I Spent One Day Out There At Disneyland

Surprise! After 11 years, I made a second, brief pilgrimage to the motherland – Disneyland, that is!

MY UNEXPECTED DISNEYLAND JOURNEY

This was never a definite part of my schedule. Given that runDisney recently cancelled Disneyland races again, I had no reason to believe I’d head out west any time in the near future. Yet when my job happened to send me to a conference in Anaheim at a hotel within walking distance of the resort, I knew what I had to do.

What I didn’t know was exactly how to do it. The primary purpose behind my journey was of course my work conference. And as much as I would love to blow that off, I must admit work is how I make the money that I then hand over to the Walt Disney Company; it’s important that I keep my job. Realistically, I had a finite amount of time I could spend at the Happiest Place on Earth.

HOW BEST TO TAME THE THEME PARK BEAST?

The good news was that as a conference attendee I had access to a special link that nabbed discounted Disneyland tickets. The bad news was that even with that discount, tickets were expensive.

Thus I started playing around with my options. I had one full day and as many as three evenings available. I looked at all sorts of permutations – park hopper, no park hopper, one day, two day, and should I add Multipass for Lightning Lanes? Did I want to hedge my bets with a second day, even though that second day would really be only a second evening? How could I extract the best value from my limited time?

Ultimately, I came to an ambitious conclusion: park hopper, Multipass, one day ticket. One day to do it all.

RESURRECTING COMMANDO MODE

Although I started my Disney parks journey in full Theme Park Commando Mode, I left that life behind me a long time ago. For several years now I’ve pivoted to a more relaxed approach to Walt Disney World. Rope drop? Why, what’s the hurry? Shut down the park? Maybe, but maybe we just go chill at a restaurant and hit the hot tub instead. Sunup to sundown has not been my vibe in forever.

That part of me never really died, though; it just went dormant. I knew I still had all the chops to conquer Disneyland in a day. Flying solo would keep me flexible and allow me to take advantage of single rider lines. I walk fast and can walk long. Multipass was an extra charge, but it would give me a distinct advantage as I knocked out everything possible. I would prioritize the rides that we didn’t have at WDW (or in a few cases were appreciably different). I definitely wouldn’t recommend this strategy for anyone looking to enjoy an actual Disneyland vacation, but as a conference add-on it made the most sense.

So there – I had a plan. I arrived 90 minutes early to park opening, ready to risk it all on one day out there.

AND CONQUER DISNEYLAND I DID

Boy did it pay off. I had a SPECTACULAR day in Disneyland, bouncing back and forth between the original park and Disney’s California Adventure and checking things off my list as I went. In fact, I got so much done I’m going to be dividing my subsequent trip report into two posts!

Check back soon as I launch myself into a brave new era of commando park touring and take Disneyland by storm. See ya then!

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