Arizona family trip report 9/26 and 9/29

[flygurl814]

I just wanted to say thank you so much for all the tips. Our family (mom, dad and son - 10, daughters 8 and 6) had a great trip with your help despite sold out crowds both days. We did California adventure on Monday 9/26 and Disneyland on Thursday 9/29.

We walked from our hotel, Staybridge Suites, to the Mickey and friends tram (13 minute walk). We were happy with the hotel (nice and clean, 2 seperate rooms in our suite, kitchen, and good breakfast) but wished it was a bit closer. On Monday were were through security and on the tram by 7:05 and maybe 10th in line for scanning in. On Thursday they opened security late at the parking garage so we were about 100th in line to be scanned in.

9/26 - We were planning to rope drop Radiator Springs but the workers told us they would be down at opening. We decided to do Mater's and Luigi's per the rope drop strategy thread and then lucked out as Radiator Springs had just opened as we were coming out (the worker at entrace told us it could be up to an hour wait but ended up being 15 minutes). I had booked a LL for Toy Story from 8-9 am but we didn't get out of Radiator Springs until 8:50 so I canceled and rebooked. We ended up waiting in line for Incredicoaster for at least 30 minutes, then doing Toy Story and Pixar Pal Around. I had a schedule of what we wanted to do with approximate times so with the crowds and wait times we were a bit behind schedule, so skipped the smaller rides. I booked LL for Grizzly after Toy story. Then after scanning in at Grizzly around 11 am, booked Soarin which was already at 1:40 pm. We played and ate our packed lunch at Redwood, then waited about 30 minutes for Goofy Sky School, then Jellyfish, then did Soarin right at 1:35. I booked Guardians after Dark as soon as my 2 hour window was up around 1 pm and got it for 5:10 pm. In the afternoon we did smaller/air conditioned things: Mickey's Philharmonic, Turtle Talk, Maters again, Golden Zephyr, Inside out. I booked incredicoaster LL after my 2 hour window was up around 3 pm and we did that around 4:30, after scanning in booked Monsters Inc. for 7 pm. We did Guardians (my son didn't want to ride so we did rider swap) and then ate at Pims kitchen, did mobile ordering after getting off the ride and was pretty quick and we were able to find a seat fast. We did the swings, then we were going to do Monsters Inc and leave but it was broken so the kids voted to do Grizzly river run with the multi experience pass we got from Monsters Inc being down. We then walked back to the tram, rode to the parking structure, and walked back to our hotel.

Overall it was a great day, my son loved the Cars movie when he was little and I was surprised by how much he liked cars land even though he is too old for that kind of stuff generally. I was stressed about the Genie + strategies and it felt like a lot of steps and guessing as to what the best thing to do was, but it worked out. I had practiced a few times with the app before we left. I also used the thrill data dot com website to help make eduated guesses on what LL times would do based on previous days. We packed a small cooler for lunch and had homemade uncrustables for lunch while sitting in Redwood. I really liked this down time and it felt like we were away from the crowds and able to relax. We also packed lots of snack for the kids which they went through as the day went on: chex mix, trail mix, fruit snacks. Cooling towels and frozen applesauce pouches saved us in the afternoon for sure! We were hoping to have dinner at Flos but it was packed and we didn't want to walk back there, so we were happy Pims was close by. We did not bring a stroller and my 6 year old made it the whole day with hardly any complaining. My husbands app said we walked 8 miles. Whew!

 

[flygurl814]

9/29 - Disneyland. As soon as we scanned in around 7:45 I booked Indiana Jones LL, which was already at an 8:40 return time. We were planning to rope drop Space Mountain, as this was my sons favorite ride. However, once we got to the rope and pulled up the app, we noticed it was down (normally open for early entry folks). So we switched to Thunder Mountain. Tons of people were heading to Galaxy's Edge, so despite the crowds we got on Thunder Mountain with no wait. We were looking to do Jungle Cruise next but stumbled on the entrace to Indiana Jones, which had no wait. I canceled our LL and booked Haunted Mansion for 9:40 return time. After Indiana Jones, we noted Space Mountain was open so we headed there and waited about 10 minutes. We got in line again but the line was considerably longer so we left and did Autopia. While walking to the Haunted Mansion we got a notification that it was closed and we had a multi experience pass. Great, but what to do now! We rebooked for a 11:30 return time and then did Tom Sawyer Island. It was not as exciting as I had hoped (possibly areas were closed?) so we only stayed about 20 minutes. Then we waited in line for about 30 minutes for splash mountain. We got off splash around 11 am so we did Davy Crocketts canoes while waiting for our Haunted Mansion pass. I loved the canoes: the guide jokes were fun and it had a jungle cruise like feel.

The haunted mansion was crazy when we got there! (super long wait times). We probably waited about 10-15 minutes with our LL. It was a fun ride. As soon as we scanned in, I booked Thunder mountain for 12:10 return. We were trying to decide whether or not to buy Rise of the Resistance. It was sold out, then 5 pm return. We continued on to Thunder Mountain, I booked Millenium falcon for a 1:40 return time once scanned in. Then we bought Rise for a 3:10 return time. After Thunder Mountain we found a bench overlooking the lake and ate our packed lunch of tortilla chips and bean dip. It somehow felt relaxing and peaceful despite the crowds.

We had about an hour to kill so we headed to fantasy land which was PACKED. We started to get in line for Peter Pan but the kids said they'd rather do the caurosel with a shorter wait. Then we did the tea cups and got to see the end of the character parade which was fun. We then did Millineum Falcon, which the kids loved! As soon as we scanned in I booked a LL for Space Mountain at 510 pm. There were also storm troopers out and about and we got some pictures with Chewy which was great. We had an hour to kill before Rise so we headed to It's a Small world. My 8 year old daughter loved this ride and I loved the air conditioning and seating. I was exhausted! After it was done we sat and ate ice cream bars and relaxed for a bit so I could work up the energy to walk back to Galaxy's Edge. Rise was great (we had done it in WDW 2 years ago). We wanted to do Splash using our MEP next but it was down, so I was able to book a Buzz LL. When we scanned in to Buzz I booked Star Tours. By then we had used all our LL except Splash, Autopia and Small world. I booked Small world to fish for another MEP. We hopped on Space mountain and then sat down next to the big water ball to decide what to do for dinner. We did Alien Pizza and it was tasty but had small portions. I needed the recharing time again!

After dinner we saw Splash was back up so we headed there and used our MEP. No luck with catching another one so I canceled and rebooked Small world. My son was looking for a sholder Grogu so we headed back to Galaxy's edge. I loved being here at night and just walking around. We found out they were sold out of sholder Grogu. It was about 7 pm but no one was ready to leave. By now every wait time was super long but we had our Small world LL so we did that. My daughter loves Encanto so we ended the night watching the pretty cool light/projection show on Small World. Overall another great day (9 miles walked according to the app).

We had stopped by Mirabel 2-3 times and each time the line was either not open yet or closed off already. Kind of disappointing (I think both times we were within 15 minutes of her posted time). I think I had a better handle on the Genie + system today and found it a bit less stressful. Fantasy land was totally nuts and I was happy none of my kids really wanted these rides.