Trip Report PICS FIXED! An Unexpectedly Successful Day at Disneyland for a WDW Veteran! Plenty of Pictures!

INTRO
I was across the street from Disneyland for the NAMM show this past week and was able to extend my trip by one day to go to Disneyland Park and California Adventure. I had one full day with a park hopper and MaxPass, which was Monday the 20th, just a few days after Rise of the Resistance opened. Anyone who read my previous trip-planning posts knows how nervous I was about that since I only had one day to experience both parks. In the end, it turned out great and I was able to do WAY more than I ever thought possible.

I've spent most of my life going to Disney World, often multiple trips per year, and am a die-hard fan. But up until last year, I had never been to Disneyland. I got the opportunity to go for a single day during a similar work trip last year but was very sick the entire trip, so my day at Disney was rough and cut short when I got too sick to continue. That means this past Monday was my first FULL day experience at the parks.

PLAN
While I told myself leading up to my visit that I needed to take it easy this time around and focus on soaking it all in and enjoying just being there, I can't help myself; I just love to make a game out of "how much can I do" when I'm at the parks. My brain says slow down but my heart say go go go! My heart usually wins.

That said, my completely arbitrary goals were to get on a few big rides, such as Space Mountain, Matterhorn, and Radiator Springs Racers, then focus on as many rides as possible that I hadn't been on before. There were quite a few, if you include the ones that exist at DL and WDW but are different from each other, so I still had my work cut out for me.

The last part of my plan included walking Galaxy's Edge, since I haven't seen it at either location before, but I had no plans to go on either Rise of the Resistance or Smuggler's Run; I simply didn't want to fight those crowds and worry about boarding passes and all of that.

PARK OPENING AND A LUCKY BREAK
Knowing how crowded it would be at opening because of Rise of the Resistance, I got there just after 7am. Disneyland park hours were 8am to 11pm and California Adventure was open until 10pm, so I had a nice long day ahead of me. I figured while people were focused on their phones for boarding passes and scrambling for Smuggler's Run at rope drop, I could get quite a few other rides done early. Turns out I caught an entirely unexpected lucky break on my first ride.

They started letting people through the gates around 7:20am and as soon as I got in, I booked a Fast Pass for Matterhorn 8:35-9:35am. I soaked in the sights on Main Street USA and took some pictures of the castle (which was blocked off for refurbishment the one other sick day I was here), then lined up maybe 10 people back from the Tomorrowland entrance.

At about 7:50am, they dropped the ropes and I quickly headed towards Space Mountain, which has always been my favorite Disney ride. I was excited to experience it for the first time NOT being sick and nauseous because it ruined my morning on that previous Disneyland trip.

When entering the ride, I noticed a bunch of people were waiting outside and not going in. Once in the queue, the same thing was happening where people were just stopped halfway through and letting me pass them. Turns out it was just a few minutes before 8am and they were all afraid they'd end up with no service in the queue or on the ride right when the clocked struck 8:00, ruining any chance of them getting a boarding pass.

Being that I had no intention of riding ROTR, I gladly walked past them and wound up on the third or fourth train of the day in a front seat (I always want the front on Space Mountain and requested it). Here's where things went my way.

As I brought down the lap bar, I took out my phone to take a picture to send to my brothers on the other side of the country. Realizing it was 7:59am, I thought to myself, "no way this will work but why not?" I opened my Disneyland app and clicked on the Rise of the Resistance info button as the train lurched forward. Anyone who goes on this ride knows that, at this point, the train stops for a few moments to let the train in front get ahead before actually starting the ride. While sitting there dead stopped, the clocked clicked over to 8am, so I clicked my way through the boarding pass screens...and wound up with Boarding Group 40!

At this point, I realized that lady luck was smiling down upon me this day, and it was going to be a good day...

 

[PSM]

FIRST HOUR RIDES - YOU CAN GET A LOT DONE!
After Space Mountain - which was great and a nice compliment to the WDW version - I still had about 25 minutes before I could get on Matterhorn (or an hour and a half before I actually HAD to get on Matterhorn). So I figured now was the time to get on as many of the less popular rides as possible, not that they aren't popular, just not the ones the crowds would be racing for. I'd focus my Fast Passes on the big rides and wait for the others.

First up was one of my favorites and the one I miss the most from Disney World: Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Such a classic and fun ride and I only waited less than 5 minutes. Then I hopped right over to Pinocchio's Daring Journey, which was basically a walk-on. Not my favorite ride but a must-do for a walk-on and only the second time I've ever ridden it, not to mention the great music. When You Wish Upon a Star is the song I most associate with my trips to Disney, as we almost always ended our trips with a day at Magic Kingdom and they always used to play it when you were leaving Main Street USA for the night.

Next was a new ride for me, Storybook Land Canal Boats. I waited maybe 10 minutes at the most and it was a charming ride, as I've always enjoyed seeing mini/model towns, such as the train town in Germany at Epcot. The only downside was the speaker on the boat was horrible and it was really hard to hear what the cast member was saying.

Another first followed the Canal Boats with a ride on Small World. I've always loved Small World in WDW but this original version was closed when I was in Disneyland last year, so I was looking forward to finally checking it out. The wait was almost non-existent and it did not disappoint! I never realized what a completely different ride it was, from the boats and river "track" to the animatronics and ways the different rooms are themed. I actually enjoyed the little touches of IP throughout, as well. I know this is a point of contention for some but I felt like they were done tastefully for the most part and acted as little "highlights" and focal points for the viewer, who can often be overwhelmed with so much to look at every moment. It was also neat to see the Railroad pass in above us as our boat began to enter the building at the beginning, something I wasn't aware of.

SECOND HOUR AND SOME FAST PASS RIDES
It was only a little after 9am at this point and I was able to grab my next Fast Pass on the way out of Small World. I scooped up Indiana Jones from 9:25-10:25am, then headed over to Matterhorn for my first Fast Pass of the day. I had ridden this for the first time last trip but, like Space Mountain, didn't really enjoy it because of how sick I was. This time around confirmed for me just how bumpy and jerky this ride is but I still enjoyed it, of course. The Abominable Snowman was great, especially that dark part at the beginning where he spots you through the ice and starts following you.

Before heading to completely different areas of the park, I figured I'd stop in Toontown and check another first off my list: Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. It was pretty good, not a highlight of the day for me by any means but worth a short wait. The actual highlight for me was the way they portrayed Jessica Rabbit walking in front of the window and the guerrilla sliding open the window to the door. I got a chuckle out of those.

Before leaving Toontown, I browsed in a store, watched this kid get hilariously terrified by the door that lights up and makes noise when you try to open it, and strolled through Mickey's house, an attraction all its own even without waiting to meet him, if you ask me.

 

[PSM]

By the time I made my way over to Adventureland, my Fast Pass for Indiana Jones was ready. This was a third ride that I was able to enjoy a lot more than last time because I wasn't sick. The queue itself is a quality Disney parks queue and really puts you in the mindset and mood for the ride; and I like that you get to experience most of the queue even using a Fast Pass. The style of the ride itself reminds me of Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom - a ride I love - and I'd say I enjoyed Indiana Jones as much as, or possibly even more than, Dinosaur.

LATE MORNING RIDES

At this point, I was looking forward to another classic DL vs WDW comparison ride: Pirates of the Caribbean. The wait was about 15-20 minutes (you can't get a FP for this ride), so still doing well on crowd levels considering all of the Star Wars people who are waiting around to possibly get on ROTR. While the ride is longer with more early scenes and there are two drops (two is always better than one), the intro scenes on this version just feel long to me. I guess I'm so used to the WDW version that puts you quickly into the action that it feels too stretched out in DL. I do love the very first part floating in the bayou next to the restaurant, though, as the similar scene in Mexico's pavilion ride is one of my favorite places in Epcot and it strongly reminds me of that.

After sitting on the boat for at least 10 minutes right at the end of the ride due to a breakdown, I took a stroll through New Orleans Square. I probably should have taken my time a bit more and stopped at Mint Julep Bar for a refreshment but I think the combination of sitting on the boat because of the breakdown and the early day adrenaline still pumping caused me to hurry my way over to Critter Country. While perfect jeans and sweatshirt temps were present all day and night, it was too cold for Splash Mountain, a walk-on due to weather. Since I rode it last time and got completely soaked late in the morning for the rest of the day, I knew I didn't want a repeat of that.

Winnie the Pooh was about a 10 minute wait, though, and I knew it was a must-do because my almost two-year-old son is obsessed with the characters. So, separate from seeing how the rides at each location differ, I wanted to send him some pictures and videos to enjoy back home. I got some good ones and, according to my parents who were watching him, he absolutely loved seeing them and was yelling out their names while watching.

 

[PSM]

A FAST PASS REVELATION

I had also booked my next two Fast Passes by this point, one for Radiator Springs Racers at 4:05pm and one for Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters at 11:40am. I had booked RSR first but, upon doing so, realized that the time limits imposed for booking more depended upon how soon your next Fast Pass was scheduled. RSR was on my must-do list, so I had to book it either way, but I now realized that grabbing rides within 30 minutes - or as soon as possible - was the smarter move until the few big rides I definitely wanted to do started showing times late enough that I had to grab them before they ran out. I probably could have grabbed a later RSR Fast Pass and gotten a few more less desirable ones in the meantime. Oh well, live and learn.

GALAXY'S EDGE: FIRST WALK-THROUGH

I checked my phone just after 11:30am and the time had arrived: my Rise of the Resistance boarding group 40 had just been called!

I had never been to either Galaxy's Edge location, so this was my first. I decided to enter through the "main" entrance, which is sort of to the left of Big Thunder Mountain, and just wander the land for a bit before heading over. I like Star Wars but I'm not a die-hard fan, just to give some context. I've seen the original three movies a million times, have not seen the next three in their entirety because they were terrible and I turned them off (Episodes 1, 2, 3), but have enjoyed the new ones since then.

The land is definitely immersive and seeing all of the ships is great; I particularly loved the TIE Echelon. I saw Chewbacca walking with a little girl, Kylo Ren interacting with stormtroopers and guests, and one of the female characters whose name I don't know was sneaking around due to stormtrooper activity. It was really cool seeing them just wandering around. I actually noticed this a few times with characters throughout Disneyland Park, something I rarely see at Disney World any more and I wish could still happen regularly.

RISE OF THE RESISTANCE - A LONG WAIT AND A RISKY MOVE PAYS OFF

After wandering most of the land for a bit, I finally made my way over to Rise of the Resistance. They checked my boarding pass, I entered the queue, then they scanned it again part way through. After a few more twists and turns, I finally reached the actual line of people waiting ahead of me.

And then the ride immediately broke down, confirmed by an announcement from a cast member.

It was 11:52am at this point and I quickly learned that, since my boarding pass had already been scanned - albeit not five minutes earlier - I could not reenter the line if I decided to leave. It was all or nothing.

I, of course, waited a bit to see if it would start up again in a short time but, after it didn't, I had a tough choice to make. I had only this single day to experience all that both parks had to offer, as I was flying out the next morning, and it was already a little after noon. From reading I had done about the already-open WDW version, I knew that when this ride went down, it tended to take 60-90 minutes to reset. Did I want to risk that much time, especially if it turned out to be something more serious and it didn't restart by then? It had been maybe 20 minutes already, so I decided I'd give it a full hour, then reassess.

At the hour mark, there was no progress or update. I had done more reading on my phone and was still seeing that 60-90 minutes was common, so I made the choice to wait it out a little more. Risky but I live on the edge...

At 90 minutes, I noticed some people had been leaving the line to go to the bathroom and were being let back in. I decided to follow suit and when I got to the cast member, she asked if I had someone with me holding my place in line. I told her no (I hadn't even thought about that) and that I was here for only one day from out of state by myself. She hesitated a bit and finally said, "Straight to the bathroom and straight back."

I walked to the Hungry Bear restroom close by and, at this point, it really hit me what a risk I was taking if I went back. On one hand, I had already wasted an hour and a half just waiting on something I didn't intend to do in the first place and only had a single day to do everything I wanted in two parks, not to mention it was almost 1:30pm at this point. On the other hand, I had been making great progress getting on a lot of rides without rushing too much already, plus the park was open until 11pm, so I was feeling torn.

A side note is that one of my brothers lives right near WDW (and I don't), so he gets to experience everything new before me. He also likes to brag about it and send pictures, but since he hand't been on Rise of the Resistance yet, this was my one chance to throw some of that bragging back his way. My mind was made up, I'd go back and give it another 30 minutes.

It paid off. The cast member let me back in and less than a minute after I was back in line, the ride reopened. I experienced Rise of the Resistance and it was a great ride. Not my favorite of all time but really fun and the only real critique I can give is that the waits between some of the pre-show sections were long enough that it didn't necessarily feel like one long experience; just a little too broken up. But Disney was ambitious with this one and, overall, I feel like they hit the mark.

 

[PSM]

 

[PSM]

RONTO WRAP AND SMUGGLER'S RUN

After Rise, I was getting hungry and wanted to walk through Galaxy's Edge some more. I had heard about the Ronto Wrap on podcasts and decided to give it a shot. Delicious. I didn't eat much noteworthy food at the parks but this one was a standout for sure. I'm looking forward to having it again in Disney World the next time I make it out there.

I took some pictures in front of the Millennium Falcon and a few other ships, then noticed that not only was the Smuggler's Run line under an hour but there was a single riders line. Feeling accomplished from my ROTR experience, I decided to take another shot, and it also paid off.

I got into the single riders line and in less than 30 minutes had my engineer pass. The ride was pretty good but, of course, being an engineer was nothing to write home about. Honestly, it probably would have been more fun to just enjoy the ride and not have to do anything than to be distracted by having to press the engineer buttons. I could tell that being a pilot would take this ride from maybe a 6 out of 10 to at least an 8 (in my opinion). My pilots on this particular experience flew exactly how you'd expect from the giddy teenage girls that they were.

 

[PSM]

MID-AFTERNOON BEFORE HEADING TO CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE

Riding high on the overall success of my completely unexpected Galaxy's Edge visit, I was feeling much more relaxed. But there was still plenty to do!

I had missed my Buzz Lightyear Fast Pass due to the ROTR breakdown but oh well (I ended up riding it later with no wait anyways). I had a Fast Pass for a more important ride...Big Thunder Mountain! I love this ride. The WDW version plays a major role in my childhood memories at the parks and it's cool seeing the differences with the DL version. I'd say the views are better at WDW and I like the actual track layout better but there's no denying the spark and smoke effects at DL - along with that little frontier town at the end - are better. I also really love the goat as you're coming down the second big drop.

Afterwards, I headed towards the castle for some pictures, grabbing a Dole Whip on my way. I watched a band they had playing some classic Disney songs in front of the castle and intended to do the walk-through but it was closed. I viewed the "Accessible" version for a few minutes instead, then walked back to Frontierland via a different path just to make sure I wasn't missing any stores or smaller attractions/sights along the way.

One of my must-do attractions on this trip was to ride the Disneyland Railroad. I also planned on heading over to California Adventure at this point, giving myself plenty of time for my Radiator Springs Racers Fast Pass, so I hopped on the railroad at the New Orleans Square stop and road it around, getting off at Main Street USA. I didn't know about the Grand Canyon or Dinosaurs dioramas, so that was a fun find and something different from WDW. I also got on one of the cars with the sideways-facing benches, which made it more enjoyable for the views.

 

[PSM]

CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE - PART 1

By 4:30pm, I was in California Adventure heading straight to Cars Land. The Cars movies and characters are my son's absolute favorite thing in the world right now, so I needed plenty of pictures and videos from Radiator Springs. I attempted to Facetime him but, unfortunately, crowd levels resulted in no connection, so he'd have to settle for a lot of pictures and videos. According to my parents and wife, he flipped out any time I sent a selfie or video with one of the characters or in front of one of the landmarks of Radiator Springs. I hope I get to bring him there one day when he's still really into those movies.

I got on Radiator Springs Racers just after 5pm with almost no wait in the Fast Pass line. It was one of the last rides I went on last year when I was sick and this time around confirmed what I had already figured out: this is one of the best rides I've been on at any Disney park, definitely top 5. It may not go as fast as Test Track but it destroys it in every other way, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[PSM]

I wandered Radiator Springs a bit more now that the sun was going down and the neon was lighting up; it's a totally different vibe and they really did a great job with the neon. I also bought some souvenirs for my parents (pin collectors) and my son, then headed to Pixar Pier for my Incredicoaster Fast Pass. As seemed to be the case with Fast Passes this day, I had almost no wait. Also, I love this ride. It's not the best roller coaster in the world but it's really fun and much longer than you'd expect when you first see it.

I wandered the rest of Pixar Pier after that and wound up with some sort of chicken pasta dish from the Paradise Gardens area. It was fine and, although I sat down and took a bit of a break from the walking, I still had plenty of more accomplish with it being only 6:14pm. Again, California Adventure was open until 10pm and Disneyland Park until 11pm. The night was young!

I had a FastPass for Goofy's Sky School but ended up not needing it since there was a line for FastPass while the single rider line was empty. I walked right on. Tip if you're a thrill seeker for an otherwise typical carnival ride: sit on the right side. When you go around those sharp left-hand turns feeling like you're going to tip over and there's nothing below you except the concrete sidewalk way down there, you'll know what I'm talking about.

An unexpected ride I hopped on with no wait was the Golden Zephyr. I had no intention of doing so until my brother texted me that his wife is (for some reason) super excited to go on that ride their first trip out, so I had to go on and send them a picture. I'd say Small World is a thrill ride compared to this one.

Next I hit Little Mermaid since it, too, was a walk on. I wanted to see if it was different from the Magic Kingdom version. It is not but it is checked off my list for Disneyland. Hard to turn down the walk-ons that I had not been on yet.

 

[PSM]

CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE - PART 2

It was now about 7pm and I had a Fast Pass ready for Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout. This is another one I got on last trip but enjoyed much more this time. I'm a HUGE Tower of Terror fan, definitely one of my top three rides in all of the Disney Parks, so I'm understandably critical of this one. That said, I went into it with a more open mind this time and found that I really did enjoy it a lot more than last time. I'm not sure if we just got a really good selection of drops (are they different every time like at Hollywood Studios?) but they felt never-ending and random enough that you never knew what was about to happen, which was awesome. It was obvious by reactions from everyone that even when we thought it was all done, we got two or three more unexpected drops.

By this point, I noticed wait times for both parks on the Disneyland app were dropping significantly and it was only 7:30pm, so rather than head straight back to Disneyland Park, I wanted to check off a few more from my "never done" list, even if I had no strong desire to do any specific one. I started with Mike and Sully to the Rescue, which is a fun ride for kids who like the movie, then walked back to Cars Land.

I knew my son couldn't get enough pics and vids of Cars stuff, I spent some time taking then while I wandered, then also hopped on both Mater's Junkyard Jamboree (no wait) and Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters (waited 5 minutes). Neither were anything I'd need to ride again unless I was with my son but both are now checked off the list.

The only ride I didn't get on at California Adventure that I had hoped to was Midway Mania but, since I had heard it's not any different from the WDW version and the wait was still pretty long, I opted to call it for California Adventure and head back to Disneyland Park.

 

[PSM]

DISNEYLAND PARK STARTS TO EMPTY OUT

Knowing how much I had already done at both parks - and with two hours left before closing - I started off with an easy stroll down Main Street USA, stopping in at a few shops to check them out and buy a couple more souvenirs. One of the things I miss from my childhood at Magic Kingdom is the magic shop, so I had to spend a minute there browsing.

Just about everything at this point had Fast Passes immediately available and I found that, aside from one or two rides, they weren't really necessary. It was a little after 9pm and, while the park wasn't dead, it was getting pretty empty. I took a few nice nighttime pics of the castle, then headed over to Star Tours with a Fast Pass. It was not required, as it was a walk-on. I really enjoyed the scene for this one and I've always liked this ride since I was little. I think it's one of the few rides that, with fairly minor updates, has held up well over the years, always fun. 3D rides tend to bother me but this one never has for some reason.

By 9:30pm, I was in line for Autopia and waited less than 5 minutes. While I hear a lot of complaints, the Tomorrowland Speedway at Magic Kingdom was a favorite of mine growing up. I mean, where else did a little kid get to drive a car? I have many fond memories of my grandmother or grandfather pressing the gas pedal because I couldn't reach it but me "steering" around the track. I was especially interested in seeing if the steering was just as horrendous on Autopia as it is on Tomorrowland Speedway. Turns out it isn't nearly as bad. It's almost like the difference between the tires at the Speedway being totally deflated and them being properly inflated at Autopia. I also experienced the added bonus of seeing the fireworks going off as I drove around the track with a pretty good display happening as I was crossing the bridge. I was able to stop and watch for a minute, as no one was behind me, and the cast member didn't seem to mind. If I had a little boy or girl who loved cars (like I do), I'd be happy to take them on this ride, especially compared to the Magic Kingdom version. It was also neat to see the different style cars compared to the Speedway.

 

[PSM]

SUBMARINE VOYAGE - A LATE MISTAKE

It was now 9:45pm and I still had a few things left I wanted to do, including Haunted Mansion on the other side of the park. Suddenly, I was feeling the time crunch (or maybe I was just sad that I knew my great day at Disneyland - probably the last for a while - was coming to an end). Nemo's Submarine Voyage was on my list, as I used to be a fan of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea when I was little, but I also knew that reviews aren't great. Oh well, I decided to go for it anyways and check it off the list.

I entered the queue with only one couple in front of me and a submarine pulling in to board. Just as it docked, a group of probably 30 people got in line behind us, enough to fill the entire submarine. Because of all the people, it took forever to board/unboard and, combined with the ride length itself, the experience wound up wasting a good 20-25 minutes of my remaining time. On top of this, the ride itself wasn't anything I'd consider going back on, at least without little kids who really wanted to ride it. It was slow, scattered, boring, and just an overall waste of time for someone trying to make the most of their day.

That said, it's checked off my list...on to better things!

 

[PSM]

A DISAPPOINTING HAUNTED MANSION EXPERIENCE

After the submarines, I booked it over to Haunted Mansion, the ride I was saving for late at night because 1) it's better at night and 2) I like it to be one of my last rides when I'm at Magic Kingdom. I had been looking forward to it all day and wound up feeling 50/50 about the experience: turns out the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay was still up.

On one hand, there's almost no chance I'll be out at Disneyland for Christmas, so it was cool to get to experience that. On the other hand, it was almost a month after Christmas and there wasn't any part of me that could be described as being "in the Christmas mindset". It was way too late for this overlay to be up and it felt really out of place and awkward. On top of that, I had been looking forward to my Haunted Mansion experience all day and so much is different about the ride with this overlay that it couldn't even be considered the same ride. Lastly, I didn't get to hear Grim Grinning Ghosts because it's not incorporated into the overlay in any way that I noticed, which is almost blasphemy as far as I'm concerned. BUT at least the hat box ghost was still there!

Overall, I was disappointed but I guess I technically got to check off the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay from my list (I had ridden the regular version of Haunted Mansion last year at Disneyland, so I also have that checked off).

 

[PSM]

CLOSING OUT DISNEYLAND PARK

At this point, I had pretty much wrapped up all of the must-do stuff on my list, so I decided a nighttime ride on Big Thunder Mountain would be fun to check off. As with the daytime ride, the views aren't as good as WDW (the castle at WDW at night from Thunder Mountain is great) but the overall experience was fun, as expected.

Next, I remembered that I had never been able to use my Fast Pass for Buzz Lightyear, which I knew was different and, apparently, better, so I ran over. No line, no Fast Pass required, walked right on. And I agree with the general concensus 100%: this is a much better ride and experience than at WDW. I'll still enjoy the Magic Kingdom version but it's easy to see how and why it should be upgraded. Handheld blasters and the light-up targets took it to a whole different level.

I got off Buzz Lightyear with my remaining time down to the wire, less than 20 minutes to go! Decisions, decisions!

Alice in Wonderland. I almost forgot about this one! Not the best ride in the world but definitely fun if you're a fan of the movie, which I am. And no line. A must-do at this point even though I had ridden it last time.

I walked off of Alice with only ten minutes to go, knowing my next choice would likely be my final one of the trip. What to do? There's really only one option at this point...

 

[PSM]

MATTERHORN BOBSLEDS AT NIGHT!

A new first for me, as both times I'd previously been on this ride were in the morning, and what better way to end an absolutely great day?! The way was maybe five minutes and I was on. And, as it turns out, in for another first.

I hadn't realized before this that this ride has two separate tracks. Without a doubt, I was now on the one I had not been on previously because it slammed us around noticeably harder than my previous two times on the ride. In fact, I found it borderline not enjoyable...borderline...still a blast! And with it being at night, the abominable snowman aspect was even more intimidating and fun. I definitely made a wise choice for my final ride of the day.

I got off the ride at 10:59 and, knowing it was a lost cause, made my way towards Space Mountain. Alas, it was not to be. As I approached the entrance, the Disneyland Park closing announcement came over the speakers and the cast members working Space Mountain shut it down. After the day I had and all I experienced, I couldn't even think about being disappointed.

I took my time browsing at Emporium and buying a couple more souvenirs for my son's upcoming second birthday on my way down Main Street USA. I made my way out in my favorite way from being a kid in Magic Kingdom: by stopping for a popcorn before heading through the Railroad tunnel. I then walked all of Downtown Disney before heading out through Disneyland Hotel and walking back to my hotel.

 

[PSM]

SUMMARY

It goes without saying that this was a day of epic proportions, especially compared to how nervous I was since finding out that I'd be fighting Rise of the Resistance crowds.

- My tally shows that I got on 29 actual rides and experienced over 30 total attractions.

- While there are three attractions I didn't get to that are still on my list to check off next time (Jungle Cruise, Midway Mania, and Tiki Room), none of them were on my must-do list for this trip.

- Much more than making up for those, I got to experience (completely unexpectedly) Rise of the Resistance and Smuggler's Run for the first times.

- Adding to that, I got to experience Big Thunder Mountain and Matterhorn Bobsleds twice each, both at day and at night.

I can honestly say that in my 35 years of going to Disney parks from infant age through adulthood, this one will certainly stand out as one of the highlights. And I don't see another solo trip ever topping it.

Thanks for reading!

 

[John Dulmage]

I don't know what others are experiencing, but both on my phone and on my computer (using Firefox) the ONLY 3 pictures that are showing up are of Mr. Toad's wild ride . Sounds like a great day, but I'd love to be able to see all of the pictures you have here. Is this just me that can't see them?

 

[meggo819]

I don't know what others are experiencing, but both on my phone and on my computer (using Firefox) the ONLY 3 pictures that are showing up are of Mr. Toad's wild ride . Sounds like a great day, but I'd love to be able to see all of the pictures you have here. Is this just me that can't see them?

same! Really enjoyed reading the report, but can’t see the pix.

 

[joejoe]

Can't see any pictures. Bummer!

 

[PSM]

I don't know what others are experiencing, but both on my phone and on my computer (using Firefox) the ONLY 3 pictures that are showing up are of Mr. Toad's wild ride . Sounds like a great day, but I'd love to be able to see all of the pictures you have here. Is this just me that can't see them?

same! Really enjoyed reading the report, but can’t see the pix.

Can't see any pictures. Bummer!

Oh no! Sorry, everyone. Looks like they didn't upload properly when I pasted everything from my document. I believe I've fixed it now and all the pictures should be showing properly. Hope you enjoy!