DISNEYLAND!! Sound too good to be true? It almost was–we’d originally planned this trip for January, but when Washington State flooded, Nene ended up evacuating to higher ground rather than catching a plane to California. So we half-expected something to hold up the trip again, but this time it worked!
My last trip to Disneyland was six years ago, and Nene hadn’t been in over 10 years, so we were Very. Excited. We had Disney earrings, necklaces, and t-shirts. I learned Genie and Lightning Lane (FastPass isn’t a thing anymore, and everything from reserving your spot in line to ordering food to buying a Boba Fett sweatshirt from World of Disney can be done on your phone). The night before (the night Nene flew in) we had a war-room planning session to figure out how to ride all the things.

We set an alarm for 5:20 the next morning and made it to the Mickey and Friends Parking Structure eight minutes before it opened. Once we’d parked, we caught the tram to the park. (You have go to through a security screening/bag check to board the tram now. And it sort of looked like you can’t walk to/from the parking structure anymore, although I didn’t verify that.) Anyway, we made it to the park before the 8 am opening time! Park employees let you in early so you can wander down Main Street and reserve your spot in a line (once you’re in the park you can start using Lightning Lane). They hold visitors at the center of the park by the Partners statue until 8 am when they play a “Welcome to Disneyland!” announcement and then let everyone loose.
And everyone headed for Galaxy’s Edge. So although we didn’t know the best way to get there, we followed the fast-walking (no running allowed) crowd. We’d reserved spots for both new Star Wars attractions, Rise of the Resistance and Smuggler’s Run.
Our Smuggler’s Run time came up first, and I got to learn how to scan in (to the amusement of the supervising cast member). The ride is interactive, and fortunately for us we rode with a couple of people who knew all about it and filled us in while we waited in line. They were pilots, Nene and I were gunners, and the two men behind us got to be engineers. Gunners get to repeatedly mash the trigger, and Nene and I are experts at that from a childhood playing Xatax, so we had a good time. (And I was geeking out over being on the Millennium Falcon: “OMG that’s the table where they played holochess in A New Hope.”)

But the real geeking out happened during Rise of the Resistance. Everyone says it’s amazing and better than anything you’ve seen, but I had NO IDEA. Rise of the Resistance blew my mind. It’s like there was more awesome happening than I could process in real time. Not only is it the most technically advanced ride in the park (according to Wikipedia … where it also says “citation needed”), but it’s also a jaw-dropping immersion in Star Wars (facing 50 stormtroopers in the hangar bay, gliding between the legs of AT-ATs, lightsabers cutting through the ceiling) and it has a lot of content–it’s three stages in 18 minutes. After the ride we were going back and forth with, “Then there was such-and-such. How’d they DO THAT?” We were so curious about the trackless dark ride system that we ended up reading Walt Disney Company patent applications the next morning. That is how much this ride sticks with you.
Between Smuggler’s Run and Rise of the Resistance we headed to Ronto Roasters for some breakfast (Ronto being the elephant/rhino/brachiosaurus-like pack animal on Tatooine). This is the vegan Ronto-less Wrap with Impossible sausage, kimchi slaw, sweet pickled cucumber, and gochujang sauce. It’s delicous.
Galaxy’s Edge steals the show as far as Disneyland lands go. It’s 14 acres of detailed Star Wars universe, and it feels like you’re wandering the streets of a real town. (It’s supposed to be the Black Spire Outpost on Outer-Rim planet Batuu.) From when we first walked in that morning to when we went back later in the day to shop, I was sort of wandering around slack-jawed at all the cool stuff there is to see. The marketplace was especially scenic (pictured) and full of adorable plush Star Wars creatures.
We’d heard it’s worth it to take a look in Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities, and it was impressive. (It was tricky to find since Galaxy’s Edge signs are written in Aurebesh.) We didn’t buy anything, but the Princess Leia stuff was pretty tempting.
After Rise of the Resistance we came down to earth a little bit when Big Thunder Mountain broke while we were in line for it. But the cast members gave our Lightning Lane passes back so we could ride later. In the meantime we headed to the Jungle Cruise (and repeated the jokes to each other for the rest of the day), then had some Dole Whip before the TIki Room.
Tomorrowland was on our list after Adventureland. We did Space Mountain and Star Tours. Space Mountain is so cool. (We thought about going back, but the wait time never went down–you can only use Lighting Lane once per ride.) And for Star Tours we got a combination of Hoth, Yoda, and Boba Fett chasing you on Geonosis. (I love the ice-sliding on Hoth.)
Next was supposed to be Pirates and the Haunted Mansion, but we pushed Pirates until later because the line was ridiculous (and there’s no Lightning Lane option). Then for first lunch we had our favorite vegan gumbo in a bread bowl from Royal Street Veranda. We split it so we could have second lunch at California Adventure …
California Adventure! We didn’t do as much here as we’d planned, mostly because we failed to realize that this park had different hours than Disneyland. But we still did the Little Mermaid, the Sorcerer’s Workshop, and the must-have Soarin’ Over California. (It’s normally Soarin’ Around the World, but we lucked out and happened to be there during the Food & Wine Festival when the ride reverts back to the original California version that we have all the nostalgia for.)
We had second lunch in California Adventure. This is the vegan Philly Dog from Award Weiners. It’s topped with onions, peppers, and dairy-free crema, and it comes with filmstrip fries! The fries are way fun to eat–they’re sort of spiralized and very crunchy and delicious.
Back in Disneyland we rode the Disneyland Railroad, Small World, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, and Pirates.
We had dinner at the Blue Bayou, which is magical. I had the Cajun Cauliflower (vegan, even the Cajun cheddar). In hindsight, our disrupted plans in January worked out better this way. Originally we would have visited the park during the Omicron peak, but we ended up going while the pandemic is taking a slight break. We would have missed Soarin’ Over California. And we wouldn’t have had Blue Bayou reservations.

Part of me was wondering if I could get too old for Disneyland, and the answer is Nope! I forgot how well they create a warm fuzzy atmosphere through the flawless landscaping, the delightful architecture, and the great music (I’m listening to Disney music as I type this). Using a phone for everything worked well–Lightning Lane was really effective, and food orders were near-instantaneous. So at the end of the day I was exhausted and freezing cold and also thinking about buying a pass so I can go back more often!

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