Willdra's Paramount Carnival Panorama October 15-21 Cruise

[Megan_Strick]

Yay! Wildra is back. Glad I asked!!

[willdra]

Disneyland Day

 

I woke up at 5:59 and immediately felt like we overslept the 2 alarms (yes 2 alarms, cuz I know us) that I set the night before. Soon afterwards, my 6 o’clock alarm sounded. Ok good. We were still on schedule.

 

I crept into the bathroom and just turned on the little light on the vanity mirror. It was a perfect amount of illumination to keep me from bumping into everything, then yelping about it.  I turned on all of the bathroom lights after my shower. W walked into the bathroom as if on queue. The light gets him every time. Don’t tell him.

 

We got ready, then ordered breakfast in the Chick-Fil-A mobile app. We knew we could walk over there and get it before getting the car from valet. After that, the only other move was to be at Disneyland at 8 when it opened.

 

We walked over and picked up our food around 7:44 (I have no idea what took us so long). Welp, there goes our 8 am Disney arrival time! We are off to a wonderful start. There was a guard standing outside of the Chick Fil A and he had to let us in. Strange. Thoughts and prayers to whatever the reason was for this. I imagine something went down, and Chick-Fil-A said “I am not the one or the two!”. We carefully got our food, added condiments, then walked back across the street to the hotel. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

We chose Disneyland because W had never been and because I only had to pay about $100 for 2 of the 1 day Park Hopper Tickets. At my job, we have recognition dollars that we can give employees during the year. We just have to write a glowing recognition explaining how fabulous this person was, then submit it for approval. Once approved, the recipient gets the award certificate detailing their heroic achievements against insurmountable obstacles, and a link to redeem the credits for gift cards. Since the rewards don’t expire, I saved the ones that I received all year, then I cashed them in for $500 in Disney Gift Cards. After that, I just used the cards to purchase our tickets and parking pass.

 

Disney’s site only lets you use one gift card for a purchase, which gave me a minor heart attack when I first tried to buy the tickets. I did some digging on the innanets, then I read that I could convert the five $100 cards to 1 card on their Gift Card website. How convenient. I did that, and everything else ran smoothly. Reading is what??? Fundamental.

 

 

Our car was waiting from valet when we got back to the hotel. We jumped in, and W drove us to Anaheim. It was about a 40-45 minute ride. There was hardly any traffic. Until we took the exit for Disney. This was as expected. The line for parking was as long as the sick and shut in list on Easter Sunday. I’d prepaid for parking, so when it was our turn, W scanned the pass on my phone and we were in. That’s when I realized this process takes a long time because people aren’t ready. Get the credit cards out, or the app opened on your phone, scan it, and go. The ticket agent was a little surprised when W held up the phone to scan the ticket as soon as he pulled up. His look said: “What? You’re ready?? Bless you nice people”.

 

I feel you ticket man. I feel you.

 

One thing Disney is going to do, is organize some parking. We lined up, and drove into the spot that we were directed to. We grabbed the trash to throw out (I can’t stand leaving trash in the car), and walked down to the main gates.

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

The gates is another “be ready” spot. The signs tell you to take everything out of your pockets, but people were still walking through with pockets full of phones, keys, coins, picnic baskets, and old gum. If there is a line, I usually try to watch the people in front of us, and if they aren’t wildly removing items from their personage, we will switch lines. Cuz why?

 

After we jumped in the right line, we slid thru security. Next up was the tram line up. The trams there are inside. This is nice especially if there is inclement weather. It was 60 degrees at the time, so the weather was not inclement, but it was still nice to be inside. 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

The trams dropped us off at Downtown Disney. Then we walked down to the actual park gates. The gates for Disneyland and California Adventure are across from each other. We could turn right to enter the California Adventure side or left to enter the Disneyland side. We chose Disneyland first. We strolled up, scanned our Magic Bands, then walked down towards the castle. 

 

Typically for these types of activities, I’m an over planner. I try to minimize as much risk as possible by researching and devising several strategies. It also keeps my anxiety at bay when I feel prepared. However for the Disney day I really had no agenda. I thought it was better that way because if something didn’t happen I wouldn’t be disappointed. We’ve been to Disney World so much that I’m good with whatever we do.

 

Unfortunately, we didn't go to Disneyland at all when we lived in CA. We were newlyweds back then, so the struggle bus was parked in our living room. However, M, our adult male offspring (who will hopefully cruise with us again soon), and I did Disneyland back when A abandoned us and left for college (how dare she). W had to go to LA for a week for work. Since he had a per diem food allowance, the hotel, and rental car already paid for, we bought plane tickets for M and I, and we flew out there with him. While W worked during the day, me and M took his rental and spent our days at Disneyland. We had a lot of fun, so I was really looking forward to doing it with W.

 

So even tho my OCD/ADHD was at war with not over planning this visit, I took an extra large chill pill. It’s vacay, no need to stress. Have a Coke and a smile.

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

We sat down on a bench and scheduled Millenium Falcon: Smugglers Run and Star Wars Rise of the Resistance for later. I’d pre-purchased Genie Plus, and it already seemed like it was worth it. Especially since we were only there a day.

 

W wanted to ride Matterhorn, and the wait in the app was short, so we went. Single Rider was an option there, so we got in that line. All in all, we waited maybe 15 minutes, if even. We also still ended up riding together. Chaching! Single Rider might be our jam if it keeps working out like this.

 

On the Matterhorn, there are 6 cars in each section. They explained this on the intercom a few times. There was a group of 8 in front of us. The attendant split them up to 6 and 2. She added the 2 to our group. Of course the lady that was left from the group of 8 was like “I can’t ride with my group?”"Why?". Attendant: “There’s only room for 6 in each car”. Lady to me: “Oh. Ma’am can you switch with me?” Me: “uh uh sorry, she told me to stay in my lane since I’m a Single Rider”. Same Lady (who skipped counting and paying attention classes): “I don’t want to sit in the front, I’m scared”. She was doing way too much, so I mentally went back to Willdra’s world where we don’t have to deal with these shenanigans. One thing Willdra knows, is if someone shenans once, they will shenan again. Bet on it.

 

Nobody would switch with her, so she and the other person with her decided to exit and wait for the rest of their party outside. News flash. Riding something is optional. The ride police don’t go thru the park arresting people if they didn’t ride the Matterhorn or the Mad Tea Party. Riding rides is not mandatory. Make better choices.

 

When it was our turn, W and I got on and rode the bumpy ride. It’s really quick and super not scary at all. After a quick potty, and adjusting my Magic Band cuz it was too loose (hopefully that meant I’d lost a couple pounds walking to the ride), we went to the Millennium Falcon. Y’all. It was a hike and a half. I was so glad that I dressed for comfort. Cuz yikes.

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

After we made our way thru the sea of swirly twirly gumdrops, we walked right into the ride. This is a cool interactive experience with lots of controls and buttons. As we were going in, the attendant asked what position we wanted to be in. I chose to be the pilot in charge of steering us left and right. This simulated ship was very realistic. I tested it a few times to see if it would turn the way that I steered, and it really seemed like it was responding to my maneuvers. W and I got into it, and played our roles well. It went by so fast. I didn’t even have time to reserve another ride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[princess76021]

Thanks @willdra I didn't know we were going to Disneyland too!!  It's been years!!

Hugs from Texas

[willdra]

We gathered ourselves, then decided to go ride Winnie The Pooh which is a must do for me, if it’s possible. The stated wait time was 5 minutes. Once we got there it was more like 15-20. This is when I had time to catch up with my review notes and plan our next move.

 

While we were in the little Pooh car, W’s knee was scrunched up, and he said it was bothering him. He should’ve brought his knee brace, but of course he didn’t. I also forgot to remind him. I paid for it tho, cuz I was so thrilled to hear ”ahh” “ughh” “unh” “grunt” (seriously who still grunts?) every few minutes after that. I asked if he needed to take a break, but he declined. I think he was low key worried that I would leave him on a bench somewhere. He prolly wasn’t wrong. By the time we got to Fantasy Land he said the pain was gone. I told him going forward, if a ride looks like it’s gonna be painful, tell me, and we can skip it. Adult please, and take care of your knees.

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

After yet another potty break for W (maybe I am traveling with a kid after all), we walked over to (the real) Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. By the way, what is Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride from? I made a mental note to look it up later. I forgot to do it tho (don't ever trust my mental notes).

 

The wait to ride was about 15 minutes. We got on, and got halfway thru, then the car stopped and the lights came on. Nothing ruins a good Disney ride, like when it stops AND the lights come on. Bye bye fantasy cartoon world. Hello scary dangerous wires, chords, and tracks. We sat there a few minutes waiting for it to restart but it never did. A cast member came by after a while to let us out. We had to get up (gasp) and walk out. On our own. I vowed then and there to write a strongly worded letter to this Mr. Toad regarding his “Wild Ride”. It was giving Wild Walk. Not Wild Ride.

 

We were going to do Peter Pan next, but by then, the wait was 40 minutes. I also wanted to ride it’s a small world sometime. W checked the wait, and it said 25 minutes. That’s where we went.

 

 

 

 

 

[ninjacat123]

Disneyland was our Mecca.  Every three years, my family would drive down from Oregon, stay at one of those funky hotels surrounding Disneyland (like Peter Pan Lodge) and spend the day at the Magic Kingdom.  Awesome!!  Thanks for bringing back some fun memories😻

[willdra]

At this point it was after 11 am so we were free to Park Hop over to California Adventure. I reserved Soarin’ Around the World while we waited for Mr. Toad’s Wild Walk. Our ride time was 1:50. We wanted to do Guardians of the Galaxy over there too.

 

We were standing in line for it’s a small world when we heard a Big Crunch. An “ahhhhh”. Then some loud beeping. I looked over and this lady had driven her scooter right into a set of trash cans. Against my better judgment, I laughed, only cuz it was really funny, and no one was harmed in the incident. Oh and the best part was when her family left her. They wanted no parts of that situation, and I don’t blame them one bit. Ma’am maybe scooter life ain’t for you. That scooter is a weapon forming against you that could possibly prosper. Leave it alone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

It’s a small world was as cheesy as it needed to be. I still love it tho. We exited the ride, then stopped and took a few pictures. The sun was in a good position, and there was primo lighting on Main Street. We took full advantage before walking out to California Adventure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

It was a quick crossover between parks. We beeped in on the other side, then checked our options. I couldn’t find a way to tell if a ride had a single rider option in the app. It was kinda wait and see if you’re gonna be happy or sad. Since we were getting on into the day, we decided to only wait in line for stuff we’ve never ridden. Lets see how long it takes for us to break that rule.

 

As we were walking in, W declared that he wanted a paper map (old school dude). We found one then walked back to the Incredicoaster. The standby wait time was 70 minutes. 70 minutes! Oh but wait. There was also a single rider line. It seemed long but we jumped in anyway. We spent about 20 minutes in line. We also rode together. Again. By the way, it’s a great ride, and one of my new faves. Do it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

Next on the agenda was food. We had enough time to get pizza before our next ride. While we were in the pizza line, this guy provided entertainment when he came up to claim an order for a whole pizza. The server did what servers do, and asked for his receipt. The guy said “Oh my wife didn’t give me the receipt”. The server as calm as ever, said “I’m sorry but we need the receipt”.  The guy says again (like it’s going to change the server’s answer) “My wife only gave me this order slip. She said this is what I needed. Can I speak with a Manager?” The server gets a Manager who says “I’m sorry sir but we need the receipt. It’s in our policy that we have to get the receipt”. The guy switches up his story and says “We paid for it tho. Can you make an exception?” Dead silence. The Manager mentally counts backwards from 100, while the server tries to disappear under the counter somewhere. Then clearly dejected, the guy says ”Ok I will go get the receipt”.

 

Guess what else happened cruise cousins? He returned with said receipt just a few minutes later. Sheesh. People are gonna people no matter what. Kudos to the Manager tho for the most chill way to say “Uh No” ever. I hope Disney is giving him his flowers.

 

We watched that exchange, cuz what else do you do in line, then got 3 slices of pizza to share, a little cheesecake, water, and a soda. That was $44 very well spent. I promise I can’t stress this enough. One thing Disney does right is pizza. I’ve never had a bad Disney pizza. They never miss. It slaps every time.

 

The area outside of the quick service food shops was congested. The tables and chairs are outside along with condiments and napkins. There was a mariachi band playing on the stage nearby, so people were lingering after they ate. It was a “not so great” move to have all of that going on in that small area.

 

W and I walked around a few minutes until we finally found a spot in the shade. There was a couple leaving right as we walked up. We ate quick, then planned our next move after Soarin’ Around The World and Rise of the Resistance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

When we are together, W has one major job. Navigation. At California Adventure, he got an “F”. We walked farther than we needed to. Several times. Even after we got him the paper map. Lucky for him we eventually found our destination. After a few course corrections, eye rolls, and heavy sighing.

 

We also made it in time, which was also important. Once we got in thru the Lightening Pass lane it went quick. The ride holds a lot of people too, and it lasts 6 minutes.

 

When that was done, we exited and power walked back over to Disneyland. We had about 30 minutes left before our reservation to Rise of the Resistance ended. We walked so fast, my Apple Watch recorded it as a workout. Come thru accidental calorie burning!

 

When we dinged back into Disneyland, we could tell that a parade was about to happen. People were lining up on Main Street, and Cast Members were putting ropes up. That was our queue to get the heck outta there. 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

We made it to Rise of the Resistance in about 10 minutes. When it started, at first, I thought it was kinda cheesy. We did all of that rushing for this??? Then it got better and better. There’s a couple of different sections before the actual ride, so don’t judge it too soon. It has some surprises in store. 10 out of 10, highly recommend.

 

At the conclusion of that we went back towards Tomorrowland. We got stopped by the parade, but we waited behind the ropes, and Cast Members let us thru when it was safe to cross. I took a few pictures while we waited.

 

I got thirsty on the walk, so I paid $9.75 for a bottle of Smart Water. It should be called “you’re dumb if you pay $9.75 for this water”, especially since it’s $2.29 at Kroger. However, it was big and cold, and I gulped it down. Hydration is so underrated on days like this. I was refreshed after drinking it, and maybe even a little smarter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

We rode in the cars at Autopia next. W drove while I chillaxed and took pics. It’s a little jerky, but a good way to rest up. I could also look in the app and plan our next experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

Pirates of the Caribbean was boasting a 35 minute wait time, which wasn’t bad. We decided to test it out. We walked over there, but finding the entrance to it was hard. We broke down and asked, and we were told to basically look for the Cast Member holding the big pirate flag. We found her and jumped in the line. I’m glad we asked, cuz we would’ve never guessed that she was the signal for the line. All in all, we waited 24 minutes. That was also cuz people prolly couldn’t find the line, so they gave up. Can’t blame ‘em.

 

Nobody reminded me to be prepared for a soggy bottom on that ride. The boats go down a couple of drops that really splash. Nothing major, but you will get a moist hiney. Ew.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

Now I have a confession to make. I’ve never gotten in on the Dole Whip hype. At least that I can remember. I know right! Don’t disown me fam. Since we had time, we stopped by the Dole Whip kiosk on the way to ride Buzz Lightyear. Much to my dismay, and shame, they only accepted mobile orders. I would not be deterred, and I was determined to right this wrong, so I placed an order in the app to pickup after Buzz. I can do technology when I have to.

 

There was a little time until our reservation for Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. We walked slow, and enjoyed the scene on the way. We even stopped in a shop or two. However, not a purchase was made. Nobody felt like carrying even one extra pound of anything.

 

When it was our time, we went in and scanned our passes. I still love that ride, it holds fond memories of us taking our offspring to Disney, and riding that ride several times. I also now have fond memories of beating W in Buzz Lightyear. By a lot. Ha!

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

When we walked out of the ride, another parade was getting ready to start. We crossed over back into Adventureland so we would be in the area to pickup my Dole Whip order at 6:30. We sat in the Tiki Hut waiting area when we got there. There’s a very good restroom back there, which we utilized. At 6:30 I picked up my Pineapple Whip. It was everything and more! It lived up to the hype, and no lies were detected. It for real made my mouth ecstatic. I ate it slow to enjoy it while we sat and people watched. After I was done, we did the Jungle Cruise cuz it was a short wait.

 

The wait for Jungle Cruise was short for a reason. That ride was super super mid and dated. I was glad we only waited 20 minutes. It was after 7 when we exited, but the park was still very full. We checked the app, and Peter Pan had a 30 minute wait. It was a very quick walk through the castle to get there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

While we were in the Peter Pan line, I had to fix W’s phone. His Disney app signed him out, and he couldn’t sign back in. I had all of our passes on my phone too but it’s so much easier when he has his own. Especially since we needed to crossover to California Adventures after Peter Pan. His MagicBand was also disconnected, so none of his tech was working. After fiddling with it, I just deleted the app then reloaded it, and it worked. Incidentally that’s what I told him to do when it first glitched, but W is gonna W.

 

That 30 minute Peter Pan wait turned into us waiting in line over an hour. Right when we got to the front, the ride broke. After another 15-20 minutes, they asked us to vacate the premises. At the line entrance, there was a Cast Member who scanned our cards, which added a free Lightening Pass to our account. It was already late, so we did not use it. We just took that opportunity to fight our way back over to California Adventure to ride our final ride for the day.

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

There were hundreds of people everywhere. They were all in that center area on Main Street waiting for the fireworks at 9:30. It was about 9 then. The Cast Members were also closing some of the roads. It turned out that missing Peter Pan was what we needed to do. We weren’t aware that we were in danger of not being able to cross over in time. I was praying the whole time that we wouldn’t get stuck. Thankfully they had the sidewalk on the right open for people to exit the park only. We made it over there at 9:07. There were way less people on the other side. Prolly cuz California Adventure closed at 10.

 

Right when we got to the ride entrance to scan our Lightening Lane passes, my app froze like W’s had done earlier. No! Not. Now. I had it all ready to go, then when I opened the app again, it wouldn’t do anything. Thinking fast, I clicked out of the passes, then I clicked the home button to start it over, and it worked. Whew. Unfortunately, when I was loading W’s passes onto his phone, I only sent him his stuff. He couldn’t see mine, since I had the main account. I told him the next time I would make sure both of our phones have all of the passes. You never know when the system or app will peace out on you. Nobody needs that. Especially at these prices.

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

I got myself together, then scanned in. We waited about 15 minutes before boarding the ride. Guardians of the Galaxy Mission: Breakout is a rebranded Tower of Terror. IYKYK. They changed the graphics and aesthetic, but it’s basically the same ride. W and I were in the front row, and I didn’t know how I felt about it. Welp let me tell y’all, that ride is still so much fun! I’d forgotten how much I love it. I screamed to the full corn moon. Shamelessly. This was the perfect end to this magical day.

 

Whew, it was time to exit stage left after that. Hundreds of other people had the same idea. I was planning to go into the World of Disney Store on the way out, but there was a wait to get in. Oh well, that wasn’t meant to be. We boarded a tram when we could, and rode back to the parking deck.

 

I didn’t remember it going in, but it was a mini marathon back to the parking decks. I almost decided that I would just live there amongst the concrete and shame. Then I remembered that W needs me to plan these awesome vacations that he has to drive us to, and I found the will to keep going. It’s the little things.

 

After an eternity, we found our deck and car. We were so tired, I think we sat there for a while in silence before driving off.

 

 

[willdra]

Now I know y’all don’t think we came all of this way without going to Walmart right? Right. I don’t care how exhausted we were, we found lots of energy for Walmart. There just so happened to be one 6 minutes away. In all honesty, we still needed to get W’s soda and my wine for the cruise, so we kinda had to go.

 

Walmart late at night in any city is a gamble with your life. It’s also a gamble that W and I keep taking. This was status quo. The parking lot was crazy. Inside the store was crazy. Self checkout was deranged. We went to checkout, but we were stopped because alcohol wasn’t allowed in self checkout. Wait. Whet?

 

We were told to wait and pay for it at the register that’s right at the front of self checkout. The only problem with that, was the cashier was busy rescanning a whole buggy full of stuff for a lady. I had a feeling the lady was trying to pull a fast one, but it wasn’t my business, and I was too tired to get the tea on that one.

 

There was a register behind us in cosmetics, and the lady working there called me over and said she would ring me up. She was actually nice which hardly ever happens at Walmart. I was thrilled to finally get out of there. It’s not ever a good sign when ALL of the cosmetics are locked up. In Walmart. You mean I gotta call somebody to get facial cleanser and cotton rounds? No Gracias.

 

Soon our bellies reminded us that we hadn’t eaten solid food since that pizza at 1:30. We were hungry as hostages. I found a Raising Cane’s across the street from the Walmart that stayed open until 3:30 am. Yes God!  W whipped us over into the drive thru. We had our food a few minutes later. It was so good. Almost anything would've been good tho. Almost. 

 

It was late late by then, so W took us back to the hotel.  

Back in our room, we ate, talked, and got ourselves “cruise ready”.  We had a great time so far, but the cruise was the main attraction for us. As always, I was pumped to be embarking upon one of my favorite ships again.

 

Before I fell asleep, I said a prayer thanking God that I stayed the course, and went back to get that Dole Whipped Pineapple. I didn’t fall for the "mobile app only” okey doke. That first spoonful had my mouth ascending to heights of euphoria, bliss, and joy that it had never experienced from something frozen before. I also swore to the strap on Jesus’ right sandal, that I would be nicer to W if I could get another one soon.

Now. Let the church say amen. Amen.