Exploring Disneyland: Rides, Food & Adventure Highlights

Intro

I was in the Los Angeles area with a few goals in hand:

• Check what’s new in Disneyland and DCA since my last visit.
• Check the Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival.
• Check the recommendations from Keith Eat the Menu, in both parks, and some areas in the LA region.

I had already checked a couple of restaurants, in my last post, and now it is time to explore the OG park: Disneyland in Anaheim, California.

Arriving to Disneyland

I had stayed in a hotel 15 min away from the Disneyland Resort, so woke up early to get to the esplanade. I had bought park hopper ticket, but at the time you still had to pick a park to start, and I chose Disneyland. I also purchased the Lightning Lane Multi Pass, but not any Single Pass. It worked exactly like the Disney Genie Plus used to work, compared to all the changes done in the Disney World version of the service.

The security crowds were long but fast in this chill day.

As soon as I walked into the park, booked the Lighting Lane for Big Thunder Mountain, but first let me go check the castle

Rope Dropping Disneyland

I ran to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure for 2 reasons: First, it was the newest ride in this park that I had not checked (only the WDW one), and second, the rain was coming later, and was afraid they would shut it down. I was first in line, and was able to ride it.

I think I liked this version better, compared to the Magic Kingdom one, still both are very good.

Next up, it was time to go to the one that everyone rope drops: Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. I decided to use the Single Rider line, that was surprisingly open this early. It was practically a walk on. So different from the first time I did it here. Remember the Virtual Queue? Yikes. Kind of what’s happening right now with Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic in Universal’s Epic Universe.

Time for my first Lighting Lane return, Big Thunder Mountain was waiting for me. As soon as I tapped my phone for the last time on the Lighting Lane line, I was able to book my next one.

A bit of Adventureland

It was only 9:30 am, and now I was going to start doing some rides that had low wait and were in the area. First one was the iconic Jungle Cruise.

And then, Indiana Jones, which will come to WDW in Animal Kingdom, re-skinning Dinosaur, as part of the Tropical Americas land, in which we will also find Casita from Encanto (can’t wait!). I had gotten this one through Lighting Lane Multipass.

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge

Time to explore my favorite land in the whole park: Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run offers a Single Rider line so there I went. Super easy, the only problem with that is that you would be the Engineer probably.

And after that, I had to visit the Oga’s Cantina, for which I just added my name to the waitlist, and then was called right away, since I was just going to be standing in the bar. This is probably the restaurant I have visited the most in any of the parks it is in.

And sounds repetitive, but I like myself some Fuzzy Tauntaun. The numbing feeling on the tongue is exciting.

New Orleans Square

I had spent all morning on this side of the park, and not explore the East side, but still had some rides to go through, this time on the New Orleans Square land. The first one was the Haunted Mansion.

And then, and using Lighting Lane, I got to Pirates of the Caribbean. Love the version here in Disneyland, way longer and with more thrills.

Keith Eats Everything at Disneyland

Now, I was starting to get hungry, and I had a list of the Best items to eat in Disneyland, according to Keith from the Try Guys, so first things first, I went in line and got a classic Corn dog from the Little Red Wagon at Main Street U.S.A. As always, it is simple but amazing. It looks overcooked, but do not let it fool you, it has a lot of bread and the sausage is very flavorful. No wonder why it is a staple of this park.

Second, and very close by, I got the Mac and Cheese Hot Dog from Refreshment Corner at Main Street, USA. I used the Mobile Order service option on the Disneyland App. I was going to eat too much, so I saved the chips for later. The hot dog was interesting with the mac and cheese addition. I do not think I had ever had something like this, but it was good nonetheless.

The rain had already started, but put my order of Funnel Cake Fries from Hungry Bear Restaurant at Critter Country. And this is why I always pack some Ziploc bags. I did not like them. I mean I packed them, and finished them like the next day, but I do not see how anyone would like funnel cake.

My last snack, and that also put in a Ziploc bag, was the Cheese Pretzel Bread from Maurice’s Treats at Fantasyland. Probably the only few times I passed by this land. I did not finish it. It was a lot, but it was good, I would recommend it.

The last rides before Park Hopping

Park hopping started at 11 am, but I felt I had so much to do, and decided to stay longer. I also had not touched the East side of the park (Fantasyland, Mickey’s Toontown and Tomorrowland), and felt I had to at least do a couple of rides here, before heading to Disney California Adventure (I also had booked some Lightning Lanes in that park already).

First off, I went to Matterhorn Bobsleds at Fantasyland, using the Single Rider line. OMG, I think I kinda like this one better. The first time I went in it, years ago, I felt like I needed to go to the chiropractor, but this time it was way smoother.

And in Tomorrowland, I had to go into Star Tours – The Adventures Continue. Unfortunately, Space Mountain was down all morning, so I could not go in it today.

Left for Disney California Adventure, but you will see all my adventures there in the next blog.

Nighttime Spectacular

Right before 9 PM, I came back into Disneyland to see the Nighttime Spectacular, but before that I had some time to do another ride, and the quickest one was Star Tours – The Adventures Continue. I got the same scenes tho lol. Ahsoka and Andor. Love them tho.

And then, time for the Nighttime Spectacular. 10 min before it, they announced there would not be fireworks due to the winds, even though Fantasmic was happening with fireworks just steps away lol. Anyways, the projection show in the Castle started, and it was magical as always.

Loved seeing all the projections, and the music.

Fantasmic!

There were 2 Fantasmic! shows tonight, and I was aiming to go see the second one, right at park closing. But first, I did another ride, repeating Indiana Jones™ Adventure. It is really a nice, fun ride, and the queue is amazing too, and huge. For times, I was kind of lost because it goes underground, and I wonder if I was under other rides or buildings in the park.

The show was going to start, and it was a very odd show, with no seats or stadium like in Hollywood Studios, but I found myself a nice spot to see it.

I am not the biggest fan of Fantasmic!, like many people are, making them cry and on. But, I still enjoy the show, and the 2 boats, fireworks, characters, music and pyrotechnics are definitely a great addition.

This is a great use of the boats in the Rivers of America, and now that they are destroying them in Magic Kingdom to build the Cars land, we have to appreciate the Disneyland version more and more, so they will not do the same in this park.

About to leave, after an amazing day at the 2 parks, and 2 amazing shows, but I had to see Space Mountain. I had booked a Lighting Lane, and that I did. I could not leave the park on my day one without riding it. Day One had been a success in this park, and tomorrow I was going to start the day in DCA, and jump sometime in the afternoon to Disneyland, and finish the day back at DCA. Let’s do it!

Back to Disneyland

After an amazing day at Disney California Adventure, I jumped back to Disneyland, to do some rides, and go to the land I missed the day before: Mickey’s Toontown.

I had booked a Lighting Lane for this ride, and I like this version because the queue is so different from the one in Hollywood Studios.

Love this ride, I think it is crazy that it is the first ever ride with Mickey in it.

Goodbye Disneyland

And, since I was going to spend the rest of the day and night in DCA, it was time to say my goodbyes to this park. For that, I did my favorite things, like for example getting the unbeatable Cold Brew Black Caf from Docking Bay 7 at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

Y Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. I had to do one of the best rides in the world twice in this trip.

And to finish off Disneyland Park, I got wet at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Critter Country! But this is not the end of this trip. We still have to see everything that I did in the other park of this resort: Disney California Adventure.