Rainy day fun day at Disneyland

Rainy day at Downtown Disney as a Mickey wrapped Monorail passes by

We made our first family trip in over 2 years to the Happiest Place on Earth in January. While in Southern California we visited the Disneyland Resort and had quite a memorable visit. In a first for us we went to Disneyland in the rain. We have been rained on in Florida at Walt Disney World, but we could never recall a rainy day Disneyland visit. Actually it pretty much rained the whole time we were in California and it was only marginally warmer than the North Carolina weather we left behind. Still we made the best of it and ultimately had a nice time at the resort. During the rain just about every ride was walk on but as the rain cleared the park filled up in the afternoon and evening with the pass holders Disneyland is famous for.  Most of our family lives in Southern California so we were joined on this visit by nieces, nephews, "Nannie", and an auntie!

With our own "Sleeping Beauty" in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle

Sleeping Beauty Castle was closed to undergo renovations in time for the opening of Star Wars Land (Dad still can’t get used to calling it “Galaxy’s Edge”). The scuttlebutt is the roof has needed to be replaced since the 60th Celebration Decorations were removed. At the time of our visit there was a wall at ground level but the upper towers were still visible.

Walt Disney World has conditioned us to not expect to easily walk through the castle since the stage is so often in use that frankly we did not really mind that the lower levels of Sleeping Beauty Castle were obscured. We still managed some nice photos of the Castle(albeit wet ones!), especially from a distance. Toddler Son was especially looking forward to seeing the Castle and did not seem to mind that it was blocked off at ground level.

We had hoped to time our trip so as to see some of the “Holiday Overlays” and managed to ride “It’s A Small World Holiday”.

This was a real highlight of the trip, the attraction looked wonderful inside and out with all of the Christmas & Holiday Decorations.

The exterior of the Disneyland It’s a Small World is spectacular and after seeing so many YouTube videos Toddler Son was excited to see it in person.

He had been to Disneyland one other time for his first birthday but did not retain any memory of it. The Haunted Mansion was closed to remove the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay. We spent some time at Mickey's Toontown, including walking right on to Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin! Had to play around with the photo ops and pose on the Jolly Trolley.

Teenage Son is unabashedly a Disneylander with almost no reservations, he loves Walt Disney World (EPCOT especially) but usually finds Disneyland to be the superior “Magic Kingdom”. Mom & Dad have a more complex view of  the Disneyland vs Magic Kingdom debate preferring to appreciate their differences rather than make a call of one over the other.

Disneyland is very dense with attractions seemingly on top of each other. Dad found himself with tunnel vision due to the closer quarters and lack of distant views he had gotten used to at Walt Disney World.  When we first started visiting Magic Kingdom in Florida there was a period of adjustment where we were disoriented and kept trying to find Disneyland in the Magic Kingdom, now after having made so many visits to the Florida park we may have been guilty of looking for Magic Kingdom in Disneyland subconsciously.  It really is striking how much more "cozy" Disneyland is, just about everything is at a smaller scale and yet it probably has twice as much detail and more attractions.

Pearlie Band walking through Fantasyland

Fantasyland in particular was a real treat, we pretty much walked form Dark Ride to Dark Ride with no wait (except for PeterPan...even in the rain that one had a wait). We enjoyed California unique rides like Snow White's Adventure, Pinocchio, Mr. Toad, & Alice In Wonderland.

Dumbo in the rain is not an entirely pleasurable experience as the rain drops seem to come at you in a horizontal direction, but we made the best of our situation and ultimately had a great visit to Fantasyland.

After Fanatsyland we took the Disneyland Railroad to the Frontierland/Adventureland side of the park while enjoying the Grand Canyon & Primeval World dioramas...two elements sorely missing from the Walt Disney World Railroad. Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean really shines with it's moody bayou, 2 waterfalls and caverns.

The Enchanted Tiki Room has a longer show, a water fountain, and enjoys more audience participation & enthusiasm than the Florida counterpart. While there we briefly visited the "Tropical Hideaway" snack area made from Aladdin's Oasis/Tahitian Terrace remnants.  We had never been to either of those venues so that was all new to us, the view of the Jungle Cruise dock and "Rosita" the "lost" Tiki Bird are nice touches.

Pin trading in action

magic carpet ride

"Star Wars Land" looms large in the distance but can also be surprisingly ignored if you so choose to. The transitional area between it and the rest of Disneyland is a remarkably detailed desert scene that blends in nicely with Frontierland, unfortunately we did not get a chance to ride the train or the Mark Twain around the newer river scenes.  The crowds of people heading there and perhaps lift hill views from Big Thunder will be the only signs that there is something beyond the berm.

Most of the evening was spent at California Adventure. 

While at Cal Adventure our party took in Monsters Inc, Guardians of the Galaxy, Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, The Little Mermaid, & The Incredicoaster(Agent P went on the Incredicoaster and enjoyed it and followed it up with one of Jack Jack's cookies).

The original Twilight Zone theming on the Tower of Terror made much more sense with the overall park and the Guardians of the Galaxy exterior is very jarring. But the ride itself is well done and lots of fun.  The ride experience seems longer and the randomized drops are thrilling.

We returned to Disneyland to ride Alice in Wonderland and to see the park lit up at night.

All in all we had a great time, how can you not at the Happiest Place on Earth?

Downtown Disney World of Disney window display 

Agent P's Summer 2017 Disneyland Trip Report : Farewell Main Street Electrical Parade & Hello Guardians of the Galaxy Mission: Breakout!

Last year I wanted to go to my birth state of California, but my Dad was needed at work back in North Carolina! We then came up with a plan to send me there on my first trip away from home. My parents went surfing on the interwebs looking for plane tickets. Once we found them we started planning my trip.

                          

I was kinda scared because I had never been without my parents for more than a few days but eventually I just kept on getting more and more excited! We decided I was going to stay with my grandparents. I really wanted to visit Disneyland while I was in California. 

The day of the trip finally came and we drove to the airport, I said my goodbyes and then got on the plane. I was a little nervous at first but once we took off I was fine. On the first flight I sat on the window seat next to this very nice couple. The flight attendant was also super nice to me as well!

Once the plane landed I got off and saw all my family! The first thing a true Californian would do is eat at In N’ Out, the super popular fast food restaurant in California. Another thing that was luckily going to happen while I was going to be there was the Farewell to the Main Street Electrical Parade at Disneyland.  The parade had moved from Walt Disney World back to Disneyland. They had repaired the parade and had it showing all summer long. I was thrilled when I heard that because that was my favorite parade so we tried to arrange the trip to see the last showing on the last day!

Disneyland Trip

It was the day of the last Main Street Electrical Parade(at least for now!). I got up super early and went to Disneyland with My grandma and my cousin who happened to work at Disneyland at the time. We ate at Burger King a restaurant...I don’t think I have to explain it to you, they are everywhere!





My cousin took us to the cast member shop and I found a really cool retro souvenir plate and a "It's A Small World" hand sanitizer key chain for my parents! Something I now regret is not buying/looking at the cast member only pins. I didn’t look because I wasn’t all pin crazy at the time. We left the cast member shop and started heading to Disneyland. Earlier that day my cousin had given me a 4 pc Monster Inc pin set, that I sadly did not use at the park. I have since become a Pin Trader and I can't wait to share that in another post.

Arriving at Disneyland

Once we parked we first went on the Jungle Cruise! My first trip to Disneyland was in the summer of 2005 during the 50th anniversary celebration of Disneyland. I went with my Mom & Dad, my Grandma and my cousins...including the cousin who was now working for Disneyland. I wanted to recreate a photo we took from when I was a baby.

        

Me and Family in 2005!

Photo of me and my Family 12 years later!

My cousin had to report to work, she worked on Main Street. We watched the Disneyland Band perform in front of the Golden Horseshow Saloon and took a ride around the Rivers of America on board the Sailing Ship Columbia! They had reopened the river after remodeling it to make room for Star Wars Galaxy's Edge! I had not been around the river since I was a baby and the new river looked so nice that I did not even know the river was different.

  

So then we went on It’s a small world and looked for all the Disney Characters. After that we decided to go meet Mickey at Toon Town.

Then my other cousin made us dinner reservations at Ariel’s Grotto in California Adventure for my Grandma's Birthday. It recently closed down because of Pixar Pier. I had the Chicken with a side  of Couscous and for dessert a sampler. It came with a sugar cookie shell and some crème brûlée. The crème brûlée was delicious!

               

My uncle got us special seating for Fantasmic and the fireworks.We got  some churros and sat down for The Electrical Parade! It was so good I hope it comes back again someday.

Here are some Photos of The Main Street Electrical Parade:

  

Disneyland Trip 2

I was so lucky to get to go to Disneyland on another day with my Aunt & Cousins on this same trip to California! We mostly spent our day at California Adventure. So first thing we did was rush to get Guardians of the Galaxy Mission: Break Out! fast passes. While waiting for our fast pass time we went on California Screaming which is now being themed to The Incredibles! Then we went on the silly swings.

Video of me riding the Silly Swings!

For lunch we ate at one of my favorite Disneyland fast food restaurants, The Smoke Jumpers Grill! I like it because almost every time I go to California Adventure I eat there. After that it was finally time for our ride on Mission: Breakout! Although I loved Tower of Terror and miss it, Guardians of the Galaxy Mission: Breakout was super cool! With the update it now has random music and ride patterns. The first time you might be listening to Elvis while helping Drax or on the next ride it could be something completely different! 

On the last day of being in California I went to Universal Studios Hollywood and that was fun too. Late in the night they do a firework/projection show on Hogwarts which was cool, but I still missed the Disney castle. After that I ate at In N' Out one last time. I know some people are going to hate me for this but if I had to pick between Disneyland Park or The Magic Kingdom I would pick Disneyland Park. It's just got so many more rides and I share my birth year with their 50th Anniversary. I enjoyed my trip so much and can't wait to go back to California!