Happiest Place on Earth

For 3 days... the traditional Happiest Place on Earth (HPOE) needs to take a backseat and yield to the original, undisputed Happiest Place on Earth.  I'm talking about... Disneyland and Disney's California Adventures.

Earlier this year... there was a Costco had a 3 day hopper deal, including Lightning Lane.  And since the kids get all of Thanksgiving week off, we finally scratched their itch.

The last time we were at Disney was New Year's Eve 2021 (blogged here). I didn't think we'll be back so soon... but every chance I got, every corner I turned, every line were were stuck in, I would say, "This is likely the last time it'll be the 4 of us on a Disneyland trip.  Next time... there might be an extra S.O.  Or maybe you'll go with your friends, without us."  I wasn't as poignant as I thought... cuz it's just a fact of life.  And oh btw... we'll be hitting Disney Japan and Disney Sea together, next year, in Japan.  Heh...

We wanted to do things differently this time... and let the kids' plan the rope drop.  They did SOME research!  They watched the youtube vlogs... and went on chatGPT... but when it came down to execution, NN said it straight up, "It's too stressful."  Mama was a trooper... handling the Disney app like a maestro.  In our 3 days... the only ride that was near 45 minutes wait was Peter Pan, which doesn't have a Lightning Lane, and we were duped.  

Some triumphs: 

• First night arrival... SW and I hit the gym together.  It was as close as working out together as we got.  He was too focused too much on running than wanting to pump any iron.  But you can tell he kept observing me on the elliptical and me on the machines. 
• Waking up at the crack of dawn... and getting to Rise with only a 30 minute wait.  
• Oversleeping on day 2... and being about 100 deep for DAC.  Upon the gates opening, the kids bursted to the front and got to the 30 minute standby crowd.  Joyce and I ended up going on single rider... but we were in the same car... and we walked out around the same time!  
• Day 3... when were were nearly done with everything... and rode rides more than once already... we started getting autographs and pics with Avenger characters.  Heh.... 
• We found the 2 + 1 refillable soda stations at DCA and DL and went to town... to a point where we were sick of carbonated fructose... but we kept drinking and got soooo sick
• Not expecting to... but eating a turkey leg on Thanksgiving night
• EEYORE!!! (heh)

Some lows:

• Pay for parking at Downtown Disney!!! I thought it was fully validated. Hrmph!!!
• NN losing my charger holder.... aye.... which led to...
• Being ditched and me sitting by myself on Main Street all by myself while experiencing 2021's "Magical Moment" of White Christmas
• Getting soaked on Tiana's Splash Mountain... which re-exasperated SW's cough... aye...
• Being part of a Disney social experiment where they suddenly lower the standby time of a ride... just to see how people will rush to that ride... only to say the ride is "Temporarily Out of Order" to see how many people will still wait.  I swear... all of Disneyland is a huge social experiment
• Having to lose my set of allen wrench at security... argh!!! 

Rope Drop Tricks of DL and DCA:

• when lining up to get into DL (after going through security), look for the line that ends where the columns hold up the monorail.  For some reason... people don't know that's a line.  And amazingly... that one line usually splits into two ticket counters vs the standard line that only has one
• if you wake up a little late... and you're going from the bus drop off point to security... veer towards the far left.  And once you get to the front, go all the way to the left.  It's a little more walking...but people are lazy and rather stay on the right hand side and slowly make their way in
• but if you're early... you're forced to stay to the right
• if you're early to DL... you get to choose between Rise or Indy (Frontierland vs Adventureland).  If you choose Frontierland to go towards Galaxy's Edge.... and you're waiting for the cast members to open the rope... stay on the far right.  There's a lot more room to run before you bottleneck
• Refill stations in DCA with an official Disney cup: Pym Labs at Avengers Campus and Pizza and Pasta by Pixar Pier. Plaza Inn at DL. 
• For the highly desired rides... like Rise or Indy or Space or GOG... there's an initial surge.  Then about an hour after the park opens, there's a generic dip.  You can take your chance and go Stand By instead of wasting a Lightning Lane
• Watch videos on "stacking" if you don't mind always being on your app
• Mobile order ahead.... don't go to a restaurant and wait in line.  People are... shall we say... slow.
• There are a bunch of hotels along Harbor Blvd that are really walkable.  Think about paying a little more to avoid paying for parking... but avoid the high price gouge at the DL hotels.  We stayed at Anaheim Majestic Gardens which was a 25 minute walk, but a 5 minute shuttle ride.  And the rooms are huge and spacious.

The Disney Magic moment.  Whether it's a cruise, Disney World, Disneyland, they said there's always "a magical moment."  I kinda have 1.5 moments....  

The first official magic moment was in Disney California Adventures Radiator Springs.  While standing in Single Rider line with Joyce... and seeing our kids about 15 feet away in the Standby Line... I remembered back 12 years ago when SW was 2 and NN was 4, I took NN with me on this ride.  She had no idea it was a thrill ride... and she was genuinely scared and even mad at me for doing that to her.  Then in 2021... for whatever reason... we were in line.. the ride broke... and the wait ended up being nearly 3 hours. SW stood in line and watched the entire She-Ra on Netflix.  It was the most miserable wait I've ever been in.  And now in 2025.... we're back in line and speeding through it... but this time, we're split up.  

The half magic moment came on Thanksgiving Night... during dinner.  I was going to just get some chicken.. .but turns out the place I went also sold the turkey leg.  I had to get that too.  Altogether... $30.  I meet up with the fam and they bought two pastas and a slice of pizza.  Not cheap... but it was a lot of food.  I sat there... spearing away at the pesto rigatoni.... thinking, "I can afford all this and not bat an eye.  I'm soooo thankful."

See you Tokyo!!!