The Happiest Place On Earth
We all slept soundly after the long day at California Adventure. Keegan woke up at 6.30am, and he said he had bad dreams about the spooky hotel. He got to watch his movie while we rested some more. Then we had breakfast downstairs, pack up, and check out. Another cool thing about this hotel: they let us leave the car in the garage, for half the price of Disneyland’s parking…and it was closer. So, whatever the hotel lacked in amenities, it made up in convenience.
We headed excitedly to Disneyland, the Happiest Place on Earth…well I am really not sure this is the case: how can a place with huge crowds, tons of kids and no booze be the happiest place on earth?
Anyway, on Mondays the park opens at 10am, and we immediately went to one of the most popular rides, and from what I remembered from my first and last visit 12 years ago, one of the coolest: Indiana Jones Adventures. The wait was only 10 minutes, so we went right in, after getting a fast pass for later. The waiting itself is cool, as you wind your way to the ride inside what it looks like an old temple with strange artifacts and inscriptions on the walls.(google images)
The ride is in an oversized jeep. Keegan was getting nervous. Honestly I did not remember what the ride was about, except that I liked it. Unfortunately Keegan hated it, as he repeated multiple times afterwards. It was very shaky, and very dark. Ooops. He refused to ride it again…so much for our fast pass.It was a bummer, since I still liked it a lot.
Next we went to the Pirates of The Caribbean. Once again, almost no lines. It is a boat ride, in a dark cavern. There were two drops, and some water splashing, but Keegan was OK with it.
They changed it a little since I saw it: they got rid of the most risque’ animatron and added Jack Sparrow, as it appears in the movie played by Johnny Depp. (Johnny Depp and his animatron. Google images)
We hit Fantasyland next: the Peter Pan Ride was already jam packed, so we did the Pinocchio and Snowhite rides: nothing to write home about it. Unfortunately It’s A Small World was closed: I am sure Keegan would have enjoyed it.
Then we headed to Tomorrowland.The first ride we went to was Star Tours. This is a motion simulated attraction based on Star Wars. You are in a ship piloted by r2d2 and cp3o and fly through a variety of dangerous situations.The cool thing about this ride is that the wait is very pleasant. The huge screen shows travel videos for different Star Wars locations, the droids quarrel and complain, and the walk to the ride is made more interesting by a droid scanning checked luggage and cracking jokes.
The ride itself was awesome! It really felt like you were flying through space. After that we headed to the monorail which was Keegan’s wish since yesterday.
Honestly, not that great, but he enjoyed riding in it. I liked the train ride better, since you got to see more of the park, as well as a re-creation of prehistoric world. Keegan loved the train as well.
We tried to convince him to ride the Matterhorn Bobsleds, a cool roller coaster inside a fake mountain, but I think Keegan used up all his courage and was DONE with scary rides. Oh well, next time. So, we waited instead for 30 minutes for Autopia: you wait forever to live the experience of being stuck in traffic on California highways, while you are trying to go faster but you can’t…basically your morning commute. Fortunately the car in front of us was not slow and did not stop, so the ride was not as painful. The Matterhorn ride was in the background, mocking us, so close and so far…You are welcome Keegan!
Next stop: Innoventions. Keegan was mostly interested in the Iron Man 3 exhibits. All the suits he wore were on display and he got to pose with them.
The coolest part, though, was the virtual reality game. He stood in front of the screen, and then he was able to control the Iron Man on the screen with his motions. He could even shoot missiles with his bare hands.
Downstairs, we got to participate to an interactive storytelling of Peter Pan: as the story was read, real shadows, lighting, etc. would appear in the room. Pretty fun.
Our next ride was Buzz Lightyear Astroblaster. You rode into a car, and used your laser guns to shoot targets, accumulating points. Matt won every time.
Our next stop was Mickey’s Toontown. This is where Mickey Mouse, Minnie, Goofy live.
We rode on a small roller coaster, and rode the Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin.. Meh. We also visited Goofy and Mickey Mouse’s houses. Fortunately Keegan did not want to pose for a photo with them: the lines were huge.
We walked through all the other lands too: we visited Tarzan’s tree house and took a boat ride, among many animated animals in Adventureland; we strolled down Main street; we look at Frontierland and Critter Country; and enjoyed the view in new Orleans Square: we even got to ride the Pirates ride again. We walked through the Sleeping Beauty Castle, and admired the pretty Merry Go Round.
As the sun set, we headed back to Tomorrowland. Star Tours had a very short line, so we decided to ride it again. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that the movie was different. In fact, we talked to another rider who said that the simulated movies are always different. We put his theory to the test: Keegan really wanted to ride again and there was no line, so we did ride 5 times in a row. He was right: we never got the same movie. Some parts were the same, but each movie had at least one or two unique sections. How great!
After the fifth time, though, is was getting very late, and I was getting queasy, so we headed to the store. We promised Keegan 1 souvenir, and he choose a light saber. In the shop they had a cool, build your own saber.
Since it was pretty late, we were lucky to have one of the store people helping Keegan build what he wanted.
He was pretty excited!
The park was about to close, so we headed towards the exits. We walked through Fantasyland again: the line for the Peter Pan ride was still over an hour. Well, it was not meant to be. The castle, which Keegan recognized from all his videos, looked magical at night.
Before leaving, we had one more stop in front of the flower Mickey.Goodbye Disneyland!
After a quick stop at McDonalds, we got our car and headed to San Diego. Keegan fell asleep the moment he got in his car seat…it was almost 9pm, after all, and once again, we spent more than 10 hours at the park. I barely kept awake, but I was sure glad to hit the bed.
So, we survived our first trip to Disneyland with a child in tow. I have to say it went very well, and we are very happy. Keegan behaved wonderfully, it was fun to see him getting excited about all the rides, the lines were manageable, and the rides were fun. We are missing it already, and we will be back for sure.
Maybe it is the happiest place on earth, after all!
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