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Old 12 Jan 19, 02:20 PM  
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PhDisney
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Join Date: May 18
The First Family Trip - 1st-7th January (Day 5)

Saturday.

Usually a busy day in the parks at any time of year, but after enquiring about how bad it would be at the Sequoia Lodge Golden Forest desk, my heart sank. The lady said it would be extremely busy, so our expectations were low.

Then something bizarre happened.

We had breakfast, and made no rush to get to the parks at all. We waltzed into Disneyland Park at around 9:30am. Walked down Main Street USA offering each other confused looks. Made our way to Pirates, as I wanted my son to have one more go on it before we left, to try and make the most of our PhotoPass+.

Walk on.

Twice.

That's right, folks. It was the final Saturday of the Christmas period, and until past 10am, the park was, and I use this word with caution, quiet. It was quiet. We walked onto Pirates twice. No queue. Unbelieveable! In fact, so quiet was it after the first trip, I was tempted to ask if I could stay on, but one boat worth of people rocked up just as I was about to ask, so we got off and walked round.

The photo we got the second time round was well worth it!



While I was going on Pirates twice with the boy, I'd kindly sent my wife off to Space Mountain to attempt it again via a FastPass. She returned with a FastPass time, and we just had time to sneak a Small World trip in before I headed off to ride the beast without an Earl of Sandwich meal on my stomach. I loved it. As a Star Wars fan, I did appreciate the rebranding. However - like Ratatouille - I felt the use of screens on the ride was less effective than the previous incarnation. Sometimes it was obvious that they were just giant TV screens with spacecraft on, and it lost its effect somewhat.

Tantrum time. Study the photo below:



Looks happy enough, right?

Wrong. 10 seconds after this photo was taken, he had a tantrum for 35 minutes. My wife bravely told me to go and look in some shops, as she thought he was playing up to me. I did this - and kept peering back. She let him get it all out in Discovery Arcade, much to the sympathetic (and sometimes judgmental...) looks of passers by. After 35 minutes, he started chatting away, and we got on with our day. By Day 5, I think we learnt just to go with it. If you try and calm them down, they get worse, so make sure they're safe and can't hurt themselves, and let them do their thing. Kids...

From here - we went to Buzz Lightyear again, and then, using another FastPass that I'd got after Pirates, I finally got to ride Indiana Jones. I was very apprehensive about this, as I'd heard it was quite rough, but actually I found it a lovely smooth ride. I was in the front seat so could see what was coming too. Another new ride ticked off for me, despite this being my 6th visit!

From here, we did the enjoyable duo of Small World and Buzz yet again (the only decent rides all three of us could go on), before heading to Captain Jack's for a second time for our meal. Another lovely meal, but the boy was a little grumpy at times. After leaving here at around 6:15, we decided to head back to the hotel.



Then - for me personally - a real treat. I asked my wife if, once the little one was asleep, whether she'd mind if I went back to the park between 8-10 on my own, to get a few more rides in. She happily obliged, as she was tired by this point too, and obviously we couldn't both go. I returned to the park, and immediately jumped on Snow White (the ride - not the character - although my wife wasn't with me, so...), which had a 10 minute queue, and Pinocchio which had - luckily for me - just reopened following a short closure for repair, so was practically a walk on. I always feel a little awkward riding these as a solo 31 year old male, but it ticked off two more rides for the trip.

After this - at around 8:40pm - I headed to Discoveryland to ride the revamped Star Tours for the first time. The queue line, as has probably always been the case with this ride, was better than the attraction itself. I didn't like the new "film" on this ride, updated for the newer films. I felt it lost some of the charm from the old ride. Still - it was OK. As a Star Wars fan I still enjoyed it, but wasn't blown away.

After this - I headed to Frontierland to see what the queue for Big Thunder Mountain was like. 55 minutes, and it was 9:05pm. I asked if they would shut the queue, and he said no, they stay open until the park closes. Because of this, I headed to Indiana Jones to ride that again one final time. 15 minute walk-up queue. Another great experience on there.

Then - as the clock ticked to 9:30pm - I walked up to Big Thunder Mountain which stated a 30 minute queue. In reality, I was there no longer than 10 minutes, and was off by 9:45pm. Big Thunder Mountain, my favourite ride, in the dark, as the final ride of the day, was one of those unforgettable moments for me. The photo below shows how I felt.



And so - as the masses gathered around the castle for the show - I almost skipped down Liberty Arcade and out of the park before the crowds, bought my son a Buzz alien toy from Disney Village, had a very late night Nutella doughnut, and headed back to the hotel on top of the world. It was a feeling of elation tinged with sadness, as we were going home tomorrow.



---

Rides (cumulative total): 29
(M = mum, D = dad, S = son)

Buzz Lightyear: 5 (M, D, S)
It's a Small World: 5 (M, D, S)
Pirates of the Caribbean: 3 (D, S)
Big Thunder Mountain: 2 (D)
Indiana Jones: 2 (D)
Dumbo: 1 (M, D, S)
Le Pays des Contes de Fees: 1 (M, D, S)
Casey Junior: 1 (D, S)
Peter Pan: 1 (D)
Cars: 1 (D, S)
Studio Tram Tour: 1 (M, D, S)
Rock n' Rollercoaster: 1 (D)
Ratatouille: 1 (D)
Snow White: 1 (D)
Pinocchio: 1 (D)
Star Tours: 1 (D)
Hyperspace Mountain: 1 (D)

Edited at 02:29 PM.
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Old 12 Jan 19, 11:30 PM  
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kadypants
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I love this. BTMR at night is my favourite ride EVER!

I am (secretly) quite jealous of your solo night visit to the park. As much fun as it is to visit the parks with family/friends I do love a little bit of time to do my own thing for a bit. I quite enjoyed people watching on my own a few times on our last trip. But that was as far as it went! Haha!

It sounds like you managed to get quite a lot done for such a busy park!
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Old 15 Jan 19, 09:28 AM  
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HappyPanda
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Join Date: Oct 13
Location: Watford
I love your little solo adventure at the end. My eldest and I do something similar on our trips! It's amazing how many rides you can get on in that last hour or so!
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