Disneyland 24 hrs…The most overcrowded place on earth

So Chris and I spent a week back in May in California, courtesy of Chris’ aunt. Back when we got married, Chris’ aunt gifted us a week at timeshare in San Diego. So naturally, being the Disney nerd that I am, I looked for any special event going on at Disneyland. We had never been to Disneyland before so we were totally looking forward to it. Mistake #1 – If it’s your first time going, don’t go during a 24 hour event/60th anniversary celebration. Just don’t do it. It was cool but we didn’t even last the full 24 hours. It was crowded! I mean a can of sardines had more room to move than we did that day.

See that photo. That was the crowd waiting to get in, about the time we left, at 11:30pm! Crazy, right! But I know I would have probably done that too….

Anyways, I’ll start at the beginning of our Disneyland adventure. By the way this might be a photo loaded post and a bit long winded. You have been warned. haha. So we actually arrived the day before and checked in to our hotel, Paradise Pier. We loved the theming at Paradise Pier. We just wish we had had more time to enjoy it. So the CM (Cast Member, for anyone who doesn’t know is the official job title for Disney Staff members) at the front desk was amazing. She was so helpful and excited that we were there to celebrate. It felt awesome. She handed us our room cards, pins, paperwork and sent us on our way.

So we made our way up to our room, using the glass elevator, which showed us a view of the California Adventure park. I was in heaven, Chris spent most of that time laughing at how excited I got. Then we walked into our room and noticed our view! Yeah, my excitement inside the elevator was nothing compared to when we entered our room. I’m pretty sure I squealed and Chris probably, most likely, laughed and rolled his eyes. I actually don’t know, I was too busy staring out the window.

See what I mean about that view! Officially in Disney heaven.

I also loved the detailing in our room. Disney and detail go together like beer and wings. mm mm mmmmm.

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Okay, that’s not a Disney detail. That Captain America shield is actually my backpack. I bought it at Hot Topic, specifically for the trip. I love it! As I was walking around the park, I actually got a lot of questions about my backpack and where people could buy it. Anywhos,

We also had access to the Concierge Lounge, which we got to enjoy for all of 5 minutes. Note to self, should have planned this Disneyland trip better. I’m usually a big planner when it comes to trips, especially Disney trips. I can tell you right now that our trip to Walt Disney World in September is already planned out to the max. I would have liked to enjoy the Lounge a little more. I mean there were disney cartoons playing in the background and fancy pants coffees!!!

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So we had some snacks and headed to Downtown Disney so I could grab some pins, grab my Premier Annual Pass, and check out Disney’s California Adventure.

So after some shopping, lots of walking and a meal at Babba Gumps, which was on Chris’ ‘must go-to’ list, we headed back to our hotel room for an early night because we needed to be up early early for the start of the 24-hour event! Oh and I had made the rookie mistake of wearing new sandals before our Disney Adventure….I know, stupid me. I would regret that decision BIG TIME during the 24 hour event. My feet were so sore, I mean by the end of the night I was walking on the sides of my feet. It was that bad. Chris just kept shaking his head at me. so ashamed

Look at that view again. I ended up watching the World of Colour show from our hotel room. What a great way to relax in the evening. I took a quick bath and then it was off to bed.

So the next morning we were up at 3:30am, we got dressed, packed up our room and packed it into our car and off we went.

First stop, STARBUCKS!

Sorry about the blurriness. It was early in the morning and I was using the camera on my phone. So after some lattes (which probably could have used more shots of espresso), it was off to Disneyland Park to wait in line to get some exclusive event pins and shirts!

As we entered Disneyland, we immediately noticed the long line getting into the Emporium. So we hopped in line and waited, listened to the DJ they had and met some very friendly people.

Side Note: I have to vent a little here about how disorganized Disneyland was, especially in terms of maintaining things like line-ups. Some of us had been waiting in one line for a least an hour and noticed that people were sneaking past CMs, then we noticed that there were two lines that meshed into one near the entrance. The CM’s looked so unfriendly (I can empathize that it was early and they probably had been there for many hours before and were super tired but still professionalism shouldn’t be tossed out the window just because you’re tired or dealing with tired customers). It just wasn’t what I expected from Disney. I have found that anytime I go to Disney World, they are very organized and tend to handle crowds a lot better, but maybe that’s just me. Vent over.

So we did end up getting some exclusive dopey pins, dopey t-shirt and some other stuff. After some shopping, we waited for the GRAND opening of Disneyland for the 60th Anniversary.

It was actually really cool to be part of such a big event. We also found that being there so early had some perks. For one, the pre-show was pretty fun, and two, a lot of the rides were ‘walk-ons.’ We started with Indiana Jones. Since Disney World has the show, Chris and I were curious about the ride. It was pretty cool but Chris and I still missed the Stunt Show. Yup, we are totally Disney World people.

After walking around some more, hopping on rides and watching the crowds grow bigger and bigger, we decided to find somewhere to eat breakfast. We headed to Downtown Disney because there wasn’t a single restaurant inside Disneyland that wasn’t packed. and I mean PACKED. We managed to find a fast food breakfast place at Downtown Disney. I believe it was called ‘Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen Express.’ We ordered breakfast sandwiches and beignets. OH MY, GOODNESS…these were amazing! My hips loved them too, but that’s a whole different story. Probably why I started a round of Whole 30 when we returned to Canada. Anyways, breakfast was good, service was fast, and then it was off to California Adventure. We waited close to two hours for Radiator Springs (the fastpasses were all gone by 8 am) and then we walked around, rode more rides, ate lunch. After eating lunch at Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria, we headed to the monorail to get back into Disneyland (we loved that the monorail took you right inside the park). It was then that we overheard a CM tell non-resort visitors that Disneyland had reached capacity and that they were only allowing Resort guests inside the park. This was at 11: 30 am….we made it in no problem. By 2 pm, CMs weren’t letting anyone in and they were at max capacity from that time up until we left. I’m not sure about after 11:30 pm but I know that they told us if we leave, there was a good chance we wouldn’t get back in. It was nuts!

Since this post is getting really long, I’ll spare you the minute by minute and just show you a few photos from the rest of our day.  Everyone likes photos, right? I apologize for some of the poor quality photos, I used both my Canon 6D and my Samsung note 4 throughout the day.

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Although it was crowded and Chris & I left earlier then I would have liked, I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy Disneyland Resort. I definitely think we need to give it another go, this time not during such a MASSIVE event.

What do you guys think? Do you enjoy Disneyland? What do you guys recommend at Disneyland? Let me know so I can start prepping my must do list for my next trip.

Have a fantastic Friday!