for a 9:30am tour. We had booked the "Walk in Walt's Footsteps" (a.k.a. Wiwf) tour a few months earlier (which included a 20% discount - thanks Visa!) and were looking forward to the behind-the-scenes-experience. We started at the base on Main Street, introduced ourselves and talked about Disneyland's early days as we went into the museum of the First 50 Years theater. It was a nice guided tour through it, even though it was stuff we had seen before. We made our way up Main Street, listening to sound clips as our tour guide Wendy regaled us with a ton of history. It was great to hear this stuff while in the park, but it was nothing new to us. For example, forced perspective, the names on the windows being the credits, the horrible opening day. We stopped back in the Main Street Cinema as Wendy talked about what a pioneer Walt Disney was. Again, interesting, but nothing new. We strolled through most of the park, getting the highlights of each land. There was a stop in the lobby of Club 33, which is apparently a big damn deal. We got to jump on Jungle Cruise and Tiki Room to experience some original attractions, and even got an up close look at some of the workings of the characters in the Tiki Room. That was the only backstage stuff we'd see though. At the end of the 3 hours, we took the train back, and did get to sit in the caboose. Lunch was included as we ate sandwiches and chatted with some of the tour guides. We finally got to hear some interesting stuff there, as they were finally off the script. Overall, it was interesting, but hardly an overwhelming experience. It was definitely worth doing, but next time we'd like a something more in-depth and behind-the-scenes. Since we were so close to the front, we figured we'd make our daily visit to California Adventure. It had warmed up a lot, and now was the best shot if we were going to go on the one main attraction of DCA that we hadn't tried, Grizzly River Run (or the aptly abbreviated, GRR). After the glass of wine, we grabbed a fastpass for it and headed back to Soarin' to "kill time". After the 25 minutes for the wait and ride, we headed back over to GRR. Considering our previous concern for being wet, we made the amazingly intelligent decision to purchase two plastic ponchos. Sure, I looked like a fool as I struggled to put it on in the fastpass line, but there was almost no time as we walked right on. As soon as we sat in our raft, one of our fellow passengers remarked, "Oooh, you're smart!". Damn right we're smart. This ride is nuts - a raft ride on steroids. A huge lift, amazing theming, and an ass-load of water everywhere. It's not a question of 'may', you WILL get soaked. There's even a drop - A DROP on raft ride - that guarantees this. Now my chintzy poncho had torn thanks to me trying to fit every square inch of my body in it (no one likes wet socks!), but it was still the smartest $15 I ever spent. After drying what few spots were wet sitting in the sun with some more wine, we thought it smart to continue to take it easy. We enjoyed the 4D theater attractions It's Tough to be a Bug, and the Muppets something-or-other. Nice diversions, better than Honey I Shrunk..., but there's only so much you can do with 4D, right? Sadly, we walked past Monsters, Inc. which was down for a rehab. That one was the biggest surprise of last year's visit - did not expect to enjoy that as much as we did! We grabbed a fastpass for Tower of Terror and hopped in the newly forming line for the Aladdin Stage Spectacular. A word of warning, if you want to queue up early to get a good seat, be forewarned, you have to stand - for a long time. Something about the fire code? Who knows. That was a pain, but we survived and had nice seats, front and center of the second tier of orchestra seats. Now we had heard some high praise for this thing - even phrases like "Broadway quality", so expectations were high. Let me just say, I grew up going to Manhattan and going to Broadway musicals. This was NOT up to that level. This was, however, really, really good. Everyone loves Aladdin, and this 45 minute stage adaptation was done very well. Highly recommended. Right out of the theater we used our fastpasses for Tower of Terror, bypassing the now swelling standby line. Tonight we had dinner reservations for the high class Blue Bayou, so we headed back to Disneyland with time for a few attractions. Heading to Space Mountain, the line was too long (45 minutes? No freaking way), and the fastpass window was during dinner so we peeked our heads in Innoventions. More than a waste of time, it is a HUGE waste of space. There were a handful of exhibits about health and wellness, overall very uninspired. Most of it was closed off for the "House of Tomorrow" construction - though the question remains if that will really address the lameness. Still with some time before our reservation, we got back on track with Thunder Mountain. Nice to get back on one of the mountains, even with the Feeling somewhat brave, we took an early evening ride on Splash Mountain. It's amazing how much the wait time drops once the sun goes down. Fortunately the temperature had only dropped into the 60s, but the wait time had dropped under 10 minutes. We timed our plan of attack for the fireworks much better this time, a much shorter "wait" holding a spot (10 minutes), and only a slightly less good view. The only problem was that they were cancelled, thanks to "winds at higher altitudes". Stupid weather. Realizing a huge swath of people was about to disband, we hustled over to Matterhorn before the line grew. As we expected, a walk on. We weren't so lucky next door at Alice in Wonderland. Somehow we managed to forget this ride the morning before, and to pay for it we had to wait, about 20 minutes or so. Still totally worth it, it's easily my favorite Fastasyland ride. With the evening winding down, we decided on Space Mountain, got the token ride on Star Tours, and found a manageable 25 minute wait for Finding Nemo. Another nice end to another busy day. Day 3 The morning started in California Adventure, as you can really get through the entire park in a couple of hours if you go there first thing (especially on a weekday!) but starting there early in the vacation is anticlimactic. Like usual, we started on Soarin'. Since there was no one there, I was ok to go on all the generic rides people complain about at DCA. There was Mulholland Madness (run-of-the-mill Wild Mouse coaster), Maliboomer (your average Space Shot drop ride), and the Sun Wheel (a ferris wheel, but with unnecessarily terrifying sliding cars). We would usually complete the circle, but the area along the midway was closed due to Toy Story Mania construction. We reversed our direction, and even took a spin on the rarely operating Golden Zephyr. Strange to see this old fashion swing ride going - I guess there was the requisite no wind whatsoever. Realizing that our target attraction - California Screamin' - hadn't even opened yet (thanks, Intamin), we hit Tower of Terror one last time. To pass some time in the hopes that CS would come online, we took a walk through the Disney Animation building. There were some interesting cels and such, but the most interesting feature was the Toy Story Zoetrope, basically a 3D model using strobe lighting to create the illusion of movement. That was definitely worth the visit. With our fingers crossed we headed over to CS to check the progress, and it had just started running. We grabbed a fastpass before hoping on, and then cut the line for the second ride. If only other parks were this smart. Before leaving California Adventure for the last time, we enjoyed a wonderful brunch at the Wine Country Trattoria. With a champagne to start and a couple glasses over the meal, this turned out to be the most expensive meal of the visit, but it was the first time we really splurged. Back in Disneyland we figured we would make one last loop. We started at Space Mountain (awesome after a few glasses of wine!), and stopped by Buzz Lightyear, where the wine did not quite enhance my skills. Over to Indiana Jones, where we unfortunately encountered our longest wait of the visit - it was at LEAST 30 minutes. Still a bit before dark, I ran up to Splash Mountain to grab a pair of fastpasses, and we waited for our window with a Dole Whip from next to the Tiki Room and a final ride on Pirates. Good thing we got that fastpass, the wait for Splash Mountain was the longest we had seen it - at the base of the first set of the stairs, so at least 30 minutes. Oh, and I finally figured it out - ask the cast member to NOT sit in the front, and if you are stuck in the last row, lift yourself off of the seat for about 5 seconds at the bottom of the big drop. Pretty dry all around, save for some minor mist. As a lark we hopped on the Sailing Ship Columbia, if only because it was loading right in front of us. This was another Disney first for me. I can see how this would be cool in 1955, but I wasn't too impressed. We figured we'd hit Thunder Mountain right across the way, but so apparently did everyone else on the boat. With a little pushing and shoving we were toward the front when we came to shore, the wait for Thunder Mountain was only about 15 minutes. We took our secret trail around the back towards Fantasyland, and enjoyed Alice in Wonderland with a similar wait. I guess this is just as popular as Peter Pan - both never seem to be without some sort of wait. We worked our way back to Small World and enjoyed the ride on its last day before an extended rehab - so long in fact that they're just going to leave the holiday theming up. At this point we realized we had completely skipped the First 50 Years at the very front of the park. Not a high priority for most, I'm sure, but we do love the Disneyland history so. Dinner reservations were at 8pm, but all the way over at the Paradise Pier Hotel on the far side of Downtown Disney. We had about 30 minutes to go, but we could NOT end the visit with a show. We dragged ourselves for one last spin on Thunder Mountain, following by the last ride on (what else?), Space Mountain. So much freaking fun. With but a scant 5 minutes before dinner, we schlepped back out of the park trying not to think how sad we now were. The walk kept us distracted, as the hotel is in the back corner behind California Adventure - and we had to go around. We eventually made it, passed through the surprisingly disappointing lobby (for a $250 a night hotel, anyway) for a peak, and then found Yamabuki, a Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar. With a couple Sapporos and an assortment of sushi we reminisced about what a fun trip it had been, and were sure to continue the "mental berm" of not thinking about the real world until we left for home. Unfortunately, that was the next day. There was no rush to get home, so we strolled out around 10am, and made a lunch stop in Glendale to meet a friend. We were back in the Bay Area before 6pm, and painfully back at work the next morning. Don't worry, I busied myself by looking into planning next year's visit. And there's an update on that. Next year's visit is going to be to Orlando. No, I'm not a hypocrite, it has just been too long since we have been there. It will be 10 years since my last visit to Walt Disney World. In fact, I will have been to Disneyland twice, and Disneyland Paris THREE TIMES since my last visit to Disney World. Unacceptable. Oh, and to hold us over until next January, we'll be making that last visit to Disneyland Paris this summer. Yikes, to think I haven't been there in 5 years. Keep an eye out for that trip report in a few months. I guarantee it will be shorter... Back to Trip Reports
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