Thanksgiving Weekend at Disneyland

Over Thanksgiving I headed on over to Disneyland with my family. The five of us packed ourselves, our luggage and Thanksgiving dinner into a five seater car. We drove the 6 hours from Mesa, Arizona to Anaheim, California so that we could visit the

Happiest Place

on Earth.

The last time I went to Disneyland you could count my age on just one hand, so I was pretty stoked about this trip. It started off because I wanted to take my 7-year old cousin to Disneyland to spoil her. And spoil her we did.

Instead of hitting the deals on Black Friday we went over to Disneyland. The park was less crowded than I imagined it would be. We were able to get on all of the large rides, only having to use one fast pass all day.

If you haven’t been to Disneyland in a long time, then you will probably want to see the parade when you go. Beware, the sparse benches fill up fast and the remaining sidewalk goes quickly. If you want a chance at seeing the parade, someone in your group has to go and save seats at least one hour early, more if you want a bench.

(My cousin was so excited to see Mickey coming through the parade)

Later we squished in for fireworks. At Christmas time Disneyland doesn’t tell the Princess story that they normally do, but the fireworks were beautiful.

Saturday we went back to Disneyland and headed straight for Toon Town where we could visit with Mickey, Goofy and Pluto. Then we ran over to California Adventure once it opened so that we could see the park.

California Adventure has the Cars exhibit under construction, so a lot of the park is closed off. We were able to hit up Tower of Terror and the Ferris Wheel and the large roller coaster, along with some smaller rides.

I highly recommend seeing the World of Color show. In order to get great standing room, you have to get a fast pass. One in my group said it took her two hours to get the fast passes for her entire group the first time she went to California Adventure. However, there is a Picnic Meal that you can purchase for $16 per person (yes, even kids) and it was well worth it. When you preorder online, you get the first show. If you go to the park and order, you get the second show. The area we were designated was wonderful and the show really was magical.