Day 2 At Disneyland (or Gardens and Roller Coasters)

Monday was another fun-filled day at Disneyland. After going to bed pretty late due to the evacuation of the hotel, I was pretty surprised that I woke up early and feeling pretty well rested (those hotel beds are pretty awesome and magical that way).

My parents and I started our day with breakfast in Downtown Disney before heading over to Disneyland for our first adventure for the day.

While planning this trip to Disneyland, I knew that my mom would love it. She’s a Disneyland person like I am. But my dad really isn’t a big theme park person. But I saw that Disneyland had a tour of the gardens of Disneyland. And my dad is a big gardening person. He has a really green thumb and takes a lot of pride in making the front and back yard of their house look really amazing. So I got us all signed up for the Cultivating The Magic tour.

As soon as we checked in, we got name tags and a headphone/audio set up so we could hear our tour guide without her having to speak too loud. I felt a little touristy in my getup, but I was super excited to do something at Disneyland that I’ve never done before.

We had an amazing tour guide, Amberly. She was super knowledgeable about all of the plants and really made the tour a lot of fun.

Part of the tour included going on a few rides. First, we were taken on the Jungle Cruise. Our tour group got a private boat and instead of hearing the usual Jungle Cruise jokes, Amberly gave a tour of the plant life in and around the ride. That was pretty amazing!

Next we went on the Haunted Mansion. We did learn a bit about the plants in front of the ride, but inside the ride we just rode it like everyone else. I’m not sure why that ride was part of the tour, but I’m not complaining since that’s a ride I go on anyway.

The last ride included on our tour were the Storybook Land Canal Boats. This ride is another favorite of mine and I was so excited that this was a part of the tour. Again, like the Jungle Cruise, instead of hearing the usual spiel, Amberly gave us a tour of the gardens on the ride. My favorite (and I think my dad’s favorite) is the succulent patchwork garden.

Our tour pretty much went into every land of the park. We learned that all the plants in Tomorrowland are actually edible or usable in some way and that in Fantasyland by the Dumbo ride, there is a rose that is named the Disneyland rose.

Our tour ended over by Tomorrowland which was perfect because my family’s plan was pretty much to do all the roller coasters in the park. Because that was our plan, my mom decided to not wear her wig at all during the day. This was the first time she has been wigless for an entire day since losing her hair, and I thought that was very brave. Her hair is growing back and I think it looks great!

We rode Space Mountain first and then we headed over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Big Thunder just reopened after a long refurbishment, and this was my first chance to get to ride it.

It was really great and I love the improvements. The only problem I had was trying to keep my hands up for the entire ride. My parents rode together so I rode alone. And since the restraint in the ride is a lap bar for the entire bench, there was a lot of room next to me. And whenever the ride took a turn, I flew across the bench. I ended up having to hold on with one hand.

Our next coaster was the Matterhorn. I personally don’t love this ride, but my mom does and she really wanted to ride it. I got a great picture of the three of us before the ride started.

I’m glad I took a picture before the ride because my dad really didn’t like the Matterhorn. He had the same complaints that I have: too rough, too little padding on the seat, and it makes your bones hurt.

After the Matterhorn, it was getting really hot inside the park so we took a lunch break in Downtown Disney (where it was nice and air-conditioned!). After lunch, my mom decided she wanted to rest and my dad and I headed back into the park for one final ride.

I wanted to take my dad on Star Tours. It was redone a few years ago, so obviously my dad hadn’t been on the new version yet. And I don’t know if my dad and I have ever ridden Star Tours together. As a kid, I was terrified by the ride. So my dad would take my brother and my mom and I would ride the People Mover while we waited for them.

Fortunately, I’m over my Star Tours fear so my dad and I got to enjoy the ride.

After that, we joined my mom back at the hotel where she was resting by the pool in the shade.

We relaxed at the pool for a while. I had to head back to LA that evening, but I wanted to wait until rush hour traffic died down.

We had a very busy two day trip, but it was so perfect! My parents had a great time and I got to spend some nice quality time with them. I’ll probably see my parents again sometime this summer. I’m hoping to make it to Tahoe and my parents might be coming down here to see a show at the Hollywood Bowl (my dad has never been and my mom hasn’t been in 50 years).

I know that my mom and I will do another Disneyland adventure in the future and now I’m thinking maybe my dad will join us for it as well! And if not, at least I got to show him why I love Disneyland so much and I know that he at least understands it a little bit.

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