I always sightly roll my eyes at all the crazy Disney fanatic people out there, but I get it now. It's just such a happy place! It instantly makes you feel like a little kid again and it truly does feel so magical.
I've only been twice before. Once when I was 5, and then once when I was 18. We didn't go that often growing up, but this time makes experience number 3 and I loved every minute of our 16 hour Disneyland day! Yeah... we stayed in the park 16 hours, but it still felt like it flew by!
We got to Disneyland about 40 minutes before it opened so we were near the front of the lines at the gate to get in. When they opened the gates, we decided to head to Space Mountain first since we figured that would only get busier as the day went on. As we were walking there, all the characters were out waving to everyone as we walked by; it was the cutest thing! Eeyore actually really startled me because I was walking along some hedges looking past at fairy godmother waving to Jeremy + I when I realized Eeyore was standing just on the other side of the hedges looking right at us. He was literally like 3 feet from me and I didn't see him until he shifted a little! It made me super laugh at the idea of Eeyore just hiding behind some hedges watching everybody walk by. I said "Oh, hi!" to him in a way too high pitch of a voice because he really startled me!
We got super lucky with an overcast, pleasant day! All my memories of amusement parks usually involve being super hot all day, so it was nice to actually wear my sweater for a good part of the day! We planned to put them in the lockers when it got hot and get them for the fireworks, but we ended up needing them more than we thought we would.
I'm
such a fan of these Dole Whip Floats! Oh man, that was the most
refreshing, yummy, mid-day treat! I could seriously have one of those
everyday and not get sick of them! Thanks to the suggestion of some of
my friends, Jeremy and I bought Maxpass with our tickets and let me tell
you, that was the best decision we made! It's only $10 extra and lets
you cut in front of all the big lines! I don't know why everyone doesn't
just buy them? They must not know about them. Every time we waltzed
right by a huge line I kept telling Jeremy I would have totally paid $10
each ride to not have to wait! It really was so worth it.
Some of my FAVORITE moments of the day:
- Space Mountain! We rode it twice and it was so fun!
- Seeing all the characters wave to everyone as we all entered the gates in the morning.
- Indiana Jones- that ride is so fun and just designed so well!
- My Mickey Mouse pretzel and cheese. Yum!
- Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room. What a cute little bunch of birds!
- Jungle Cruise- our boat captain was so un-enthused by her job and did not deliver her lines with much pizazz and it made me laugh.
- Fantasmic! Thanks to a really sweet employee, he saw us leaning against the walkway rail trying to figure out where we could watch the show when he told us he could get us under the rope to the VIP viewing area if we wanted. He was such a kind older man and a real lifesaver in that moment. More on that later.*
- The fireworks! We ran over right before they started (because we watched Fantasmic) and another super nice employee helped us find a nice spot to watch.They really start to herd you around like cattle during those busy moments and that stresses me out.
- It's A Small World. I absolutely loved it when I was little and still love it now. I didn't realize how long it was though! It really makes me appreciate my family even more for going on it so many times when I was 5! Such a catchy little song. :)
- Storybook Land. What a cute little water ride! I love any type of boat ride really, but especially when there's cute Disney stories involved.
- Getting pizza at Pizza Planet from Toy Story! It's expensive and doesn't fill you up at all, but it was fun.
- Riding Matterhorn early when there was still a perfect crisp chill in the air and no line!
- Haunted Mansion, that ride is so fun!
- The train ride around the park. It was a perfect way to rest and see all the sights. I always love the train rides at amusement parks. That's one of my favorite things at Lagoon actually!
- Walking up to the gates in the morning with the different Disney songs playing over the speakers. That was the perfect way to set the mood for the day!
*Back to that moment above, I don't consider myself an anxious person in the least bit but I do have weird moments that sneak up on me sometimes. I
I
was on the verge of a weird anxious moment when we were looking for
somewhere to stand/sit for Fantasmic because the parade earlier
consisted
of a lot of rude Disney employees telling us we had to move, couldn't
stand where we were standing, had to keep walking, couldn't stop, keep
moving. Literally when we were so far out of the way from foot traffic
and the parade an employee still came up to us to say we couldn't stand
where we were standing. We seriously couldn't have been further out of
the way of everybody, but she still told us to move. I just wanted to eat my pretzel in peace! I didn't want another experience like that for Fantasmic so
that's why that older man was such a sweetheart to help us. Maybe he
could sense the anxiety? haha
I just really love the overall feeling in the air at Disneyland! It's just an entire day of being truly present in each moment, and feeling like your 5 year old self again! I love the characters, I love the amount of detail that goes into each ride, I love seeing the happiness on everyone's face, I love all the cute little ducklings following their mamas around the park (are there always that many ducklings?). I just love how fun it is! From the moment you're walking up to the gates with all the Disney music playing over the speakers, to the moment you leave so sleepy, and full, and truly content, it's just a magical place. :)
It was such a fun day and I can't wait to go back! We got there at 7:20a.m. and didn't leave the park until about 10:50p.m. and I still feel like we didn't get to do everything! I tried to meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse twice back in their houses and each time they were gone! What the heck kind of errands do those two have to run? Next time, I'll figure out what times I should try to meet them. I also have never been to California Adventure and I want to go there soon! Pixar Pier is opening this June so maybe I'll go sometime this summer to explore that park!
I love Disneyland! I can't wait to go back!
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