DLDQ2018 trip report: I can’t believe I actually did it

TL;DR: I did every single attraction listed on the map at Disneyland in 13 hours 27 minutes.

I wrote two weeks ago about my plan to speedrun Disneyland. It ended up getting much more attention than I could have anticipated, with hundreds of retweets and an interview with USgamer. While the attention was jarring, it helped force me to actually follow through on this dumb idea. In the end, it was more successful than I could have anticipated.

I managed to finish every attraction before Fantasmic, allowing me to call time at the end of the show. My final time, 13 hours 27 minutes, is the fastest time you could get that day. (Unless you started after park opening, but I’m not convinced that’s possible.) It got a bit dicey towards the end as I jetted between different 20-minute shows, trying to get over to the Rivers of America in time. Thanks to some perfect timing at Path of the Jedi and the Enchanted Tiki Room, I wasted almost no time waiting for these attractions to cycle.

I’ll get to some takeaways at the end but first: the run! I took a selfie at every major step as a way to timestamp and most of these times are pulled from my livetweeting of the run.

6:55am: wake up

I was staying at the Red Lion Hotel in Anaheim, about a 10-minute walk from the park. I decided to walk over instead of taking a Lyft because what’s another 10 minutes on top of nearly 14 hours of walking!

7:43am: gates open

It’s pretty standard for the gates to open a bit early and for them to start letting people into the hub before 8am. That way they can avoid a rush of people trying to get to their lands as quickly as possible. I went straight over towards the Fantasyland entrance once I could.

1. 8:07am: Peter Pan’s Flight

With Peter Pan done within the first 10 minutes, I was already on pace for a great run. I knew that pace wouldn’t hold all day, but I still savored it while I could.

2. 8:12am: Alice in Wonderland

This was a new one for me! I’d never been on most of the dark rides at Disneyland and Alice in Wonderland doesn’t have a WDW equivalent! The ride’s use of the outdoor space was really neat to me. I’d seen how it winds around outside from the exterior but seeing how it worked into the ride was cool.

3. 8:23am: Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride

I love Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. You get to joyride, assault a cop, die, and go to hell. What’s not to like?

4. 8:27am: Snow White’s Scary Adventures

Not a new one for me but it’s been forever since I rode it at the Magic Kingdom and this was my first time riding it at Disneyland. Yet another dark ride that ends with your death. The 50’s was on some shit.

BONUS 8:31am: Captain Hook selfie!

I got lucky enough to run into Captain Hook around the exit to Pinocchio! He only had two people waiting to meet him, and I figured I had time to get a quick selfie.

5. 8:33am: Pinocchio’s Daring Journey

Another new one for me!

6. 8:43am: King Arthur Carousel

I had initially intended to ride the carousel later in the day, as I’d anticipated Fantasyland taking much longer than it actually did. I figured it would be better for me to get it done now, rather than waiting and wasting time later. It was a good break from the relentless pace I’d been on so far.

7. 8:52am: Mad Tea Party

I was planning to head straight over to Toontown so that I could get into line to meet Mickey before it got too wild when I saw a mostly empty Mad Tea Party about to start a cycle. I was able to get on board before it began and still had plenty of time to make it over to Mickey’s house!

8. 9:03am: Mickey’s House and Meet Mickey

My plan worked, Mickey’s House had one person ahead of me when I got there.

9. 9:06am: Minnie’s House

Minnie was home, which is extremely rare. I was glad to get a picture with her!

10. 9:10am: Gadget’s Go Coaster

This is the only rollercoaster at Disneyland I hadn’t yet been on! Love that lightly themed Vekoma roller skater.

11. 9:12am: Chip ’n Dale’s Treehouse

Someday I will meet those rowdy boys who do nothing but fuck with Donald, but I still haven’t yet.

12. 9:14am: Donald’s Boat

What is this thing. Why is it here. I hate it.

13. 9:15am: Goofy’s House

Goofy was out???? truly I was blessed in this Year of the Dog (goofy is a dog)

14. 9:19am: Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin

This ride is. Fine. It was a walk-on though, and I can’t ask for much more.

15. 9:27am: it’s a small world

I’ve never seen small world be a walk-on, but it was today!

16. 10:03am: Star Tours

I had a FP for Star Tours, so I was able to get right on. It seems like it’s a static film right now with the release of The Last Jedi. I miss the weird disjointed slot machine of Star Wars eras.

17. 10:18am: Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

I did worse than during my practice run the day before :/. 122k vs. 93k

18. 10:50am: Autopia

Autopia is. weird. love those gasoline fumes. I wish more of the queue was in the shade.

19. 11:06am: Space Mountain

I had accidentally missed my earlier FP because of small world, but I at least had the foresight to get a backup FP when it looked like I would miss that one. I can never remember where the damn photo is on this ride.

20. 11:15am: Star Wars Launch Bay

Got a selfie with my boy Anakin and then went on over to the submarine voyage!

21. 11:21am: Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage

Since I can’t climb down into the submarine, I did the Observation Theatre, which is just a film version of the ride. It’s less fun than the ride because you’re not in a submarine, but it’s the same length and content.

22. 11:55am: Tinkerbell

I’d never met Tinkerbell before! Pixie Hollow is actually a pretty cute area of the park, and her line was surprisingly short!

23. 12:05pm: Matterhorn Bobsleds

Redeemed my Matterhorn FP for the left track! I’ve noticed that the left side is much more aggressive than the right. I like it more.

24, 25, 26, 27. 12:16pm: Disneyland Railroad

Got on at Toontown, got off at New Orleans Square. I’m counting it as four attractions because it’s on the map four times.

BREAK 1:15pm: lunchtime periscope break

28. 1:30pm: Jungle Cruise

My skipper confided in me before we left that he’d forgotten to reload his gun on his last trip, which made for a pretty awkward tour!

29. 2:02pm: Indiana Jones Adventure

The second loading station was down when I went, causing a pretty big bottleneck. Our vehicle got stopped multiple times throughout the ride! Also I’m pretty sure the boulder effect is broken. This ride needs a refurb badly.

30. 2:14pm: Tarzan’s Treehouse

love 2 climb

31. 2:20pm: Davey Crockett’s Explorer Canoes

I didn’t actually ride this BUT I allocated the correct amount of time. I picked a person in line who I would have been behind and sat in the area while I waited for them to go in the canoe and come back so I would spend the same amount of time as I would have on the ride.

32. 2:37pm: Sailing Ship Columbia

I got EXTREMELY LUCKY and crossed around right as the Sailing Ship was loading!!

33. 3:02pm: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Used my Big Thunder FP after Sailing Ship Columbia. I love Big Thunder and this was a part of the day I’d been looking forward to.

34. 3:12pm: Mark Twain Riverboat

Had incredible luck AGAIN while getting off Big Thunder. Mark Twain was loading as I walked up to it so I was once again able to get right on.

35. 3:37pm: Haunted Mansion

Haunted Mansion is my favorite ride in the park. I rode it four times this weekend. I love it.

36. 4:05pm: Pirates of the Caribbean

PLEASE revert the ride back to pre-Johnny Depp. he’s a genuine piece of shit and his animatronic looks bad. I panicked on the boat cause I was worried I wouldn’t have enough time to get to Tom Sawyer Island before the boats stopped running (they were scheduled to stop at 4:30pm) BUT

37. 4:32pm: THE LAST BOAT TO TOM SAWYER ISLAND

I made it onto the Very Last Boat! my pilot asked why I was in such a hurry and when I told her my plan, she pointed out that I managed to do Tom Sawyer Island as late as possible. I walked a lap around the island and then came back to the mainland.

38. 5:03pm: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Winnie the Pooh had a short line so I went ahead and did it before Laughing Stock Co. at 5:15pm. I like this ride.

39. 5:13pm: Golden Horseshoe Stage (Laughing Stock Co.)

Laughing Stock Co. is uh. not very good imo. it’s ok if u disagree.

40. 5:50pm: Royal Hall (Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel)

Cinderella was EXTREMELY excited about my run (coming very close to breaking character but still staying on brand). Her character host was excited too!

41. 5:58pm: Frontierland Shootin’ Exposition

Got out of Royal Hall with 25 minutes free and decided to pop over and do the shooting gallery real quick. Turns out you need cash for that, so I had to find an ATM and then get change. If I’d been prepared, I think I would have had time for Astro Orbitor in the gap before Storytelling at Royal Theatre. Next time.

42. 6:15pm: Storytelling at Royal Theatre (Tangled)

Tangled was cute but there was too much man-in-a-dress comedy for my taste. C+

43. 6:37pm: Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough

I’d never done this???? It’s neat to walk around inside the castle imo.

44. 6:45pm: Fantasyland Theatre (Mickey and the Magical Map)

STITCH WAS HERE I LOVE STITCH A+

45. 7:19pm: Disneyland Monorail

The monorail had been down every time I’d tried to go on it earlier due to Monorail Red having technical issues and needing to get pulled off the track. I ended up doing it much later than I’d planned, since the monorail can be kind of inconsistent on timing. Luckily it only took around 15 minutes to finish a cycle!

46. 7:37pm: Star Wars: Path of the Jedi

I got to Tomorrowland Theatre with 10 seconds before the next show! Path of the Jedi is bad and I will likely never do it again unless I have to.

47. 8:05pm: Astro Orbitor

Astro Orbitor is much more fun than I remembered, idk why I don’t go on it more. I realized, while I was on board, it was a good way to go over my plan for the rest of the run!

BONUS: Astro Orbitor Periscope update

48. 8:10pm: Main Street Cinema

I went in, checked what was on each screen, and bounced. No one really stays for a full short so (after some rules conferring with the audience at home) I decided not to as well.

49. 8:20pm: Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and the Disney Gallery

love 2 be horny for america (seriously tho I fuckin love the Disneyland model in the gallery)

50. 8:40pm: Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room

Made it to the Tiki Room while they were letting people into the theatre. Maynard was hosting that night! I had never seen his pre-show spiel, so it was a nice moment in an overall stressful part of the run.

51. 9pm: Fantasmic!

I made it to the Rivers of America at 8:56pm, just enough time to find a good place to stand and revel in my victory!

9:27pm: TIME!

I periscoped the last five minutes of Fantasmic so that people could watch time get called live.

So I did it! I finished every attraction at Disneyland before the first Fantasmic showing. I’m honestly still amazed it was possible and I’m still, days later, exhausted from it. Looking forward to trying again in September!

Takeaways

Would I do this again? Yes, absolutely. But not until everything is open again. I’d also like to try and All Rides (things that move) run across Disneyland and DCA but that’ll be muuuuuuch later.

A possible run that you could actually optimize is a 55% run (everything open in 1955). Since it’s only a few rides, you could attempt it multiple times in a day and get an actual route down.

I’d love to see this become a thing but I’m not sure it’ll happen unless I make it one 🙂

Final stats!

Attractions per hour

3.8

Most attractions per hour

9am-10am (8 attractions in one hour!)

Least attractions per hour

1pm-2pm (Jungle Cruise + lunch), 9pm-10pm (Fantasmic!)

Additional notes

I did 15 attractions in the first two hours and 16 attractions in the next five hours, dropping from a rate of 7.5 per hour to 3.2 per hour.

Full breakdown

  • 8am-9am: 7
  • 9am-10am: 8
  • 10am-11am: 3
  • 11am-12pm: 4
  • 12pm-1pm: 5
  • 1pm-2pm: 1
  • 2pm-3pm: 4
  • 3pm-4pm: 3
  • 4pm-5pm: 2
  • 5pm-6pm: 4
  • 6pm-7pm: 3
  • 7pm-8pm: 2
  • 8pm-9pm: 4
  • 9pm-10pm: 1

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