There it was late September, and I realized that due to the timing, my only chance to go to the Disneyland Resort during a family visit would be sometime after Christmas and before New Year’s. What luck! Probably the busiest time of year. But it would be our only chance to do this as a family now that some of us had moved out of state.Thinking through my plan of attack, a few things were obvious: One, I’d have to purchase our tickets ahead of time; two, we would have get there at the gate before the opening time; lastly, we’d have to be wise about using Fastpass, deciding what we really wanted to see.
There were also the non-practical but equally important emotional aspects of our visit. I wanted to see the attractions and attraction enhancements I had not seen. This included Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer Island, the new Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through, the piranha attack on the Jungle Cruise, and lastly, the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.
I was not the only traveler, however, and we each had our own ideas. My wife hadn’t been to Walt’s original park since Spring of 1997. Yes, 1997. We had been to Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney World, but she had skipped out going to Disneyland the last several visits. (She has not even seen California Adventure since it opened. But that is another story.) Therefore, the Christmas makeovers of Mansion and Small World ranked high. Our son had never been to Disneyland with his wife; neither had he been to the park for almost 15 years. Our youngest son and daughter had to "do the mountains". (Our oldest daughter was actually left at home last minute due to job requirements.) Satisfying everyone and seeing the best of the park would be a challenge. One aspect we all agreed upon: we hated crowds and wanted to make this as low-key a visit as possible.
(This is a five page plus photos report. I'lll post more here, but if you want to see the rest now, go to my www.InsightsandSounds.blogspot.com site.)
Mark