We woke up to a beautiful sunrise over Downtown Disney and the parks.
Since we were Disney resort guests, we got early admission {one hour before regular park opening} to one of the parks each day, so that is how I planned our schedule. It is the same pretty much every week: on Tues/Thurs/Sat Disneyland Park has early admission and on Mon/Wed/Fri/Sun California Adventure has early admission. So on Saturday morning we headed to Disneyland Park for a 7am opening! The good thing about the time zone change is that we were all ready to get moving each morning! John took the girls to the lounge to get breakfast while I got ready, and then we headed to the park. From our hotel, you enter Downtown Disney first and go through the security check point there. We got to security around 7:05 {running a bit behind schedule} and there was a decent line already formed, but it moved pretty quickly. From our hotel it is about a 7-8 minute walk to the park entrances, which are right across from one another. We had our tickets loaded on our phones via the app, but they also print them out for you when you first enter, and they also take your picture. As soon as we entered the park, I purchased MaxPass {Disneyland's electronic Fast Pass system- you can either buy that or use the old system where you have to physically go to different Fast Pass kiosks to get your paper fast passes}. I booked our first FP for Space Mountain {it does not give you a choice of times like WDW does- you just take what you are given}.
First thing on my list was to get a picture of us in front
of the Train Station. There were only a couple of people in line and I wanted
one while we were all fresh. I wasn't so sure about my all black
ensemble, but I figured I would fit right in with all the locals. 😊
I joked with John that we could always spot a Southerner. We were in line later that day next to a guy in a long sleeve checked shirt, khaki shorts, and a visor.
Southerner for sure. 😊 Anyway, I digress.
After we got that picture we headed to Sleeping Beauty Castle to get another picture. Walking into Disneyland for the first time was so sweet.
I will say the construction walls up all around Main Street were a bit of a bummer. We definitely didn’t have that picture-perfect view of Main Street and the castle when we first entered the park, but the girls were just as excited as could be! And our first visit to WDW was the same- construction walls everywhere. That's what you get for traveling during the "lower"-crowd times of Jan & Feb.
Then we decided to head to sign the girls up for Jedi Training at the Star Wars Launch Bay. For those who don’t know, if you want to do Jedi Training, whether at DL or WDW, you head to the sign up location right at park opening. Then they tell you which show you’ll be in later that day. SC really wanted to do it and Curran didn’t, but I told her I was going to make her because SC wouldn’t do it without her. Well we hustled all the way over there, and SC clammed up to the lady who was just asking questions {How old are you? Can you follow directions? Can you be on a stage with other kids?”} Well considering she was too shy to even answer those questions, I figured Jedi training wasn’t going to happen. And she totally chickened out right then and there. I was kind of frustrated since we had booked it all the way over there, but oh well. John wanted to go ahead and ride Space Mountain since we were right there and there was no wait. But since we had a fast pass for later, I said we should do some other things and come back. We did not have an actual plan and really should have! Also a good thing to note is that not every ride is open during the early morning magic hour, and we really didn’t know what was open and what wasn’t. We went to Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage because it was right there. WDW doesn’t have this ride so I really wanted to do it. You are in a legit submarine and go under water and see scenes from Finding Nemo. It was cute and we enjoyed it!
Then we left Tomorrowland and went to Fantasyland and rode Alice in Wonderland. We also don’t have this ride in WDW, but it was similar to Winnie the Pooh and some others in the way it’s done.
Then we did the Storybook Land Canal Boats which the girls and I thought was really cute! John was unimpressed.
The girls were begging to ride It’s A Small World. Again, John wanted to do something else but we were right there and there was NO wait. It was still decorated for Christmas which was a fun change {they don’t do that in WDW}.
Then we headed back to Tomorrowland for our Space Mountain fast pass. I knew SC wouldn’t like it, but we didn’t give her the choice to sit out, and considering she didn’t know what she was about to get herself into, she was totally fine. :) She started crying as soon as the ride stopped and carried on for a good 10 minutes or so afterwards. The rest of us really liked it though! We all agreed it was better than the WDW version.
With DL's fast pass system, each time you schedule a fast pass, it tells you what time you can make your next one, so I would set the alarm on my phone. It was very handy and I ended up really liking the system overall! We ended up having 3 fast passes scheduled before we had even used the first one. It doesn't always happen like that, but it did that morning. We had booked one for Star Tours after our Space Mtn, but the girls decided they didn’t want to do it, so we canceled it and booked something else. We got in line for Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters which is similar to Space Ranger Spin at Magic Kingdom.
Our next FP was for the Matterhorn Bobsleds, so we headed there. SC got in line with us but was really not wanting to ride it. The cast member loading the ride said she could wait with him while the three of us rode it, but John took one for the team and sat out with her so Curran and I could ride. We thought it was really fun! It was like a lighter version of Everest at Animal Kingdom. The ride itself was not near as scary, although there was a very real looking yeti that I thought was pretty scary! I was glad SC didn’t ride! After Matterhorn we rode the tea cups. These are just like in WDW of course but they are uncovered and the area is a little prettier in my opinion. John sat this one out because he is not a fan, and while we were on the ride my brother got there!
When we got off, I was looking around for Alice because she was supposed to be meeting around that area and I really wanted a pic of the girls with her in their Alice dresses. The characters in DL do have assigned meeting spots, but they also wander and don’t have handlers escorting or hovering over them. You will see guests holding their hands as they walk and approaching them constantly. It really is such a nice change of pace from WDW! Anyway, we didn’t see Alice anywhere, so we headed to our 10:30 breakfast reservation at Plaza Inn with Minnie & Friends. I had heard great things about this character meal- there are always lots of fun, unique characters to meet! When you check in, you can go to the left and meet Minnie, but her line was fairly long so the girls opted for us to go ahead and be seated. The hostess showed us around the buffet and then took us to a table on the shaded patio. It was nice to be outside! There were SO many characters there that we didn’t even stay to meet them all! I was so impressed with how laid back the character interactions were; they just kind of did their own thing and it felt so natural, which was nice.
After we got that picture we headed to Sleeping Beauty Castle to get another picture. Walking into Disneyland for the first time was so sweet.
First glimpse of the castle! {With those pesky construction walls in the background}
I will say the construction walls up all around Main Street were a bit of a bummer. We definitely didn’t have that picture-perfect view of Main Street and the castle when we first entered the park, but the girls were just as excited as could be! And our first visit to WDW was the same- construction walls everywhere. That's what you get for traveling during the "lower"-crowd times of Jan & Feb.
Waiting for our pic in front of the castle
Then we decided to head to sign the girls up for Jedi Training at the Star Wars Launch Bay. For those who don’t know, if you want to do Jedi Training, whether at DL or WDW, you head to the sign up location right at park opening. Then they tell you which show you’ll be in later that day. SC really wanted to do it and Curran didn’t, but I told her I was going to make her because SC wouldn’t do it without her. Well we hustled all the way over there, and SC clammed up to the lady who was just asking questions {How old are you? Can you follow directions? Can you be on a stage with other kids?”} Well considering she was too shy to even answer those questions, I figured Jedi training wasn’t going to happen. And she totally chickened out right then and there. I was kind of frustrated since we had booked it all the way over there, but oh well. John wanted to go ahead and ride Space Mountain since we were right there and there was no wait. But since we had a fast pass for later, I said we should do some other things and come back. We did not have an actual plan and really should have! Also a good thing to note is that not every ride is open during the early morning magic hour, and we really didn’t know what was open and what wasn’t. We went to Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage because it was right there. WDW doesn’t have this ride so I really wanted to do it. You are in a legit submarine and go under water and see scenes from Finding Nemo. It was cute and we enjoyed it!
The view out of the porthole while we were waiting for the ride to start.
The Hairy Eyeball from SC since she didn't know what she was getting into. :)
Then we left Tomorrowland and went to Fantasyland and rode Alice in Wonderland. We also don’t have this ride in WDW, but it was similar to Winnie the Pooh and some others in the way it’s done.
Then we did the Storybook Land Canal Boats which the girls and I thought was really cute! John was unimpressed.
You enter through the whale's mouth from Pinocchio.
Then you pass by different villages from other Disney movies {Belle's cottage, Cinderella's castle, etc}.
The girls were begging to ride It’s A Small World. Again, John wanted to do something else but we were right there and there was NO wait. It was still decorated for Christmas which was a fun change {they don’t do that in WDW}.
Not a soul around {besides the cast members working}!
Always a fave of the girls.
Then we headed back to Tomorrowland for our Space Mountain fast pass. I knew SC wouldn’t like it, but we didn’t give her the choice to sit out, and considering she didn’t know what she was about to get herself into, she was totally fine. :) She started crying as soon as the ride stopped and carried on for a good 10 minutes or so afterwards. The rest of us really liked it though! We all agreed it was better than the WDW version.
With DL's fast pass system, each time you schedule a fast pass, it tells you what time you can make your next one, so I would set the alarm on my phone. It was very handy and I ended up really liking the system overall! We ended up having 3 fast passes scheduled before we had even used the first one. It doesn't always happen like that, but it did that morning. We had booked one for Star Tours after our Space Mtn, but the girls decided they didn’t want to do it, so we canceled it and booked something else. We got in line for Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters which is similar to Space Ranger Spin at Magic Kingdom.
Don't know where my pic with C went, but this is John and SC behind their lasers. :)
Our next FP was for the Matterhorn Bobsleds, so we headed there. SC got in line with us but was really not wanting to ride it. The cast member loading the ride said she could wait with him while the three of us rode it, but John took one for the team and sat out with her so Curran and I could ride. We thought it was really fun! It was like a lighter version of Everest at Animal Kingdom. The ride itself was not near as scary, although there was a very real looking yeti that I thought was pretty scary! I was glad SC didn’t ride! After Matterhorn we rode the tea cups. These are just like in WDW of course but they are uncovered and the area is a little prettier in my opinion. John sat this one out because he is not a fan, and while we were on the ride my brother got there!
When we got off, I was looking around for Alice because she was supposed to be meeting around that area and I really wanted a pic of the girls with her in their Alice dresses. The characters in DL do have assigned meeting spots, but they also wander and don’t have handlers escorting or hovering over them. You will see guests holding their hands as they walk and approaching them constantly. It really is such a nice change of pace from WDW! Anyway, we didn’t see Alice anywhere, so we headed to our 10:30 breakfast reservation at Plaza Inn with Minnie & Friends. I had heard great things about this character meal- there are always lots of fun, unique characters to meet! When you check in, you can go to the left and meet Minnie, but her line was fairly long so the girls opted for us to go ahead and be seated. The hostess showed us around the buffet and then took us to a table on the shaded patio. It was nice to be outside! There were SO many characters there that we didn’t even stay to meet them all! I was so impressed with how laid back the character interactions were; they just kind of did their own thing and it felt so natural, which was nice.
Max {Goofy's son} came by first! Curran and the boys were fixing their plates, so Max promised us he could come back {in his non-verbal way :) }.
Then our ol' pal Winnie stopped by!
Then Chip. Not sure what SC was laughing at but she LOVES seeing the characters!
She's always gotta get that hug in too.
Next up was Dale.
Then Captain Hook. He was pretty intimidating!
SC's face in these crack me up!
I was glad Minnie came by since we didn't stop to see her earlier when we arrived!
Gotta love some Eeyore.
Awkward hug alert. He wasn't ready for that one.
Max came back to see Curran! I was kind of surprised he remembered or that they didn't change cast members in between rounds and therefore have no clue that he should come back to our table. I feel like at WDW if you miss a character, then you just miss them. He even pantomimed to us "see I told you I would come back."
We left before meeting Fairy Godmother, Tigger, Rafiki, and maybe one more I can't remember. After breakfast, I looked at the app and saw that Alice was
meeting somewhere over in Fantasyland so we headed that way. It took us a few
minutes to find her, but we finally did. She was meeting with the Mad Hatter
and they loved the girls dresses! I got a cute video of them that's too long to post here. They talked to them for a few minutes and
signed their autograph books.
Then we headed to our Fast Pass for Thunder Mountain. SC said she didn’t want to ride, so I sat out with her while John and Walter took Curran. Then we rode Snow White’s Scary Adventures and it was cute- again similar to the Alice ride and Winnie the Pooh in the way it’s structured.
After that we headed to Toon Town. My family only went to WDW once when I was a child, and even though I was 11 I don’t remember much. But I DO remember the old Fantasyland and Toon Town area. I remember loving it, so I knew the girls would too. And I was right! SC especially loved it, and after sitting out from some big rides, I was really glad to see her truly loving something. She was running around having the BEST time! We had a FP for Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin {again very similar to Snow White, Alice, and Winnie rides} and then ran around the town walking through Minnie’s, Goofy’s, and Donald’s houses.
Curran really wanted to ride Gadget’s Go Coaster, so John took her on that while Walter and I stayed with SC who played on a little playground outside of Goofy’s house.
Then we all got some ice cream treats {well maybe that was just the girls and me 😊 } and found a shady spot to eat them.
Then we headed to our Fast Pass for Thunder Mountain. SC said she didn’t want to ride, so I sat out with her while John and Walter took Curran. Then we rode Snow White’s Scary Adventures and it was cute- again similar to the Alice ride and Winnie the Pooh in the way it’s structured.
Looking at the Evil Queen's spell book.
After that we headed to Toon Town. My family only went to WDW once when I was a child, and even though I was 11 I don’t remember much. But I DO remember the old Fantasyland and Toon Town area. I remember loving it, so I knew the girls would too. And I was right! SC especially loved it, and after sitting out from some big rides, I was really glad to see her truly loving something. She was running around having the BEST time! We had a FP for Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin {again very similar to Snow White, Alice, and Winnie rides} and then ran around the town walking through Minnie’s, Goofy’s, and Donald’s houses.
Curran really wanted to ride Gadget’s Go Coaster, so John took her on that while Walter and I stayed with SC who played on a little playground outside of Goofy’s house.
Then we all got some ice cream treats {well maybe that was just the girls and me 😊 } and found a shady spot to eat them.
After that we decided to take a break from the parks. It was just before 2pm at this point.
I had originally planned for us to head over to California Adventure after DLP, but the girls were tired and really wanted to swim. So John took them back to the hotel while my brother and I walked around California Adventure.
We didn’t do anything over there, but I just wanted to get my bearings so we would be ready for the next day. Then we went and checked out a local hotel so I could get a feel for it for future clients, and then we walked back through Downtown Disney to our hotel. I did a load of laundry while the girls were still swimming.
Leaving the park, we walked by Walt Disney's apartment that is there above the fire department, and they have kept it exactly as he left it. {Guests aren't allowed in.}
I had originally planned for us to head over to California Adventure after DLP, but the girls were tired and really wanted to swim. So John took them back to the hotel while my brother and I walked around California Adventure.
We didn’t do anything over there, but I just wanted to get my bearings so we would be ready for the next day. Then we went and checked out a local hotel so I could get a feel for it for future clients, and then we walked back through Downtown Disney to our hotel. I did a load of laundry while the girls were still swimming.
After the pool, we got some snacks in the lounge and rested
a bit before heading back to DLP for our 5:50 dinner reservation at Blue Bayou.
We had a Fantasmic Dining Package booked because when I was planning this trip,
I was just so unfamiliar with the park that I didn’t know how early we would
have to get to Fantasmic to get a seat, and I didn’t want to risk having to wait
a long time. This restaurant is kind of a New Orleans theme and is set on a faux
patio that overlooks the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. We all loved the
ambiance and overall enjoyed the experience. For the dining package, there is a prix fixe 3 course menu where you get a choice between a few things. I REALLY loved
the spicy shrimp and rice appetizer I got, and I really liked the scalloped potatoes
that came with my steak {which was just okay}. Everyone else enjoyed theirs except
Sallie Cate. She had been super grumpy before we even got to dinner and finally
fell asleep in John’s lap before we even ordered, but of course we still had
to get something for her in order to get a voucher for the show that night. Of course not ONE BITE was taken of it. Ugh. But
such is Disney and I am fairly used to it by now.
After dinner, John, Walter and Curran rode Jungle Cruise while I stayed with Sal who was asleep in the stroller. Then Curran, Walter, and I did our Fast Pass for Indiana Jones’ Adventure while John stayed with SC. I had heard this ride was kind of scary, and it was, but C was a trooper! I thought it was really fun! After that we went to find our reserved spot for Fantasmic. They wouldn’t let us take our stroller into the reserved area so we had to get SC out. That was kind of a bummer as she couldn’t get comfortable sitting/sleeping in John’s lap. I finally got her settled comfortably and was thankful cushions came with our dining package {which I had no idea about beforehand} since we were sitting on stones!
Once the show started, SC actually woke up and really enjoyed it. I think Fantasmic is definitely one of the very best shows Disney does, and thankfully we have it at WDW too!
We called it a night after the show and went back to the hotel, and my brother drove home to Santa Monica. It was a very full and fun first day, and we were worn out!!
By the trees you see in the background is where the Pirates of the Caribbean riders pass by in their boats.
Being carried out of dinner. :/
After dinner, John, Walter and Curran rode Jungle Cruise while I stayed with Sal who was asleep in the stroller. Then Curran, Walter, and I did our Fast Pass for Indiana Jones’ Adventure while John stayed with SC. I had heard this ride was kind of scary, and it was, but C was a trooper! I thought it was really fun! After that we went to find our reserved spot for Fantasmic. They wouldn’t let us take our stroller into the reserved area so we had to get SC out. That was kind of a bummer as she couldn’t get comfortable sitting/sleeping in John’s lap. I finally got her settled comfortably and was thankful cushions came with our dining package {which I had no idea about beforehand} since we were sitting on stones!
This Mickey stroller hook was a total impulse purchase at Target that I had absolutely no need for, but it sure came in handy to hold those seat cushions! :)
Once the show started, SC actually woke up and really enjoyed it. I think Fantasmic is definitely one of the very best shows Disney does, and thankfully we have it at WDW too!
I didn't take any good pics because I was too busy enjoying the show.
The lamp always stays on in Walt's apartment window.
We called it a night after the show and went back to the hotel, and my brother drove home to Santa Monica. It was a very full and fun first day, and we were worn out!!
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