Trip Report Solo: A Disneyland Story - My first trip by myself!

Alright, I won't get too into it, but there's been a lot of rough stuff in my life the last several years. Depression, anxiety, family member deaths, family members battling (and surviving) cancer, issues with school. A bunch of stuff.

But, I'm graduating soon. I have, with plenty of therapy and counseling, gotten too a very liveable and manageable point with my mental health. Family member health is stable and safe.

Life was dark for a while, but I've made it out the other end and things are looking bright.

After saving up for about a year, I've finally got to the point where I can take my dream solo trip to Disneyland! My first time since 2005 when I was nine years old.

It's gonna be a real budget trip, but I'm so excited! I made it work and I can do it!

I'm in the airport now ready to fly across the country!

Today is a travel day, then I have four park days, then a travel day to take me back home!

Next time I see the sun, I'm be in the air!

 

[Pi on my Cake]

What's on those big screens and stuff?

 

[Pi on my Cake]

It has a wide selection too. There's like 20 or so sequences that are all about a minute long.

 

[TwilightZone]

It is a mix of concept art, animatics, final film clips, and still. All from Disney and Pixar films dating back to Pinocchio and Dumbo up to Frozen and Tangled. The room is surrounded with screens of various sizes making it feel like a more dynamic circle vision show.

My favorite parts were the Tarzan segment where they showed the scene of him skating through the trees from the end of the movie with the visuals transitioning from concept art to animatic to rough animation to final film all as one smooth sequence. And the Let it Go sequence where all the extremely varied concept art versions of Elsa fill the small screens until it gets to where she makes the ice dress accepting who she is and then the concept arts versions are washed away.

It's not a real show, just atmosphere for tge lobby. But i found myself enjoying it as much, if not more, than most projection or screen only shows I've seen.

Nice! It's one of those attractions I never been to or heard much about. What a shame, seems cool.

 

[Pi on my Cake]

My lunch lived up to the hype!

 

[Pi on my Cake]

Nice! It's one of those attractions I never been to or heard much about. What a shame, seems cool.

I think it's one of my favorite hidden gems I've found this trip. Sorcerer's Workshop and Beast's Library are both really cool little things in there too. Plus Turtle Talk and animation academy.

Like, I don't think it's gonna be anyone's favorite part of their trip. But it's a really great little mix of exhibits.

Plus, incredibly comfy seats for people like me who realized that I am not as in shape as I was when I lived at Disney World and need to relax a bit when it gets to day four of basically opening and closing parks lol

 

[TheOriginalTiki]

I'd never say no to a ticket lol. If you do that I'll treat lunch!
And that sounds like some amazing evacs!!

My grandma randomly sprung up the idea of Ohio to me today...either King's Island to visit with Jacob, or to Cedar Point for...well...Cedar Point. Only thing is, I STRONGLY feel like either of those two coaster parks, especially Cedar Point, really has "solo trip" written all over it, whereas there's nothing at Universal besides maybe Hulk that my grandma outright refuses to go on. Going to try to pull a fast one on her and convince her to do a Universal/Sea World trip instead. I'll keep you posted!

 

[D Hulk]

My grandma randomly sprung up the idea of Ohio to me today...either King's Island to visit with Jacob, or to Cedar Point for...well...Cedar Point. Only thing is, I STRONGLY feel like either of those two coaster parks, especially Cedar Point, really has "solo trip" written all over it, whereas there's nothing at Universal besides maybe Hulk that my grandma outright refuses to go on. Going to try to pull a fast one on her and convince her to do a Universal/Sea World trip instead. I'll keep you posted!

Cedar Point is an ABSOLUTE MUST DO (I rank it alongside Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea for greatness), but maybe not so much if you're traveling with someone who can't do many of their best rides. Kings Island is a really strong park as well. Looking forward to hearing more.

 

[Pi on my Cake]

My grandma randomly sprung up the idea of Ohio to me today...either King's Island to visit with Jacob, or to Cedar Point for...well...Cedar Point. Only thing is, I STRONGLY feel like either of those two coaster parks, especially Cedar Point, really has "solo trip" written all over it, whereas there's nothing at Universal besides maybe Hulk that my grandma outright refuses to go on. Going to try to pull a fast one on her and convince her to do a Universal/Sea World trip instead. I'll keep you posted!

Universal definitely seems like it'd be better for your grandma lol. Let me know what happens! If you're in Florida, I'm definitely game to meet up!

 

[Pi on my Cake]

Figured I'd post some more pictures of the Animation building while I'm in line for Radiatior spring since it is what people are probably a lot less familiar with. I showed you the lobby earlier. Off of the lobby, you can go to Turtle Talk, drawing classes, or the Anna and Elsa meet and greet. OR to the Sorcerer's Workshop. Which I'm told used to have three rooms (and still has signs for the third one), but now only has two.

The first is Yensids workshop area. You can see animation in action with those spinny animation wheel things and make your own drawings to put in them to make your own animations. Plus, the Magic Mirror pops in every now and then to talk about the three rooms (despite one of them not existing)

Then came the Beast's Library. Where enchanted books help Cogsworth and Lumier do a Disney character personality test. A cute little thing. The room transorms from dark to light every few minutes. It's a simple effect, but it works surprisingly well. A neat little thing

It doesn't show up well on pictures with my cheap phone, but you can even see tears in the curtains and stuff like that in the dark version

 

[krause]

View attachment 344203

Figured I'd post some more pictures of the Animation building while I'm in line for Radiatior spring since it is what people are probably a lot less familiar with. I showed you the lobby earlier. Off of the lobby, you can go to Turtle Talk, drawing classes, or the Anna and Elsa meet and greet. OR to the Sorcerer's Workshop. Which I'm told used to have three rooms (and still has signs for the third one), but now only has two.

The first is Yensids workshop area. You can see animation in action with those spinny animation wheel things and make your own drawings to put in them to make your own animations. Plus, the Magic Mirror pops in every now and then to talk about the three rooms (despite one of them not existing)
View attachment 344205View attachment 344206View attachment 344207View attachment 344208

Then came the Beast's Library. Where enchanted books help Cogsworth and Lumier do a Disney character personality test. A cute little thing. The room transorms from dark to light every few minutes. It's a simple effect, but it works surprisingly well. A neat little thing
View attachment 344221
View attachment 344222

It doesn't show up well on pictures with my cheap phone, but you can even see tears in the curtains and stuff like that in the dark version

I’ve been following along and enjoying your trip report! I’m just doing one day at Disneyland in March and hoping to maximize the day by doing 2 parks with Maxpass. Did you happen to notice how the line for Anna and Elsa was? It’s annoying that they don’t have all the M&G wait times online so I really have no idea how long those waits are in relation to the rides so it makes it harder for me to map out my days. I’ll have my 3.5 year old daughter with me so a focus on rides but will definitely have to do the main meet & greets too.

 

[Pi on my Cake]

I’ve been following along and enjoying your trip report! I’m just doing one day at Disneyland in March and hoping to maximize the day by doing 2 parks with Maxpass. Did you happen to notice how the line for Anna and Elsa was? It’s annoying that they don’t have all the M&G wait times online so I really have no idea how long those waits are in relation to the rides so it makes it harder for me to map out my days. I’ll have my 3.5 year old daughter with me so a focus on rides but will definitely have to do the main meet & greets too.

Most meet and greets arr absolutely nothing like they are in florida. I've seen Mickey and Peter Pan and Snow White just wandering around or taking pictures with no more than 2-5 groups waiting. At most.

People with set up meet and greet areas rather than just wandering are rare, but they usually have what appear to be only 5-10 minute waits. Even Elsa. Of course, I'm here on a very slow week. And there could be more queue beyond what I can see.

 

[Pi on my Cake]

I’ve been following along and enjoying your trip report! I’m just doing one day at Disneyland in March and hoping to maximize the day by doing 2 parks with Maxpass. Did you happen to notice how the line for Anna and Elsa was? It’s annoying that they don’t have all the M&G wait times online so I really have no idea how long those waits are in relation to the rides so it makes it harder for me to map out my days. I’ll have my 3.5 year old daughter with me so a focus on rides but will definitely have to do the main meet & greets too.

California Adventure, at least while I've been here, gets a lot busier at night than in the morning/afternoon. There was basically no line around 11 when I was here for elsa as far as I could see, but at night there seemed to be 3-4 times as many people waiting.

 

[krause]

California Adventure, at least while I've been here, gets a lot busier at night than in the morning/afternoon. There was basically no line around 11 when I was here for elsa as far as I could see, but at night there seemed to be 3-4 times as many people waiting.

Thanks!

My plan right now is DCA has EMH so do Disneyland first (we’re offsite, driving in from Palm Springs for the day), grab maxpasses for in California Adventure, head over there for the afternoon, and then back to Disneyland for the evening because it is open until 10pm and DCA closes at 8pm. However the app and the website don’t agree on what park has early magic hours so kind of annoyed about that ruining my plans

 

[Pi on my Cake]

Thanks!

My plan right now is DCA has EMH so do Disneyland first (we’re offsite, driving in from Palm Springs for the day), grab maxpasses for in California Adventure, head over there for the afternoon, and then back to Disneyland for the evening because it is open until 10pm and DCA closes at 8pm. However the app and the website don’t agree on what park has early magic hours so kind of annoyed about that ruining my plans

The app and the website have had conflicting information on just about everything I've looked up lol

If there's any questions you have, feel free to message! I'm no expert, but I have some fresh experience trip planning for Disneyland lol

 

[Pi on my Cake]

So, last park day has come to an end. Did Gaurdians, Radiator Springs, Swings, and Incredicoaster 3-4 times each. Some in the daylight. Some at night. Plus spending time in Animation buolding for a while. Wandered through Grizzly Peak a bit. Even took a midday break to hot tub and eat at Mimi's. Now I'm waiting on a chicken and Mac and cheese bread bowl at Panera since the bread factory in DCA got me craving a bread bowl. And I overhead someone in the park say Panera has the same supplier as Disney for sourdough, but better stuff inside the bowls for cheaper.

 

[MinnieM123]

Most meet and greets arr absolutely nothing like they are in florida. I've seen Mickey and Peter Pan and Snow White just wandering around or taking pictures with no more than 2-5 groups waiting.

Used to be that way at WDW, too, years ago. (Although the crowds were larger though. I think maybe you were lucky enough to just hit a good time at DL, when it wasn't as busy.)

 

[Pi on my Cake]

Used to be that way at WDW, too, years ago. (Although the crowds were larger though. I think maybe you were lucky enough to just hit a good time at DL, when it wasn't as busy.)

I wish it could still be this way in Florida. But it just doesn't work with the crowds and culture there. Even absolute noboy cares characters like Cinderella's Evil Step Sisters try to just play around in Fantasyland and ride tge carousel with kids, but they get moved by a huge crowd even in the slow season out east.

How would you rate DCA compared to Disneyland? They're both unique in different ways, but I think DCA lacks the charm that Disneyland has. By the way I hope you had an awesome trip!

Part of what makes Disneyland so special is that much of it feels like a time capsule. From the ride systems, to the boarding procedures, to the queues, to the rides themselves, to the narrow path ways... All of it. It's very clearly a park from the 50s. It feels like a park from the 50s (that has been well maintained, updated, and all). Which means there's basically nothing quite like Disneyland.

California Adventure feels like modern theme park. Wide paths, modern saftey and ADA stuff, all that. Which makes it a lot easier to compare it tobother theme parks, even just subconsciously. Parts of DCA are great! But the park has some baffling issues that really stand out when it feels so much like a theme park of today. Like weird sightlines issues (Gaurdians Tower can be seen almost anywhere. So, can Cadillac Ridge from Car's Land which just kinda ends when you look from a distance making it look kinda strange). The complete and utter lack of flow or intuitive design in the park layout. Odd thematic choices like Pixar Pier or Gaurdians. Areas that don't commit to any theme like Paradise Gardens Park or the walkway along Blue Sky Cellar. DCA as a park is one of tbe worst in the states. BUT they have some amazing components that work so well like Hollywood Land and Grizzly Peak. Or the Pier at night or Cars Land. Plus, rides like Mission: Breakout and Radiatior Springs Racers which are two of the best in the country. DCA has some incredible highs and some bizzare lows. It lacks consistency and focus making it feel like just a bunch of rides and lands patched together.

So, Disneyland is definitely better. But I did find myself enjoying and having just as much fun at DCA.

 

[Pi on my Cake]

Roughly 15 minutes from being dropped off by the shuttle to being past security and at my gate. LAX is amazing

 

[Pi on my Cake]

Amd right back where I started. An AMAZING trip! Dream come true in so many ways!

Thank you guys for reading my journal like random thoughts and nonsense lol. If there's anything I didn't mention you guys wanna ask about or would like to hear more of my detailed itenerary or thoughts on stuff or want advice based on my experience... Whatever! Feel free to ask anything, I'm a pretty open book!

But unless anyone has any questions, this trip report, much like my trip, is at it's end.

Thank you, and have a magical day!

 

[D Hulk]

!

Oh wow, that’s an airplane! At first I thought it was EVE.

It was great reading about most of your trip, and sharing one actual day of it. I love showing off Disneyland for newcomers. Someday maybe you can do the same for me with WDW.

I agree with @iHeartDisneylandCats, first in loving Disneyland cats, and second in how DCA peaked around 2015 and has been stumbling a little since. The makeover which climaxed with Cars Land and Buena Vista Street improved that park more than I thought was possible. Most everything strange about DCA (the layout) is an artifact of its 2001 design.