[USWC Fall Vacation] Day 07/08 : Anaheim, California : Disneyland Park

We hit the road to head back to Anaheim, California, upon checking out from the Encore Resort Hotel. 

On the road trip towards California, we stopped by at an outdoor art exhibit in Nevada known as the 'Seven Magic Mountains'. It is a public installation consisting of seven giant towers of stacked neon boulders rising playfully over the surrounding Nevada desert.

It was amazing to see the colorful boulders against the backdrop of the Nevada desert. Seven Magic Mountains is only accessible by driving so you will need either a rental car, grab an Uber or Lyft ride or join a tour that includes the Seven Magic Mountains. Unfortunately, there is no public transport which services Seven Magic Mountains, as it’s in the middle of the desert in a remote location.

To me, if you've rented a car for your trip to Los Angeles and are planning to come to Vegas, then you should visit this magnificent and larger than life and one-of-a kind art installation! Seven Magic Mountains looks unbelievable to the eyes when it is located on a busy road between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

A trip out to Seven Magic Mountains is well worth it! There is no entrance fee and it is free for all to see. It's only 25 minutes drive from the Las Vegas Strip! The photos we took were stunning!

We booked a 2 night-stay at Clementine Hotel & Suites Anaheim, and it is only is a 15-minute walk away from the Disneyland Resort.

When it comes to Disneyland Good Neighbor Hotels, they are not exactly luxurious places to stay at, but they are more favoured for their convenience, cost and close proximity to the Disney theme parks. Of course, the luxury hotels nearby are the actual Disney resorts but those cost an arm and a leg to stay at! 

We checked into our room around 6pm, and once we dropped off our luggage/belongings in the room, we headed out to Disneyland Hotel to have our dinner with the characters!

Baby made reservations online at the Goofy's Kitchen before our trip. It is an American-style buffet dinner, and the character interactions were excellent.

The character interactions at Goofy’s Kitchen were exceptional. We started by meeting Goofy at the entrance after making the payment.

The dining atmosphere was enjoyable, and the food was pleasantly good!

There were other famous disney characters such as Chip & Dale, Minnie and Pluto, who all came to our table for interacting with us as well as to take photos!

I had a great evening indulging in the impressive food spread, as well as mingling and taking photographs with the live Disney Characters!

If you’re looking for the character meal that’s the most fun, look no further than Goofy’s Kitchen!

The hotel we stayed offered a complimentary hot breakfast with waffles, eggs, sausage or bacon, pastries and a few other options. We left for Disneyland Park by paying a small amount of a return-way shuttle bus service located outside the hotel.

Prior to my trip to LA, Baby purchased the tickets to Disneyland Park online, and the opening hours for that day of our visit was 8am-12mn.

We arrived at the theme park about 35mins after the park opened, and the crowd was pretty decent, as compared to our previous trip. I was glad that that I wasn't greeted by insane long queues outside the entrance. In fact, I thought it quite manageable.

Upon entering the park, we headed straight to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, the Star Wars-themed land, as this was the chance to live the Star Wars story. There are only two rides located in Galaxy’s Edge. It was fun enough to walk around Galaxy’s Edge.

There are also several photo opportunities with different spacecraft.

The Star Wars:  Rise of the Resistance is one of the best rides at Disneyland and it’s located in Galaxy’s Edge. It is definitely more than just a ride!

We continued our Star Wars journey by heading to Tomorrowland, and we took the ride - Star Tours - The Adventures Continues.

At the Main Street, U.S.A at Disneyland Park, we saw many familiar buildings and attractions which were similar to other Disneyland Parks that we had been to before.

The Pirates of the Caribbean is a slow dark ride that took us to a long-forgotten time when pirates created havoc on the high seas.I was impressed with the remarkable graphic settings and sound effects. This was my fourth time on this ride and I still loved it! Do prepare to get a little wet from this ride at California. 

We were lucky to ride on the Haunted Mansion Holiday, as it is an annual seasonal overlay of The Haunted Mansion attraction which blends the settings and characters of the original Haunted Mansion with those of the 1993 film - 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'.

As we were approaching the mansion while being in queue, we saw that they had a giant clock which showed the exact number of days left until Christmas! The rest of the mansion was decorated with garlands, candles, and pumpkins, while Jack Skellington sat on the roof, dressed in Santa Claus’ suit!

Inside the mansion, fans of the 'Nightmare before Christmas' movie would instantly be delighted as the mansion took on various scenes and decor from the movie!

I suggest you get there early to ride this incredible ride, as the wait time for us was 75mins! This yearly tradition of visiting Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion Holiday with ‘The Nightmare before Christmas’ overlay is one that cannot be missed!

The Christmas Fantasy Parade was terrific, and I shall let my photos & videos do the talking!

We had our dinner at Café Orleans, and this was our first sit-in dinner in a Disneyland Park’s restaurant. The food was pretty good, and the dessert was fabulous!

It's a 'Small World' was so pretty at night!

We ended our night back at Galaxy's Edge at the 'Oga's Cantina'! We ordered 2 drinks and a plate of snacks to go along with our drinks! The damage was USD36.

With the extremely long opening hours, we were happy that we managed to complete most of the rides at the park, as compared to our previous visit.

Nevertheless, I really love the rides in Disneyland Park California, as the rides are slightly different from other Disneyland Parks. They are more exciting/thrilling as compared to the rest of the Disneyland Parks. We left the park at 12mn with a satisfied smile, and the shuttle bus brought us back to our hotel.

Thanks for reading up on my experience in Anaheim, California, and do stay tune for the last post of my USWC vacation!