(03-13-2024, 01:57 PM)King Bob Wrote: Our last Disneyland trip was 20 or so years ago, and I swore off it then. Too expensive and too crowded, although probably not that crowded compared to now.
My mother-in-law wanted to take the kids (and us). She'd take my daughter before. They had the whole thing down at the time...buy the 3-day pass from Costco so you get early park access, stay at the hotel so you can ride the monorail in. As soon as you enter the park, go to the Blue Bayou (the restaurant in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride) and put your name down for lunch since they didn't take reservations...
So they decided that the day we should go was the final weekend of the Electric Parade (the original one). We didn't stay at the Disney hotel, some nearby motel...got there and the park was packed...so packed, that they closed the entrance for the first time since the park opened...so packed, that the opened the back lots and guided groups from one side of the park to the other...so packed that the lines for the ride were so, so long and boring. I think we were waiting for the Bear Jamboree in the hot sun for hours. The bathrooms were nearby and smelled horrible. I said "Why do you think they call it 'Pooh Corner'"?
My son must have been ~5 or 6 and was pretty high maintenance at the time. I think we saw Captain EO, but then he and I waited in line for Star Tours. He was winge-ing the entire way. I think we are at 10-past-any-patience-left at that point. He was super scared, but we finally did the ride and immediately he wanted to go again (it was like a 2 hr wait...)
I'd been to Disney World twice when I was a kid, but never to Disneyland. All my friends got to go when I was growing up, so I felt a bit left out and it was nice to finally see and compare the parks.
We also got to see the Fantasmic show which projected video on water from the fountains in the moat around Tom Sawyer's island. That was pretty spectacular.
Lunch in the Blue Bayou was nice because it was a really hot and crowded day...but I ordered a Monte Cristo which has to be one of the weirded sandwiches ever.
Overall, I got the gist of what it was about, but it was a grueling day and I probably wouldn't go back unless there was something really special..
--tg
--tg