by D’land Hubby
Casey Jr. Circus Train at Disneyland
Every once in a while I try to “best” myself while at Disneyland. On July 4th, during a three day visit to Disneyland on my honeymoon, D’land Diva and I were able to experience ten attractions in just two hours. Most people are unable to experience that many attractions after a full 12+ hour visit to the park. When my son was about 3, we went down to Disneyland one morning and were able to experience 11 attractions in a two hour block. How do you do it? A little planning, good timing, and moving fast!
If you’re interested in trying to get on ten or more attractions in a short amount of time, you HAVE to get to the park early. I usually find that arriving at the front gates about 15-20 minutes before park opening is the best. If you are lucky, they will start letting people into Main Street for the rope drop. If they are not letting people in (during the off season) then you’ll miss a few minutes as you will not be in the park at opening and you’ll have to wait for everyone to get in.
Peter Pan’s Flight at Disneyland
The key to breaking the ten attraction goal is to head straight to Fantasyland. I apologize for all of you hard core adrenalin junkies. The people who head to Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, and Star Tours will be in the wrong part of the park to make this happen. First, watch to see how long Peter Pan’s line is. If it looks more than 10 minutes you need to skip it because by the time you wait for this attraction, you could go on three other rides in Fantasyland. Next, check out Dumbo, Toad, Casey Jr Circus Train, Snow White, and Pinocchio. Try not to be too choosy but get on the rides as quickly as possible and head to the next one when you are finished. The Carousel might also be a great attraction to visit, but time your visit appropriately so that you can get on without waiting for a cycle to finish.
Next, make the turn and head towards the Matterhorn. Attempt to go on the Storybook Canal if the line is only a few minutes long. I would also recommend attempting to get onto the Tea Cups and Alice in Wonderland. At this point you could have somewhere between 8-10 attractions. Feel free to re-ride any of the attractions at any point as the lines will be minimal. If no one is in line, kindly ask the Cast Member if you can go again. You might be able to take a second ride without having to exit the attraction vehicle! For those adventure seekers, the Matterhorn is close and you should be able to get on in a short wait. You can also head over to Buzz Lightyear and try to defend the galaxy against the evil emperor Zurg.
At this point, this will probably be the end of the magical two hour window after the park opens where the lines are short and moving from attraction to attraction becomes harder. This is the time for your victory dance while you walk over to River Belle Terrace and order yourself a Mickey Mouse Pancake breakfast or head to Holly Jolly Bakery and get yourself a treat because you deserve it. This is a great time to rest your legs and prepare yourself for having to deal with lines and the mass of people that decided to get to Disneyland two, or more, hours late.
The Disneyland Mad Tea Party
