Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go to a conference in Anaheim, California. I knew that Disneyland was less than a mile away from my hotel and thought it would be a great spontaneous trip. With the conference consuming most of my time, I knew I wouldn’t be able to dedicate a full day to exploring the park and wasn’t sure if I should go or not.
A Spur-of-the-Moment Decision
I was texting my brother the 2nd day of the conference and was mentioning how I would like to go to Disney, but I was unsure if I should go alone. With Disneyland being in a walkable distance, I was very tempted to go. Before one of the sessions started, a girl that I did not know sat next to me. The conference is heavily focused on connecting with others, yet instead of introducing myself, I asked “Are you going to Disneyland this week?”
Surprisingly, she said that she was, and she immediately asked if I wanted to go with her group on Tuesday evening.
When she invited me, my immediate reaction was to say “of course”. A few moments later, another girl in the Disneyland group came by and sat next to me. She was very convincing as she persuaded me to join their group. During the conference session, I was debating the whole time if I should join or not. I realized I may not have the chance to visit California again, so why not do it while I am there?
After the session ended, I pulled up the website and bought my ticket right then and there.
Heading to Disneyland
The next day, I couldn’t stop thinking about how excited I was to go. I have been to Disney World three times before, so I was curious about how different the two parks would be.
When 4 p.m. hit, I rushed to my room to change out of my business clothes into a comfy California sweatshirt I bought just the day before. Then 5 p.m. came quickly, and I met the group of girls in the hotel lobby to walk over to Disneyland, hardly containing my excitement as we all hurriedly made our way to the park.
We finally got to the park, went through security, then headed our way into Disneyland. Our first stop was at City Hall to get our first time buttons. While the worker was customizing our names in the Disney font, we were telling him why we were in town and that we had limited time, so he asked what we were most looking forward to.
We mentioned how the ride, Space Mountain, was on the top of our list. Unexpectedly, he surprised us with an amazing gift: a fast pass that would allow us to skip the line and jump straight into Space Mountain! I could never be more thankful for the worker.
Making the Most of My Visit
The six hours we spent in the park was somehow enough for me, but only because of the similarities it shared with Disney World. The main things on my list included riding Space Mountain, walking through the castle and seeing the light show on the castle. I was able to do all three within the first few hours and was excited to explore more.
Luckily, Disneyland has an app you can download to see the wait times for all rides. While we were there, we kept checking the times to see which ones we could go to with our limited time. A few rides we went on included Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Mad Tea Party, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage and a few more. A few rides we wanted to go on closed down, but we still filled our time with other adventures.
Finding Comfort in New Connections
There is something exhilarating about going on adventures with people you have just met. The unfamiliarity makes it exciting, and we took the few hours we had together to get to know each other. I have always liked meeting new people—there’s a kind of freedom in introducing yourself to someone who does not know anything about you. When connecting with new people, I encourage everyone to be themselves for a more natural connection!
