Back to California!
The past two years have been a lot.
I am not really a hobby person. Some people have sports, others craft, or garden, do puzzles or make models. My “hobby” has always been travel. I LOVE the experience of getting on a plane, train, or boat and being away from home. Wandering around a new city, a National Park, or in a different country makes everything in life feel better to me. I love festivals, theme parks, tourist traps, exploring markets, and taking in the sights, smells and sounds of any place that is new to me. Losing the one thing that has always reenergized me during what became the two most stressful years of my life… it sucked.
Like everyone, I had so many plans for 2020. But the arrival of covid, the simultaneous diagnosis of my mom’s cancer, her prolonged hospitalization… some days, a lot of days ALL of the days, it was overwhelming. Stressful. Heartbreaking. Scary. All I wanted was a return to the before. Before the world closed, before cancer, before social distancing…
Through it all, the one thing I wanted to do more than anything was return to Disneyland. I know, kind of weird, but I always feel joyful there. I think picturing the gates open again, with all the happy people together, the childlike wonder of the place… going back to Disney became this symbolic event that would prove everything could be OK again.
California has always been my happy place. The sunshine state packs a big punch when it comes to activities, fabulous weather, geographic diversity, history, fabulous food and multiculturalism. Out of all the places in California, Disneyland is my happiest place.
In February we FINALLY went back! 😍
I don’t think I have ever been more excited for a trip. This was my first time on a plane or out of my state since 2019! I was giddy, apprehensive (please let those vaccines work), tearful (in a happy way), relieved, nervous, eager, pumped… so many emotions while packing my suitcase, during my first flight back, and when the California sun warmed my face again. Thank god for face masks because my eyes filled with tears as the plane took off. We were soaring into the sky, away from the worries of the last two years.
We arrived to John Wayne Airport late afternoon and grabbed a Lyft to our hotel. We always stay the same place for our Disneyland trips. The hotel is walking distance to the park, has a pool, and you can watch the Disney fireworks from your room.
To maximize the Disney vibes, we decided to walk to the park that night. We didn’t have tickets, but you can visit Downtown Disney. Downtown Disney is a shopping and restaurant district situated between Disneyland and Disney California Adventure parks. It is filled with Mickeys, Minnies, Star Wars and Marvel.
Disney Day
We arrived back at Disneyland the next morning with our TWO DAY park hopper passes. This ticket gave us access to both Disneyland and California Adventure each day of our visit. Because of covid, Disney parks currently require reservations. We elected Disneyland as our first park for both dates of our stay.
Just before 7:30am the countdown at the gates began. (Again I teared up!) At the end of the countdown the park gates opened and everyone flooded inside.
Disneyland is divided into several different areas. You enter the park on Main Street USA. The road ends at Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. From there you can go left towards Adventureland, Frontierland, New Orleans Square and Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. If you go straight through the castle you arrive at Fantasyland which eventually leads to Toontown. To the right the path leads into Tomorrowland.
We ALWAYS go left.
Our usual swing to the left leads straight to Adventureland, but this day was different. This day we raced passed Adventureland and headed straight to Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. This land opened in 2019, just 2 weeks AFTER our last visit to the park. We’d planned to go back in 2020 until 2020 crapped on everything.
O.M.G.
OK, if there is one thing I LOVE it is Disneyland. If there are TWO things I love it is Disneyland and Star Wars. Put both together… HOLY COW! If you had told little kid me that one day I would see and then go into a life sized Millennium Falcon… well it would have blown my mind. And now 47 year old me’s mind was blown too! Star Wars land is amazing. The scale, the attention to detail, wow, wow, wow.
After Star Wars Land we visited our usual haunts and favorite rides. This included Indiana Jones, the Jungle Cruise and the Enchanted Tiki Room in Adventureland. Next it was the Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean in New Orleans Square. In Frontierland we rode the Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster and the Mark Twain Riverboat. In Fantasyland we went on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Peter Pan’s Flight, Snow White’s Enchanted Wish, Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, Alice in Wonderland, the teacups and the Matterhorn roller coaster. Between rides we snacked on churros and popcorn.
California Adventure
Mid afternoon we decided it was time to flex that park hopper pass. So we left Disneyland and walked across the resort’s main entry plaza to California Adventure. California Adventure is the second park at Disneyland Resort. It opened in 2001 and is themed to celebrate the different regions of California.
The park is divided into eight lands. These areas are: Buena Vista Street, Hollywood Land, Avengers Campus, Pacific Wharf, Grizzly Peak, Pixar Pier, Paradise Gardens, and my favorite Cars Land. You enter the park on Buena Vista Street which replicates 1920’s Los Angeles.
Disney’s California Adventure has gone through a lot of changes since it first opened. Honestly, the park wasn’t great in 2001. Over the years though lands have been removed, added, expanded and reenvisioned. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed our two days at the park.
As I mentioned before, Cars Land is my favorite area in California Adventure. It is a life sized replica of Radiator Springs as featured in the Cars movies. It is also home to the BEST ride at the entire Disney Anaheim Resort, Radiator Springs Racers.
The ride has six passengers load into a race car for what is at first a peaceful ride through a mountain/desert landscape. The ride then moves indoors as you travel through vignettes straight from the Cars movie. After your vehicle is “tricked out” you are pitted in a race verses another car that takes passengers over hills and sharp turns at 40mph. It is super fun!
The heart California Adventure is Pixar Pier. This area harkens back to boardwalks that lined California’s coast during the state’s Victorian era. Here you will find a roller coaster, midway games, a Ferris wheel and all of the treats you would expect at a boardwalk amusement park. Day and night Pixar Pier is a great photo spot.
Two other areas of the park of which I am particularly fond are Pacific Wharf and Grizzly Peak. Each of these spots does well to capture the Northern California vibe. Pacific Wharf is mostly an outdoor food court, but if offers the look and taste of Monterey’s Cannery Row or Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. Here you can taste world famous Ghiradelli chocolates and ice cream. There is also Boudin Bakery cranking out fresh loaves of sourdough with clam chowder bread bowls. Grizzly Peak is reminiscent of Yosemite National Park. The area is filled with pine trees, log cabin style structures and features an awesome white water rapids ride known as Grizzly River Run.
Throughout the year different cultural festivals are celebrated in the Paradise Garden area of the park. A final highlight of our visit to California Adventure was the opportunity to enjoy their Lunar New Year Celebration. This entire portion of the park was decorated with red and gold lanterns. There were artisans on hand doing Asian calligraphy and food stalls selling the most delicious treats. At night an illuminated parade wound through the crowd featuring a dragon dance and drums.
After the parade we made our way back to Disneyland.
At night Disneyland takes on a whole new magical aura. The lights, the sparkle, the tiki torches… it gives all of the lands a little more believability. Adventure Land, Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge and Main Street USA are my favorites after the sun goes down.
The parks were open until 10pm and 11pm on the dates were visited, but we headed back to the hotel around 8pm each night. In the three days from arriving to California to the end of Disney day two we had walked just shy of 25 miles. For a gal who has a desk job… this was quite the work out!
Disney Advice and Planning
Covid, economics and corporate greed have changed some things about visiting Disney. Here are some helpful hints and info if you will be headed to Anaheim in the near future:
- You can no longer buy park tickets at the gate.
It used to be you could show up at Disneyland and buy a ticket for one or both parks for that same day. Not anymore. Right now tickets are only available to purchase online or via the Disney resort’s ticking phone line.
When you buy tickets you need to decide how many days you will visit, if you will be visiting only one park or two parks per day, and if you are visiting two parks you must elect which park you will enter first each date. Additionally, you must make reservations for specific dates. Not only does this effect your ticket’s cost (as different days of the week, different seasons and days with higher attendance are charged different rates), but it is also a tool used to control park capacity. Certain dates can sell out. You may only use your tickets on dates for which you have a reservation. The tickets and reservation must then be pre-linked before your arrival to the park.
- Things that were free now cost money.
Fast passes were a great free way to maximize your time at Disney. You used to take your paper ticket and scan it into a machine which would then issue you a ride reservation for a specific time later in the day. To do this now you must download the Disney Genie App, then pay $20 per person for Disney Genie+. The upgraded app is now used to make ride reservations which used to be free. 👎🏻
Some rides are deemed too special for Genie+! These rides require a lightening lane ticket purchase in order to bypass their massive lines. The costs of these lightening lane tickets fluctuates depending on demand! The additional cost to skip the 2 hour line for Star Wars Rise of the Resistance was $20 per person! To skip the line for Radiator Springs Racers it was $7 per person the first day of our visit and $12 per person the second day. When park entry tickets are already $150 per person or more each day… this added expense is annoying.
That being said, both of these paid extras did help us maximize our time in both parks. While I wouldn’t pay the extra $20 for the Star Wars ride again, I would pay to have Genie+ and the ability to fast pass most lines.
- The Genie+ app is most useful at your first park of the day.
If I were going to Disney (and visiting two parks over multiple days again), I would either visit one park each day or I would start at a different park each day of my park hopper pass. Genie+ was super useful in the early part of the day. We were able to hop from one ride to the next quite quickly. However, ride time reservations start to fill up and sell out as the day progresses. By the time we reached California Adventure many of the rides we wanted to experience didn’t have reservations available for hours. So we missed some attractions.
- Wear awesome shoes and bring 2 pairs of different style awesome shoes.
Visiting Disneyland used to be a 20,000 step day. On pavement from 7am to midnight, that is pretty brutal on your feet. The addition of Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge to the park increased our daily steps by about 10,000 steps… and I chose terrible shoes for our last trip. I could barely walk by the end of each day. We are going back in May. I have a new pair of arch support, memory foam walking shoes, and a different shape but equally supportive pair of sneakers for the next day. Having a great shoe will exponentially increase your fun at Disney.
- Get to know the Disney app.
The Disney App is not only useful for buying park tickets, reservations and fast passes. You can use the app to download and save park photos. (These photos are all included for “free” with Genie+.). You can also use the app to make meal reservations or preorder food from fast service establishments. The app also shows wait times for different rides. This is super useful if you are faced with long lines in one land, you can quickly head to an area that is less crowded.
- Masking is no longer required inside or outside at Disney Parks in California.
During our February visit, masks were required on rides, in ride lines and inside shops. This requirement has recently been dropped. Proof of vaccination is not required, though literature does encourage vaccination and asks that people experiencing any covid symptoms stay home.
- The night time spectaculars are returning in April!
This April fireworks, parades, the World of Color, the Main Street Electric Parade and Fantasmic are all coming back! Disney had temporarily halted these attractions with the idea that the crowds they produced during the different covid variants were too high. The Main Street Electric Parade is returning for a limited time special run to celebrate its 50th Anniversary. (This is reason we are going back in May! 😍)
All of this being said, Disneyland continues to be my happy place. I was thrilled to return. I was elated it was my first travel destination of two difficult years. I hope you find your happiness and taste of normalcy in 2022 as well.
❤️ 
