Disneyland has always been one of my most favorite places to go to since I was a little girl! I’m not sure how to describe why I love it so much but I think it is the ambiance of people who are simply just happy to be there and experience everything it has to offer. I love the atmosphere, the rides and above all…the FOOD! I have so many food favorites there that I will tell you about in just a little bit!
I was beyond excited to get to go there again with some of my most favorite people! A group of about 17 friends and I rented out a house about half of a mile away from the actual park and it made it super easy and convenient to get to and from, either on foot or by Uber. We did Disneyland for 2 days and a beach day for one. It was a super action packed weekend. I loved every second of it but by the end I was one tired girl!
The first morning that we arrived we headed straight for the Peter Pan ride! I know most of the tips and tricks to Disneyland and will let you know a little secret. For some reason the Peter Pan ride has the longest lines ALL. DAY. I’m not sure why so many people are obsessed with this ride but it’s a real thing. I’ve learned to always get that ride out of the way first thing in the morning since there aren’t any fast passes available. Guess what happened on my way to get in line? I finally got my very first picture EVER with Sleeping Beauty!! She has been my favorite princess since I was a little girl and I’ve never been able to find her at Disneyland before! I was so excited! A great start to a great day!
Anyways…back to the important things…FOOD!!!!! I can happily say I ate my way through the park. I loved every second of it. At the start of Day 1 I HAD to get my corn dog fix in. The best spot to grab the amazing, world renown, Disneyland Corndog is on Main Street. You head down Main Street and it’s the Red Wagon stand towards the right once you reach the circular part that branches off into the different lands. As you can see I’m one happy camper.
I had to let my corn dog digest a bit and so we hit up a few rides. Some of my most favorites are Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Matterhorn, Pirates of the Caribbean and It’s a Small World. I know some people hate It’s a Small World but it will always remind me of my childhood and of my first time coming to Disneyland. Gotta love it. Haters gonna hate. After Indian Jones I had to stop in for my Dole Whip. Now this is also another Disneyland MUST HAVE. I had 2 or 3 of these in the short two days that I was there. They are ahhhhmazing. If you haven’t tried one – get yourself to Disneyland and try one ASAP. You won’t regret it!
Night one of Disneyland we decided to purchase the World of Color Dining Package. I have mixed thoughts about whether or not this package is worth it or not for the price. It costs approximately $60.00 per person and includes a 3 course dinner along with preferred seating for the World of Color show. The food tasted good and the portions were perfect in my opinion (smaller than most restaurants but great because I wasn’t stuffed afterwards). I get real hungry sometimes so I may have forgotten to take a picture of my meal before I ate it. Oops. Sorry about that! Anyways, with the meal came a ticket for a preferred seating section to the World of Color which was pretty cool. You actually get the perfect place to watch the World of Color – front and center. All in all I do think that the Dining Package is worth it between the combination of good food and great seating for the show. Some of my friends however, did not agree with me so I guess to each their own!
This is one of my bestest friends Leta Rose! If you don’t know her, you are definitely missing out! She is always the life of the party, tells the funniest stories and makes the greatest memories. She is my go to travel buddy after meeting by chance on a singles cruise. That story shall be told at a different time. Get excited for it.
Day 2 of the trip was spent at the windy, coldish beach. It was a sad day being at the beach in a windstorm. I actually didn’t snap any pictures because I was trying to keep warm under layers of towels. Bummer for sure.
Day 3 was a day of happiness again at Disneyland! We started out the day over at California Adventures with hopping on the Toy Story Mania ride! This ride is my 2nd favorite over at California Adventures! It’s such a fun interactive ride! It definitely brings out the competitive side in me, which makes the ride super entertaining. My most favorite ride is the Tower of Terror, which was closed. Such a sad day. The ride is being remade into a Guardians of the Galaxy ride which sounds pretty cool. I can’t wait to come back and check it out after it opens! After Toy Story we went on California Screamin which is always a blast! Gotta love roller coasters! We then ran over and grabbed some churros with caramel sauce from the Orange Cones in Cars land. They are SO delish! Another must have for your trip to Disneyland!
After we went on a few more rides over at California Adevnture we headed back over to Disneyland. I ordered myself two orders of beignets. Yup. TWO. Just for me. I ordered the normal powdered sugar ones as well as a special lemon one. They were SO delicious. The lemon kind was actually my favorite. It was a sweet lemon which I loved and somehow had sparkly sprinkles on it. SO GOOD!!
We went on a few more rides and before we knew it, lunchtime had arrived! I was really looking forward to finally having the famous Monte Cristo sandwich over at Café Orleans (located right by the Pirates ride) in Disneyland. I soon found out that Café Orleans was booked for the day and don’t offer take out which meant I was not going to get my Monte Cristo. All I knew was that I needed to try that sandwich before I had to go back home to Utah and I was going to make it happen. I convinced my friend David’s daughter to go to City Hall with me to see if there was any way for me to get the sandwich I’d been dreaming about. As we were walking over there, keep in mind the park is PACKED at this point. We were weaving in and out of people in Adventureland and out of nowhere, WHAM. Some lady rams her stroller into my flip flopped heel. I was in shock, in pain, and didn’t know how to react. It honestly hurt SO bad. I really think I might have shed a tear or two if I wasn’t with an 11 year old. I felt like I had to be the adult and keep my composure. The lady who hit me said a snarky, “Sorry but you cut me off”. I really wanted to yell at her because she was actually texting and pushing her stroller but I instead just walked away. There is no need to get into an argument with people like that. Here I am, limping my way through Disneyland with a bleeding heel.
We finally made it to City Hall and spoke with a gentleman who made my dreams come true for the day. I asked him if there was any way that I could get my hands on a Monte Cristo sandwich. I told him I was willing to pay for it but that Café Orleans told me that there was not an option for me to get one since I didn’t have a reservation and they were booked. The kind man saw that I was injured and not having the greatest of days. He made a quick phone call and told me to go to Café Orleans and my sandwich will be waiting there for me. I was shocked and excited. We made a pit stop to the first aid station where my heel was cleaned and bandaged – free of charge. Disneyland definitely handles things the right way if you ask me. We finally arrive back at Café Orleans with the same workers standing there who told me no. Someone brought out a container holding my sandwich, handed it to me and told me to have a nice day. Another point where I was completely shocked. Speechless to say the least. These sandwiches run in the $20 to $30 range (insane I know but it’s Disneyland) I almost couldn’t believe I had scored myself a Monte Cristo Sandwich, let alone a FREE Monte Cristo Sandwich. Disneyland yet again impressed me.
The sandwich was really, really good. Super rich and heavy though so I couldn’t finish the whole thing by myself. I shared with the group of people that were with me. It’s another definite for Disneyland!
We headed over to California Adventure to see the Frozen show and it was so cute! Really well done and was the perfect length. It actually felt really good to be indoors with air conditioning for an hour. After that we headed over to Soarin’ Over the World. This is another one of my favorite rides! I actually loved it more than Soarin’ Over California! The new change is great. Loved it.
We then went over to Disneyland and watched the fireworks while eating at the Mary Poppins Restaurant. I got the tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich. I wasn’t super excited about it but had to eat where the group chose. Let me tell you – BEST grilled cheese and tomato soup combo I’ve ever had! It’s SO YUMMY!!! The fireworks show is ahhhmazing. My favorite part is when a real life Tinker Bell is floating in the sky flying with a back drop of fireworks going off. So cool. I was too enthralled to remember to take any pictures. My bad.
I finished off my Disneyland trip with the famous Matterhorn Macaroon! I had 2 or 3 of these throughout the trip and they are SO delicious. If you like coconut you have got to try these! Perfect ending to a perfect trip!
