On our family’s recent trip to SoCal, I was the only family member who had ever been to Disneyland before. It was a first for our two boys and first for Daddy too! And — it was then a FIRST for us as a family, I mean it felt all new to me since the last time I went was many moons ago for grad night when I was a senior in high school! LOL!!
I think we lucked out with weather and picking a good day to be in the park. We beat the Spring Break rush and temperatures were in the mid 70’s! I downloaded the Disneyland app before we got there so I could see how it worked and how it might help us when it comes to ride time (highly recommend doing this), but we didn’t really need to use it too much. Typically we had to wait 5-15 minutes for most rides, with our longest waits being about 30 minutes. Ride-wise we pretty much got to experience all of the ones our kids were qualified for…we skipped any big rides like Splash Mountain, Matterhorn, Haunted House or Space Mountain, but had plenty of time to jump on the rest. The only one ride I wish we could’ve done was Peter Pan, but hey, save something for next time, right??
Thinking back, one of the things I can appreciate about the majority of the rides there that simply require the shorter set to be accompanied by an adult is that for the most part you get on the ride and it’s taking you through a maze of attractions telling a story, something we can all enjoy. I will say Alice and Wonderland and Pinocchio’s Daring Journey were a little dark (kinda scary) for the boys, and Roger Rabbit is way before their time, but everything else was lots of fun.
All that being said, these were each of our “first time” favorites.
Raef loved the Astro Orbitor. It was the first ride we went on after enjoying our character breakfast at Plaza Inn, and at the end of the day he still proclaimed it as his favorite ride of the day. I think he liked being high in the sky and able to control going up and down!
My favorite was the Mad Tea Party, you know teacups! I liked this one because we all got to sit in one teacup together and spin around and around…
Isaiah’s favorite kept changing throughout the day with Dumbo the Flying Elephant being his most consistent pick, BUT for sure, his highlight was meeting Pluto in Toon Town. Toon Town was a lot of fun. We got to meet Mickey at his house, hang out with Goofy, ride a roller coaster and more. However, when Pluto showed up, it made Isaiah’s day!
T (Dad) says he had no preference. I will say he beat us all at Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters though… In this ride, you have these laser guns and there are targets along the ride route that you can aim for and earn points…well I only discovered that halfway through, so when I realized how to make my score go up the ride was already half done! HAHA! However, when we disembarked I say that T had amassed the most points, clearly he was in the competitive spirit of the ride.
Other favorites included It’s a Small World – Raef keeps re-watching a youtube video of the ride and singing its signature song. The carousel is always a big hit and the daytime Mickey’s Soundsational parade was also lots of fun. We didn’t do any of the Star Wars stuff this time around, but I know next time we visit, that will be a main attraction.