I thought three days would be enough

Monday, October 28, 2025

We were down at the end of Main Street before the park opened. We decided to fast pass (it is now called Lightning Lane. I suppose I have to learn the new name and actually use it) Indiana Jones and go for the line with those gathered around us for Space Mountain. The rope dropped and the people on the edges ran. I hate them. I would like to run. I would like to be first. I would like to save the …. maaaybe… ten minutes of waiting in line. It is very exciting. But it is not safe, and it is not fair and I don’t do it, so I do not like those who do. As we walked with the majority of the people, I suggested we abandon ship. We were going to be in a 20, maybe 30-minute line, and we have the Lightning Lane thing, so we can do that later. (Lightning Lane will now be LL). We turned around and walked into Buzz Lightyear will seven other people. It was very chill. I liked it.

They have new guns on Buzz and they are great. They are attached by a wire so you can move all around. I get so concentrated on hitting targets that I forget to use my joystick to turn the car. Every. Time. And I’ve been on it a few times. I hit a LOT of targets that were worth very little. My overall score did not accurately express my prowess.

We walked on to Jungle Cruise. Walked on. Just walked on and got on a boat. I’m pretty sure that never happened to me before. Our boat was the Hattie, just like an adorable little girl we know! I laughed and laughed at our Skipper. The river is different here in CA than in FL, so the patter was different – but really, really a lot of his jokes were seasonal or new to me. The monkeys waving their hands up and down even got a 67 joke! He said something like Look a head at the head on the rock. It just tickled me and I burst out laughing. I’m easy 🙂

I was super into Small World today. I don’t know why, but it was just nice. I played peek-a-boo with the baby in the boat in front of us and waved at her, and she was so cute.

We got stopped momentarily on Haunted Mansion and I took pictures!

After Pooh, we went into a store and there was toffee. Disneyland Toffee is truly fantastic. After Toffee, we went for a mint julep. We were already winning the trip.

We tracked down the Disneyland band and they brought Mickey with them. After some dancing and whatnot, they marched down Main Street and we went right along behind them. We didn’t want to miss any of the music. Please notice Mickey is waving at ME in the my picture.

We had great success with the LL. We went on Indiana Jones, Haunted Mansion, Mickey and Minnie (which I cannot go on without hearing Amanda singing the song. Hi Amanda!), Small World, Matterhorn, Webslingers, Guardians Break Out, Toy Story Mania, and Monsters Inc with no waiting whatsoever. We hopped on the train when I heard the whistle. We ate lunch a little early and we were alone. We ran into a band we didn’t know existed. Twice. We crisscrossed Disneyland, running into lots of empty places during the morning. We decided we should nap (I was attacked by foot cramps at 3am and was awake a couple of hours) and eventually dragged ourselves out of the park. It is so so so hard to leave before they kindly say GET OUT at the end of the night. I suggested we Uber the less-than-half-a-mile to our hotel. I thought it would save time. It did not. We were standing by a whole bunch of ride share cars, but apparently they did not want our tiny fare. Our guy had to come from 6 minutes away. I guess it saved a minute or two, but it helped keep me from topping 30,000 steps today. Keith got there, but I am 2500 steps short. We never left each other. That is how our steps always go. You’d think because I take shorter strides I would get more, but no. He cheats.

We stopped for a soda at the 7-Eleven and got bananas too. Two for a dollar. Can’t beat it!!

We went to California Adventure after the nap. We did Webslingers, which I love so much. I’m not bad at it (and that may be why I like it). After we did Guardians – which seemed epically long, with so many drops! – Keith pointed out that Webslingers has a single rider line. We were on and off in 22 minutes – and they even have you watch the preshow (which is fine, because Peter Parker is adorable). I was high score in my car both times. yay

A thing about Disneyland resort here in California is that EVERYBODY is wearing a great shirt. They either are sporting amazing Disney Halloween wear, or they have some other cool (usually old) Disney stuff on. You could really spend all day just looking at everyone.

They have characters just walking around here – I think it’s fun. There are also spots they meet and greet.

My Toy Story score is disappointing because our guns stopped working during the end screen. Just nothing. I think I would have had a great score (they added some bonuses for the 70th anniversary. Everyone is getting a great score).

Cars Land is just so great. I love it there. Love. It. We went on the ride using single rider and it was sweet. The 5 women in my car with me were icky – much more interested in taking their own pictures on the ride than on riding the ride, but I just squeezed them out of my mind and let the happy flow. I was so excited to be there I took a picture on the ride!!

The Monsters Inc ride is getting taken away pretty soon to make room for something I can’t remember, but that I am looking forward to. I took pictures for posterity.

We watched The World of Color of Happiness or something like that. It is the show in the lagoon with all the spraying water and colors. It is really pretty. I have to admit, I was disappointed they used so much music I didn’t know – some from that movie with the cute star and the goat, and some from red panda one, and other stuff.

I can’t believe how many things we didn’t even get a chance to look at, much less experience. They have upped their shopping game – lots of fun stuff to look at – which takes up some time. We have to get to sleep, so we can do it all again tomorrow. It was beautifully cool this morning, overcast until noon. Tomorrow is going to be TWENTY degrees warmer and sunny. Mmm. We will probably nap again in the hot part of the day.