Speed traveling: Anaheim Disneyland in five hours or less!

And while I'm in the mood of speeding through Disneyland, here's a tip on whizzing through Anaheim Disneyland... the original home of Mickey Mouse!

Unlike Tokyo Disneyland, Anaheim doesn't have an After 6 passport, but the good thing is, the park remains open till midnight during summer hours.

I was there from 6.30pm to 11.30pm (couldn't go earlier for various reasons), but still managed to see what I set out to do. And because there is no special After 6 passport, the crowds are just everywhere, sadly so.

In terms of chronology, I went to the Anaheim one about half a year before I went to the Tokyo one, which explains why I was more precise in what I wanted to see in Tokyo.

Here goes:

1. Jungle Cruise (Adventureland): 6.45pm - 7.35pm
This is the first "major" ride as you exit left of Main Street (the shopping street). Be prepared to wait. The queues look deceptively short thanks to hidden winding lanes and clever queue designs. But yes, wait you must, and wait a long time. Thankfully, the queue keeps moving, so you don't feel like you want to dive into the river to escape.

2. Pirates of the Caribbean (Adventureland): 7.45pm - 8.35pm
Very close by to Jungle Cruise, so this is the natural next stop as you move in a westerly direction. Be prepared to wait again, but not as bad as Jungle Cruise.

3. Haunted Mansion (New Orleans Square): 8.45pm - 9.30pm
Move in a westerly direction from Pirates to the home of 999 ghosts.

4. Fireworks (Fantasyland): 10pm - 10.30pm
The whole of Fantasyland will be closed about 20 or 30 mins before the fireworks show, and re-opened about 15 mins after that for safety reasons, as the fireworks are situated in the castle area. You can take the time to visit other hot spots like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad or the likes of it, but I took the time to do some shopping at Main Street instead, since the best view of the fireworks was at Main Street.

5. Snow White's Dark Adventures (Fantasyland): 10.30pm - 10.45pm
Once the fireworks subside, the crew will progressively re-open the Fantasyland rides. As It's A Small World wasn't ready, I went to Snow White first. This is definitely one of my favourite fairytale rides as it has a number of dark elements to it (the witch at the mirror was definitely scary!)

6. It's A Small World (Fantasyland): 10.50pm - 11.10pm
On to my favourite ride with the "can't get you out of my head" song.

7. Pinocchio's Dark Journey (Fantasyland): 11.10pm - 11.30pm
The last ride before some additional shopping!

So the tally is...
Anaheim: 6 rides, 1 show, 2 shopping sprees in 5 hours
Tokyo: 6 rides (since I was on Small World Twice), 1 show, 1 glimpse of a show, 1 shopping spree in 4 hours

Maybe one day I'll try Disneyworld in six hours! By the way, regarding the Hong Kong one, it's really small compared to the others, so you can easily finish everything in four or five hours... no need for any speedy traveling :)