Day 1- Disneyland!
5:30 A.M. Time to wake up! After so many trips, we usually try and go to the park that doesn’t have Magic Morning, but it was unavoidable this time, so we figured we would take advantage of the Magic Morning on the first day when we were the least tired.
By 6:30 we were leaving the hotel room and walking across the street to the esplanade. Security was a short line this early in the morning, but its always a pain with two ECVs and my mom having two titanium knees. The immediate first lines into the park already had an average of 30ish people in them, but as we kept walking toward the city hall side of the entrance, we found a line with only one family of 3 ahead of us! Huzzah!
My last trip to a Disney park was in January this same year to Disney World, and I was excited to compare the parks together.
Jane was excited to get into the park, as were the rest of us.
At 7, the gates opened, and while everyone made a mad dash to Fantasyland, we made a mad dash to city hall to get the
DAS.
It's just not an option for us to go into the park without it, and as I paid for Maxpass for the day, my mom went in with Ollie to get it. At this point, Ollie started informing cast members that the lights in City Hall looked like nipples, at which point they agreed with us that we needed DAS, lol. We also picked up five “we’re celebrating” pins for us and a “first visit” for Jane. And we were off!
Walking down Main street, Jane was swinging between Sydney and I getting very excited. She kept exclaiming that “nothing looked real” and that she couldn’t believe she was in an actual place. You couldn’t get the smile off her face.
Ollie, loathing the heat, whips out his giant umbrella and places his hat on top of it. He looked ridiculous but there was no point fighting it.
We stopped in front of the castle for some Photopass pictures and we were really happy with how they turned out.
Getting Ollie to smile in photos is a LOT of work. Also the height difference between Ollie and Jane never fails to make me laugh. Sydney and I are doing a VERY basic Disney Bound as the Tiki Room and Star Tours.
At this point it was about 7:20 so we decided to head into Fantasyland. Peter Pan’s Flight and It’s a Small World were down, so we went into Alice in Wonderland through the Wheelchair entrance, but first Jane got super excited about the sword and had to try her chance at getting it out, to no luck unfortunately.
Jane sat in front of Sydney and I in one caterpillar while my mom, dad, and Ollie sat in another.
The whole time on the ride, Jane was “oohing” and “aahing” and afterwords exclaimed, “If that wasn’t even one of the big rides I am going to have my mind BLOWN the rest of this trip”. None of us could stop smiling and it was so fun, even just waiting for the rest of the family to get off the ride.
The teacups were boarding, so Sydney, Jane, and I rushed to get one while the rest of the family sat out, deciding not to spin this early in the morning.
We then decided we had enough time to go on Pinocchio, however it took FOREVER to board and despite a five minute wait, because of the two ECVs, we didn’t get off the ride for twenty minutes, meaning we were a bit late to rope drop Adventureland. On top of that, my dad remarked that the ride just reminded him of how much he hates the movie, so we will likely skip it next time.
We couldn’t get over to Adventureland because of how packed it already was, so a cast member recommended we cut through frontierland, which was only open to those with Magic Morning anyway, so it was way less packed. We were near the front of the pack, and when the rope dropped we were quick to make our way to Indiana Jones. It is my family's favorite ride, and every time Sydney has visited DLR it had been closed down, so we were all excited for both Sydney and Jane to try it out. While we waited, we booked a Maxpass for Space Mountain for an hour from then.
While the crowds were moving, someone yanked the backpack off my moms ECV, so we had to stop for a minute to fix it. This was slightly frustrating considering the time crunch of rope drop and the fact the person who knocked it off didn't stop to help, but it was all okay in the end.
As Indy is once again not wheelchair accessible, we entered through the exit and were the second family in line to get on. We were on the second car of the day and we were all so excited about it. Enjoy this bad picture of us on the car, I got to be the driver!
I wish I had a video of Jane on the ride, she kept exclaiming and being surprised around every turn and when the car pulled back around at the end of the ride she yelled, “that was AWESOME” and immediately asked if we could go again. She wouldn’t stop talking about how cool the ride was and asking how they did everything, which of course we told her was magic. To which she then asked, “Was that REAL magic?”, hence the name of this thread.
In particular, she couldn’t stop talking about the rolling ball and how she really thought it was gonna hit her.
After that, we wandered over to Pirates of the Caribbean, another one that amazed everyone. Who doesn’t love Pirates, though. On the ride, I pointed out something for her to look at. Unfortunately, she thought I told her to stand up and look. So of course, everyone started to freak out and I was quick to grab her waist and pull her back down. After a short safety spiel it was back to the ride!
We then went over to Haunted Mansion and once again, everyone loved it. Jane knew the song from her choir and was jamming out in the graveyard scene. I will say this, I miss the staircase scene from WDW’s Haunted Mansion and formally ask them to share it with us. We will share our beignets in return.
Afterwards, we split up so half of us could go to the City Hall stand right outside of the Haunted Mansion and the other half could go get fastpasses for Fantasmic. Unfortunately, Maxpass was currently down, so the line to get our DAS was SUPER long, as everyone was complaining about it. Before Sydney, my dad, and I left to get the fantasmic fastpass, I had explained to Ollie what pass he should get for the DAS. When I came back, my mom was in line getting water and Ollie and Jane hadn’t moved up in the DAS line at all.
I told my dad to wait in line with Ollie and Jane while Sydney, my mom, and I went over to get beignets and drinks for everyone- and then a little fight went on. My dad made me explain what fastpass to get seven times and I was steadily getting frustrated as they had asked me to make a plan and it seemed they hadn’t listened. No one had any food and it was getting pretty hot. It was very frustrating.
However, on the walk to get beignets with my mom and Sydney I aired my frustrations and it was nice to get it off my chest. Jane, deciding she was hot and bored in line, went over to a random corner in the shade and pulled out her phone. My mom told her to get off her phone and join the family, to which Jane was annoyed but hey, if the rest of us are gonna wait in a line, even Ollie, she should too.
My mom sensed everyone was frustrated and suggested that the “kids” head over to Space Mountain and get fastpasses for Buzz using our physical tickets as we couldn’t get Maxpass anyway. How I love my mom and her infinite wisdom.
It’s easier to get a Maxpass for everyone in the group then it is to select specific people in our family who want to go on that ride- so Ollie and I prepped Sydney and Jane for our favorite part of Disney- finding 2 people who didn’t have fastpasses and bringing them on with us. Ollie and I did it last year with a couple about to join a 3 hour wait for Guardians of the Galaxy and it made us so happy we couldn’t wait to do it again.
On the way to Space Mountain, we did manage to get the Buzz fastpasses and success! After asking 3 groups of people, we found a couple about to join the standby and invited them to come with us. As we were getting close to the end of the queue, Jane started holding my hand with a little nervousness. I took her to a local theme park before we came to Disneyland so I could try and measure her ride limit and I was pretty certain she would be fine on it, but she was suddenly scared.
Of course, the loading bay of Space Mountain amazed her and soon enough we were on the ride- no turning back now. Luckily Jane LOVED it, and asked when we would be able to go on again! Even cuter, was knowing Ollie had offered to hold her hand the whole time and she basically took him up on that, and the photo we got after the ride proved how he was caring for her on it.
Poor Sydney… she’s getting “Mike Wazowski-d” by the shadow of Ollie’s head.
We met up with my mom and dad who had finally managed to get a DAS for Star Tours and luckily it was for a few minutes after our Buzz Lightyear fastpass.
Because of the issue with Maxpass, they also gave us a fastpass we could use anywhere else in the park. Score! However, Maxpass was back up, so I requested one for Splash Mountain at 12 P.M. It was 10:00, so it was time for our Buzz Lightyear fastpass and I smoked my dad despite him trying to sabotage me. Once again, we all loved it and our DAS for Star Tours was open soon, so we wasted time looking around the shop before heading over there.
Happier than she looks. I promise.
In that time, however, I was getting increasingly frustrated. Everyone kept ignoring what I said, and while I don’t think we should always have to follow a plan, they asked me to plan what to do to save time and I spent hours doing it and it seemed they hadn’t listened at all and now were throwing it to the wind. I understand I need to calm down and it doesn’t matter, but at the time I was frustrated that it seemed they just asked me to plan as a joke.
We went on Star Tours and they asked me to explain everything a hundred more times and I was getting very annoyed. Also- what's the deal with them still playing the same few scenes from when they were promoting The Last Jedi? I thought the point was to have a different ride experience each time?
I told them I was gonna get a new DAS for Jungle Cruise- which they listened to and then forgot so when I came back I was getting even more frustrated.
But Jungle Cruise only had a 15 minute wait, so we could go on immediately and so we decided to head over. And on the way there we talk a bit and calm down. I realize I’m making things worse by reacting and it doesn’t really matter but I was getting stuck in my emotions. We get on after a few boats go by in the wheelchair entrance, and they load in one family in the regular entrance before the boat veers off the railing. They have to keep us in the boat while they make it safe so I take advantage of the time to try and use mobile ordering for the Bengal Barbecue.
My family is all fine and chilling, if not getting a little hangry, but the dad of the other family starts screaming at them saying they are wasting his time by not letting him off immediately. The cast members tell him we will all be compensated with not one but two fastpasses after, but he just keeps screaming at them. At this point, my family, being who we are, can’t just let him beat up these cast members and try explaining to him that it is not their fault and that they are trying to make it better. We start joking around with the skipper and asking if it is part of the ride. At this point, the man is threatening to sue and says he will refuse his compensation fastpasses, so my mom jokes that she will take them for him, just trying to make the atmosphere less tense.
Eventually, however, they let us off the boat and funny enough the man does end up taking his two fastpasses and so do we. For everyone counting at home, we now have three fastpasses we can use wherever we want and a Splash Mountain fastpass coming up soon.
Ollie decides he doesn’t want Bengal Barbecue and decides to go wander down Main Street as he doesn’t want to risk getting his glasses wet on Splash Mountain. He will meet us back in front of Jungle Cruise later.
We sit down to eat and everyone asks me why I was upset earlier and I explained, to which Jane gave the sweetest speech about how grateful she was that I planned everything and how I was making her first trip to Disneyland so magical. I almost started crying I swear. In fact, everyone at the table tells me how grateful they are and I feel a lot less stressed and happy. I realize I am taking everything too seriously and that people don’t have everything memorized like I do, but that doesn’t mean we won’t still have a wonderful time.
After food, we head to Splash Mountain. It was my moms first ever time going on it, and of course Jane’s, and they loved it. And as it was so hot, it was super relaxing to get wet. My dad decided last minute he didn’t want to go on, which was fine.
After that, we went back to Jungle Cruise but it wasn’t back on yet, so we all decided to head back home for a quick swim and break.
This has been SUCH a long entry already, I’ll post the rest of the day in another post.-featuring the parade, dinner, more rides, and Fantasmic! Thanks for following along!