DL Trip Report from with Genie+ with people used to WDW

Disneyland
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We went to DL on June 10 and 11. We had two day single park tickets with Genie+ We was me (44 old scaredy cat) and two teens (one brave, one mostly brave). Our aim was to do lots of stuff especially things DH doesn’t like since he wasn’t with us. (he does not like shows, or character meet and greets, playgrounds)

I armed myself with:
Lines App
Genie+ Bookmarklet
Disneyland App
Paper Maps

Day 1: California Adv. Totally missed rope drop because of missed turns and my failure to remember how long security and tramming can take. Arrived in park at 9:30. Picked up a paper map and randomly headed to Paradise Gardens Park. Grabbed LL for Toy Story.
DD2 saw Golden Zephyr and immediately wanted to go on it. We did. It was a nice start to the day. Scaredy me needs to warm up a bit. Then we went on Silly Swings. (I had not put these in my plan. DD loved them. And I realized she has never been to a normal amusement park so these were new and exciting to her) Walked over to Goofy Sky School. This was our Roller Coaster test. DD2 had her wisdom teeth out two days prior so we had to see how she could handle the rides. Ride was down so we abandoned after waiting 10 minutes.
Used our LL for Toy Story and I grabbed the next LL for SpiderMan. Walked on Little Mermaid. Then wandered to Grizzly Peak. We decided ahead of time to do the raft ride before our dinner break so we could change out of wet clothes if needed. Kids were happy to enjoy the Redwood Challenge Trail. Took their time exploring because no impatient Dad around. Then we walked over to soaring. Probably did Standby I don’t remember.
Used our Webslingers LL and I picked up one for Mission Breakout. Ate lunch. Waited in line for Mission Breakout and watched Black Widow and Captain America fight goons while we waited. Me and DD1 took chicken exit.
Went over to Monsters Inc and I thought the line said 5 minutes. After waiting in standby DD1 pointed out it had said 45 minutes. Oh well.
Went to Turtle Talk with Crush which we had never done before. We all loved it. (found an outlet to charge phone with while waiting even) LL Goofy Sky School. Walked around Car Land and didn’t want to wait for long line for RSR. Went on Sky School. DD2 did ok so I LL Incredicoaster. Then we were ready for our break so we LL River Rapids. And headed out for a break and dinner.
Returned and saw line for RSR was still too long. DD1 posed with some Avengers. And kids went on Incredicoaster while I watched the One Show. DD2 wanted to go on the swings again but they were closed because of the show. Headed back to hotel having accomplished a lot.
Note: I had printed out our paper tickets. We did not use our phones to scan in for rides. I found this very nice as the paper tickets worked every time and I didn’t have to deal with the lame Disneyland app or drain my battery unnecessarily. The guy for the One Show was very confused as he said he had never seen a paper ticket before. Worked like a charm though. Also the paper map was awesome because I had never been there before. So much easier than scrolling all around on a phone.

Day 2: DL Despite my best efforts to rope drop we were in the park at 8:30.
Walked on Jungle Cruise and Pirates. Grabbed LL for Haunted Mansion and then did that. Asked kids if they were ready to wait for an hour for Rise. Lines said it was down so decided to do Millenium Falcon, but as we walked by it said 20 minute wait for Rise. We walked right on with no wait!!! Only people here will appreciate how awesome that is. Got LL for Millenium Falcon.
Continued on our day with getting LL with Genie+. Waited in standby for RR. We managed to ride every single LL type ride before 6pm along with many other rides!
Only complaint was not enough slow rides to rest on. We were so tired. We needed a people mover or carousal of progress. Instead we rested on Storybook Boats and the Submarine.
Summary: I loved our paper tickets. I loved the lines app. I loved the paper map. I loved Genie+ I loved the Bookmarklet.
Other weird note: I have played a Disney Land video game a lot. Very relaxing. It was weird sort of being familiar with everything even though I hadn’t been there before. Also disappointing I could use my squirt gun to make flowers bloom or my magic wand to make the trash cans dance. :smile:

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Seems like you were able to accomplish so much in your two days with all the preparation & help you armed yourself with!

I love that Golden Zephyr was your first attraction. It’s definitely an underrated gem with a great view of the World of Color lagoon.

THAT IS AMAZING! We’ve done the wait & see if it will open game a couple of times and it’s never worked for us & we’ve seen it posted at a low wait coming back from a downtime but it seems like by the time we get to it it’s back up to it’s normal 60min wait. We do usually wait 45 min once a trip for it bc it’s awesome. So cool that you got walk-on!!

Oh man! I so agree!! I love Peoplemover at WDW and wish we had it. We’ve not yet done Carousel of Progress but next time we go it’s a must-do bc we have a kid who loves the song & was bummed we missed it on our last quick trip to WDW before a cruise.

If you’re ever back in DL the things I use for resting are: Tiki Room, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln & a full circle trip boarding at a train station & staying on the full loop until it comes back (called a Grand Circle Tour) on the railroad.

We have Magic Keys and we miss a physical ticket/pass a lot! We LOVE the paper maps too & my 6 yr old always make sure as soon as we enter to ask first if we can stop & pick-up a (handful of) maps. They play with them at home & dream/imagine their next trip so we have oodles of them floating around the house.

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

Love that it helped you be familiar with the not-MK-at-WDW park that is the original MK of Disneyland. And too funny about the trash cans & flowers comment!