Family Day At Disneyland
Yesterday was special because it was a family day at Disneyland. My dad came along and we met up with my brother and his girlfriend. We got there just before rope drop and I was really feeling it last night and still today. The pain. So much walking. Very little sitting. We stayed until almost seven PM. I actually thought we were going to stay later than that, but it's probably just as well. Now, my brother's girlfriend had DAS, so we were able to get on several rides without waiting too long. Good thing too because it was absolutely bonkers crowded. It's just not a good idea to come to Disneyland the closer it gets to the summer time if you plan on coming for a vacation.
Now, I'm not going to attempt (for the most part) to recount the events chronologically because for one there's too much to recall, and for another it would likely make this blog entry far too long. So, I think I'm just going to go over the highlights. We had our priorities for my dad for things for him to do that he hadn't done before, and it worked out quite well. As I've stated, we got there just before rope drop. My brother and his girlfriend weren't there yet, so we had to figure out what to do first. We decided to try to get to Rise first because that was the main thing. This is something Fresh Baked always warns about. Don't rope drop Rise. It was also a mistake trying to get there from the Splash Mountain side because the line lines up from the Frontierland side. I'm pretty sure Fresh Baked said something about that too in a video and I just forgot. Oops. We didn't really need to do that anyway. So, yeah it was madness, and we went to do Smuggler's Run instead. My mom and dad were the pilots. :P
Then we met up with my brother and his girlfriend and booked a time for Rise. However, we had to kill some time first, so we did something that none of us got to do before. We got to go into the cantina! Normally it's difficult to get in. It's best to have a reservation, but they were taking walk-ins, so we got to go inside! That was cool. We got drinks. I got what's called a Moogan Tea. It had chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon with cinnamon cereal, and whipped cream. It tasted like Chai. It was good and actually a pretty nice morning drink. Then we headed to Rise. My dad enjoyed it and he thought Galaxy's Edge was really cool.
Other rides we did: Snow White (my dad didn't remember how it looked before they changed it, so so much for that), Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, Winnie the Pooh and the Mark Twain (that was without my brother and his girlfriend. The latter was just to ride something that didn't have a long wait because we had to catch up with them later), and the Matterhorn. My mom sat that one out. I hadn't been on it in years. It was fun to get to go on it again. It was still jerky, but I think they added some extra cushion, so it was less painful? I also got to see the new yeti. I was surprised by how dark it was at the top of the lift hill though. I don't remember it being that dark before.
After that ride we crossed over to DCA. We got on Mater's, caught the Spider-Man show via good timing, and rode Soaring. My dad hadn't seen Soaring Around The World before. He loved it and really appreciated the graphics and wished his flight simulator game had graphics like that lol. That's all we did at DCA before crossing back over to Disneyland.
We had walked by Pirates, which had a short line because it had just reopened, so we got in line and went on that. My dad didn't recall seeing Jack Sparrow on the ride last time. I'm not sure if we went on Pirates with him last time. I think that was ten years ago. After Pirates, it was time for our “dinner” at 4 pm. For some reason they decided to skip lunch and I was starving. All I had was cereal for breakfast and a churro. We had gotten reservations for Cafe Orleans. Their food is so good. I got the Monte Cristo of course as well as my brother and his girlfriend. My mom and dad got the short ribs. Great food. Great restaurant.
What happened next, hmm... I don't know if I'm remembering everything accurately, but I think my brother and his girlfriend were ready to head home. My parents obviously were too, but I thought that maybe I could get my dad to go on Space Mountain with me. :P We said our goodbyes to my brother and his girlfriend and went back to Tomorrowland. Obviously the best way to do Space is through the single rider line. There were more people than last time, so it was a little slow. I was in the back seat this time, which felt faster than the front for some reason. There wasn't much bar to hold on to so I had to cling. OG Space Mountain > Hyperspace Mountain. My dad liked that it was smoother than the Matterhorn.
We decided we were going to end the night by catching the train back to Main Street, but it was taking forever, so we got on the Monorail instead, which was a little faster. Plus, I could peek at the construction happening at Downtown Disney. We got off, got Starbucks, and went home. That was quite the day. I thought we were going to stay longer than that. At least after dark, but it's probably just as well. It would have killed me and my parents probably worse. I'm so sore right now as it is. Normally my mom and I go for about 5-6 hours. This was 11 hours. I asked my dad if he felt he got his money's worth and he said he did, so I think the day was a success. I was worried about things going wrong, but everything worked out fine. The crowds were insane. Without being able to skip lines, it would have been bad. We did quite a lot. And whoops I guess I did make this a chronological post, kind of. I just didn't get into super details like my brother's girlfriend stopping here and there to do pin trading. Part of me doesn't get it lol, but it's kind of cool I suppose.
Now, I do still actually want to go in July though because Rogers the Musical will be playing and I want to see that. :P I'm not sure how long it's going to run for because it's supposed to be a temporary thing. It would be interesting to see how July compares to June. The weather yesterday was pretty nice. Mostly cloudy. It's been cloudy forever and not too warm. It's likely going to be warmer in July, but hopefully not excessively. I doubt we would stay long in the park anyway. Doing a family trip was fun, but I also like to just chill with my mom and not have to rush to do so much.
Now, I'm not going to attempt (for the most part) to recount the events chronologically because for one there's too much to recall, and for another it would likely make this blog entry far too long. So, I think I'm just going to go over the highlights. We had our priorities for my dad for things for him to do that he hadn't done before, and it worked out quite well. As I've stated, we got there just before rope drop. My brother and his girlfriend weren't there yet, so we had to figure out what to do first. We decided to try to get to Rise first because that was the main thing. This is something Fresh Baked always warns about. Don't rope drop Rise. It was also a mistake trying to get there from the Splash Mountain side because the line lines up from the Frontierland side. I'm pretty sure Fresh Baked said something about that too in a video and I just forgot. Oops. We didn't really need to do that anyway. So, yeah it was madness, and we went to do Smuggler's Run instead. My mom and dad were the pilots. :P
Then we met up with my brother and his girlfriend and booked a time for Rise. However, we had to kill some time first, so we did something that none of us got to do before. We got to go into the cantina! Normally it's difficult to get in. It's best to have a reservation, but they were taking walk-ins, so we got to go inside! That was cool. We got drinks. I got what's called a Moogan Tea. It had chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon with cinnamon cereal, and whipped cream. It tasted like Chai. It was good and actually a pretty nice morning drink. Then we headed to Rise. My dad enjoyed it and he thought Galaxy's Edge was really cool.
Other rides we did: Snow White (my dad didn't remember how it looked before they changed it, so so much for that), Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, Winnie the Pooh and the Mark Twain (that was without my brother and his girlfriend. The latter was just to ride something that didn't have a long wait because we had to catch up with them later), and the Matterhorn. My mom sat that one out. I hadn't been on it in years. It was fun to get to go on it again. It was still jerky, but I think they added some extra cushion, so it was less painful? I also got to see the new yeti. I was surprised by how dark it was at the top of the lift hill though. I don't remember it being that dark before.
After that ride we crossed over to DCA. We got on Mater's, caught the Spider-Man show via good timing, and rode Soaring. My dad hadn't seen Soaring Around The World before. He loved it and really appreciated the graphics and wished his flight simulator game had graphics like that lol. That's all we did at DCA before crossing back over to Disneyland.
We had walked by Pirates, which had a short line because it had just reopened, so we got in line and went on that. My dad didn't recall seeing Jack Sparrow on the ride last time. I'm not sure if we went on Pirates with him last time. I think that was ten years ago. After Pirates, it was time for our “dinner” at 4 pm. For some reason they decided to skip lunch and I was starving. All I had was cereal for breakfast and a churro. We had gotten reservations for Cafe Orleans. Their food is so good. I got the Monte Cristo of course as well as my brother and his girlfriend. My mom and dad got the short ribs. Great food. Great restaurant.
What happened next, hmm... I don't know if I'm remembering everything accurately, but I think my brother and his girlfriend were ready to head home. My parents obviously were too, but I thought that maybe I could get my dad to go on Space Mountain with me. :P We said our goodbyes to my brother and his girlfriend and went back to Tomorrowland. Obviously the best way to do Space is through the single rider line. There were more people than last time, so it was a little slow. I was in the back seat this time, which felt faster than the front for some reason. There wasn't much bar to hold on to so I had to cling. OG Space Mountain > Hyperspace Mountain. My dad liked that it was smoother than the Matterhorn.
We decided we were going to end the night by catching the train back to Main Street, but it was taking forever, so we got on the Monorail instead, which was a little faster. Plus, I could peek at the construction happening at Downtown Disney. We got off, got Starbucks, and went home. That was quite the day. I thought we were going to stay longer than that. At least after dark, but it's probably just as well. It would have killed me and my parents probably worse. I'm so sore right now as it is. Normally my mom and I go for about 5-6 hours. This was 11 hours. I asked my dad if he felt he got his money's worth and he said he did, so I think the day was a success. I was worried about things going wrong, but everything worked out fine. The crowds were insane. Without being able to skip lines, it would have been bad. We did quite a lot. And whoops I guess I did make this a chronological post, kind of. I just didn't get into super details like my brother's girlfriend stopping here and there to do pin trading. Part of me doesn't get it lol, but it's kind of cool I suppose.
Now, I do still actually want to go in July though because Rogers the Musical will be playing and I want to see that. :P I'm not sure how long it's going to run for because it's supposed to be a temporary thing. It would be interesting to see how July compares to June. The weather yesterday was pretty nice. Mostly cloudy. It's been cloudy forever and not too warm. It's likely going to be warmer in July, but hopefully not excessively. I doubt we would stay long in the park anyway. Doing a family trip was fun, but I also like to just chill with my mom and not have to rush to do so much.