A-Town takes Anaheim - Five main differences between me and your typical annual pass holder

My name is A-Town and I just got back from vacation. Yes, it's true. A-Town took Anaheim last week. The  main intent and purpose of my visit is a whole 'nother story, as they say, but I would like to discuss, briefly, one aspect of that trip. I had the blessed opportunity to spend a couple days in the Happiest Place on Earth. I LOVE Disneyland. I'm, like, obsessed, pretty much. I also had the unique experience of spending those days in the Park with two native Californians. Now, don't get me wrong, I had an amazing time and had some great company - but, as the time passed, I began to notice that there are some major differences between myself and your average annual pass holder. I'd like to highlight the differences I noticed in five points.

1- Frequency of visits
As a kid, back in the good old days of the booming American economy, I was fortunate enough to be able to visit Disneyland on an almost bi-annual basis. As I have grown older, as the economy has gotten worse, and as Disneyland ticket prices have skyrocketed, the frequency of my Disney vacations has plummeted and, over the past decade and a half, I haven't been able to visit the Park as often as my little heart would desire. Because of this lack of quality time with Mickey and friends, I will look for ANY reasonable excuse to head down to Anaheim. I love going to Disneyland, largely thanks to the wonderful childhood memories that I've treasured for a lifetime, but also because it's something that I don't get the chance to do very often.
In comparison, the typical California native with an annual pass can go hit up Disneyland and California Adventure at the tip of a hat. They could go every weekend if they wanted or even visit the Park multiple times in the same week if they wanted! How lucky is that? However, because this is such a common thing for them, I fear that they do not truly value the experience they're having. That would be like me taking the Utah mountain ranges for granted. I've been known to turn down a hike or a backpacking trip from time to time. It's not that I don't like nature, necessarily, but I don't feel like hiking that often because it's something I could do whenever the heck I wanted. When I go to the coast, it's nice to see the beach. I like going to the beach because we don't have that in Utah. Contrarily, I'm sure somebody from California would love to come skiing or snowboarding in Utah because they don't get a lot of opportunities to do that on the West Coast.
Another example: Take a typical college student. I believe there are probably two general types of college kids: 1) those who pay for themselves and 2) those who are paid for by others. In my experience, those who will not only try the hardest to get good grade but also enjoy their college experience the most are those who pay their own way. Similarly, I believe that I enjoy Disneyland more than a typical annual pass holder because it takes so much of an effort to get me there in the first place.

...because I had just arrived.

2- Length of stay in Park
Once I'm at the Park, I want to be AT THE PARK. Story: I went on a Disneyland trip with a bunch of summer camp counselors back in 2010. Whilst enjoying ourselves on the vacation, several of the counselors suggested that we leave Disneyland that afternoon to either go back to the hotel and swim or take a nap. I was appalled. Disgusted. Like... really?? Why the heck did I pay so much money to go to California if all I was going to do was take a nap? I could have stayed home and taken a nap for free! And it's not like there are no swimming pools in Utah. No beach, sure, but they wanted to go swim in the hotel pool. Really?! When I go to Disneyland (and when I pay that much money to go TO DISNEYLAND), I want to be AT DISNEYLAND. Naps are for sissies. There will be plenty of time to sleep when you get home. I want to be there from open to close every single day, if possible. I want my money's worth. In my most recent trip to Disneyland, I spent one day with a Californian who had just obtained their annual pass. I think they were probably good to go home at like 3:00 in the afternoon. By the time 8:00 PM rolled around, it almost seemed like we were dragging her through the Park for the final three hours of the day. You know, I felt a little bad about that. She drove me there, so we were all going to end up leaving at the same time, but there was no way in H-E-double-toothpicks that I was letting her out of the Park before 11:00 that night. I felt kind of bad... but not really. There's difference number two between me and the fabled annual pass holder - average length of stay in the Park per day. Open to close, baby. Open to close.

Benefits of staying late.

3- Hustle
As previously mentioned, I was just at Disneyland with a few people on vacation. One of my friends was awesome. She loves Disneyland, I love Disneyland. It was beautiful. The other friend, mentioned at length in Reason #2, wasn't quite loving it on an equal level as we were. At one point, she asked why we were walking around "like we're in a hurry." That comment right there is what sparked my idea to write this post. We weren't "in a hurry" - we were at Disneyland! That was why I was working the Park like the proverbial banshee. I only had a day and a half at Disneyland and California Adventure during that particular trip (which is nowhere even close to enough time to do everything I wanted to do, by the way), so I wanted to try to do as much as possible. I was walking around like I was "in a hurry" because the dang line for the Cars Land ride at Radiator Springs was never anywhere less than 45 minutes long. I was walking around like I was in a hurry because we were only able to go on Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye one time during my stay. I was walking around like I was in a hurry because there were thousands of other people there trying to get a better spot than me in line. And it's not like I was RUNNING. In fact, I don't even think I was walking that fast. I was just tired of getting stuck behind lollygaggers (annual pass holders, no doubt) that were walking around like the elderly. Sure, my feet were burning and my legs hurt like heck, but just think of it this way: your feet can either be killing you at Disneyland or your feet can be killing you at home. I'll take Disneyland. The pain is temporary, but the glory lasts forever.

Thrilled to be there, obviously.

4- Fast Passes
If you're trying to maximize your experience at Disneyland and California Adventure, Fast Passes are the only way to go. For those of you who don't know what a Fast Pass is, it's basically a ticket you can periodically get throughout the day that lets you bypass about 90% of the line for a given ride. There is a certain way to use Fast Passes strategically that will save you hours of time. For instance, we got Fast Passes for Splash Mountain last week and, instead of having to wait in line for over an hour, we were in and out and on our way to the next attraction within 17 minutes. Considering the fact that Splash Mountain is about 10-minutes long, that's pretty dang awesome. Don't want to wait 90 minutes for Space Mountain? No problem. Fast Pass it and come back later on in the day. The other trick is to make sure you are requesting Fast Passes as often as possible. The Fast Pass ticket will tell you what time your next Fast Pass is available - so be sure to find a ride to reserve as soon as possible. By always attempting to request a Fast Pass at the earliest available time, you thereby ensure yourself as little time waiting in line as possible. Another tip: Don't use Fast Passes on attractions that don't usually have long lines, anyway. Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters is a great ride, but it's usually not that busy in the first place. Reserve your precious Fast Passes for more popular attractions like Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, and the Tower of Terror. Is this not common knowledge amongst annual pass holders? I was obsessing over the whole Fast Pass concept last week and there were times where they looked at me like I was crazy. Sure, I volunteered to walk all the way across Disneyland from Small World to Splash Mountain and back again to get Fass Passes for our group while they stood in line, but the benefits outweigh the awkward navigation, don't they? I saved our group 50 minutes of standing in line with those little puppies! They should have been bursting with gratitude!

Worth the walk.

5- Enjoying the little things
Another thing I love about Disneyland is the little stuff. Stuff that, again, would likely be taken for granted by someone who frequents the Park often. I love walking through New Orleans Square to hear the live music. I love eating churros and frozen bananas. I am OBSESSED with the Dole Pineapple stand outside the Tiki Room. I, for one, love taking a tour around the globe on Small World. Many would argue that the song is annoying, but I like it. I like it because it means I'm in Disneyland. I like the difference between riding the Jungle Cruise and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad during the day versus the same attractions once the sun goes down. I like how totally '80s Captain EO is. (That thing is HILARIOUS! Well, I thought so, anyway. I think the two '90s babies I went with probably thought it was really strange.) I like the short lines you can find while everybody else is off watching Fantasmic or World of Color. I am astounded by the detail and the imagination that is put into every aspect of those Parks. There is so much good stuff in Disneyland that not everyone appreciates like I do. Maybe I'm crazy, maybe I'm obsessed, or maybe I'm just the best person you could ever take to Disneyland with you. I've always said that Disney throws the best parties - and I'm all about partying with Disney.

They were good.

And finally, a quick word about annual pass holders that don't live in California: What the heck are you? Loaded?

Now it's time to say goodbye, but hey - believe it or not, I actually want to hear from YOU PEOPLE! What do you love about Disneyland? What don't you like? Favorite rides? Favorite foods? Funny stories? Let's hear all about it in the comments section below. And, in the meantime, you can follow me on Twitter: @atownmania / @SotTUnderground

See ya real soon!