The Cast
Me - Rita, 34 single mom
DS - Ryan, 10 year old son
DD - Ashley 2 ?? year old daughter
Frank - my 19 year old nephew
Cassie - 26, my best friends daughter
Disneyland Monday 6/12
After breakfast we headed to Disneyland again. Frank and Cassie had bought regular flex passes and had a early entry. DS and I did not have that since we have season passes. We did not see Cass or Frank the entire morning.
When we got to the park I marveled at the long lines. Last night DD and I did not have to wait in any lines, and today there is 45 minute wait for Small World. Not a good sight. Since the lines were so bad, I decided to do the large events today.
In Fantasyland we did the carousel, Pinochio, and of course Small World. Then we went to the first showing of the Animazement show. It was hot and crowded, and I was not having a good time. DS had taken off and went on rides he wanted to go on, and DD and I headed for the theater entrance. Because of the heat I picked up some of their frozen lemonade, now that was good. DS radioed me and asked me where I was, and I directed him to where we were waiting and he showed up in 10 minutes. I sent him for more frozen lemonade for all of us. Then we were finally let in and got good seats for the show. I really enjoyed this show. We got to see a wide variety of characters including, Belle, Beast, Pochahontas, and Hades. The show was fast moving and it was nice to sit in the shade, drinking frozen lemonade, and watching Disney. I was sad it was over in 20 minutes.
After we left the show DS, DD and I headed for Main Street. We were sprinkled with Pixie Dust, and n the way we ran into Pocahontas. There was no line to meet her, she had just come out, so DD ran up to her and got her autograph, and posed for a picture. Then we went down to main street to sit down for the parade.
Ok, I am about to get on my soap box here. I really get mad at people who show up 5 minutes before the parade and expect to get a good seat, then try to squeeze out people who have waited for 1 hour and obtained good seats. It has happened to me over and over again, where people squeeze in front of us, so this time I had an action plan. I found a tree. In front of the tree, there was just enough room to put down my soccer chair. I put my chair down and, put the stroller on one side, then DS's chair on the other side. I moved our chairs all the way to the front of the curb. Now, nobody could squeeze in front, and there was no room between the tree, and my back. This strategy worked. I saw other people getting squeezed out, but my kids and I for once had great seats. If you wonder, soccer chairs, are small, light weight, foldable chairs, that I bought at Target for $4.50 each. They fold up small enough to fit in the basket below my stroller. I hate to sit on the pavement, and since I use a stroller I don't have to carry the chairs, Ijust put them in my stroller basket. The chairs are very low, the seat only about 15" from the ground, and they have a small backrest. They are not the most comfortable things, but they are a lot better than the ground. I also used them when I was waiting to do a baby swap at Indiana Jones, and while waiting for Fantasmic. We could not sit on them during Fantasmic, because if you are in the front they want you to sit on the ground, but it was sure nice to sit on them while waiting for it to start. Anyway, our tree strategy worked, and my kids had a perfect view of the parade. The parade Remember the Magic in WDW is 10 times better, but we enjoyed this parade to. After the parade we fled the crowds and fled the park and went back to the Candy Cane.
Back at the Candy Cane, everybody went swimming, then I put DD down for a nap. When she woke up from the nap we all went to McDonalds and ate dinner there. The McDonalds is on Harbor Blvd and easy to find. I noticed right next to the McDonalds there is a Police sub station in a trailer. I also saw police officers on bikes patrolling the area. I felt very safe.
7pm and we decided to try the park again. We went on the Jungle Cruise, Pirates of Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion with 10 minute waits. We also saw Honey I Shrunk the Audience. The fast loading rides like that were not bad at all. Fantasyland was still crowded so I avoided it. We sat down and watched the fireworks from Tomorrowland and we saw Tinkerbells flight. Immediately after the Fireworks they started the Mattehorn ride again, it had been shut down, so we immediately went there and did a baby swap. We had no wait, but after we got off, the line was huge again. DS is really enjoying the baby swap. I wait with DD while Cass and DS do the ride, then Cass wait with DD while DS and I do the ride. He got 2 of every ride we did the baby swap on.
We then watched Fantasmic, and I like this one better than the one in WDW. I like how they use the pirate ship and have Peter Pan fight captain Hook on it. Trailing the pirate ship is the Crocodile. The highlight is the floats with the princesses, and the Mark Twain with all the characters. We sure enjoyed it.
When Fantasmic was over we stopped by Fantasyland, but it was still crowded. DD and I did It's a Small world one more time, and then we went back to the hotel. We just barely missed the shuttle, so we walked back. DD fell asleep in the stroller on the 10 minute walk. I walked amongst a group of people who had just exited the park, and I also saw uniformed officers on bikes, so I felt very safe.
I am going to end the report here. On Tuesday we decided against going to the park because it was so crowded. We ate breakfast, swam in the pool and then checked out. We drove to State Line in Nevada and ate lunch at Buffalo Bills, then we drove all the way home. We made it home in 10 hours.
We had a great time on Saturday and Sunday. Monday was way to crowded. We are arranging our next trip in October. Hopefully the crowds will be a lot smaller. We will probably stay at the Candy Cane again, unless I get AP rate at the Disneyland Hotel. We are definitely doing Goofy's Kitchen again. It was a good trip, and now we won't be back until October.
Me - Rita, 34 single mom
DS - Ryan, 10 year old son
DD - Ashley 2 ?? year old daughter
Frank - my 19 year old nephew
Cassie - 26, my best friends daughter
Disneyland Monday 6/12
After breakfast we headed to Disneyland again. Frank and Cassie had bought regular flex passes and had a early entry. DS and I did not have that since we have season passes. We did not see Cass or Frank the entire morning.
When we got to the park I marveled at the long lines. Last night DD and I did not have to wait in any lines, and today there is 45 minute wait for Small World. Not a good sight. Since the lines were so bad, I decided to do the large events today.
In Fantasyland we did the carousel, Pinochio, and of course Small World. Then we went to the first showing of the Animazement show. It was hot and crowded, and I was not having a good time. DS had taken off and went on rides he wanted to go on, and DD and I headed for the theater entrance. Because of the heat I picked up some of their frozen lemonade, now that was good. DS radioed me and asked me where I was, and I directed him to where we were waiting and he showed up in 10 minutes. I sent him for more frozen lemonade for all of us. Then we were finally let in and got good seats for the show. I really enjoyed this show. We got to see a wide variety of characters including, Belle, Beast, Pochahontas, and Hades. The show was fast moving and it was nice to sit in the shade, drinking frozen lemonade, and watching Disney. I was sad it was over in 20 minutes.
After we left the show DS, DD and I headed for Main Street. We were sprinkled with Pixie Dust, and n the way we ran into Pocahontas. There was no line to meet her, she had just come out, so DD ran up to her and got her autograph, and posed for a picture. Then we went down to main street to sit down for the parade.
Ok, I am about to get on my soap box here. I really get mad at people who show up 5 minutes before the parade and expect to get a good seat, then try to squeeze out people who have waited for 1 hour and obtained good seats. It has happened to me over and over again, where people squeeze in front of us, so this time I had an action plan. I found a tree. In front of the tree, there was just enough room to put down my soccer chair. I put my chair down and, put the stroller on one side, then DS's chair on the other side. I moved our chairs all the way to the front of the curb. Now, nobody could squeeze in front, and there was no room between the tree, and my back. This strategy worked. I saw other people getting squeezed out, but my kids and I for once had great seats. If you wonder, soccer chairs, are small, light weight, foldable chairs, that I bought at Target for $4.50 each. They fold up small enough to fit in the basket below my stroller. I hate to sit on the pavement, and since I use a stroller I don't have to carry the chairs, Ijust put them in my stroller basket. The chairs are very low, the seat only about 15" from the ground, and they have a small backrest. They are not the most comfortable things, but they are a lot better than the ground. I also used them when I was waiting to do a baby swap at Indiana Jones, and while waiting for Fantasmic. We could not sit on them during Fantasmic, because if you are in the front they want you to sit on the ground, but it was sure nice to sit on them while waiting for it to start. Anyway, our tree strategy worked, and my kids had a perfect view of the parade. The parade Remember the Magic in WDW is 10 times better, but we enjoyed this parade to. After the parade we fled the crowds and fled the park and went back to the Candy Cane.
Back at the Candy Cane, everybody went swimming, then I put DD down for a nap. When she woke up from the nap we all went to McDonalds and ate dinner there. The McDonalds is on Harbor Blvd and easy to find. I noticed right next to the McDonalds there is a Police sub station in a trailer. I also saw police officers on bikes patrolling the area. I felt very safe.
7pm and we decided to try the park again. We went on the Jungle Cruise, Pirates of Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion with 10 minute waits. We also saw Honey I Shrunk the Audience. The fast loading rides like that were not bad at all. Fantasyland was still crowded so I avoided it. We sat down and watched the fireworks from Tomorrowland and we saw Tinkerbells flight. Immediately after the Fireworks they started the Mattehorn ride again, it had been shut down, so we immediately went there and did a baby swap. We had no wait, but after we got off, the line was huge again. DS is really enjoying the baby swap. I wait with DD while Cass and DS do the ride, then Cass wait with DD while DS and I do the ride. He got 2 of every ride we did the baby swap on.
We then watched Fantasmic, and I like this one better than the one in WDW. I like how they use the pirate ship and have Peter Pan fight captain Hook on it. Trailing the pirate ship is the Crocodile. The highlight is the floats with the princesses, and the Mark Twain with all the characters. We sure enjoyed it.
When Fantasmic was over we stopped by Fantasyland, but it was still crowded. DD and I did It's a Small world one more time, and then we went back to the hotel. We just barely missed the shuttle, so we walked back. DD fell asleep in the stroller on the 10 minute walk. I walked amongst a group of people who had just exited the park, and I also saw uniformed officers on bikes, so I felt very safe.
I am going to end the report here. On Tuesday we decided against going to the park because it was so crowded. We ate breakfast, swam in the pool and then checked out. We drove to State Line in Nevada and ate lunch at Buffalo Bills, then we drove all the way home. We made it home in 10 hours.
We had a great time on Saturday and Sunday. Monday was way to crowded. We are arranging our next trip in October. Hopefully the crowds will be a lot smaller. We will probably stay at the Candy Cane again, unless I get AP rate at the Disneyland Hotel. We are definitely doing Goofy's Kitchen again. It was a good trip, and now we won't be back until October.
