Today I finally visited Disneyland for the first time in my life.
I started the morning a bit later than I wanted to, I got a quick breakfast in the lounge in the hotel, English muffin breakfast sandwich with eggs, bacon and some cheese. I also had a small strawberry yogurt.
I walked about one mile from the hotel to the entrance of Disneyland. I left the hotel at about 7:15 AM.
Since the park opened at 8:00 AM I walked briskly as I didn’t know how long the queue would be for the bag check or the entrance.
The bag check line wasn’t too long, but they did ask me questions about my GoPro handle (no, it doesn’t extend) and the DJI batteries for my drone (no I didn’t bring the drone with me, you can’t fly within 5 miles of Disneyland and I only was using them to keep my phone charged).
The queue to enter the park wasn’t too long either. They zapped my barcode on my phone and gave me a physical ticket.
I walked down Main Street USA to the entrance of Tomorrowland. This is where they had a rope set up until 8:00 AM. Hotel guests could enter at 7:30 AM. There wasn’t a very large crowd and I only needed to wait about 10 minutes until the rope drop. If I gotten there earlier I could have taken some more photos before reaching this point as it wasn’t possible to take any rides until 8:00 AM. If you are only after the rides there is no point in arriving so early as you can’t do much until 8:00 AM anyways.
Rather than running to Star Wars Rise of the Resistance (which no longer has a virtual queue) I decided to go on Star Tours which is in Tomorrowland and is essentially a flight simulator repurposed for a ride. Since I watched some information about the ride on Disney+ I knew there were multiple versions, so I was able to ride it about three times very quickly and saw three different versions.
My next stop was across the street to Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. There was literally no line for this ride either.
I decided to take the submarine ride next which was changed from 1,000 Leagues Under the Sea to Finding Nemo. I particularly liked the seagulls on the buoy saying “mine mine mine mine mine…”. The coral was obviously synthetic with neon colors. I would have preferred natural coral. The scenes from Finding Nemo in the dark area were nice, but hard to photograph.
Next I drove the go kart on Autopia which had some interesting Honda sponsored decor – like the robot and their private jet.
I walked to It’s a Small World next. No queue here either, which is sad as it was in the World’s Fair in New York City before it was moved back to the park. I recorded a video while on the ride, but I am not sure if the copyright demons at Disney will let me post it on YouTube.
Before moving on I recorded the façade of It’s a Small World at 10:00 AM and the clock parade. It’s quite enjoyable and despite the Mouse having a Copyright claim to the sound of the clock parade they actually allow it to stay on YouTube.
I managed to ride a lot in a very short time (only two hours) so far, it was a pretty good day so far. I decided to go to the Star Wars area next.
I did Smuggler’s Run first, it was okay, but as the engineer (or a gunner) you didn’t really get to see much. All the buttons are on the side, so it is only decent if you are one of the pilots and looking forward. It probably would have been better if they had shared the controls so everyone was looking ahead (averaged the stick movements).
Next I stood in the long line (about an hour) for the Star Wars Rise of the Resistance. It has been really hyped, however I thought it was a bit overrated. It was neat to see all the stormtroopers, but the ride itself was a bit too bright. You could see the marks on the floors from the tires from the ride vehicles. It was interesting to see the damage from lightsabers and cannons. If you are going to Disneyland it is worth it to do it once, but I wouldn’t pay $20 per person for a Lightning Lane for it, nor would I stay in line for it more than once.
From here I went to the Jungle Cruise – one of the original park attractions. And yes I got to see the back side of water. It was pretty good for being engineered so many years ago. On the way there I passed by the Haunted Mansion and a huge wooden ship.
It was now 1:30 PM and I was now able to hop to the Disney California Adventure Park. I got one picture of the big pumpkin before leaving Magic Kingdom and the train.
The wait time for Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout was more than an hour, so I decided to go to the Spiderman ride first where you sling webs from your hands, it was actually pretty good, but exhausting.
After this ride it was slightly after 2:00 PM and they actually closed the Mission Breakout ride to change to the Halloween version at 3:00 PM, so I didn’t get to see the normal version.
I walked to the Cars land and got an expensive chili cone. It was not as large as I had hoped for, but it did actually taste pretty good.
I went to Luigi’s ride where there were dancing cars. I thought it was a bit childish, but it was still pretty good, especially the spin at the end. The ride vehicles were essentially identical to the ones used in Rise of the Resistance.
It was nearly 3:00 PM and since I didn’t want to waste time walking back and forth I decided to go to the Cars racers ride. I waited in the single rider lane for about 30 minutes before it broke down. After another 30 minutes of waiting they announced it would be another hour – and no lightning lane passes for anyone in the standby line. So my productivity dropped very significantly as I managed only two rides from 1:30 PM until 4:00 PM…
I walked towards Paradise Pier and was pleasantly surprised by the Ferris Wheel (aka Pixar Pal-A-Round), there were swinging gondolas. It was quite exhilarating, definitely recommended. They also close this ride for the World of Color show, so don’t wait until the end of the day.
From here I went to the Swinging Symphony, which was a whirling swing ride. I recorded a video with the GoPro while on the ride. It was actually pretty good as well. Watching the video makes me dizzy, dizzier than the actual ride.
Next stop was the Incredicoaster. I waited in the single rider lane which it was certainly not designed for, as they had us go up and down elevators to get to the ride platform.
The rollercoaster was great and even had a loop. It looks like a wooden coaster, but it is actually a modern steel coaster.
The Grizzly River Run water rapids ride had a short wait so I went there next. I got on really quick with a single rider pass (again not set up for this as I had to act like a Salmon and go through the exit with crowds of others leaving the ride). I didn’t get very wet the first time and it was fun so I did it a second time. The second time I got very wet and then I decided to move on.
The wait for the Guardians of the Galaxy (formerly the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror) was still a little more than an hour, so I got in that line. It was a Halloween theme and Rocket aka the Trash Panda had an animatronic telling us to scream and wave our arms when we see a monster to distract it from Groot. It was pretty comical. The ride was really one of the best with multiple ups and downs. Definitely worth it and much better than Rise of the Resistance. I would wait in line for this more than once.
From here I switched back to Disneyland. There were a couple of other must-do rides on my list. The next one was the Indiana Jones ride. It was the most violent (ride movement), but as just okay. I think the room with the large rolling rock wasn’t working.
The next stop was the Haunted Mansion. It had a temporary holiday display. It actually broke while I was on it and I was stuck on the ride for a few minutes. It did help me get a few photos.
I decided to go back to the Star Wars area to check out the decor. Unfortunately I was a few minutes late to get back in the queue for Rise of the Resistance.
I got myself a Ronto Wrap at the Star Wars area which was a pork sausage and a slice of pork tenderloin with some slaw on it. It was good and interesting. Not too bad to get something overpriced ($13.99 without a drink or side) when it is themed and tastes good. I can’t imagine just getting a hot dog or hamburger.
I went back on Smuggler’s Run. The line was pretty short and I figure I might as well.
I walked through the castle and went back to Tomorrowland.
The wait time for Space Mountain was still very long, but Star Tours had no wait. I honestly don’t understand as Star Tours is one of the best rides. I went on Star Tours twice more.
I also went on the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters yet again.
It was a few minutes before midnight and I managed to get myself in the queue for Space Mountain just before it closed. I was through the queue and the ride within 20 minutes.
Now that the park is closed it was time to begin my walk back to the hotel. After about 30,000 steps in not so comfortable sneakers my feet were in pain and I was a bit worried about having blisters – not a good way to start a vacation. I took my time walking back to the hotel.
Overall I spent 16 hours inside the parks riding rides, so it was a pretty successful day. Ultimately you could get to the park early, leave mid-afternoon and get real food nearby and come back and not miss terribly much as the first two hours and last two hours are the most productive – so don’t give up early and leave before the park closes (without returning anyways).
I was also pleasantly surprised by the demographic at the park. Very few families with strollers or kids/teenagers and probably 50% millennials and 50% older adults. Although I didn’t ride the more children friendly rides in Fantasyland, so that may have skewed the demographic I was seeing.
Final count after walking back to the hotel: 35,000 steps!. Google Maps didn’t do a good job of tracing my walking through the parks, so I’ll omit the timeline picture for today.