Uhg...I had originally started typing this way back in June but it ended up not saving my half completed trip report and I lost all progress! So I completed it in Word and I am now finished it and pasting it. If I get around to it I will try and edit and add pictures.
Disneyland was part of our 19 day 2022 West Coast Family Vacation Road Trip! We started our journey in Lloydminster Alberta Canada on May 11th and got back on May 29th. This report is only including our Disneyland portion. This is the first time at Disney for any of us. There is my wife and I, our 8 y/o son, and 5 y/o daughter. I had started planning "this trip" in the fall of 2019 and we were originally booked to do this trip in July 2020...and then you know what happened. Once the pandemic has seemed to "quiet down" we decided it was time to plan it again....and I am a planner, lol. For anyone that might of seen I posted a previous thread about my plan and most people essentially said I was crazy/stupid, lol. It turns out they were half right, lol. A lot of what I had planned went out the window 10mins in to Disneyland, but I am glad I did what I did because it made things so much easier while we were there and my family could rely on me to know where to go and when. So since I had originally planned this in 2019 you can imagine the uttermost joy when this trip was finally happening and we could share the news with our kids. It was relief 10 fold. My report may be a little long winded in some places but because I am also keeping this as a trip report for my own memories I added lots in, lol. You can tell that by the end of this report I am starting to lose some of those detailed memories as I write this 2 months later and I am forgetting some of it, lol.
Day 1 - May 19:
Today was the first day of our Disney magic, but tomorrow would be our official first day at Disneyland. We came in from Santa Maria and stopped at Santa Monica Beach for some beach time and arrived there at about noon. It was cloudy and a bit windy, so we didn’t get to really enjoy the beach as much as we wanted. We had fun though. We then left there at 2pm and made our way to our hotel (HoJo) for our reservation at Goofy’s Kitchen at 5:30. I was expecting some traffic but we had bumper to bumper traffic that kept us at a standstill for a long time. We had planned on stopping at Target to pick up some pre-Disney merch but we had to scrap that because we were worried we would even be late for our reservation because of the traffic. We got to our hotel and checked in, then hurried to our room and got ready to leave. Google said it was a 24min walk, but I’m sure we made it in about 15min the way we were walking! We couldn’t take much in as we walked through Downtown Disney, but everyone’s eyes lit up as we saw the Disneyland sign and the entrances to the parks. We arrived with a bit of time to spare as we waited to be seated. Goofy’s Kitchen was awesome and probably still one of our highlights from Disneyland. We got to do a meet and great with Chef Goofy before we entered. I wasn’t sure how my daughter was going to handle meeting the characters and I thought she might be shy, but she wasn’t and went in for a huge hug with Goofy (she later on in our trip started to become shy, but it might have been more to do with exhaustion from the long days, lol.) The atmosphere was great and before the characters would come parading around, they would make an announcement and play music, and encourage everyone to wave their napkins in the air. The kids LOVED it. Aside from Goofy, there was also Pluto, Chip & Dale, and Minnie! I won’t soon forget the excitement on my daughter’s face when she saw Minnie! The characters would come to each table for a quick picture and interaction with the kids. The food was great too. Lots of selection and tasted great. Just a note to others…make sure you check if gratuity is already on the bill, lol. After looking at my receipt later on I realized I had given a tip of about 40%! Uhg. Oh well, we’re on vacation! Lol.
After Goofy’s Kitchen we slowly made our way back to the hotel through DTD and took in some of the atmosphere and stopped at some of the shops. I have to mention that we stopped in at the Star Wars Trading Post and my son picked up a little R2D2 keychain that he fell in love with…and I’ll get into this more on Day 3. After making our way through DTD we stopped to take in the fact that we will be entering the Disneyland park in the morning, and everyone was excited. We then headed back to the hotel to try and prepare for the next day.
Day 2 – May 20:
First day ever at Disneyland! Everyone got up with excitement for the day. After getting ready we let our son know that he will be making his own lightsaber at Savi’s that evening and he was happy to say the least and was on the verge of crying, lol. We then let our daughter know that she will get a shopping spree at the dress store (Bibbity Bobbity Boutique) the next day. I wanted to book her in for a makeover but unfortunately, they were not doing them, so we had to just make it a shopping spree. We made our way to the park at about 6:50 and everyone was gitty, especially my son who was skipping and dancing. We made our way through security and we were probably about 20th in line at our turnstile. I explained to the kids what the process would be, and how we would be let in but then would have to wait for rope drop, and then how we would try and hurry to get in line for Peter Pan. Side note, I don’t know why Peter Pan is such a high attraction? I mean it was great, but I would be ok waiting in line 5min for Alice instead of 30min for Peter. IMO, for first timers with the young kids I see this as not the best plan and I wish we did it differently. To rope drop Peter Pan (or any other) we had to rush and essentially miss the “awe” of our first time at Disney. The mindset is to rush after rope drop and get in line, but I really wish we didn’t do that and I wish we would have taken our time to take everything in, especially for the kids. Instead, after the turnstiles we rushed to get to the rope and then we rushed to the ride. With that said, we rope dropped Peter Pan and only had about a 5min wait so it was good to get it out of the way and not have the long wait later.
I read a bit about the dark rides and how some rides can be loud and that people bring earmuffs for their toddlers…but I was not ready for how loud it actually is and for how long of periods of time it is dark. Let’s just say that my 5 year old daughter did not enjoy her first Disneyland ride experience, lol. She essentially had her ears plugged because it was loud and she was not a fan of the darkness, and came out with tears in her eyes. Poor girl. I am actually surprised they do not sell ear plugs in the Park. We didn’t bring any so our daughter plugged her ears on a lot of rides. The rest of us were fine with it though.
After that the magic started. We continued to the Carousel, Dumbo, the Tea Cups, and to Alice…which my daughter did well with and enjoyed. We then spotted Aladdin and Genie and wanted our first opportunity to meet a character and get an autograph…unfortunately, I need to be negative again for just a moment, lol. Man, it is work to get a high five and a Hi, let alone a picture and autograph if the characters are just wandering the park. We spotted Aladdin in front of the Tea Cups and then finally were able to get a picture when we were at the wishing well at the side of the Castle! It was kind of frustrating that they walk SO fast and unless your kid is right in front of them, they kind of ignore them. Several times my kids were saying hi and waving and they wouldn’t acknowledge them. I get that there is 20 kids doing the same thing at the same time, but even a quick “hey everyone” and a quick eye contact with everyone would help, lol. The most frustrating thing is though that there is budgers galore! There was a couple times when my kids were close to getting “in the front of the line” as we walked beside Aladdin and there would be families (not just kids) budging in front of us. With all that said, once we finally got essentially alone with them, we got our picture and autograph. And we did have other great experiences with the characters that made up for the couple bad ones we had.
We then made our way over to Jungle Cruise and then to BTMR and I was able to convince my son to ride it with me. He was pretty nervous, but he did well. We don’t have much “experience” on rides so it was even a thrill for me and went a lot faster than I anticipated, lol. We my son and I went to Indy…which was a different experience, lol. I think my son got himself worked up from watching the video in the lineup. He did not enjoy it and essentially keep his eyes and ears shut the whole time. Poor guy. Lesson learned and now I know his limit. I fell that BTMR is a more intense ride, but I think that combined with the story didn’t do well with him. Oh, and I really screwed up because when we were sitting there and Indy is hanging from the rope I told him to look up and that it was cool…well, when he looked up he thought that Indy was actually being strangled by the rope! So that just made it worse. So there was no way we were going to be able to do the Haunted Mansion!
We then headed back to Fantasyland to “wind down” after Indy, lol. Then it was off to Café Orleans for lunch. The wife and I had the monte cristo. It was good, but I was expecting more of a WOW moment, lol.
After that we made our way over to Astro Blasters and the kids loved that. Then it was 1pm before we knew it and our planned break for the hotel/pool. On our way out we stopped at Gibson Girl and each got an ice cream that was way too filling, lol, but we’re on vacation so who cares! We stayed at the HoJo and the kids loved the Pirates Cove pool. They still had a reservation system for that pool, but IMO I liked that because it kept the amount of people down to a minimum and the kids could enjoy the spraypark more, and we could enjoy a hot tub that wasn’t shoulder to shoulder.
After the hotel stop it was back to the Park and to Galaxy’s Edge. Wow…what a park. Just entering GE and hearing that music/sounds and coming out of that tunnel and seeing the buildings sent chills down my spine. On our way in we were able to see Rey and Chewie and I got a great photo of my daughter walking beside Rey and them waving at each other, and my son got a high five from Chewy. Me and the Kids then did Millennium Falcon and me and my son liked it, but my daughter didn’t care for it as it was a bit too much for her. We then got an ILL for ROTR. That was awesome! Unfortunately for my wife, who has motion sickness some parts did not go over well, lol. And I have a couple other pictures of my daughter with her fingers in her ears and trying her hardest to smile, lol. The experience was great though. My only negative is how quickly they shew you through the storm trooper room. I was really hoping to get a good picture with my son in that room but couldn’t. My son and I then made our way to Savi’s Workshop to build his lightsaber. While waiting we were able to spot Kylo Ren walk by which was cool. Savi’s Workshop was good. The atmosphere made it a great experience. I just feel that they really rushed the building portion of it. Especially when you have kids building it. I tried not to help my kid because it was his experience, and quite frankly he didn’t want help, lol, but even with me helping him we always felt that as soon as we got one piece completed, we had to really hurry and get the next one on. Not much time to examine the different pieces. Then we had issues with one of the pieces fitting which put us behind even more. The ending was worth it though, when he pulled out the lightsaber and seeing the amazed look on his face was great. While we were in Savi’s my Wife and Daughter headed back to Fantasyland to ride those rides. When we were done we went and joined them and then I think we were going to walk around and maybe grab something to eat. I think it was about 6:30 at this point and people were already getting ready for MSEP! There was minimal spots left on the sidewalk on Main Street so we figured we better grab one. Originally we were thinking we could wait until at least 7. I am glad we did because being able to sit on the sidewalk edge during MSEP was great. I went and grabbed some pizzas for the kids from Pizza Planet and my Wife had the chicken caesar salad. I ended up getting a corn dog from the corn dog cart…I wasn’t impressed. Was overcooked and too much batter. While we waited for the parade my daughter had a nice long nap…on our legs, lol. Which wasn’t comfortable but I’m glad she was able to get one in.
MSEP was amazing. Really, it’s nothing too amazing but for some reason our family fell in love with it. The MSEP and then the fireworks was definitely one of the highlights for our trip. I have a short little video clip of my Daughter watching the parade and being so excited and clapping, and just taking it all in, and the joy on her face melts my heart, lol. After MSEP we moved into the street for the fireworks. Again, we were just in awe of the atmosphere they bring and how magical it made the ending to our first day. It’s just the little things like the snow during the Frozen part of the fireworks! Just amazing!
After the fireworks we decided to head back to the hotel for the night, so that we still had energy to get up in the morning. Our very first day at Disney was magical and I am not going to soon forget it.
We did have Genie+ and as a first timer I would highly recommend it. You don’t want to be standing in line when you can be taking in other things about the park. Well worth it. And for us, there wasn’t many rides where we wanted to go on it more than once because of time. And the ones that the kids liked (as mentioned we aren’t huge rides people) had relatively low wait times if we wanted to go again. And to have the PhotoPass on it as well, paid for itself. It’s nice to have those high quality keep safe photos. Also, I highly recommend the fishing for MEPs (anytime LLs). I was able to add 3 each day we were there and that was more than enough. I also figured out that the Cast Members don’t really look when you are scanning and they just look for the green circle and beep. So when my Wife and Daughter decided to spend the afternoon in the hotel on our second day my Son and I were able to scan in as them and essentially double our MEPs and LLs. My Son and I were able to ride Millennium 4 times in a row!
Day 3 – May 21:
This was our second day at Disneyland Park. We did 2 at Disneyland, and then 2 at California Adventure Park. The reason we did it that way was to ensure we got to see WOC (I originally thought that during a Grad Night you would get kicked out prior to WOC…I was wrong) and also because if they did bring back the Early Morning for the multi-day pass then I wanted to ensure we could use it. People were saying that we should probably mix it up, but I am glad we did it as we did because it worked out well for us. On the second day at each park my Wife and Daughter decided to stay at the hotel in the evening due to being tired from the day. If we mixed up the days it wouldn’t have worked like that.
Since we rushed to do rope drop on the first day, we took our time on the second day. We were still at the park early and got into the park just as rope drop happened. We hoped on one of the Main Street cars and got a ride to the end of the block. That was nice and relaxing and we got to see Pluto drive by. We ended up in Fantasyland again but this time bypassed Peter Pan and went straight to the Tea Cups, then Dumbo, the carousel, and Alice. While getting into line for the Tea Cups I made a silly mistake of calling Geppetto, Giuseppe, lol. Oops. After the rides we were able to meet Peter and Wendy and get a picture and autograph, and then we saw Pinocchio all alone and my kids were able to get a magical moment with him as they held hands and skipped down the road. I previously mentioned my frustrations with these meetings, so these ones made up for it. We then made our way to Snow White, but again my daughter found it a bit too loud and scary. Other than Alice she didn’t care for the dark rides, and that was too bad because she didn’t enjoy herself as much as I would have liked.
We then mobile ordered the raspberry macaron, which was delicious, before heading to our breakfast at the Plaza Inn with Minnie! Our reservation was for 10am. Now, I have more negatives to note so if you’re getting sick of reading them skip ahead, lol. We started off with meeting Minnie, which was great and was likely a highlight for my daughter (even though we did meet Minnie at Goofy’s Kitchen). We then headed to our table and grabbed our food and just after we sat down they started their character parade/tour. There was no announcement or song like at Goofy’s. There was Goofy, Pluto, Pooh, Daisy, Chip/Dale, and I think one of the mouse from Cinderella. My daughter was very excited to be able to meet Daisy. What I found strange is none of them stopped by our table! They all passed by and we waved and they headed to the tables on the outside. I thought, ok they will come back. The things is the only ones that came back to our table were Goofy and Pluto…who we already saw at Goofy’s Kitchen. I have no idea where the rest went. Every now and then at the beginning I would have a look and see them at the tables outside, and then the next time I looked they were all gone. My daughter was very sad we didn’t get to see Daisy. Oh, and another thing that frustrated me was when Pluto and Goofy did come by they spent like 10 full minutes at this table with about 4-5 young adults, then when they get to our table they say hi and pose for a picture then leave…really?? Then they came around and asked if everyone saw Minnie to make sure. When at Goofy’s Kitchen he at least walked around the kitchen a few times, but we never saw Minnie after the initial meet and greet. I wasn’t pleased with the Minnie Breakfast experience. The food was good though.
After breakfast we went to small world, then on our way to my daughters shopping spree at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique (I wanted to give her the makeover but they weren’t doing them) we decided to stop at Tinkerbell’s. That was a good choice because we really enjoyed this meet and greet. The cast members who watch the line were great and played along with the theme, and we loved how the area is done. And Tinkerbell was a pleasure to meet. Very friendly and made my little girl feel special. And we enjoyed that your time with her is “private” which made the kids feel more comfortable. We then made our way to BBB where my daughter decided on the Elsa dress and accessories. I thought (and we tried to convince her) that she would go with Ariel items but she didn’t. Also note, that the premium dresses only come in sizes for like 8 years plus. I really wanted to spend the money on a premium dress for my daughter but they didn’t have her size. She then got pixie dusted to finalize the magic! I had planned to go meet the princesses after this but there was a 60 minute wait! I did not expect that, so we decided to skip. We then took a round trip ride on the train. That was nice. We made one pit stop at Autopia since we didn’t get around to riding it earlier.
We then headed back to the hotel for some more pool time. This time my Wife and Daughter decided to stay at the hotel and rest. I didn’t think she would agree, but my Daughter was fine with staying at the hotel. And my wife was more than obliged since her feet were killing her (as was mine, lol). That meant it was a boy’s night at Disneyland! This was actually the first time me and my son had a “boys date” and I have to say doing it at Disney made it extra special. Memories that I will never forget anytime soon. My Son wanted to spend our time in Galaxy’s Edge, which I had no issue with, lol. As mentioned in Day 1, I figured out a “cheat” to essentially double our LL and MEPs. So in the end I think we rode Smuggler’s Run 4 times and Star Tours twice. We started our night at Star Tours. I really enjoyed this ride and I might be in the minority but I like it better than Smuggler’s Run. I like SR but I don’t really enjoy that you have to be doing something, instead of just enjoying the ride. Which is why I like Star Tours. I like the little touch of finding the “spy” in the group at the beginning. When we were gathering our things under our seat my Son was reaching for something and he said that they said to put things under the seat and he put his little R2D2 keychain there! I told him he is lucky it didn’t get lost and to keep it in his pocket. We then made our way to Galaxy’s Edge and explored for a bit. A great moment happened when we saw some storm troopers and I told my son to act like he’s using the force on him. Well, he did and the Storm Trooper looked at him funny and was wondering what he was doing (obviously knowing what he was doing), then my son said “My Dad told me to”, lol. So, the Storm Trooper got up in my face and was telling me to be careful and then he went and thanked my son for his allegiance, lol. It was a great moment I was able to capture on video. We then proceeded to SR for a couple rides. The first time my son and I were assigned the Pilots, which my son was excited for, however we were getting our picture taken at the game table and they called our color, but then others took our spot. My son was a bit annoyed, but I told him to use his manners and not say anything. Note that throughout our trip my son was doing good things (giving money to homeless, using good manners, etc.) and I was telling him about good karma, because he only understood about bad karma. We did the ride and then my son wanted to wait for ROTR no matter what the queue was, so we made our way over there. However, ROTR was down so made our way to ride Pooh because we had a paper ticket to come back because it broke down while we were in line earlier. Unfortunately, it too was still down (or closed for the day, I can’t remember). So we grabbed some churros and lemonade and went back to Galaxy’s Edge. We decided to just wait until ROTR came back online and then get in line. When I overheard the Cast Member tell someone that when they go down it could be for 10min or if it is something they need to recalibrate then it is usually about 45mins, OR depending on the time they could just shut it down for the night. At this point it was probably down for about 30mins. After about 5min people were getting closer and closer to the entrances, so we got up and got into one of the groups…it looks like there was 2 “entrances” and I later assumed/figured out that once it comes on line they pick one of the two entrances as the start of the line and the people waiting at the other entrance essentially have to quickly get to the end of the line at the other once. Luckily, for us we chose the correct one and we were about 20th in line and ended up walking on! While walking through the paths my son realized that he had lost his R2D2 keychain! He had it in his hoodie pocket, so it probably easily fell out somewhere. The poor guy was more than heartbroken ☹. He loved that thing. I told him that it would likely be gone now if someone found it because they would likely keep it…but I later found out that Disneyland is usually pretty good about lost items and people will just put it on top of a garbage can if someone loses something, but I didn’t know that, so we didn’t end up tracing our tracks. I tried to cheer him up by saying his good karma paid off for us because we were able to walk on to ROTR and it was because of him that they chose our entrance. They seemed to cheer him up and made him feel good about himself. ROTR was great again and we got to go down the other path which was cool. Again, I reminded my son that it was because of his karma that we got to see the other path. We then headed back to SR where my “son good karma” (very nice people) paid off again. There was a group ahead of me and when they asked who wanted to be the pilot he chose whoever put their hands up first, so I told my son to be ask fast as he can. He was fast but they chose another person and myself. I told my son he can have my spot, and then the other person graciously told my son he can have her spot too! This was the first time as the pilot and my Son was very excited. After the ride was done we went right back on, lol. This time it was just us and one other person. He allowed my son and I to be the pilots again. And this time we got 2 of the bundles in the ride and got the highest score we got so far. My son was thrilled and he chatted the other guy’s ear off telling him how good of a job he did being a gunner, lol. We then made our way over to Star Tours again to use our last MEP. Unfortunately, this was the same time that the fireworks were happening, so just as we were walking past Dumbo the first one went off! It scared the crap out of my son and the poor guy was pretty shook up, and at first he thought that maybe we weren’t safe where we were. So I had to calm him down. We did Star Tours again and then made a mobile order for some Dole Whip…which I found out my son doesn’t like, lol. So I had 2 to eat! I told my son we could stop at Gibson Girl and he could get something from there, so I made a mobile order but had to wait another 20mins, so we just sat outside and watched the people go by. Then yet another “magical” moment happened. One of the Disney Firefighters…gosh, I can’t remember his name now but I think it was Ron or Rob…tapped my son on the shoulder and asked if we wanted to see the smallest hidden Mickey, and he pointed out the Mickey in the bubble on the sign. He then gave my son a Mickey Firefighter sticker that he said you can only get from him! He was then telling us about the hidden Mickey at the Cartha Circle under the 1901 sign, and the stories about the significance of 1901 and a bunch of other things. My son is a chatter box, so he started to tell him about how his good karma has been helping us out that night. Then you could tell the fireman really get into the conversation because he was telling my son how his wife really believes in good karma and so that made him think of her. Then you could tell he had to go, but I think he really was enjoying talking to my son so said to follow him. He then showed us the two spots where Walt had the white light painted half red so that there wasn’t 2 white bulbs in a row. He then said he had to leave so we said goodbye and I was sure to shake his hand and tell him how appreciative I was for his time, because I could tell it was a moment that my son loved. We then got his ice cream and made our way back to the Hotel. This would be our last day at the Disneyland Park so it was kind of sad. On the way there my Son was telling me how sad he still was to have lost his R2D2 keychain, so I told him we would look to replace it the next day. We were heading to DCA for the next two days but he had originally purchased it in DD, so I knew we could get it there. And man oh man, my feet were starting to feel it from the steps travelled, lol.
Our first day at Disney was special, but I think this day was my favorite day at Disney because of the time I got to spend with my son and everything that had happened as the night went on. I think I am going to have to plan some separate Parent/Kid date nights for myself/wife, and the kids. I know people that do this with their kids and after this experience I think I will start planning these.
Day 4 – May 22:
This was our first day at California Adventure Park. The long days were catching up with us and we never got to the park as early as we wanted, but we were still there for rope drop. We went right to RSR and didn’t have to wait too long to get on (maybe 30mins). I thought it would be longer based on where we were in line. Entering Cars Land for the first time was pretty cool. I was excited to explore more later on. RSR was pretty fun and my son and I really enjoyed it. My wife and daughter however weren’t fans based on my Wife’s motion sickness and it was a bit too fast (and loud, ha ha) for her. Entering the track for the first time was great when you come around the corner and see the waterfalls. Amazing!! We then made our way to Luigi’s and waited for about 10min before we were right about to get on, and it broke down. We waited another 10mins or so before they told us to come back later. They did give us a MEP though, so that was good. My wife and daughter took advantage of that later. Once we finally rode it later, we really enjoyed it. Fun little ride. We then went over to Mater. Same thing, we enjoyed it and it was a fun little ride. We then planned to grab some breakfast from Flos V8, but to my surprise they didn’t seem to sell breakfast. I am sure when I was planning that breakfast at Flos was a favorite. I can’t remember what we did instead for eats. Maybe popcorn at Lazy Cone?
We then made our way over to my daughters soon to be favorite ride, Little Mermaid. We all enjoyed it and we ended up doing it another 2-3 times throughout the day. The details in the lineup (sea shells in concrete, tilework, trees cut to look like corral, etc.) is great and adds so much to the atmosphere. We then made our way over to Grizzly Park and my son and I rode Soarin. We enjoyed it a lot and ended up going again later on. Due to my wife’s motion sickness and an inkling my daughter wouldn’t like it (I knew when you enter that it could be intimidating seeing the glider cars and it being dark), they stayed outside.
I think it was already lunch at this point so we made our way back to Buena Vista and did some sightseeing, and got in line to see Donald, and then got some dogs at Award Wieners. As we were done, I noticed that Disney Jr Dance Party was just starting so we did that. The kids enjoyed dancing around. Then we did Crush. We really enjoyed this, and I am amazed how they do this. I knew they had real time replied to people’s questions (the voice actor is great!) but even the animations are on point. Really cool. I wanted to do it again the next day but we never got to it.
We then made our way through Avengers Campus. As a big Marvel fan this was great…and we got to line up early to meet Iron Man! That was pretty cool and my son was a little awestruck, lol. We didn’t stick around too long in this area and continued on back to Cars Land to try and get on Luigi’s. While we were there we got to meet Mater! We then carried on to Pixal Pier and did I think a couple rides there including our LL for Pixar Mania. That was a fun ride and we all enjoyed it. We then carried on around the pond and had dinner at Paradise Garden. The food was good. That’s one thing I didn’t care fore at DCA, is the pond really breaks Pixar away from everything else. So to make it over there and back is kind of a hassle. I think we then made our way over to Redwoods for just a bit of playtime before we headed back over to see WOC.
We weren’t sure what the best place to sit/stand would be, but it was already kind of filled up with people sitting in the aisles. We found a spot and waited for the show. As we were waiting we overheard another family talking about Callaway Park in Calgary Canada, so we asked if they too were from Canada and they were. We had a good visit with them prior to the WOC show. They were super friendly and even adjusted where they were standing to ensure we could see as much as we could, since they have been there many times before. We initially were sat right behind one of those big white lamp posts so it blocked our view heavily at first. I had thought the show would be more to the right of our view and wouldn’t be blocked. WOC was great and we really enjoyed it. I love how they do the effects of the ocean waves. It was funny because during the part where Jack Sparrow comes on, everyone started cheering, lol. If I had to put the Fireworks, MSEP, and WOC in order of favorite I don’t think I could, lol. I loved MSEP because the kids really enjoyed it and it was just a cool atmosphere the whole time with the lights and the music. The fireworks were great, and I enjoyed the scenes that went along with them, especially when it snowed! And WOC is just amazing and has so many great moments.
We then made our way back to the hotel. After 3 long days our feet were really starting to feel it! We only had 1 more day at Disney left and we all were a bit sad because of it.
Day 5 – May 23:
Well, it came and we all hated it – our last day at Disney. But we were also all excite to continue fun at California Adventure and see what the day will bring. Again though, we slept in a bit and by the time we got to the park we were a bit behind in line. It got harder and harder as the days went on to wake up, lol.
We started the day with Web Slingers. I can’t recall why we didn’t but I wanted to originally get a ILL for it the day before. Being a big Marvel fan I loved this ride. It’s a great workout for the arms but I really enjoyed the whole attraction from start to finish and I felt the accuracy of where I wanted to shoot and where it actually shot was spot on. The whole family enjoyed these shooter type attractions. And because of that we made our way over to Toy Story Mania next before the lines got crazy. We made our way through more of the Pixar rides and continued back to Radiator Springs. Riding Luigi and Mator again. We really enjoyed these ones. As we were looking to grab some food at the Cozy Cone we were lucky enough to have Lightning come by and we got in early to meet him. That was pretty cool. My Son and I then did the ILL for RSR. The Wife and Daughter sat this one out this time due to the issues previously mentioned, lol.
We then made our way back to Avengers Campus where we did the ILL to do Web Slingers again. Everyone loved this one and we all had another good time on it. I have a good picture of my Daughter seeing the spider bot in the ducting as you exit, and you can see the joy/happiness in her face because she thought it was pretty funny/cute that he was in there. As we got out we were able to catch the Spidey show and see him slinging from building to building. The last couple times we have always been over at Cars Land and it was difficult to see through the trees. We then headed over to the main building where Black Widow and Taskmaster’s crew had a battle, with the help of Black Panther. I wanted to do a meet and greet with him, but we never did see him out. I was disappointed because I didn’t get to see/meet as many Marvel characters as I wanted to. Granted we didn’t spend enough time in Avengers Campus as I wanted / had planned. Because there isn’t “much there” we were often off in the other lands. We met Ironman and Spiderman, and we quickly saw Thor and Loki later in the day but they were just quickly walking through the crowds. We also saw Groot but it was at the end of the night and they were no longer taking people in the line. We also never took in as many of the mini shows as I wanted. It seemed like we were always doing something else (LL, eating, too far away, etc.) when the shows were to start. I was hoping to take them all in, but we never got to.
We then made our way over to Mike and Sully using LL. We enjoyed this ride and it was a fun ride that helps take you through the movie. We also stopped at the Avenger’s Superstore but I was kind of disappointed because I couldn’t find any Avenger related clothes I liked. They were either way too “out there” for my liking and I didn’t like the styles.
We then got our chance to meet the Big Guy! We got our meet and greet with Micky in front of the fountain in Cartha Circle. He was in his dapper wear with the red hat. For some reason my daughter was shy with him at first but then warmed up…she may have been in a mood, lol. It was funny because when we did our Family Trip reveal to the kids, we did it like a little scavenger hunt. In one of the bags they found there was Mickey/Minnie hats. When my son opened it he was like “I don’t even like Mickey, but ok”. So when we were waiting in line I asked him if he was going to tell Mickey that he didn’t like him, lol. He immediately said “NO!”, lol. We then headed back to our hotel for more pool time.
When we returned, we spent some time at the Redwood Creek Challenge, and got to meet Raya. The kids enjoyed this meet and greet. Raya was very interactive and chatted with them for a long time…I actually started to get nervous that others in line were thinking “geez people, hurry up”, lol. We then made our way back to Little Mermaid, again, lol. My Daughter loved it and I was happy to go on it as many times as she wanted. Then we made our way back to Pixar Pier for some rides, and a quick wave to Woody as he walked by in a hurry, lol.
My Wife an Daughter were then heading back to the hotel and my Son and I would have another Boy’s Night. It was kind of sad because this would be the last moments for my Wife and Daughter at Disney. They were going to stop for ice cream on their way out. My Son and I decided for the rest of the night we would do single rider on RSR and Web Slingers. We headed over to RSR (we knew that they were going to close in about an hour because they were closing it early for a Speed Magazine thing) to get in line. When we walked up we were told that it would be 55min for Single Rider! We didn’t want to “waste time” in line when it was our last night and because if it would be longer we might not even get on before it closes. So we decided to go join my Wife and Daughter for some ice cream at Ghirardelli’s, lol. I can’t remember exactly, but I remember being disappointed in the cost per serving size compared to the other ice cream places we stopped at.
So because RSR single rider wasn’t going to work, we decided to do Web Slingers single rider instead. We made our way there and did a LL stop at Soar’n. We were lucky enough to get a different route than the other times we went so that was nice. Then on our way to Avengers Campus we were lucky enough to come up to Spidey’s meet and greet just as the line was starting. We were like 3rd in line. It was a cool meet and greet and Spidey was awesome. As soon as my Son and him gave a high 5, my son did a Spiderman pose and Spidey was “cool pose dude!”. We then did the single rider 2 times in a row in the last 30min or so the park was open! The waits were really short. Then as the park was close to closing we were able to walk around and explore Avengers Campus a bit more.
Then it was the sad moment. The park was closing, and we had to leave. Our fun was over. It was another fun filled day though. But it was a moment in time that we didn’t want to come and were so sad when it did. With that said, our feet/legs were thanking for that moment, lol. Once we left the park we headed over to DTD and the Star Wars store to see if the keychain my son lost was in stock…it was not. And I ended up giving my Son a piggy back ride most the way there and to the hotel because his feet and legs were so sore, lol. Mine were too, but I was happy to do it for him!
Summary:
To recap our Disney Adventure and to sum it up in one word, it would have to be AMAZING! We saw and did so many amazing things that will live in our memory forever. I don’t think there has been a week that has gone by since then that I don’t think about something we did. Heck, I even still check out some of the Youtubers that I would watch before to prepare for the trip! With that said there was a bunch of stuff we didn’t do that I wanted to do. When planning people would say that 4 days at the park would be plenty…I disagree. I think (if our feet would allow it) we could have easily spent 6 days there if our itinerary would have allowed it. We missed some rides that I thought we would do, and I feel we missed a lot of the park atmosphere because we didn’t get the chance to just take our time and explore. Most the time we were walking at a good pace to make sure we got to where we wanted to go to meet LL/reservation/showtimes/etc. deadlines. Hopefully we will be able to make another magical trip to Disneyland in the future. I initially thought it was going to be a once in a lifetime trip (I have a fear of flying and it would have to be another road trip), but the fun we had has definitely made me want to go back again and if our bank roll allows it, I think we would certainly make the trip again before the kids get too old. I always thought people were crazy when I hear that they do yearly (or more) trips to Disneyland...but now I get it. I'm not even a Big Disney fan, but there is just something about it that pulls you in.
And an update on the R2D2 key chain – I was able to order one through eBay and my son was so surprised and is very glad to have it again!
Disneyland was part of our 19 day 2022 West Coast Family Vacation Road Trip! We started our journey in Lloydminster Alberta Canada on May 11th and got back on May 29th. This report is only including our Disneyland portion. This is the first time at Disney for any of us. There is my wife and I, our 8 y/o son, and 5 y/o daughter. I had started planning "this trip" in the fall of 2019 and we were originally booked to do this trip in July 2020...and then you know what happened. Once the pandemic has seemed to "quiet down" we decided it was time to plan it again....and I am a planner, lol. For anyone that might of seen I posted a previous thread about my plan and most people essentially said I was crazy/stupid, lol. It turns out they were half right, lol. A lot of what I had planned went out the window 10mins in to Disneyland, but I am glad I did what I did because it made things so much easier while we were there and my family could rely on me to know where to go and when. So since I had originally planned this in 2019 you can imagine the uttermost joy when this trip was finally happening and we could share the news with our kids. It was relief 10 fold. My report may be a little long winded in some places but because I am also keeping this as a trip report for my own memories I added lots in, lol. You can tell that by the end of this report I am starting to lose some of those detailed memories as I write this 2 months later and I am forgetting some of it, lol.
Day 1 - May 19:
Today was the first day of our Disney magic, but tomorrow would be our official first day at Disneyland. We came in from Santa Maria and stopped at Santa Monica Beach for some beach time and arrived there at about noon. It was cloudy and a bit windy, so we didn’t get to really enjoy the beach as much as we wanted. We had fun though. We then left there at 2pm and made our way to our hotel (HoJo) for our reservation at Goofy’s Kitchen at 5:30. I was expecting some traffic but we had bumper to bumper traffic that kept us at a standstill for a long time. We had planned on stopping at Target to pick up some pre-Disney merch but we had to scrap that because we were worried we would even be late for our reservation because of the traffic. We got to our hotel and checked in, then hurried to our room and got ready to leave. Google said it was a 24min walk, but I’m sure we made it in about 15min the way we were walking! We couldn’t take much in as we walked through Downtown Disney, but everyone’s eyes lit up as we saw the Disneyland sign and the entrances to the parks. We arrived with a bit of time to spare as we waited to be seated. Goofy’s Kitchen was awesome and probably still one of our highlights from Disneyland. We got to do a meet and great with Chef Goofy before we entered. I wasn’t sure how my daughter was going to handle meeting the characters and I thought she might be shy, but she wasn’t and went in for a huge hug with Goofy (she later on in our trip started to become shy, but it might have been more to do with exhaustion from the long days, lol.) The atmosphere was great and before the characters would come parading around, they would make an announcement and play music, and encourage everyone to wave their napkins in the air. The kids LOVED it. Aside from Goofy, there was also Pluto, Chip & Dale, and Minnie! I won’t soon forget the excitement on my daughter’s face when she saw Minnie! The characters would come to each table for a quick picture and interaction with the kids. The food was great too. Lots of selection and tasted great. Just a note to others…make sure you check if gratuity is already on the bill, lol. After looking at my receipt later on I realized I had given a tip of about 40%! Uhg. Oh well, we’re on vacation! Lol.
After Goofy’s Kitchen we slowly made our way back to the hotel through DTD and took in some of the atmosphere and stopped at some of the shops. I have to mention that we stopped in at the Star Wars Trading Post and my son picked up a little R2D2 keychain that he fell in love with…and I’ll get into this more on Day 3. After making our way through DTD we stopped to take in the fact that we will be entering the Disneyland park in the morning, and everyone was excited. We then headed back to the hotel to try and prepare for the next day.
Day 2 – May 20:
First day ever at Disneyland! Everyone got up with excitement for the day. After getting ready we let our son know that he will be making his own lightsaber at Savi’s that evening and he was happy to say the least and was on the verge of crying, lol. We then let our daughter know that she will get a shopping spree at the dress store (Bibbity Bobbity Boutique) the next day. I wanted to book her in for a makeover but unfortunately, they were not doing them, so we had to just make it a shopping spree. We made our way to the park at about 6:50 and everyone was gitty, especially my son who was skipping and dancing. We made our way through security and we were probably about 20th in line at our turnstile. I explained to the kids what the process would be, and how we would be let in but then would have to wait for rope drop, and then how we would try and hurry to get in line for Peter Pan. Side note, I don’t know why Peter Pan is such a high attraction? I mean it was great, but I would be ok waiting in line 5min for Alice instead of 30min for Peter. IMO, for first timers with the young kids I see this as not the best plan and I wish we did it differently. To rope drop Peter Pan (or any other) we had to rush and essentially miss the “awe” of our first time at Disney. The mindset is to rush after rope drop and get in line, but I really wish we didn’t do that and I wish we would have taken our time to take everything in, especially for the kids. Instead, after the turnstiles we rushed to get to the rope and then we rushed to the ride. With that said, we rope dropped Peter Pan and only had about a 5min wait so it was good to get it out of the way and not have the long wait later.
I read a bit about the dark rides and how some rides can be loud and that people bring earmuffs for their toddlers…but I was not ready for how loud it actually is and for how long of periods of time it is dark. Let’s just say that my 5 year old daughter did not enjoy her first Disneyland ride experience, lol. She essentially had her ears plugged because it was loud and she was not a fan of the darkness, and came out with tears in her eyes. Poor girl. I am actually surprised they do not sell ear plugs in the Park. We didn’t bring any so our daughter plugged her ears on a lot of rides. The rest of us were fine with it though.
After that the magic started. We continued to the Carousel, Dumbo, the Tea Cups, and to Alice…which my daughter did well with and enjoyed. We then spotted Aladdin and Genie and wanted our first opportunity to meet a character and get an autograph…unfortunately, I need to be negative again for just a moment, lol. Man, it is work to get a high five and a Hi, let alone a picture and autograph if the characters are just wandering the park. We spotted Aladdin in front of the Tea Cups and then finally were able to get a picture when we were at the wishing well at the side of the Castle! It was kind of frustrating that they walk SO fast and unless your kid is right in front of them, they kind of ignore them. Several times my kids were saying hi and waving and they wouldn’t acknowledge them. I get that there is 20 kids doing the same thing at the same time, but even a quick “hey everyone” and a quick eye contact with everyone would help, lol. The most frustrating thing is though that there is budgers galore! There was a couple times when my kids were close to getting “in the front of the line” as we walked beside Aladdin and there would be families (not just kids) budging in front of us. With all that said, once we finally got essentially alone with them, we got our picture and autograph. And we did have other great experiences with the characters that made up for the couple bad ones we had.
We then made our way over to Jungle Cruise and then to BTMR and I was able to convince my son to ride it with me. He was pretty nervous, but he did well. We don’t have much “experience” on rides so it was even a thrill for me and went a lot faster than I anticipated, lol. We my son and I went to Indy…which was a different experience, lol. I think my son got himself worked up from watching the video in the lineup. He did not enjoy it and essentially keep his eyes and ears shut the whole time. Poor guy. Lesson learned and now I know his limit. I fell that BTMR is a more intense ride, but I think that combined with the story didn’t do well with him. Oh, and I really screwed up because when we were sitting there and Indy is hanging from the rope I told him to look up and that it was cool…well, when he looked up he thought that Indy was actually being strangled by the rope! So that just made it worse. So there was no way we were going to be able to do the Haunted Mansion!
We then headed back to Fantasyland to “wind down” after Indy, lol. Then it was off to Café Orleans for lunch. The wife and I had the monte cristo. It was good, but I was expecting more of a WOW moment, lol.
After that we made our way over to Astro Blasters and the kids loved that. Then it was 1pm before we knew it and our planned break for the hotel/pool. On our way out we stopped at Gibson Girl and each got an ice cream that was way too filling, lol, but we’re on vacation so who cares! We stayed at the HoJo and the kids loved the Pirates Cove pool. They still had a reservation system for that pool, but IMO I liked that because it kept the amount of people down to a minimum and the kids could enjoy the spraypark more, and we could enjoy a hot tub that wasn’t shoulder to shoulder.
After the hotel stop it was back to the Park and to Galaxy’s Edge. Wow…what a park. Just entering GE and hearing that music/sounds and coming out of that tunnel and seeing the buildings sent chills down my spine. On our way in we were able to see Rey and Chewie and I got a great photo of my daughter walking beside Rey and them waving at each other, and my son got a high five from Chewy. Me and the Kids then did Millennium Falcon and me and my son liked it, but my daughter didn’t care for it as it was a bit too much for her. We then got an ILL for ROTR. That was awesome! Unfortunately for my wife, who has motion sickness some parts did not go over well, lol. And I have a couple other pictures of my daughter with her fingers in her ears and trying her hardest to smile, lol. The experience was great though. My only negative is how quickly they shew you through the storm trooper room. I was really hoping to get a good picture with my son in that room but couldn’t. My son and I then made our way to Savi’s Workshop to build his lightsaber. While waiting we were able to spot Kylo Ren walk by which was cool. Savi’s Workshop was good. The atmosphere made it a great experience. I just feel that they really rushed the building portion of it. Especially when you have kids building it. I tried not to help my kid because it was his experience, and quite frankly he didn’t want help, lol, but even with me helping him we always felt that as soon as we got one piece completed, we had to really hurry and get the next one on. Not much time to examine the different pieces. Then we had issues with one of the pieces fitting which put us behind even more. The ending was worth it though, when he pulled out the lightsaber and seeing the amazed look on his face was great. While we were in Savi’s my Wife and Daughter headed back to Fantasyland to ride those rides. When we were done we went and joined them and then I think we were going to walk around and maybe grab something to eat. I think it was about 6:30 at this point and people were already getting ready for MSEP! There was minimal spots left on the sidewalk on Main Street so we figured we better grab one. Originally we were thinking we could wait until at least 7. I am glad we did because being able to sit on the sidewalk edge during MSEP was great. I went and grabbed some pizzas for the kids from Pizza Planet and my Wife had the chicken caesar salad. I ended up getting a corn dog from the corn dog cart…I wasn’t impressed. Was overcooked and too much batter. While we waited for the parade my daughter had a nice long nap…on our legs, lol. Which wasn’t comfortable but I’m glad she was able to get one in.
MSEP was amazing. Really, it’s nothing too amazing but for some reason our family fell in love with it. The MSEP and then the fireworks was definitely one of the highlights for our trip. I have a short little video clip of my Daughter watching the parade and being so excited and clapping, and just taking it all in, and the joy on her face melts my heart, lol. After MSEP we moved into the street for the fireworks. Again, we were just in awe of the atmosphere they bring and how magical it made the ending to our first day. It’s just the little things like the snow during the Frozen part of the fireworks! Just amazing!
After the fireworks we decided to head back to the hotel for the night, so that we still had energy to get up in the morning. Our very first day at Disney was magical and I am not going to soon forget it.
We did have Genie+ and as a first timer I would highly recommend it. You don’t want to be standing in line when you can be taking in other things about the park. Well worth it. And for us, there wasn’t many rides where we wanted to go on it more than once because of time. And the ones that the kids liked (as mentioned we aren’t huge rides people) had relatively low wait times if we wanted to go again. And to have the PhotoPass on it as well, paid for itself. It’s nice to have those high quality keep safe photos. Also, I highly recommend the fishing for MEPs (anytime LLs). I was able to add 3 each day we were there and that was more than enough. I also figured out that the Cast Members don’t really look when you are scanning and they just look for the green circle and beep. So when my Wife and Daughter decided to spend the afternoon in the hotel on our second day my Son and I were able to scan in as them and essentially double our MEPs and LLs. My Son and I were able to ride Millennium 4 times in a row!
Day 3 – May 21:
This was our second day at Disneyland Park. We did 2 at Disneyland, and then 2 at California Adventure Park. The reason we did it that way was to ensure we got to see WOC (I originally thought that during a Grad Night you would get kicked out prior to WOC…I was wrong) and also because if they did bring back the Early Morning for the multi-day pass then I wanted to ensure we could use it. People were saying that we should probably mix it up, but I am glad we did it as we did because it worked out well for us. On the second day at each park my Wife and Daughter decided to stay at the hotel in the evening due to being tired from the day. If we mixed up the days it wouldn’t have worked like that.
Since we rushed to do rope drop on the first day, we took our time on the second day. We were still at the park early and got into the park just as rope drop happened. We hoped on one of the Main Street cars and got a ride to the end of the block. That was nice and relaxing and we got to see Pluto drive by. We ended up in Fantasyland again but this time bypassed Peter Pan and went straight to the Tea Cups, then Dumbo, the carousel, and Alice. While getting into line for the Tea Cups I made a silly mistake of calling Geppetto, Giuseppe, lol. Oops. After the rides we were able to meet Peter and Wendy and get a picture and autograph, and then we saw Pinocchio all alone and my kids were able to get a magical moment with him as they held hands and skipped down the road. I previously mentioned my frustrations with these meetings, so these ones made up for it. We then made our way to Snow White, but again my daughter found it a bit too loud and scary. Other than Alice she didn’t care for the dark rides, and that was too bad because she didn’t enjoy herself as much as I would have liked.
We then mobile ordered the raspberry macaron, which was delicious, before heading to our breakfast at the Plaza Inn with Minnie! Our reservation was for 10am. Now, I have more negatives to note so if you’re getting sick of reading them skip ahead, lol. We started off with meeting Minnie, which was great and was likely a highlight for my daughter (even though we did meet Minnie at Goofy’s Kitchen). We then headed to our table and grabbed our food and just after we sat down they started their character parade/tour. There was no announcement or song like at Goofy’s. There was Goofy, Pluto, Pooh, Daisy, Chip/Dale, and I think one of the mouse from Cinderella. My daughter was very excited to be able to meet Daisy. What I found strange is none of them stopped by our table! They all passed by and we waved and they headed to the tables on the outside. I thought, ok they will come back. The things is the only ones that came back to our table were Goofy and Pluto…who we already saw at Goofy’s Kitchen. I have no idea where the rest went. Every now and then at the beginning I would have a look and see them at the tables outside, and then the next time I looked they were all gone. My daughter was very sad we didn’t get to see Daisy. Oh, and another thing that frustrated me was when Pluto and Goofy did come by they spent like 10 full minutes at this table with about 4-5 young adults, then when they get to our table they say hi and pose for a picture then leave…really?? Then they came around and asked if everyone saw Minnie to make sure. When at Goofy’s Kitchen he at least walked around the kitchen a few times, but we never saw Minnie after the initial meet and greet. I wasn’t pleased with the Minnie Breakfast experience. The food was good though.
After breakfast we went to small world, then on our way to my daughters shopping spree at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique (I wanted to give her the makeover but they weren’t doing them) we decided to stop at Tinkerbell’s. That was a good choice because we really enjoyed this meet and greet. The cast members who watch the line were great and played along with the theme, and we loved how the area is done. And Tinkerbell was a pleasure to meet. Very friendly and made my little girl feel special. And we enjoyed that your time with her is “private” which made the kids feel more comfortable. We then made our way to BBB where my daughter decided on the Elsa dress and accessories. I thought (and we tried to convince her) that she would go with Ariel items but she didn’t. Also note, that the premium dresses only come in sizes for like 8 years plus. I really wanted to spend the money on a premium dress for my daughter but they didn’t have her size. She then got pixie dusted to finalize the magic! I had planned to go meet the princesses after this but there was a 60 minute wait! I did not expect that, so we decided to skip. We then took a round trip ride on the train. That was nice. We made one pit stop at Autopia since we didn’t get around to riding it earlier.
We then headed back to the hotel for some more pool time. This time my Wife and Daughter decided to stay at the hotel and rest. I didn’t think she would agree, but my Daughter was fine with staying at the hotel. And my wife was more than obliged since her feet were killing her (as was mine, lol). That meant it was a boy’s night at Disneyland! This was actually the first time me and my son had a “boys date” and I have to say doing it at Disney made it extra special. Memories that I will never forget anytime soon. My Son wanted to spend our time in Galaxy’s Edge, which I had no issue with, lol. As mentioned in Day 1, I figured out a “cheat” to essentially double our LL and MEPs. So in the end I think we rode Smuggler’s Run 4 times and Star Tours twice. We started our night at Star Tours. I really enjoyed this ride and I might be in the minority but I like it better than Smuggler’s Run. I like SR but I don’t really enjoy that you have to be doing something, instead of just enjoying the ride. Which is why I like Star Tours. I like the little touch of finding the “spy” in the group at the beginning. When we were gathering our things under our seat my Son was reaching for something and he said that they said to put things under the seat and he put his little R2D2 keychain there! I told him he is lucky it didn’t get lost and to keep it in his pocket. We then made our way to Galaxy’s Edge and explored for a bit. A great moment happened when we saw some storm troopers and I told my son to act like he’s using the force on him. Well, he did and the Storm Trooper looked at him funny and was wondering what he was doing (obviously knowing what he was doing), then my son said “My Dad told me to”, lol. So, the Storm Trooper got up in my face and was telling me to be careful and then he went and thanked my son for his allegiance, lol. It was a great moment I was able to capture on video. We then proceeded to SR for a couple rides. The first time my son and I were assigned the Pilots, which my son was excited for, however we were getting our picture taken at the game table and they called our color, but then others took our spot. My son was a bit annoyed, but I told him to use his manners and not say anything. Note that throughout our trip my son was doing good things (giving money to homeless, using good manners, etc.) and I was telling him about good karma, because he only understood about bad karma. We did the ride and then my son wanted to wait for ROTR no matter what the queue was, so we made our way over there. However, ROTR was down so made our way to ride Pooh because we had a paper ticket to come back because it broke down while we were in line earlier. Unfortunately, it too was still down (or closed for the day, I can’t remember). So we grabbed some churros and lemonade and went back to Galaxy’s Edge. We decided to just wait until ROTR came back online and then get in line. When I overheard the Cast Member tell someone that when they go down it could be for 10min or if it is something they need to recalibrate then it is usually about 45mins, OR depending on the time they could just shut it down for the night. At this point it was probably down for about 30mins. After about 5min people were getting closer and closer to the entrances, so we got up and got into one of the groups…it looks like there was 2 “entrances” and I later assumed/figured out that once it comes on line they pick one of the two entrances as the start of the line and the people waiting at the other entrance essentially have to quickly get to the end of the line at the other once. Luckily, for us we chose the correct one and we were about 20th in line and ended up walking on! While walking through the paths my son realized that he had lost his R2D2 keychain! He had it in his hoodie pocket, so it probably easily fell out somewhere. The poor guy was more than heartbroken ☹. He loved that thing. I told him that it would likely be gone now if someone found it because they would likely keep it…but I later found out that Disneyland is usually pretty good about lost items and people will just put it on top of a garbage can if someone loses something, but I didn’t know that, so we didn’t end up tracing our tracks. I tried to cheer him up by saying his good karma paid off for us because we were able to walk on to ROTR and it was because of him that they chose our entrance. They seemed to cheer him up and made him feel good about himself. ROTR was great again and we got to go down the other path which was cool. Again, I reminded my son that it was because of his karma that we got to see the other path. We then headed back to SR where my “son good karma” (very nice people) paid off again. There was a group ahead of me and when they asked who wanted to be the pilot he chose whoever put their hands up first, so I told my son to be ask fast as he can. He was fast but they chose another person and myself. I told my son he can have my spot, and then the other person graciously told my son he can have her spot too! This was the first time as the pilot and my Son was very excited. After the ride was done we went right back on, lol. This time it was just us and one other person. He allowed my son and I to be the pilots again. And this time we got 2 of the bundles in the ride and got the highest score we got so far. My son was thrilled and he chatted the other guy’s ear off telling him how good of a job he did being a gunner, lol. We then made our way over to Star Tours again to use our last MEP. Unfortunately, this was the same time that the fireworks were happening, so just as we were walking past Dumbo the first one went off! It scared the crap out of my son and the poor guy was pretty shook up, and at first he thought that maybe we weren’t safe where we were. So I had to calm him down. We did Star Tours again and then made a mobile order for some Dole Whip…which I found out my son doesn’t like, lol. So I had 2 to eat! I told my son we could stop at Gibson Girl and he could get something from there, so I made a mobile order but had to wait another 20mins, so we just sat outside and watched the people go by. Then yet another “magical” moment happened. One of the Disney Firefighters…gosh, I can’t remember his name now but I think it was Ron or Rob…tapped my son on the shoulder and asked if we wanted to see the smallest hidden Mickey, and he pointed out the Mickey in the bubble on the sign. He then gave my son a Mickey Firefighter sticker that he said you can only get from him! He was then telling us about the hidden Mickey at the Cartha Circle under the 1901 sign, and the stories about the significance of 1901 and a bunch of other things. My son is a chatter box, so he started to tell him about how his good karma has been helping us out that night. Then you could tell the fireman really get into the conversation because he was telling my son how his wife really believes in good karma and so that made him think of her. Then you could tell he had to go, but I think he really was enjoying talking to my son so said to follow him. He then showed us the two spots where Walt had the white light painted half red so that there wasn’t 2 white bulbs in a row. He then said he had to leave so we said goodbye and I was sure to shake his hand and tell him how appreciative I was for his time, because I could tell it was a moment that my son loved. We then got his ice cream and made our way back to the Hotel. This would be our last day at the Disneyland Park so it was kind of sad. On the way there my Son was telling me how sad he still was to have lost his R2D2 keychain, so I told him we would look to replace it the next day. We were heading to DCA for the next two days but he had originally purchased it in DD, so I knew we could get it there. And man oh man, my feet were starting to feel it from the steps travelled, lol.
Our first day at Disney was special, but I think this day was my favorite day at Disney because of the time I got to spend with my son and everything that had happened as the night went on. I think I am going to have to plan some separate Parent/Kid date nights for myself/wife, and the kids. I know people that do this with their kids and after this experience I think I will start planning these.
Day 4 – May 22:
This was our first day at California Adventure Park. The long days were catching up with us and we never got to the park as early as we wanted, but we were still there for rope drop. We went right to RSR and didn’t have to wait too long to get on (maybe 30mins). I thought it would be longer based on where we were in line. Entering Cars Land for the first time was pretty cool. I was excited to explore more later on. RSR was pretty fun and my son and I really enjoyed it. My wife and daughter however weren’t fans based on my Wife’s motion sickness and it was a bit too fast (and loud, ha ha) for her. Entering the track for the first time was great when you come around the corner and see the waterfalls. Amazing!! We then made our way to Luigi’s and waited for about 10min before we were right about to get on, and it broke down. We waited another 10mins or so before they told us to come back later. They did give us a MEP though, so that was good. My wife and daughter took advantage of that later. Once we finally rode it later, we really enjoyed it. Fun little ride. We then went over to Mater. Same thing, we enjoyed it and it was a fun little ride. We then planned to grab some breakfast from Flos V8, but to my surprise they didn’t seem to sell breakfast. I am sure when I was planning that breakfast at Flos was a favorite. I can’t remember what we did instead for eats. Maybe popcorn at Lazy Cone?
We then made our way over to my daughters soon to be favorite ride, Little Mermaid. We all enjoyed it and we ended up doing it another 2-3 times throughout the day. The details in the lineup (sea shells in concrete, tilework, trees cut to look like corral, etc.) is great and adds so much to the atmosphere. We then made our way over to Grizzly Park and my son and I rode Soarin. We enjoyed it a lot and ended up going again later on. Due to my wife’s motion sickness and an inkling my daughter wouldn’t like it (I knew when you enter that it could be intimidating seeing the glider cars and it being dark), they stayed outside.
I think it was already lunch at this point so we made our way back to Buena Vista and did some sightseeing, and got in line to see Donald, and then got some dogs at Award Wieners. As we were done, I noticed that Disney Jr Dance Party was just starting so we did that. The kids enjoyed dancing around. Then we did Crush. We really enjoyed this, and I am amazed how they do this. I knew they had real time replied to people’s questions (the voice actor is great!) but even the animations are on point. Really cool. I wanted to do it again the next day but we never got to it.
We then made our way through Avengers Campus. As a big Marvel fan this was great…and we got to line up early to meet Iron Man! That was pretty cool and my son was a little awestruck, lol. We didn’t stick around too long in this area and continued on back to Cars Land to try and get on Luigi’s. While we were there we got to meet Mater! We then carried on to Pixal Pier and did I think a couple rides there including our LL for Pixar Mania. That was a fun ride and we all enjoyed it. We then carried on around the pond and had dinner at Paradise Garden. The food was good. That’s one thing I didn’t care fore at DCA, is the pond really breaks Pixar away from everything else. So to make it over there and back is kind of a hassle. I think we then made our way over to Redwoods for just a bit of playtime before we headed back over to see WOC.
We weren’t sure what the best place to sit/stand would be, but it was already kind of filled up with people sitting in the aisles. We found a spot and waited for the show. As we were waiting we overheard another family talking about Callaway Park in Calgary Canada, so we asked if they too were from Canada and they were. We had a good visit with them prior to the WOC show. They were super friendly and even adjusted where they were standing to ensure we could see as much as we could, since they have been there many times before. We initially were sat right behind one of those big white lamp posts so it blocked our view heavily at first. I had thought the show would be more to the right of our view and wouldn’t be blocked. WOC was great and we really enjoyed it. I love how they do the effects of the ocean waves. It was funny because during the part where Jack Sparrow comes on, everyone started cheering, lol. If I had to put the Fireworks, MSEP, and WOC in order of favorite I don’t think I could, lol. I loved MSEP because the kids really enjoyed it and it was just a cool atmosphere the whole time with the lights and the music. The fireworks were great, and I enjoyed the scenes that went along with them, especially when it snowed! And WOC is just amazing and has so many great moments.
We then made our way back to the hotel. After 3 long days our feet were really starting to feel it! We only had 1 more day at Disney left and we all were a bit sad because of it.
Day 5 – May 23:
Well, it came and we all hated it – our last day at Disney. But we were also all excite to continue fun at California Adventure and see what the day will bring. Again though, we slept in a bit and by the time we got to the park we were a bit behind in line. It got harder and harder as the days went on to wake up, lol.
We started the day with Web Slingers. I can’t recall why we didn’t but I wanted to originally get a ILL for it the day before. Being a big Marvel fan I loved this ride. It’s a great workout for the arms but I really enjoyed the whole attraction from start to finish and I felt the accuracy of where I wanted to shoot and where it actually shot was spot on. The whole family enjoyed these shooter type attractions. And because of that we made our way over to Toy Story Mania next before the lines got crazy. We made our way through more of the Pixar rides and continued back to Radiator Springs. Riding Luigi and Mator again. We really enjoyed these ones. As we were looking to grab some food at the Cozy Cone we were lucky enough to have Lightning come by and we got in early to meet him. That was pretty cool. My Son and I then did the ILL for RSR. The Wife and Daughter sat this one out this time due to the issues previously mentioned, lol.
We then made our way back to Avengers Campus where we did the ILL to do Web Slingers again. Everyone loved this one and we all had another good time on it. I have a good picture of my Daughter seeing the spider bot in the ducting as you exit, and you can see the joy/happiness in her face because she thought it was pretty funny/cute that he was in there. As we got out we were able to catch the Spidey show and see him slinging from building to building. The last couple times we have always been over at Cars Land and it was difficult to see through the trees. We then headed over to the main building where Black Widow and Taskmaster’s crew had a battle, with the help of Black Panther. I wanted to do a meet and greet with him, but we never did see him out. I was disappointed because I didn’t get to see/meet as many Marvel characters as I wanted to. Granted we didn’t spend enough time in Avengers Campus as I wanted / had planned. Because there isn’t “much there” we were often off in the other lands. We met Ironman and Spiderman, and we quickly saw Thor and Loki later in the day but they were just quickly walking through the crowds. We also saw Groot but it was at the end of the night and they were no longer taking people in the line. We also never took in as many of the mini shows as I wanted. It seemed like we were always doing something else (LL, eating, too far away, etc.) when the shows were to start. I was hoping to take them all in, but we never got to.
We then made our way over to Mike and Sully using LL. We enjoyed this ride and it was a fun ride that helps take you through the movie. We also stopped at the Avenger’s Superstore but I was kind of disappointed because I couldn’t find any Avenger related clothes I liked. They were either way too “out there” for my liking and I didn’t like the styles.
We then got our chance to meet the Big Guy! We got our meet and greet with Micky in front of the fountain in Cartha Circle. He was in his dapper wear with the red hat. For some reason my daughter was shy with him at first but then warmed up…she may have been in a mood, lol. It was funny because when we did our Family Trip reveal to the kids, we did it like a little scavenger hunt. In one of the bags they found there was Mickey/Minnie hats. When my son opened it he was like “I don’t even like Mickey, but ok”. So when we were waiting in line I asked him if he was going to tell Mickey that he didn’t like him, lol. He immediately said “NO!”, lol. We then headed back to our hotel for more pool time.
When we returned, we spent some time at the Redwood Creek Challenge, and got to meet Raya. The kids enjoyed this meet and greet. Raya was very interactive and chatted with them for a long time…I actually started to get nervous that others in line were thinking “geez people, hurry up”, lol. We then made our way back to Little Mermaid, again, lol. My Daughter loved it and I was happy to go on it as many times as she wanted. Then we made our way back to Pixar Pier for some rides, and a quick wave to Woody as he walked by in a hurry, lol.
My Wife an Daughter were then heading back to the hotel and my Son and I would have another Boy’s Night. It was kind of sad because this would be the last moments for my Wife and Daughter at Disney. They were going to stop for ice cream on their way out. My Son and I decided for the rest of the night we would do single rider on RSR and Web Slingers. We headed over to RSR (we knew that they were going to close in about an hour because they were closing it early for a Speed Magazine thing) to get in line. When we walked up we were told that it would be 55min for Single Rider! We didn’t want to “waste time” in line when it was our last night and because if it would be longer we might not even get on before it closes. So we decided to go join my Wife and Daughter for some ice cream at Ghirardelli’s, lol. I can’t remember exactly, but I remember being disappointed in the cost per serving size compared to the other ice cream places we stopped at.
So because RSR single rider wasn’t going to work, we decided to do Web Slingers single rider instead. We made our way there and did a LL stop at Soar’n. We were lucky enough to get a different route than the other times we went so that was nice. Then on our way to Avengers Campus we were lucky enough to come up to Spidey’s meet and greet just as the line was starting. We were like 3rd in line. It was a cool meet and greet and Spidey was awesome. As soon as my Son and him gave a high 5, my son did a Spiderman pose and Spidey was “cool pose dude!”. We then did the single rider 2 times in a row in the last 30min or so the park was open! The waits were really short. Then as the park was close to closing we were able to walk around and explore Avengers Campus a bit more.
Then it was the sad moment. The park was closing, and we had to leave. Our fun was over. It was another fun filled day though. But it was a moment in time that we didn’t want to come and were so sad when it did. With that said, our feet/legs were thanking for that moment, lol. Once we left the park we headed over to DTD and the Star Wars store to see if the keychain my son lost was in stock…it was not. And I ended up giving my Son a piggy back ride most the way there and to the hotel because his feet and legs were so sore, lol. Mine were too, but I was happy to do it for him!
Summary:
To recap our Disney Adventure and to sum it up in one word, it would have to be AMAZING! We saw and did so many amazing things that will live in our memory forever. I don’t think there has been a week that has gone by since then that I don’t think about something we did. Heck, I even still check out some of the Youtubers that I would watch before to prepare for the trip! With that said there was a bunch of stuff we didn’t do that I wanted to do. When planning people would say that 4 days at the park would be plenty…I disagree. I think (if our feet would allow it) we could have easily spent 6 days there if our itinerary would have allowed it. We missed some rides that I thought we would do, and I feel we missed a lot of the park atmosphere because we didn’t get the chance to just take our time and explore. Most the time we were walking at a good pace to make sure we got to where we wanted to go to meet LL/reservation/showtimes/etc. deadlines. Hopefully we will be able to make another magical trip to Disneyland in the future. I initially thought it was going to be a once in a lifetime trip (I have a fear of flying and it would have to be another road trip), but the fun we had has definitely made me want to go back again and if our bank roll allows it, I think we would certainly make the trip again before the kids get too old. I always thought people were crazy when I hear that they do yearly (or more) trips to Disneyland...but now I get it. I'm not even a Big Disney fan, but there is just something about it that pulls you in.
And an update on the R2D2 key chain – I was able to order one through eBay and my son was so surprised and is very glad to have it again!
Curious, though - did you purposely not hit GotG, or did you just run out of time?
