Imagine going to the happiest place on Earth — with no kids

IT’S a story most parents can only dream of, but a visit to Disneyland sans kids wasn’t what Lisa Almond expected.

Who would have thought Disneyland without kids would be so much fun?

I WAS headed to the US sans family. My sister, a friend and I had decided on a US adventure and we’d all decided Disneyland was a must do, despite the fact that my kids weren’t coming on our trip.

“Why would you go to Disneyland with no kids?” A close friend asked.

Did I really need to answer that? After all, it’s Disneyland, ‘the happiest place on Earth’. Did I need any other excuse to go there?

After a 13-hour flight, a typically US oversized rental car and some interesting driving on the wrong side of the road, we were checked in. Once we were there I wondered whether my friends back home were right, there were kids everywhere I looked.

 

At breakfast the first morning the three of us were surrounded by families. The kids were talking about their beloved Disney movies and asked their parents optimistically if they would get to meet their favourite characters.

We packed our things and headed down the road to the main gate.

It was insane.

Without kids the line didn’t drag. No one tugged at my pants asking me how long it would be until we got inside and no one conveniently needed to pee when we were two people from the front.

With no kids in tow we knocked over a few rides in the first hour.

As we walked up to California Screamin’ I looked around. There was always one parent left to either hold the bags or hold the kid too young to ride. With no pram or child to worry about we walked straight up to the fast pass line and enjoyed our ride on the coaster. Though, I should probably disclose that my scream might have rivalled the 10-year-old’s in front of me.

 

Half the day had past and we’d fit in everything we wanted, including Cars Land with Radiator Springs, and we were headed over to Disneyland Park ready for a late night of rides and fun.

At this point the families around us were either dragging their kids to the next ride or they were asleep in the pram missing the action anyway.

After entering we had a leisurely lunch that wasn’t dictated by which outlet sold chicken nuggets. We grabbed our fast pass for Space Mountain and scooted off to fit in as many rides as we could before then.

As I looked around I noticed two scenarios. The first being the young kids dragging their parents on every lame ride that had no height restrictions and the second was pre-teen kids begging their parents to take them on the bigger rides they weren’t allowed to go on.

I looked as the couples silently turned to each other and rolled their eyes ‘why did we do this again?’ I could hear them asking in their heads.

 

A few hours later we’d conquered most of the major rides like Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain and the Matterhorn Bobsleds along with a heap of minor rides.

By the time you could start lining up for the famous Disney parade I could see the children begging their parents for a place to sit. They were clearly exhausted.

We stood back from the barricade and enjoyed not being pestered by kids saying they couldn’t see.

After the parade I saw hundreds of parents call it a day, while others with slightly older kids were talked into staying for the later fireworks show.

As scores of kids left the park in their parent’s arms in tears we took the time to duck around to a few rides we’d missed and bid farewell to our favourite Disney attractions.

The crowds had left by the time we hit the souvenir shops and it was easy to grab a few things for those at home.

As I threw myself on the bed of the hotel I smiled as I thought of all the other parents still forcing their kids to go to sleep and then probably being woken up just hours later. We’d smashed the Disneyland parks in a day, had a blast and we’d be sleeping the whole night through.

Who said Disneyland without kids wouldn’t be fun?