It was a cool and sunny day to be at the Disneyland Resort! What made the day even better was that it was my birthday, and that I would spend the day with my mom! We got to the Toy Story Parking Lot around 9:15am, and then walked towards the new security screening and bus loading area for the Toy Story Parking Lot. Once we went through security here, we were able to head into the Parks once we got to Parkside. It took about 35 minutes for that process to happen. This was also the third day of the new screening and loading area.
Around 9:50am, we headed into Disneyland and took some fun photos in front of the Christmas Tree thanks to Disney PhotoPass! From there, we went to Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe for breakfast. The line was out the door, but I ordered food through Mobile Order on the Disneyland App, and waited about 5 minutes for our food to be prepared. We shared the egg and bacon croissant and an Abuelita hot chocolate. This is a Mexican hot chocolate that I grew up with. It has a cinnamon flavor, which makes this drink very good.
After breakfast, we headed to Jungle Cruise. The wait was about 25 minutes, and we even went upstairs. The skipper was great, and even told some jokes that I hadn’t heard before. She definitely kept it fun! From there, we headed to Pirates of the Caribbean. The posted wait time was 55 minutes, and the queue stretched out past Pirates and towards the Disney Vacation Club cart in New Orleans Square. But the actual wait was about 25 minutes.
After some swashbuckling fun, we made our way to Haunted Mansion Holiday to see Jack Skellington and company. We had FastPass so this kept our wait to a minimum. After Haunted Mansion, we made our way to Critter Country for some adventures with Winnie the Pooh and Friends.
From there, we headed to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. It was my mom’s first time seeing this area, and of course we had to get a Ronto Wrap and a Meiloorun Juice. We shared this as well. My mom liked both, and she understood why it wouldn’t make sense to bring her home a Ronto Wrap. She liked Galaxy’s Edge, and even said how nice everything looked, even though she’s not a Star Wars fan.
After some time in Galaxy’s Edge, we made our way to Fantasyland. I thought we would have some time to go on a Fantasyland dark ride or two, but our FastPass for ‘it’s a small world’ holiday was quickly approaching. We enjoyed ‘the merriest cruise that ever sailed,’ and my mom even noticed some of the scents inside the attraction.
I asked my mom what she wanted to do after ‘it’s a small world’ and she wanted to go on the Monorail. So we headed towards Tomorrowland for a ride on the Monorail. We waited about 15 minutes to ride. When we got back, the line extended down the ramp towards the entrance. My mom was glad we rode the Monorail when we did because we could have easily waited almost 30-40 minutes.
It was now about 3pm, and it was time to head to Disney California Adventure. We stopped at Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe for some Starbucks drinks. My mom wanted her usual caramel macchiato, and I got an iced coffee. We sat there for awhile, until I noticed that it was almost time for ‘Mickey’s Happy Holidays.’ We got a spot near the center of the viewing area. My mom liked the show and said it was cute.
After ‘Mickey’s Happy Holidays,’ we headed to the Hyperion Theater for ‘Frozen.’ It was nice to see this musical again, and show is still a guest favorite at the Park. Following ‘Frozen,’ we went to Sonoma Terrace and shared a Bavarian pretzel with cheese and a Merry Cherry Punch. The line as non-existent, so I was able to get these items fairly quickly. We then went on The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure.
It was now time to head back to Disneyland for some more fun. My mom wanted to go on this subs and Autopia so we headed to Tomorrowland. We waited about 30 minutes for Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, and 45 minutes for Autopia. The posted wait time for Autopia was 30 minutes, but they closed down one of the tracks while we were waiting. This was our longest wait of the day.
After Autopia, we headed towards ‘it’s a small world’ holiday for fireworks where we met up with Mr. DAPs and Caitie. It was so great to see them for my birthday and to experience the fireworks near one of my favorite attractions! After fireworks, Mr. DAPs and Caitie headed towards Galaxy’s Edge, while my mom and I went on Storybook Land Canal Boats.
We were going to do some more Fantasyland attractions but my mom really wanted ice cream! So I mobile ordered ice cream and we headed towards Main Street for our yummy dessert. She got butter pecan, and I got chocolate. We both got a single scoop, but the cups were filled and almost overflowing! After eating our ice cream, we stopped by the Emporium for some quick shopping.
It was now time to leave Disneyland and head home. Even though it fairly busy, my mom and I had a great time making new memories and celebrating my birthday! And I even got to see some great friends, which made it more special!
2020 is upon us very soon, and I sure hope you all have a great new year! There is another ‘Sunday Recap Report’ featuring holiday fun at the Disneyland Resort coming next week, and I can’t wait to share all the fun again!
