[Over 2025, the Sip Family will use their Magic Key year passes to attend the Disneyland Resort frequently. Therefore, I think a lot of my content will be Disney based, while also presenting a Disney-themed cocktail recipe.]

To be clear, Disneyland is my happy place and when I’m there, I feel like I’m in my most comfortable tourist bubble. That said, the happiest place on earth isn’t perfect and it does have flaws. After countless trips to my mecca, here are the elements I love and hate about the resort, starting with those I appreciate:

Rides and Attractions

At the root of visiting these parks is experiencing the rides and attractions that are world famous. It’s always hard to select my favourite ride, as there are too many contenders. Sometimes, it’s a case of my favourite ride being whatever one I’m currently on! Among my preferred experiences are the Matterhorn, Space Mountain and Radiator Springs Racers.

Themed Lands

No company in the world does theming better than Disney. When you walk through Cars Land, for example, you feel as if you’ve stepped into Radiator Springs and the Cars movie universe. Even lands I’m not thrilled about, such as Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, truly immerse you in the fictional universes you’ve come to love (or sometimes hate!).

Characters

While I’m no longer seeking autographs and pictures like I did as a kid, it can still be exciting to see various characters around the park. It’s fun to watch the Sipplings meet and interact with today’s breadth of costumed creatures, whether they be from Disney classics or newer properties, such as the superheroes of Marvel. Particularly entertaining are the likes of the Cruella DeVille, the Mad Hatter and Gaston.

Food and Treats

As I’ve often said, the resort has really upped its food and beverage game since I was younger. Prior to each trip now, I go through all the options available around the park and make a wish list of what I’d like to try or experience again. There’s so many options now that the Sipplings have enjoyed treat marathons, where we try as many goodies as we can over our stay.

Cast Members

Most of these folks work very hard to keep guests happy. It can’t be the easiest job, so kudos to those that go the extra mile to enhance the Disney experience.

Beers and Cocktails

I am still floored with how different Disney World and Disneyland are with ideas around booze. Disney World seems flush with drinking establishments, while at Disneyland only one of the two parks offer a variety of beverages, while the other only has beer, wine and cocktails at their sit-down dining options. Still, lineups are much more tolerable with a drink in hand and roaming the park with a beverage is now commonplace.

Family Time

Walt Disney created Disneyland to provide a place for people, particularly families, to enjoy together. Our trips to the resort with the Sipplings provide focused time with each other, minus the typical distractions you find at home. We get to experience the thrills, chills and spills of the park as a unit and build up core memories that we’ll all appreciate for the rest of our lives.

Getting Away From Life

When I’m at Disneyland, no matter how briefly, my outside world challenges melt away. Work concerns, bills that are due, etc., are all pushed to a space in my mind that is locked for the duration of our stay. Sure, those adult problems come back in a hurry, but it’s nice to silence them for a short period of time.

Being a Kid Again

Disneyland provides me the opportunity to feel like a kid again… but this time I have my own money to enjoy the parks as I see fit. You can be goofy and carefree and throw around cash like you’re Scrooge McDuck!

It feels almost sacrilegious to talk about the negatives of a place that has brought me so much joy over the years, but here we go:

Reservation System

Before you even get into the park nowadays, there are many annoyances. Tops among them, is the reservation system, which limits visitors to four reservations at a time. This means, if you plan to be in the area for longer than four days, you have to add more days as you go along. That can be stressful, as you never know if things will work out as you hope. Also annoying – and seemingly unfair – is the fact Disney World has removed their reservation system, while it remains at Disneyland.

Crowds

The resort is never not busy. Sure, some days and times of the day can be lighter, but there is always a mass of humanity strolling through the park gates. It’s certainly not a place to be if you hate larger gatherings. I can get uncomfortable in these situations, but for whatever reason, I’m able to largely put that aside for the sake of being at Disneyland.

Lineups

These crowds I speak of can create long lines, meaning you spend the bulk of your day snaking through extensive queues. Thankfully, Mrs. Sip and I know the park so well that we can tell whether a lineup is worth doing or if it’s better to head somewhere else.

Strollers

Nothing spills my drink more than when I’m trying to get to a certain place and I have a double-wide stroller slowing my progress. And don’t get me started on electric carts, especially those being operated by people who seem to have no malady whatsoever. Another thing to hate about the mass of strollers in the park is the designated stroller parking areas, which take up what used to be real estate that was dedicated to walking lanes, congesting the park even further.

Slow Walkers

In a similar vein to strollers, I hate slow walkers or walk-blockers as I’ve tried to coin as a phrase. I can let it pass for an elderly folk, but if the person is younger and seems fit, why the hell are you walking at a snail’s pace?

Genie Plus/Lightning Lane

I was a huge fan of the FastPass system the parks used to use. It was free to all and allowed you to get on a couple rides each day with minimal lines. Today, after you’ve already drained your life savings to visit the resort, the only way you can get some front of the line action, is to shell out another wad of cash and buy the Genie Plus passes, giving you access to Lightning Lane queues. If it was a modestly-priced add-on, I’d get it, but you have to pay another $30-$40 (per person!) on top of your exorbitant park passes.

Ride Breakdowns

I’m shocked with how many and how frequently rides seem to breakdown around the parks nowadays. I don’t remember things being like this in my younger days. I’m not sure if it’s because standards are higher now or, as Mrs. Sip theorizes, they don’t have the maintenance crew they once had, but you can often look at your park map on your phone and see multiple attractions closed at a time. It almost seems like the rides are on a rotating breakdown schedule with how frequently they occur these days.

Ride Refurbishments

It sucks when one of the rides you enjoy or were looking forward to going on is closed for refurbishments. If it leads to updates or something new with the ride, I’m all for that, but improvements/advancements don’t seem to happen as quickly as they should and rides coming off a refurbishment seem to breakdown just as frequently as others.

Walking and Sore Feet

At the end of each very long day, you’re bound to be physically and mentally exhausted. Sure, you feel a sense of accomplishment with your day and falling asleep – as well as sleeping soundly – is helped by all that you’ve endured, but when your alarm goes off the next morning, you kind of wish it wasn’t another day in the parks.

Expensive Items

Disneyland is not cheap. You know you’re signing up for a costly vacation when you book it, but some elements of the vacation are ridiculously overpriced now. Most beers will set you back $16. For Canadians like us, that’s like $20. I know what you’re saying: “Just don’t drink.” But come on, it’s a vacation. There will be time to worry about the bills later.

Lack of Express Lines

Aside from cost, one other complaint I have for the Disneyland drinking game is that there are no express lines for drink orders at certain food stalls. I was recently in a 30-plus minute lineup to get cocktails for Mrs. Sip and myself because they were only sold at a location that had a massive line for food orders. A streamlined process for those who only want to grab a quickly filled cocktail would be appreciated.

Security Lineups

In the before times, pre 9/11, there was no such thing as going through security to access the parks. Today, you can experience an immense lineup before even queuing for your first ride of the day. One fix I recently though of – though I’m sure I’m not the only one – was to have a couple lines for folks without bags or anything that needs to be checked more thoroughly. A couple express lanes would help, I believe. People with strollers should also have their own dedicated lanes, so they’re not holding everyone else up as Mr. Security has to go through every pocket of a diaper bag.

Expensive Hotels

There was a time when Mrs. Sip and I could get a hotel on South Harbor Boulevard, right outside the park, for $100 per night. And this wasn’t that long ago. Today, you’re looking at $300 per night easy and that’s if you can even get a room. We’ve tried some other areas because of this and are still working to find the perfect balance of location and price.

WAY Too Much Star Wars

I know some people love the Star Wars additions, even Mrs. Sip. This has made me more disappointed in her than I ever thought possible. I’ve never been much of a sci-fi fan and didn’t grow up watching the movies, so I always find it hard to get jazzed up to enter the Galaxy’s Edge area. If just that existed, I could make peace with things, but the fact there’s another large dose of Star Wars in Tomorrowland is just excessive.

Love & Hate: Glass Slipper

• 2.25 oz Gin
• 1 oz Blue Curacao
• Garnish with Edible Glitter

For all that can be frustrating with the resort, I still treasure every moment I have within its walls. I hope to live to the day where I’m strolling the park in an electric cart, annoying the younger folk with slow speeds and dangerous maneuvers!