THE GREAT GOODY ROAD TRIP DAY 14 (DISNEYLAND!!)

Aw yeah disney crazy up in here …Disneyland today.

This is REAL time Disney.

California Adventure was just an appetizer folks.

This right here be Disney.

And I apologize in advance for all the WDW/DL comparisons but I can’t help myself. It’s hard to not compare this place to our home park.

So we woke up nice and early today because we were using our Magic Morning at Disneyland this morning, meaning we were getting in the park and hour before official opening.

We walked to the park, lined up and once inside the gates, the boys and I booked it right to the Matterhorn.

We all really liked the ride but it was a bit jerky. All three of us said that. But eh. We’re a bit jerky too. So.

We then met back up with Nickie and walked right on the Nemo submarines.

Sorry…it was super difficult to take pics.

Such a fun ride though. Built where the old 20,000 Leagues ride was, it definitely is better than the EPCOT Nemo. Like hands down

We then saw it was a ten minute wait for Space Mountain so the boys and I hopped on.

Myles said it felt faster than the WDW version but I didn’t notice that as much. The cars were obvs different, sitting two at a time rather than one but other than that, it felt kind of similar to me.

Then all four of us took advantage of the 5 minute wait on Buzz Lightyear.

I also think this was an improvement over the WDW version. The guns were much easier to use and I liked that you held them in your hand. Zurg stood no chance.

Aw yeah. Pirates time!!

And ugh…I’m gonna say it again. The DL version? Better. I liked starting out in the Blue Bayou and the drops. I feel like I’m totally cheating on WDW.

Then we rode Haunted Mansion. This one? Not much different on the inside but the outside? Much prettier here.

After Haunted Mansion we walked over to Indiana Jones. This ride. OMG. So the track  and vehicle is similar to Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom but the ride is so so so much more awesome

This morning, we had a late breakfast reservation at Plaza Inn for breakfast with Minnie and Friends. Upon arrival we got to say hi to Minnie herself.

Then we went in and got our breakfast. It was a buffet but interestingly they still serve it all to you at different stations, which was cool.

But this place is all about characters. While there we saw Rafiki, Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Chip, Dale, Captain Hook, Fairy Godmother, the mice from Cinderella and Max…so many characters!!!

And they were so interactive. Chip and Dale were obvs the best but even Pooh was a little cheeky. He was making faces behind the Fairy Godmother while she was getting her picture taken.

After breakfast, the boys and I had a FastPass for Big Thunder.

There were some minor differences between this version and the WDW version. While it did have a cool explosion in this version, it didn’t have as many bunny hop hills as the WDW version which I missed. So eh..I think this one is a draw.

Then we walked back over to Fantasyland and rode Pinocchio’s Daring Journey. As I’ve mentioned before, I do love me some dark rides and I love me some Pinocchio. So obvs loved this one.

Then we walked back to the room. I cleaned up a little while Nickie took the boys to the pool. And by “clean up” I mean I did this…

Sort of a souvenir timeline of our trip so far. This isn’t all the souvenirs but it does cover all the stops from Cooperstown to Disneyland.

Then it was down to the pool for some beers and wetness.

While at the pool we decided maybe we wanted an earlier dinner than we originally had planned so we could  have some more  time  at the  park. We to see what was available and found a 5:00 reservation at ESPN Zone. We grabbed that, swam for a little bit and headed to din-din.

It was a pretty cool place. We have been to the one at WDW and it was kind of the same – TVs, creative pub fare, beer.

Nickie and I ordered a pitcher and the boys got orange soda and Mr. Pibb. And we ordered some BBQ boneless wings to start.

I got the brisket sandwich. Which had some sort of jalapeno bun that gave it some kick.

Nickie got a mushroom burger…

Myles got the pulled pork.

And Owen got the pasta.

And yep. Free birthday dessert.

Everyone agreed it was a great meal. A couple even said they enjoyed it more than Carthay Circle.

Then it was back to the park but we decided instead of walking we take the monorail right from Downtown Disney to Tomorrowland. It’s cool that you can do that but WDW def wins with the monorail. It’s bigger there. And air conditioned I thought it was kind of neat the window opened in the Disneyland version but I would have rather had some A/C.

Once we got into the park, Myles and I ran to get a fastpass for Splash Mountain later that night while Nickie and Owen walked over to Small World to meet us. I don’t think I realized how far Splash was from Small World. Spoiler alert. It was far. And hot.

But we made it back and got on Small World in about ten minutes.

Again, the Disneyland version wins. I liked that it had some outside portions and I’m definitely a fan of the whole “including Disney characters” thing.

After we got off Small World, the lines were building around the park so we stuck to Fantasyland and jumped in a 30 minutes line to ride Alice in Wonderland. And I had a hard time taking pics so just imagine Cheshire cat and Tweedledees. And Tweedledums.

Well I got this one. But I almost didn’t post it because of Myles’ awful jersey.

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride was a 25 minute wait so we hopped on that next. Get it? Hopped? Cuz toad?

And since we hadn’t eaten in at least 30 minutes we had to share one of these puppies.

And before we knew it, we were in Adventureland.

So of course we went to see the Enchanted Tiki Room.

The attraction here is pretty much the same as at The World but here, it seems people get Dole Whips next door and bring them in to enjoy during the show. So. That’s better.

And then it was time to find a spot for the “Remember…Dreams Cone True” fireworks. I really liked how they incorporated attraction audio and some familiar Wishes stuff.

But with the castle not being as…grand…as Cinderella’s Castle, it just left me feeling not as blown away. So there you go WDW. You win on castle and fireworks.

Still though. Fireworks.

Then it was time to use our Splash Mountain FastPass so the boys and I walked over to Critter Country and jumped right on.

I like the ride vehicle better here at Disneyland with them being more flume-like (which made the hill a little more thrilling) but the ride seemed shorter here and it moved a little too quickly through the scenes so in giving the edge to Walt Disney World.

Man what a great day today. Getting sad that we only have a couple more days on this adventure. The kids are already asking about another road trip so maybe we should start thinking about another one in a couple years. I hate the thought of not doing something like this again so yes, let’s.

Maybe drive Disney World to Disneyland? Maybe….

But first, we have another day at Disneyland to get to. Let’s do this!