Thanksgiving at Disneyland California & Disney California Adventure Park
Choosing to visit the park on the Sunday after Thanksgiving turned out to be a great decision, as it was much less crowded than I’ve ever experienced. Utilizing the helpful Disney Calendar tracking available on Google, I was pleasantly surprised by how accurately it predicted the crowd levels – hardly any!
We arrived first thing in the morning, when the park opened for regular tickets, and started on Main Stree with coffee and little nosh. Using the Disney App and the off brand Disney Times app, we started over at Star Tours and made sort of a counter clockwise approach to the park, knowing we had reservations at Cafe Orleans for lunch (last minute reservation, randomly!). The first three rides: Star Tours, Space Mountain and Matterhorn were practically walk-ons, and I have never gone to Space Mountain without at least a 30-45 minute wait.
Cafe Orleans was lunch time and it was nice to sit down and have a meal. I chose the Haunted Mansion pre-fix ($45) which had an appetizer, entree and the specialty Jack Skellington Yule Log. I tried the gumbo to start, which was delicious, and my boyfriend wanted the Seafood Boil from the pre-fixe, and I chose off the pre-fixe which was the Spicy Andouille Sausage & Chicken. Bad call on my part. The meal came out cold, like it was just pulled from the refrigerator, after insisting, I called on the waitress and they brought me out another, which was the right temperature, but I wasn’t really hungry at that point, so it was kind of a bummer (also suffered a tad of a stomach ache after..which is not ideal for Mission Breakout). The dessert was the cutest chocolate Jack Skellington Yule and it was quite delicious (which considering the previous dessert – a candlestick something or other, was supposedly not very good, just pretty to look at).
We dashed over to California Adventure for Mission Breakout and I pushed through my stomach ache to not have any…issues. I think I fully terrorized my boyfriend with this ride, but it’s always been my favorite. Definitely a lot faster and less anticipation but more drops than it’s previous iteration of Tower of Terror.
The last ride we opted for the Incredi Coaster, which I believe last time I was here it was the Mickey Coaster. But the line stated 15 minutes, but turned into 30 and I got us on a last minute reservation as a surprise to Oga’s Cantina, so we skipped the coaster and dashed back to Disneyland. There were a lot more rides I would have liked to go to in California Adventure and that’s the only downside to seated reservations is they eat up more time during the day.
BUT. Oga’s was INCREDIBLE. The drinks were naturally quite price (av. $17 ea) and there was a maximum of 2 drinks pp and a time limit, but we had the best time and the vibe was so much fun. I do wish we could have stayed a bit longer and the limit was bumped to 3 drinks. The food options were meh, but with the advice of the bartender we got the pretzel with spicy cheese and that was very very delicious.
We got most of my top rides in – and only missed a few due to the longer wait times, which we both agreed was not worth it. Then we capped off the night watching the Holiday Parade and I honestly can’t ever remember staying to watch the parades, so that was a fun way to end the night. Especially after a solid 12 hours of nonstop Disney.
THOUGHTS / IMPRESSION / TIPS
Check the online Google Calendar crowd tracking – Is it Packed? – it is quite accurate!
Disney during the holidays is something special, from the extra decor to the gussied up food.
Use single rider when available and skip the Genie purchase ($$$).
Check for walk-up reservations and waitlist for restaurants on the Disney app or talk with a cast member, we got into two with this method day-of.
Use the Disney app for fairly accurate details of ride closures and wait times., other third party apps work well too (only have tried for iphone).
Clementine Hotel was such a great find. It was a clean and comfortable hotel and was within walking distance of the Parks and other fun things to do, like markets and bars.
Food/Drink Stops: Salt and Straw (Downtown Disney)(4★)($), Disneyland California Food Stalls/Shops (Churros) (3★)($-$$), Cafe Orleans (Haunted Mansion Pre-Fix : gumbo, cajun chicken & sausage / seafood boil, Jack Skellington Yule Log w/Mint Julep (no alcohol, sad)) (4★)($$$$), Disney Cali Adventures Food Stalls/Shops, Oga’s Cantina (Fuzzy Tauntaun and Takodana Quencher, Garlic-Cheese Five Blossom Bread with Spicy Cheese Sauce)(5★)($$$), Ballast Point Brewery (Downtown Disney)(4★)($$), Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Food Stalls (Batuu’s Blue and Green Milk)(4★)($) , Downtown Disney Food Stalls (Ca/Churro) (3★)($), Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe (Giant Mickey Holiday Ornament Macaroon – Pearl-dusted White Macaron Shells filled with Chocolate Ganache and Peppermint Mousse) (2★)($$) *it was just too dense, and too sweet, and too muh*
Places to Stay: Clementine Hotel & Suites Anaheim (3★)($$)
Points of Interest: Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Millennium Falcon, Avengers Campus, Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones, Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout, Star Wars Star Tours, Pirates of the Caribbean, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Jungle Cruise, Mad Hatter Tea Party, Space Mountain
SKIP : the long lines and jump into single rider lines when possible (instead of buying expensive Disney Genie bands)
Want to See: I would go here again 100000% and hang out more in Star Wars Land – especially the missed out Star Ware Rise of the Resistance Ride b/c waiting 85 minutes was NOT our cup of tea
The Peace Traveler 