Day 7 Disneyland in a Day

Okay moms, let’s talk about Disney.  I’m going to be real honest with you.  The notebooks you create and the maps you print out, the discounts and packages and clubs and bracelets and t-shirts and rewards make me sweat.  I seriously get overwhelmed and want nothing to do with this place OR maybe I’m just jealous that you’ve figured out the ins and outs of Disney. 

I’m simple.  I like simple and we just kept it really simple.  Our plan was to spend ONE day in Disneyland on a tight budget and have the most magical time ever.  

We woke up a 4:30 a.m.—we were a little excited and needed about an hour drive time to get through LA traffic.

We made it to the gates before they opened and just stood there to take in the excitement of just being at the most magical place earth.

 I looked at all the moms with strollers adorned with shoe caddies that held every family member’s drinks for the day.  The baskets filled with snacks and autograph books and pens and anything your little heart desired while visiting Disneyland these moms had it. #goals

We filled our camelbacks with water and a few mid afternoon snacks - after all, these were things that we used to survive the Sedona desert.  Best purchase EVER.

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Okay, we were lined up at the ropes with other happy families and listening to the announcer tell us to walk,  DON’T RUN.  The minute he said “go” moms were pushing children, using strollers to take out other mom’s ankles, and racing like Usain Bolt to get into the park.

Josh had been here as a kid and this was my first time so I wasn’t sure what to expect OR know why we were running. 

The first line was the Peter Pan ride and it was probably the longest line we waited in all day.  It was fantastic!  The details and stories that each ride told were phenomenal! 

We took castle pictures and rode all the rides in Fantasyland.  We watched The Beauty and the Beast and Tangled theater shows.  Jenna has now decided to work at Disney. ;-)

Lunch was wonderful and not overly priced.  We ate soup in bread bowls from Critter Country.  The Disney ducks ate lunch with us.

We decided to watch a Saloon show and have a dessert.  We shared an ice cream sundae and watched the performance until……….one of the performers made eye contact with me while he was picking people from the audience to be apart of his skit.

Oh no, no, no!!  Look away, Shannon.  Pretend like you are overly involved with your ice cream sundae and completely oblivious to the show going on in front of you.

Too late.

We continued to ride rides, walk through the different Disney areas, shop for souvenirs, and just take everything in.  The great thing about the rides at Disneyland was that they had so many going at once they could quickly move through the line but the tricky thing about lines is that they are deceiving.  The line looks like it’s not very long BUT it zig-zags back and forth, up and down, and in and out.  It’s crazy but organized. 

Ya’ll, several wonderful friends told me about the Fast Pass but I just didn’t understand. I think I’m a visual learner and I just needed to see what it was about.  I get it now, although, I don’t think we needed it for our trip.  It is basically a way to hold your place in line by checking in and receiving a time to return to ride the ride without standing there and waiting.  

Our favorite ride was the Pirates of the Caribbean.  I actually thought Johnny Depp was going to take over our ship, that’s how realistic the props were.

At this point in the day we are starting to lose steam.  I’m pretty sure I heard Jenna giving her dad the same motivational speech he gave her in the desert 2 days ago. 

We really wanted to see the electrical parade and we wanted to make sure that when we left there wasn’t anything left that we felt like we needed to do.

We had dinner in New Orleans on the patio and rested a little bit before continuing our Disney adventure.

The roller coaster simulator, Star Tours, was the scariest ride for Jenna and the teacups were the scariest for Josh. 

I was really impressed with how family friendly ALL the rides were and how friendly the staff was. 

Our goal was to have a magical time, do as much as we physical could, and not spend a lot of money.  We left the park at 9:45 spending only $140 minus the cost of our tickets. 

I KNOW there a lot things that we didn't do and there is probably so much more that we cannot even imagine but if you asked Jenna if she had fun she would tell you "it was the most magical, best day of my life."