It was definitely a busy day at the Disneyland Resort as Signature and Deluxe Annual Passholders were unblocked after the holidays. Many guests reported waiting nearly an hour to park, and the parking structures closed due to capacity at around 1:20pm.
After parking and taking the Toy Story Shuttle, I got into Disneyland around 12:30pm. I took some photos, and then waited for the Main Street March. I hadn’t seen it in awhile, and I wanted to play with the camera on my new iPhone 11 Pro. The Dapper Dans were not in the March, but I did see them later in the day.
I soon met up with Mr. DAPs and Caitie outside of Market House and in we went for some Starbucks drinks. We met up with Murray there before heading towards the Castle and then Tomorrowland. Luke then met up with us in Tomorrowland. There was new paneling on the Star Tours side of Tomorrowland that had been under refurbishment the last few months.
From there we headed towards Fantasyland hoping to get on Snow White’s Scary Adventures, but the line was crazy so we decided to head to our favorite spot at a Disney California Adventure – Sonoma Terrace. I mobile ordered a Bavarian pretzel with cheese, and enjoyed my iced coffee while sitting there and chatting.
Around 3pm, we headed to the ¡Viva Navidad! area in Paradise Gardens to meet Mickey & Minnie! Goofy was ending his meet & greet as we arrived, and the Three Caballeros were going to meet after Mickey & Minnie. So this area was buzzing all day!
After meeting Mickey and Minnie, we headed over to see ‘Mickey’s Happy Holidays’ one last time. This was such a fun show for the holidays that we hope it returns in November! Our friend Angela who we met at Candlelight last month met us here! It was fun to chat with her again! We caught the last few minutes of Five & Dime while we waited, and that is always a treat!
From there, we headed back to Disneyland for a cruise on the Mark Twain Riverboat. It is closed for refurbishment until early February, and that means that Fantasmic! will be using the island finale for the show. It was a very nice day, and we sat up front and enjoyed a relaxing journey on the Rivers of America.
Following our river cruise, we may our way to Tomorrowland to take the Monorail to Downtown Disney for dinner. It was sunset, and the views from the Monorail were great! We decided to check out the new Asian Street Eats location, which opened after Christmas. This new dining location offers Mixed Bowls, Scallion Pancake Wraps, and Pot Stickers. A variety of six sauces can be added to the Mixed Bowls as well. Prices are reasonable, and Annual Passholders can get a discount.
You order at a podium, get a receipt, a pager, and then go around the corner to pay for your food and/drinks. My pager never buzzed or blinked to tell me that my food was ready. Others were getting their food fairly quick, and I just kept waiting. After about 10 minutes, I went back to the pay window and asked for a refund. From there, I then went to Earl of Sandwich to maybe get food there, but I didn’t. I then found the group and told them about my situation and that I would head back into Disneyland to get something there.
I took the Monorail back, and kept trying to decide what I wanted to eat. Nothing at the moment sounded good so I decided to go on ‘it’s a small world’ holiday because the wait was only 15 minutes as the parade was making its way back to Fantasyland. A ride on my favorite Disneyland and holiday attraction is what I needed. I needed that calmness and happy sights and sounds to get me back into a good mood.
After ‘it’s a small world’ holiday, it was time to take photos of the Castle, Partners Statue, Main Street, the Christmas Tree, and Town Square. I left the Park around 8pm, which was definitely earlier than I had expected. But despite the fiasco at dinner time, it was a very fun day at the Disneyland Resort!
While the holiday decor will be taken down over the next few days, there is so much to look forward to at the Disneyland Resort in the next few months! Rise of the Resistance will be opening January 17, the new ‘Magic Happens’ Parade debuts February 28, Avengers Campus opens this summer, and so much more will be happening in between those days! It’s going to be an exciting year for sure, and I can’t wait to share highlights of the all the fun and magic!
