Welcome to day 3 of Dad For Disney’s Adventures in Disneyland. For those of you who have just found my adventures, you can catch up at the following links:
One of things that I enjoyed about this trip was being up and ready to go before the parks open….stinking jet lag. But this allowed us to get a head start on the crowds and get a lot of things done before they arrived. Day 3 was no different. Once we got our daughter up and moving, we headed into Disneyland Park for the roller coasters that we missed on our initial visit.
My daughter and I made a bee-line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We were hoping to replicate what we do in Walt Disney World which is bounce between Big Thunder and Splash Mountain but they are much further apart at Disneyland than they are at Walt Disney World.
It felt like we were one of the first people on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad as we literally walked right on the attraction. It felt great almost like we had the park to ourselves. After our journey on Big Thunder, you got Fastpasses for another trip on Big Thunder. We were told by a cast member, “you don’t need Fastpasses, you can just walk right on again.” We told her that we had some other attractions that we wanted to conquer while the lines were short. She understood and we were off to Splash Mountain. During our walk, we were able grab some great pictures of the New Orleans Square and Critter Country areas.
Like our experience on Big Thunder Mountain, we had a very short wait for Splash Mountain….we had to wait for the boat to get to us. We had a seat in the back for our first ride and then we got off and still had plenty of time to kill before our Big Thunder Mountain Fastpasses so we rode again. This time, I requested the front two seats and put my daughter in the very front row and I sat directly behind her in seat two. We got soaked! I loved every minute of it. My daughter enjoyed the ride but complained about getting wet from the giant drop. Secretly, I think enjoyed her experience in the front of the boat.
Not waiting to get wet again, we took a break from roller coasters and jumped on the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. A fun, short ride for everyone and we saw that our dreams of eating at the Hungry Bear that day we dashed because it was not open for breakfast and we had plans outside the park (gasp!) for the afternoon.
After Winnie the Pooh, we still had more time to kill before our Big Thunder Fastpass. So, Haunted Mansion was virtually a walk-on attraction. Did I mention that you can get a lot done at Disneyland if you arrive to the park early? Our morning, so far, is Big Thunder once (soon to be twice), Splash Mountain (twice), Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Haunted Mansion. Now, it was back to Big Thunder Mountain for a second go-around and my wife took some time to work on her photography skills with the camera while we rode.
After four roller coaster rides, a visit to the Hundred Acre, and a ride on a Doom Buggy, our morning at Disneyland had come to an end. We had to hop in the car and make the drive across town to visit some little yellow friends of ours that reside in another park.
Thanks for reading!
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