Disneyland like a Pro

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Spending a Three-Day Weekend at Disneyland with my Friend, Kyla

Saturday, January 14 through Monday, January 16, 2012


So Close, But Yet So Far
By moving to Las Vegas, I was positioning myself closer than ever to Disneyland. But it is still an effort to get there. Interestingly, when you’re driving in the middle of the desert at night, it’s easy to pin point your location. To the west, that big glow on the horizon is LA. And to the east, it’s Las Vegas. There isn’t much in between. The trip took me four hours, just as Google predicted, and I finally rolled into Anaheim at 11pm. Kyla was already checked into the hotel, and after a bit of chatting, we both crashed.

Saturday
It was pre-agreed that this Disney trip would be casual. The three-day weekend was likely to bring bigger crowds, and this time we were going to enjoy the parks at our own pace. Kyla and I enjoyed breakfast in Disneyland California Adventure (DCA) at Taste Pilots’ Grill; their main breakfast options were breakfast burritos. Then off to the Tower of Terror, one of my favorite rides in that park. And for the first time ever, I was joined by Kyla, who had been dodging the ride for years. She finally rode it for the first time with another friend in October last year, after much begging, threatening, and bribing by this friend, Kyla’s father, and myself.

Lunch was a special occasion today. Part of the bribe to get Kyla on the Tower of Terror was the reward of dining at the Blue Bayou restaurant in Disneyland park. We have both wanted to dine here for a long time, and relished the experience. It was so cool to be dining inside a ride! For those who are not familiar with the restaurant, you can see the dining area right when the ride begins on Pirates of the Caribbean. The food was good and the atmosphere was thick with trademarked Disney magic. We won’t be eating here every visit, due to the prices, but it’s great for special occasions. The remainder of the day was spent as intended, at a leisurely pace.

Sunday
It rained early in the morning before we set out for the parks. But as tough Washington girls, Kyla and I knew we could handle the cooler weather that comes with a few sprinkles. But by the time the tram arrived at the entrance from the parking lot, we were cold and regretful, and begrudgingly rode the tram back to the car for our jackets. Breakfast at the River Belle Terrace rejuvenated our spirits and we set about our fun filled day bouncing between the parks. If there was something either Kyla or I had not done, we gave it a try. Like the Animation Academy in DCA, where you learn how to draw famous Disney characters.

We were in Fantasyland when the fireworks show began. If you don’t mind standing behind the castle, Fantasyland is a great place to watch the show. It was uncrowned and much more civilized than the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds on main street or the “hub.” Plus, you can jump right on any of the dark rides once they are given the OK to re-open after the show. Or so we thought. Peter Pan was the primary exception. During the fireworks show, a line began forming, and by the time the ride opened, the wait time was already 45 minutes. Kyla and I went to Dumbo instead, although the rain started back up and rendered us somewhat defeated in our choice of an outdoor ride.

Monday
Continuing our trend of trying new things, Kyla and I signed up for the “Welcome to Disneyland” tour. Tours are an extra cost, but with Kyla’s annual park pass, our tickets were discounted. For the grand total of $20, we each received a Disney Tours lanyard, trading pin, four fast passes, preferred seating to “Aladdin,“ and our own private guide for 2.5 hours. We were the only ones who signed up that day, so it really was like a VIP experience. Our guide took us through DCA and Disneyland, discussing the history of various rides and sharing little known facts. She took us to “It’s Tough to be a Bug” and more excitingly, through the back entrance onto Pirates of the Caribbean. Now if she could have only got us into Peter Pan, that would have really been amazing! For people who do not visit the parks very often, I absolutely recommend taking this tour. It’s fun, informative, and the perks were totally worth it.

We gave away the majority of our fast passes, since I needed to leave before we would have been able to use all of them. But we did use the preferred seating for Aladdin, and took a ride on the Tower of Terror and Soarin’ before leaving for the weekend.

Single Rider, Please
Kyla introduced me to the amazing invention of the Single Rider pass. It’s a magical portal that allows you to skip the long line and go straight to the loading platform. We didn’t get to sit next to each bother, but we were always on the same ride vehicle (not guaranteed, however). So instead of waiting 60 minutes for Indiana Jones, we waited less than 10 minutes, and a majority of that time was spent just walking through the long corridors to the platform. Worth it!

Where Not to Stay
I picked the hotel for this weekend, and I am forced to admit, it was a dud. I cannot recommend the Super 8 off Disneyland Drive, north of the parks. On my road trip to Las Vegas, I stayed in two hotels from this chain, and each was cheap but very comfortable and clean. This one, well, we think it was clean. And it was cheap. But it was inconvenient to access, the breakfast food was gone by 8:30am, and the hotel just had kind of a grittiness to it. Spend the extra $10 a night and get a room somewhere else.

Make Friends with Annual Passholders
Living within easy driving distance to the parks, Kyla invested in an annual pass. With it, she receives free parking and discounts on shopping and food. Our total savings was approximately $40 throughout the weekend, plus the $45 we saved on parking. We operated on a cash basis this time, which was new, but it worked out well and made it easy to use Kyla’s annual pass and get those couple bucks off each purchase.

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Photos

Matterhorn
Undergoing renovation