[TRAVEL]: Travel To The U.S 5! Los Angeles; Disneyland Park, Disneyland California Adventure Park

WOW, it's literally almost been 2years since I blogged about my US trip. And I promised to update, but hey, haha shit happens and I never got around updating. But, better late than never I always say :) This trip, no matter how long ago, will always mean a lot to me and I still remember everything that happened very clearly, so without further ado, let me pick up from where I left off. For ease of reference, do read the rest of my previous entries HERE to read it in a coherent chronological way. Thanks!

Day 8: DISNEYLAND PARK & DISNEYLAND CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE PARK, LOS ANGELES

OOTD. Gosh, i was so much thinner and younger looking just 2years ago. LOL!
Time really flies~

Here, I would like to say that I am super thankful and grateful to our tour guide, Veron! She was super caring and super efficient in taking care of us. I swear no other tour guide would care so much about her tour group than she does. She really wanted us to have as much fun, and experience as many rides as possible. Did I mention that we were there during the CHRISTMAS SEASON? SCHOOL HOLIDAYS? OMG! the crowd was crazy! There were literally people EVERYWHERE! and queuing up for EVERY RIDE!

The way Disneyland works in the US (and most likely everywhere else), is that they do have a FAST PASS (FP) system where by you can't buy it (like how you would in Universal Studios Singapore), you have to go to their FAST PASS BOOTH and COLLECT the ticket to return at a later time. Does it make sense? So let me illustrate this in point form:

1. Find the Fast Past Booth for your specific Ride (certain rides have no Fast Pass/Express Pass)
2. Then look out for the TIME thats stated (normally at the top). That will be the time that your FP ticket is valid for. So for example, if the time states 2:30 - 3:30, make sure you return to the ride and join the FP queue within that time frame. Once you pass that time frame, your Fast Pass ticket isn't valid anymore. 
3. Once you've collected your FP, go and enjoy other rides/eat and then return to join the Fast Pass queue at the ride during your time slot stated on your ticket. 

Is that easier to understand? LOL

So yeh, it was impossible for us, tourists, to navigate our way around the park fast and efficiently to get those FP tickets and so my dear Veron actually did the running around the park for us. She went to all the major must-ride attractions to collect the FP tickets for us! I am sooooo thankful for her, because if not for her, I don't think I'd be able to sit even more than 1 ride. The queue for each was friggin at least an hour or more! It was really really packed and crowded. We were running here and there along with her, but I didn't mind at all. Even my parents, who are rather old, ran along as well. Normally, you'd find my parents just sitting by a cafe, waiting for us kids to finish our rides. Thanks to Veron, my parents actually got to sit on a few rides with us, which was really very memorable to me cuz I really enjoyed going on the rides with them! Thank you so much Veron! 

This was the early queue times. We arrived there when the park just opened. And already, the queue was starting to form. 

So, thanks to Veron, we managed to sit on our first ride: 

Indiana Jones Adventure: ★★ (not worth the long queue time) 

I personally wouldn't give this ride it's "must-ride" title. I found it to be too jerky and head-banging (literally). My dad got off the ride with a sore neck. LOL! The queue for this was super long, thank god we had the FP and didn't have to queue the full hour for this 5-minute ride. If you have alot of time to spare at the park, then do go and give this ride a go. But if not, you can just skip this and queue up for other better rides.

Haunted Mansion Holiday: ★★★★ 

This I'd recommend 100%! Especially so because during the Christmas Season, you'd get the Holiday version, which is fully decked out in the movie theme of "The Nightmare Before Christmas". The queue for this was well worth the wait. I think we were very lucky because we arrived early, there wasn't much of a queue. And when I say "not much of a queue" it doesn't mean that there wasnt anyone. We still queued for about 50mins for this. Yeap, 50mins is considered "not much of a queue". Usually, the line queue would be about an hour to 2hours. It's cause this attraction really is worth the queue. While you're queuing, you already feel like you're in that magical Jack Skellington world where he dresses up as Santy Claws. I love that movie! The amount of effort put into the decorations, right down to the little details. I really enjoyed soaking it all up whilst in the queue. 

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ★★

This is a ride the whole family can definitely take together. It's a slow water, boat ride. It brings you along the familiar storylines and characters from the movie itself. The entire Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was based off of this one small boat ride. It was certainly cool to see where the movie got inspired by, but not worth the 50mins queue time. Personal preference I suppose. I, personally, enjoy rides that give me like an adrenaline rush. I enjoy sitting on fast rides, or dangerous rides, and especially so if there's water involved, which brings me to the next attraction which I absolutely loved!! 

SPLASH MOUNTAIN: ★★★★★ 

THIS ATTRACTION IS SOOO WORTH IT!! WARNING: YOU WILL GET WET/DRENCHED. After getting off this ride, my shoes were totally soaked, I did not tuck it in all the way :( But nevertheless, this was all worth it! The queue for this was about 1hr 45mins close to 2hours. Thankfully, we had Veron and we had the Fast Pass :D So we entered through the FP queue and only waited about 30mins to get on. My parents sat out of this one, haha too extreme for them. My siblings and I sat on this together and all of us got wet. hahaha! It's super super fun. The drop was really high and steep. DEFINITELY WORTH THE QUEUE! 

TOWER OF TERROR: ★★★★

I loved the Tower of Terror! The queue for this, was again, super long. And again, we managed to get the Fast Passes for this :D I can't thank you enough Veron!! This attraction is where you sit through a few levels of back-story, building you up all the way to the top where you get to see the most AWESOME VIEW OF THE ENTIRE PARK, right before you are DROPPED! HAHAHA the feeling is literally like being in a lift, up way high, and then just free-falling to the ground below. It's super fun and really scary at the same time. My sister almost backed out of this one, but we persuaded her to no end to just sit it with us. Not every day we are this lucky to get to be in LA and having the Fast Pass right? haha. 

The Tower of Terror definitely does not like as intimidating in the morning as it does look at night. 

Haha yup, you're dropped from that height of the "tower". The view up there really is very breathtaking, especially if you get up there during sunset or night time. It's just perfect, but do be mentally prepared for the big drop haha! 

That was all the rides we could actually queue up for before they closed the park. Always remember to PLAN YOUR DAY WELL! Make sure you know which rides you want to take and if that ride has a Fast Pass for it. Plan your timings so you make the most out of your day. Please take me back to Disneyland!! :(

Next Entry: Hollywood, Universal Studios Hollywood