WARNING: Lengthy blog post ahead mates!
Disneyland to me is home, home to me is Disneyland. I have had good and bad memories there, but just being in the park makes me a much happier person. Maybe it really is the Happiest Place on Earth? I could brag about how much I love Disney/Disneyland and how I know the park like the back of my hand, but instead I want to tell you about the magic I recently experienced.
In February, my boyfriend Edwin and I decided to take a trip to Disneyland for our anniversary which also happened to fall on Valentine’s Day, coincidence? Prior to going I was warned that it typically rains on Valentine’s Day every year at Disneyland and man do I wish I listened! Before I continue, I am going to get the negative out and then go over all the positives. Rain, oh how I wished you went away. On any other day, I love rain; the smell, the sound of it hitting the windows, how the sky is overcast…LOVE IT! That day at Disneyland, I have got to say I was not a fan! I was completely soaked head to toe. From jackets (multiple) to underwear. It is never fun to be entirely drenched so our first order of bidness was to get momma some new clothes. As we all know Disney merchandise is expensive, but there was no price too high to keep me from getting into dry clothes. Since it rained so much the wait times were nonexistent! The rain was intense at the beginning of the day and then was on and off throughout the day.
Edwin: B, all I ask is we ride every ride possible and eat soup in a bread bowl.
Becca: You got it dude!
I am not sure if they recently renovated all the lights and sound systems, but for some reason we both thought that the rides were much louder and the visuals had improved. And yes, we rode every ride possible, some even twice! Since it was raining, a lot of rides were temporarily closed, but with my handy dandy Disneyland app (Sponsored-unsponsored ad coming on) I was able to see what rides were open, see all wait times for both parks, character meet-and-greets, dining, and shows. You can also download Fast Passes on to the app for the rides that have the passes available and stack them on each other. It was super beneficial to have them on your phone then having to rush to the fast pass location to get the physical ticket. Another cool feature, if you get the Disney Max Pass: all pictures can be uploaded to the app and downloaded up to 30 days after your trip. It was extremely helpful, I highly recommend it.
“Bring it back now y’all!”
Typically I have a routine down of how I conquer the park, especially on busy days. This trip was different since it wasn’t busy, and Edwin hadn’t been to the park in quite some time, so I wanted him to truly enjoy every bit of magic from the park as possible. As soon as you walk into the park to the left is City Hall. If you are celebrating anything special, head to City Hall and let them know and they will give you a pin with your name on it and what you’re celebrating. As we walked through Main Street, we went into every single shop. Not to buy or hide out from the rain, but to see all that Disney had to offer. As we exited Main Street, to the left we stopped at the Jolly Holiday Bakery Café and had the best grilled cheese sandwich ever! It was a special they had going on with all these fancy cheeses and blackberry jam. Mmm! Mmm! Mmm! I need two of those right now, one for each hand!
For those that don’t know, Peter Pan’s Flight should always be the first ride of the day. That ride typically has such a long wait time. The trick is to go as soon as the park opens where the wait is about 30 mins, which is exactly what we did! The wait wasn’t even close to 30 mins or maybe time flies when you’re having the most amazing time with someone. Since we were in Fantasyland, we continued with Snow White’s Scary Adventure, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Pinocchio’s Daring Journey and DUH! The Mad Tea Party aka spinning tea cups! TIP: Choose the all purple cup! It spin’s the fastest. By this time the rain started back up and they shut down Alice In Wonderland, so we hopped on It’s A Small World to stay dry and warm up a bit.
As we made our way through the park, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Bengal Barbecue to hold us over until we got to the soup in bread bowls. We got the chicken skewers and the spicy beef skewers. The beef was hands down the best thing we ate on this trip! So tasty, juicy and not too spicy. After Indiana Jones, we hoped on Pirates of the Caribbean. As it starts off, to your right is a restaurant inside of the ride called Blue Bayou. Now, it is a bit expensive, but the experience is awesome, and the food is great! Edwin mentioned how it would be cool to eat there and I just nodded as I had already had the surprise planned that we would eat there the next day.
Come the next day we had a park hopper to bounce from Disney California Adventure (DCA) to Disneyland. DCA is a bit smaller so we ran through it quickly. We had so much fun on all the rides, but Cars and The Guardians of the Galaxy were our favorites of the day. We headed back to Disneyland and had lunch at the Blue Bayou, rode a few more rides, did some shopping and headed back to the hotel to rest up for our long drive back the next day.
“Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy.”
Overall, one of the most magical amazing experiences I have had to date at Disneyland. The rain sucked but not having wait times and having the best partner is what outweighed the bad. Beignets? Good! Food? Good! Drinks at DCA? GOOOOD! I can’t wait to plan our next trip.
beccaamariee.life 