Day #2
I did better on my second day and did my first honest-to-God rope drop at Disneyland!! It was extremely cool. My top 3 rides to ride were Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones, and Pirates, so I had to make a choice on strategy. I ended up booking a LL for HM (since it’s Halloween-time), and rope dropping Indy instead of Pirates, which I know is a bit backwards since you can LL Indy.
I LOVED
INDIANA JONES. The theming? The queue that makes you feel like you’re going in a mountain? The effects??? It was incredible. I wanted to go back later but didn’t get a chance. Then I booked it to
Pirates, which only had a 15 min wait. And WOW. Pirates is my fave ride at WDW but….yeah, it’s better in DL. It just is. I also was NOT prepared for drop #2, but I got through it. After that, it was time for
Haunted Mansion with the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay. I ADORED it. And I was genuinely very into Hatbox Ghost; I see the appeal.
I was so proud of myself for knocking out my big 3 rides in less than 90 min, that I decided it was time for a Mickey beignets and coffee break. This is also where I remembered there is NO classy way to eat a beignet. RIP to my black skort.
I had coffee to finish, so I decided to mosey on over to the castle and look at the Story of Sleeping Beauty inside. On my way though, right in front of the castle, the Disneyland Band stopped me in my tracks! How terrific! I caught the end of a D100 medley of Disney music through the years, and then they played a Lion King medley. I absolutely loved seeing them while I vibed with my coffee - it felt truly magical.
The walkthrough of the Sleeping Beauty story was so cool - it brought back so many memories of me watching the movie as a child. Then, after my coffee was done, I weighed my options and decided to knock out
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, because I of course had to ride it. It was….what?? It just ends after you go to hell? I think a Cast Member was laughing at my face when I rolled out at the end. I also managed to do
Alice in Wonderland (fun little dark ride) and the
Mad Tea Party (wow, those are hard to spin on the West Coast!).
Next I booked a LL for
Autopia which was…not for me. I am a nervous driver, and this was not a fun ride for me. It induced a lot of anxiety, and I don’t intend to ever ride it again. And I hated the fumes. Because I was nearby and could grab LLs for them, I decided to add in
Star Tours (always one of my favorites) and
Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin (I didn't do that well this time around!)
This, my friends, is about the point when my hubris set in. I went back to Fantasyland and decided to ride the
King Arthur Carrousel. While in line for the short wait, I think “yeah, I was going to skip Galaxy’s Edge since it’s so similar to WDW, but what if I didn’t?” I had done SO WELL that morning that I truly thought I could do it all. So I made the extremely stupid choice to book a 1:30pm ILL for Rise, as well as a LL for Millennium Falcon AT THE SAME TIME. This would have been fine, if I didn’t have a 2:30pm reservation at Blue Bayou. I truly just FORGOT how long Rise is. Like an idiot.
So I go to Galaxy’s Edge, and I actually run into Mando, which was so great! I’m actually a relatively new Star Wars fan, and I’m working my way through season 2 of Mando right now, so I was happy to grab a pic! He was so cute interacting with a baby in a stroller.
I was pretty anxious about the pickle I got myself in, so I decided to single rider
Millennium Falcon and cancel the LL. I was real stressed, and even though I enjoyed the ride (and was QUITE good as an engineer), I was not in it 100% because of the overscheduling I had done to myself. By the time I got out of Millennium Falcon, it was close to 2. I SPRINT as best I can to
Rise, and of course I have a blast on Rise, but I’m convinced I’m going to lose my BB reservation.
I then head south to New Orleans Square, as fast as my sore feet will carry me. I check in on my phone around the corner at 2:40pm and pretty much collapse on the sofa in the foyer. I couldn’t believe it when the app told me to check in with a cast member and I ACTUALLY still had my reservation!
I went with the Monte Cristo, as well as a glass of house Chardonnay after the anxiety of the last hour. I also vowed to never schedule 3 things for the same 60 minute period ever again.
The experience of BB was pretty cool, even though I was seated in the middle and couldn’t really see the boats. I really liked but didn’t love my food. I was expecting a little more. I was also very distracted by someone behind me who was complaining about “paying for vibes” when the food was “just fine.” I totally understand that take, but they hadn’t eaten anything yet which makes me believe they A. Were parroting someone else’s thoughts, B. Had been there before and willingly come back to complain, or C. Was just taking down the decision of their companion to dine at BB. Anywho, I 100% wanted the crime brûlée for dessert but I was SO FULL from the dish I had that I just couldn’t handle anything else. Truthfully, I live in NYC, and I paid about $60 total for a filling meal that included a glass of wine, which is better than some nights at home, so I was happy.
I decided to set my sights on
Tale of the Lion King, but I had about 45 minutes to kill. I didn’t really feel like riding any rides but do you know what I had NEVER done before?
Enchanted Tiki Room! I don’t think I even did it as a little kid in WDW. What a fun little show!
I made my way over to the theater and grabbed a Coke at Troubadour Tavern. What was pretty annoying was that I had to drink it straight out of the cup because they were out of straws….but they didn’t tell me that until they were handing me my drink. Feels like something that wouldn’t be too hard to note in the app for Mobile Orders. I ended up pouring the Coke into my water bottle to drink it. I really loved the show though. So fun and such strong performances! It was just what I needed.
Because it was right there, I grabbed a LL for
Small World, which of course was just delightful. So much fun to look at the contemporary Disney references on that ride! It made the ride go by so much faster than I feel like it did in Disney World.
I then made a decision I am sad about but don’t regret - I made the decision to not go to Toontown at all. A future visit excursion, I guess. I just felt like a sacrifice had to be made. Instead, I went back to Fantasyland and jumped in line for
Peter Pan’s Flight. In retrospect, I kind of wish I hadn’t. It’s very similar to WDW’s, and the 20 min ended up being 40 min. Notably,
this was the only ride wait I had over 30 min of the entire trip. The ride is filled with nostalgia for me, and that’s great, but I probably should have just given it up and park-hopped if I wasn’t going to do Toontown. While I was in line for Peter’s Pan flight, I watched the lines for the Halloween overlays of Mater’s and Luigi’s go up and down in wait time. They weren’t too bad though, so I decided to park hop imminently.
As I walked out of the park, I saw the late showing of the parade going on, which felt like a perfect button to my time in Disneyland! (Little did I know I’d jump back in the park later).
I booked it back to CarsLand, which….wow. That is the coolest land!!! The theming is wonderful! Knowing I’d miss the “turn on the lights” moment, I jumped in line for
Mater’s Junkyard, and I had a great time! More fun than Alien Swirling Saucers, I think, even though it's the same ride mechanism.
Then, as I left Mater’s, I realized there was a huge crowd on Main Street because the lights HADN’T turned on yet! I decided to make my way down to Luigi’s, but hang out outside so I could catch it. And….wow. Such a fun, cool moment, and we had the most perfect sunset as well. I felt like Walt Disney had engineered that moment for me.
Then I went into
Luigi’s and….lemme tell you, I was underwhelmed by the ride after a pretty significant wait (I’d say 30 minutes, which felt like more after 2 days of walking around). It was cute but not for me. While I was in line, I was trying to strategize Radiator Springs Racers versus getting food and drink for World of Color versus getting a good spot for World of Color. I had done my first Virtual Queue earlier that day, and I was trying to time everything appropriately. That was when I realized that DCA closed after World of Color! Oh no! So I grabbed a ILL for RSR and went right there after Luigi’s. While in line, I got my notification that I had one hour to claim my spot at World of Color. That felt super do-able! What was kind of a bummer is I wanted a sweet snack, and nothing on the way was really appealing to me (I have a limited sweet palette, and ice cream felt really heavy when I had had a heavy lunch just a few hours prior). I did decide on a beverage from Cozy Cone Motel, however.
Radiator Springs Racers was SO GOOD! I loved it! And I can’t imagine not riding it at night, I loved the lights and everything. I was a single rider for a party of 5 (4 tween girls and a mom) so….that pic is probably a bit awkward. I didn’t have time to think about that though - I mobile ordered a pumpkin cider from Cozy Cone Motel and then made my way to stake out a spot for World of Color. I was able to sit for about 15 minutes before they made us stand, which was beautiful.
I actually got really lucky because the family who ended up being in front of me had a
scooter that someone transferred out of to watch the show, and I stood behind the scooter, so I had an incredible view of the entire thing. And, you might have guessed this, but I SOBBED. That show was so amazingly great. I can’t believe the magic they created with just projections and water. I plan to rewatch it on YouTube multiple times.
On my way out of the park, I realized I still wanted a sweet snack, so I did what any normal person would do - I park-hopped back to Disneyland, mobile ordered a cupcake and giant cookie from Candy Kitchen, picked it up, and made my way back to my hotel. I only managed to eat about a third of the cookie before I passed out, exhausted from my time at Disney!
Ah well! After grabbing it, I walked back to the Holiday Inn and went to bed.
