If this is your first time joining me be sure to catch up by going to https://princessandthemouse.com/2019/05/06/a-weekend-at-disneyland/ for day 1 of our weekend and day 2 can be found here https://princessandthemouse.com/2019/05/09/a-weekend-in-disneyland-day-2/

We finally did it! We made it to the parks before it opened to the general public. (Well only by like 15 minutes but it counts) We decided to go to Disney’s California Adventure first thing. They let us through the entrance and from there with the show of our room key they let us bypass the crowd waiting for the park to open.

We went straight to Carsland to ride Radiator Springs Racers again. We literally had a 5 minute wait. Took longer to walk through the queue line. (Don’t worry our car lost again. Pretty sure the key to winning is to not be on the ride with me) By the time we got off the ride the park was open and the wait time was starting to soar.

We then went to ride one of our favorites Luigi’s Rollickin. Roadsters. It’s just a good time and we laugh the entire time. (Eric has been singing Dean Martin’s “Mambo Italiano” since we got back) From there we needed to ride the Incredicoaster one more time. We also enjoyed Jack-Jack’s Nom Nom cookies because why not.

So Eric and the boys ran off to ride Guardians of the Galaxy. (A ride that I am still not brave enough to ride) I took my mom over to explore the Pacific Wharf. We took the the bakery tour hosted by Boutin Bakery and we enjoyed a sample of the fresh baked bread.

After meeting back up with the boys we decided to ride the Monsters Inc: Mike and Sulley to the Rescue.

It was time to head back to the Disneyland park. Park hopping is so easy at Disneyland. Once you go through security from the parking areas or hotels you are done. So all you need to do is scan your ticket at the entrances and go.

With Maxpass we had grabbed a fastpass for the Indiana Jones Adventure. My boys missed riding it the day before so we had to take them. It’s so much fun. If you have been to Walt Disney World I compare it to riding Dinosaur only so much cooler.

We rode some of our favorite rides again. The kids decided to go back to the room for a break. They needed some pool time. Meanwhile Eric and I went off to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. After that Eric decided he needed a break. So he headed back to the resort for some pool time and a drink at Trader Sam’s.

Mom and I headed off to ride Buzz Lightyear Space Astro Blasters. I then ran into Dr. Facilier from “The Princess and The Frog” Character interaction at Disneyland is so different from Walt Disney World. Lines are shorter and there is more interaction. There are also no friends of the characters to manage the line. So Dr. Facilier came up to me and another lady who was behind me and said, “You have a VERY important job, you see you 2 will be my last customers of the day. So if someone tries to line up behind you I need you to look them in the eyes and say we are the last customers.” The lady behind behind me had her family join her in line so when I got up to him he said “The line looks longer behind you, do you know what that means? Someone failed at their job.” I just laughed it was hysterical. I then explained that those people were all together.

It was getting close to dinner time, we had dinner reservation for the Fantasmic Dinner package at the Riverbelle Terrace. So we made our way over to Frontierland. We still had plenty of time so we thought we would ride the Mark Twain Riverboat. However there was an issue on the river. The Columbia was stranded with guests on it. Well this was entertaining us so we sat along the water and watched as castmembers tried entertain guests on board the ship. They were eventually able to get The Coumbia back to the dock and get the people off the ship.

Eric and the boys met back up with us right before dinner. We went off the restaurant for dinner. The Fantasmic Dinner package was prepaid before our arrival. We had a prix fix menu. We were able to pick a corn chowder or salad as a starter. Then a entrée and then a choice of dessert. I had the salad, short rib and the maleficient dessert. The dinner package got us tickets to a reserved area to watch Fantasmic that night. We had our choice of the 1st or 2nd showing of Fantasmic. We chose the second showing.

After dinner Dylan really wanted to ride Splash Mountain so off we went. It is slightly different than Walt Disney World. We got wet, Dylan was soaked. From here we did a little souvenir shopping. we stopped to watch Mickey’s Mix and Mingle show on Mainstreet.

Then it was time to see Fantasmic. We were let into a special seating area (lined pavement to sit on the ground) for the diners of Riverbelle Terrace. They also had seating areas for the 2 other restaurants that offer the Dinner Package. We had a great view. The show was delayed because it had started to rain. But once the show started it was amazing. It is slightly different from the show at Walt Disney World and dare I say it, I prefer Disneyland’s version more.

After Fantasmic it was time to go back to the room. We had a very early morning flight and a long travelling day back to Maryland ahead of us.

We packed before bed. The next morning we were on the Disneyland Express to the airport at 6 am. We had some trouble and our flight was delayed in Denver. We finally made it home around 10:30 pm our time.

So there you have you are able to see and do just about everything in a long weekend at Disneyland. We had a great time. I was so happy to be able to have this time with my family. We had an amazing time and we made some great memories of our first trip to California. Would I do it again? Absolutely. Would prefer a day of rest built in? Maybe. LOL