Disneyland – 23,105 steps

Yesterday Sean had allowed himself to be swayed by the whims of our kids and often found himself frustrated at the inefficiencies this introduced. Today, he decided he was going to do his best to stick to a plan. And that plan was to hit as many of the calmer dark ride type things early in the day as he could while everyone else was busy lining up for the more thrilling rides first thing.

Sleeping Beauty’s Castle is large and in charge upon entry to the park

We started out on Snow White’s Enchanted Wish. You board your mine cart and are whisked through glowing-jewel bedecked caves and scenes from Snow White. It was pretty to look at and the kids seemed into it (possibly because they hadn’t already ridden a take-your-breath-away roller coaster).

Next we went right to Alice in Wonderland. After an almost nothing wait in line, we boarded our giant caterpillar ride vehicle, and tootled along a winding track that presented us with scenes from Alice in Wonderland.

Mr Toad’s Wild Ride

We hit peak Sean nostalgia with the next one – Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Apparently this was an opening day attraction at Disneyland Park in 1955. From what I’ve read, it was upgraded in 1983 to update the facade and add to the interior Toad Hall space. We paired up in little cars and J. Thaddeus Toad, Esq. drove away like a maniac. After crashing through doors and tearing through the countryside, we eventually ran headlong into an oncoming train! The ride ends with Toad having gone to hell. No, really.

The ride is weird and odd and fun. The kids wanted to like it because their Dad was so fond of it, but I’m not sure their hearts were it it when they were saying complimentary things afterward.

Maya and Ian met Captain Hook

Storybook Land Canal Boats was a ride through a whales mouth into a land of intricate miniatures. Yeah, it was a sleepy little ride, but the kids got to ride on the flat decks up front, which they seemed excited about.

The kids were dying to ride Dumbo the Flying Elephant. Maya and Ian love these kinds of rides because there’s a lever inside the ride vehicle (a Dumbo!) that lets them control whether it goes up or down as we fly around in a circle.

Is it even a pancake if it doesn’t have ears?

We had finished what we wanted to do in Fantasyland at this point and hit Red Rose Taverne for breakfast. Sean and I had big breakfast plates with scrambled eggs, potatoes, and bacon and a petit croissant to boot. The kids both had giant Mickey pancakes with bacon. Mom had a mondo-sized coffee. All was right with the world.

We went next to Pirates of the Caribbean, which may have been our first use of a lightning lane that day. The ride almost immediately dropped you down a waterfall into the seedy world of pirates. You float past a huge ship firing its cannons, cannonballs splashing around you. The animatronics on this ride were incredible!

Splash Mountain’s current theming won’t last much longer

The kids had been jonesing hard for a proper thrill ride (though the surprise drops on Pirates were definitely fun), so we went next to take in Splash Mountain. While Disney World’s version of this ride closed down in early 2023 for re-theming to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the Disneyland version is still Song of the South themed. You get to see Br’er Rabbit and Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear getting up to their shenanigans and Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dahing away. (Though this one too will close in May for the same re-theming.)

Hold onto me for the big drop, Mom! (Maya’s ducked down behind Dad)

Ian was funny on this one. I don’t remember him having any issue with this ride when we were in Florida, but as we were in line this time, he managed to work himself into an absolute fizz. He was growing noticeably more jittery as we progressed, and he insisted that I put a hand on his shoulder when we went down the big drop at the end (which I did). And of course Ian bounded off the ride full of excitement and delight. Sean, unfortunately, squish-squished off the ride in his now very wet shoes.

Next up was The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, where we boarded a giant beehive to experience Pooh and Tigger and Piglet and Eeyore and their various adventures. I remember it being cute enough but probably not a favorite for me.

On our way into Haunted Mansion

After this, we went to Haunted Mansion. This one is a favorite of mine. It’s just so … weird. It’s a haunted house but it’s silly. It’s dark and scary, but not much. Apparently one of the notable differences between this Haunted Mansion and the one in Disney World is that in the initial stretching room, this one actually does lower you down, whereas its Florida counterpart just gives the illusion that you’re dropping. We did experience some ride issues while on this attraction. I can’t remember how long the delay was, but they did eventually get us moving again.

My Haunted Mansion ears

Around here is where I managed to find some Haunted Mansion Mickey ears. Only Sean, the biggest Disney fan of all of us, was earless at this point.

As seen while on the Jungle Cruise

Next we checked out the California version of the Jungle Cruise. Our guide was Skipper Hannah, which Maya loved because she shares a name with Maya’s piano teacher. This ride is maybe not the most technologically or even thematically interesting, but the skippers are so funny with their goofy puns and silly sense of humor. “See that bamboo over there? It’s six stories tall. Some skippers say seven, but that’s a whole ‘nuther story.” And since she had a long running short-term memory issue joke, we heard variations of that bamboo joke several times during our cruise.

The Dole Whip part was delicious, but it could have done with a little less fruit

With our jungle cruise complete, we decided it would be a good time to relax for a bit and have some Dole Whips at The Tropical Hideaway. Maya and I had these crazy chili-mango whips that were loaded up with chili lime seasoning, chamoy sauce, and chunks of fruit. I think we both would have enjoyed it more without the fruit chunks, but I truly loved the flavor. Sean got a swirl of pineapple and strawberry Dole Whip. Ian went traditional with the pineapple. I think Maya was kind of ambivalent about hers, so I think she and Sean wound up sharing.

After this, while waiting in line to buy a few kebabs for snacking on, we managed to run into Darci and Will! Rather, Darci was stalking us with the locator app on her phone, so really she came and found us. Yeah, so completely by accident, the two Woods siblings wound up planning Disney vacations in California at the same time, Sean because it lined up with spring break, Darci because it lined up with a work training trip. Also, Ian likes asparagus wrapped in bacon.

The Mad Hatter was indeed a bit nutty

Next we rode the Indiana Jones Adventure. Ian was locked in on this one. We had watched Raiders of the Lost Ark not long before this trip, and Ian wanted to have a giant boulder roll down at him. He was so excited. I think the theming as we made our way through the line did nothing but heighten his excitement. The dark passageways were a little creepy, the jungle before that was transportive.

This is a very intense version of a dark ride, much like DINOSAUR in Disney World. The ride vehicle jerks and bumps as you move over rugged jungle terrain. You are encountering booby traps galore as you make your way through the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. One of the elements of the ride is indeed a giant boulder bearing down on you. Also, there were lots of snakes, to Ian’s delight.

Next we rode Big Thunder Mountain Railway. The kids seemed to enjoy it, and with the intense theming, its a pretty neat experience regardless, but it’s very tame by roller coaster standards.

The kids’ favorite lyric:
Our show is delightful, we hope you’ll agree. We hope that it fills you with pleasure and glee
Because if we don’t make you feel like that, we’re gonna wind up on a lady’s hat!

After that, at Maya’s repeated request, we went to visit the Enchanted Tiki Room (not like we weren’t going to anyway). This is the one where all the animatronic birds sing and banter in the rafters above you. All of this is supported by chanting Tiki gods and flashing lights. In Florida, I remember the kids being a little scared during that part; evidently they’ve grown out of that apprehension, because we got nothing but smiles for this one.

Then it was time for us to meet up with Darci and Will for our “lunch” reservation at Cafe Orleans. I’m nearly certain Sean booked this reservation just so he could have their battered and fried Monte Cristo. If I remember correctly, the kids ate roasted chicken. I had a very delectable braised short rib dish. It was semi-civilized bliss, and I remember being very thankful for the down time.

The happiest sandwich on earth

Discussion during our late lunch was lively and entertaining. One of the topics that came up was something like, “What would your dream Disney experience be?” Sean had one at the ready: He would like to get e-stopped (emergency stopped) on Space Mountain so he could see what it all looked like with the lights on. I can’t recall what other’s dream experiences were, and I don’t have enough context or research capacity to have one, personally.

Well, we had a lightning lane reserved for Space Mountain a bit later on, so we had time to wander over and partake of It’s a Small World while we waited. I was fine with the ride in Florida – tolerant might even be a better word. Here I was completely taken with the ride’s facade. It was gorgeous! Mary Blair is an artistic genius!

It’s a Small World

The ride itself was likely more compelling to the kids than its Floridian counterpart. The song, as they say, remains the same (“It’s a Small World, After All”), and the delightful characters clothed in culturally accurate costumes representing different countries sang and danced with the same joy we experienced on the other side of the country. But interspersed were characters we were all familiar with. Here’s Peter Pan in England. Oh – there are the three caballeros in Mexico. I spy Lilo and Stitch! It was very engaging.

Then it was time for Space Mountain. We were in line and not far from being able to ride when suddenly the ride came to a full stop. We watched a general hubbub ensue. Because the ride would be completely cleared of ride trains – by hand, no less – it took a while. We watched as trains were moved off to the side onto a sort of storage track so that all of them could be brought into the station. I don’t remember how many there were, but the internet tells me Space Mountain at Disneyland can support up to 12 trains at a time.

So, Sean missed his chance to be e-stopped on Space Mountain by a matter of minutes. And I’m betting those minutes can be attributed to some kid needing to pee!

Eventually, after whatever protein- or equipment-based cause for the e-stop was resolved, we spent a lot of time watching trains come into the station and interrupted riders re-ride the attraction (understandably) before we finally had our chance to board. The ride itself was delightful as always, though I’m sure Sean laments just how close he actually came to getting to have his ultimate Disney experience.

We then visited Star Tours. This is a 3D simulator ride set in the world of Star Wars. I had the (incorrect) preconceived notion that this would maybe be a bit tired or boring given the Rise of the Resistance and Smugglers Run experiences. After riding, 1 – I’m just going to confess now that I don’t recall the specifics and 2 – it was way more immersive and entertaining than I had anticipated. From my reading it sounds like the storylines vary and change, and as I’ve already confessed, I don’t remember the specifics of ours. But when we exited, it seemed that we had all had a lot of fun.

I’m not sure the force is particularly strong with any of us

We headed next to Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. Because Maya hadn’t gotten to pilot the Millennium Falcon when we were in Florida, we decided we should ride this one again here in California to give her the chance.  Unless I missed something, the ride experience was the same, sans the (I think) two-hour wait we experienced the first time. Maya seemed to be apprehensive but had a good time piloting the ship, and we achieved at least a portion of our assigned smuggling mission. I don’t care how old I get, I’m not sure being on the Falcon and seeing the “jump to hyperspace” will ever *not* be cool.

We finished our rides with a spin through the Matterhorn Bobsleds. The Matterhorn lords over the Disneyland landscape, featuring almost as prominently in my memory as the castle does. The kids had kind of been looking forward to riding this one all day. I liked it well enough, and I’m glad we rode it, but it wasn’t as thrilling as I had built it up to be in my mind.

What is interesting to note is that it was the first tubular steel roller coaster in the world, and it was the first roller coaster type ride at Disneyland. Also, it has two different tracks, one on the Fantasyland side of the mountain and one on the Tomorrowland side. Sean believes we rode the one on the Fantasyland side.

The Matterhorn (it was dark when we finally rode it)

We exited the Matterhorn just after 8:00, but by then seating for the 9 p.m. showing of Fanstamic! was all but completely full. Rather than squeeze into the back somewhere or try to hold out till the 10:30 show, tired as we were, we decided to eat, finally buy Dad his Mickey ears (his featured the traditional, retro Disneyland sign), and head back to get some sleep. (I’ll comment here that our lobster rolls from Harbour Galley were divine.)

We’d be checking out of our hotel the next day, and we wanted to get an early start, so we bathed and packed and the whole bit even though we were completely shot from our epic Disneyland day. We had just gotten settled into our beds, and Sean was making our last day’s park reservation. The plan had been to spend one day at DCA, one day at Disneyland, and then spend our third day (really half-day) at whichever one we felt warranted a little more time. The kids unanimously voted for DCA, which suited us fine because we still had a couple more of our Food and Wine festival tasting credits that we wanted to use.

Sean looked alarmed and said something that I don’t feel like repeating here just now. When I inquired he let me know there were no reservations available … at either park. Which means we had no way to get into either of the parks in the morning. Sean went directly into research mode. After some hunting he came to the disheartening conclusion that given Disney’s policies, we were likely out of luck.

We prepped the kids a bit for the bad news, but we assured them that we’d still get ready and go to Disney’s California Adventure tomorrow and try our best. They were discussing strategies for pretending to cry, which we stopped right away. We explained that we’d tell the Disney folks the truth and let them know that we were from way out of town and that we’d have no other way to redeem our park visit without going that day, but warned that that didn’t guarantee anything. It was a sad clan of Woodses that went to bed that night. I’m not sure Sean really slept much at all.