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...
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...
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My husband and I were in CA last January 2019 for our 10 year anniversary. We had one day set aside for Disneyland and like you, tried to cram it ALL in 
We weren’t nearly as successful but to be fair, park hours were only 10-8. The highlight for us was Incredicoaster. We rode once in the morning and once at night and it was so much better at night. Oh side note about your Radiator Springs Racers FP- that ride has single rider too. We weren’t able to get a FP the day we were there so that was the once ride we split up on.