The land of Disney

The castle was (nearly) not under
construction this time

I woke up early on Tuesday morning as it was Disneyland day!! I was so excited as Disneyland was such a highlight last time , and I couldn't wait to take Willow back and go on some different rides this time now that she was older. It can be a fine art to get the most out of just one day at Disneyland, so I had done my research as some things had changed since our last visit, but I felt prepared, so I was ready to go!  

Finally the other sleepyheads were ready to go too and we were out the door. Two subways and a train later in peak hour (which was much easier this time around without a pram!), we were at Disneyland soon after 8am! The gates officially open at 9am (sometimes before) but even though there seemed to be hundreds if not thousands of people ahead of us waiting, we were in a good spot to get a good start. 

It's a small world with no one around when everyone else is queuing up for Beauty and the Beast 

By 9am, the masses were being ushered through the entrance in an impressively efficient way, and before we knew it we were in! The big ticket ride this time (meaning normally a wait time of 1-2 hours) was the new Beauty and the Beast ride. Although there is a semi-complicated priority pass system, that ride isn't part of it, although you can buy yourself a ticket to the skip the queue. Anyway, we entered swiftly and booked some priority passes to the Monsters Inc ride for later in the morning, and walked straight past the already enormous queue for Beauty and the Beast and headed all the way to the other end of the park where there was barely a soul! 

The park layout wasn't wholly unfamiliar to us since we had been here in 2019, so first on the agenda was the Roger Rabbit ride. With zero line-up and the Disney staff waving and beckoning us over, we walked straight in. Our eyes hadn't even had time to adjust to the dark, so Willow and I could barely see where we were going and basically had to feel the walls as we curled our way through the dark corridors where people would normally be lining up! Then the ride itself was a sudden assault on the senses with loud bangs and strobe lighting and feeling like you were going to crash into walls - I don't think Willow knew what she had gotten herself into!

Monsters Inc ride 

The jungle cruise 

Amazingly, most of the morning was spent walking straight onto rides with barely any line! I guess it paid off to head straight to the old school Disney rides at the other end of the park first up. So we went on to It's a Small World, Pinocchio, Alice's Teacups and saw the 3D Donald Duck movie. It was all magical, like last time.

Lucky we had a priority pass for the Monsters Inc ride as we still had to line up for a bit just to use it! Then it was time for some rides we hadn't been on last time as Willow was too little - Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion and Star Tours. These rides are very nostalgic for me as my family went on them at Disneyland in California nearly 35 years ago!! I loved them, as did Willow although perhaps not so much the Haunted Mansion ride 😬👻 

Star Tours

Soy sauce and butter popcorn
with souvenir bag

The line for Beauty and the Beast did not seem to be letting up, so I caved and bought Willow and I some tickets ($20 each) to skip the queue for 6:50pm. So until then, the afternoon was spent going on more rides (the Jungle Cruise, Buzz Lightyear, Peter Pan) and going on other rides a second time (Pirates and It's a Small World). Just as it got dark, it was our turn to head straight to the start of the Beauty and the Beast queue! Walking past that long line of people I was happy with my $40 purchase! And the ride was fantastic!!

By now we had been at the park for about 11 hours and were all completely beat so it was time to take our weary bodies home on the train. What a magical day!

Best day ever!

Nailed it! Ready for bed...