My first solo overseas trip Disneyland & LA June/July 2023

Most people are nervous when going on their first solo trip overseas. When you’re disabled the anxiety is amplified. In the months leading to my trip I was absolutely wigging out with anxiety and excitement about going on my first solo overseas trip and first solo trip since sustaining my spinal cord injury in June 2019. My brain is going a thousand miles an hour thinking about all the what ifs and everything that could possibly go wrong while I was over there.

Hi I’m Kat, I am a L1/L2 walking paraplegic with post traumatic arthritis asthma a heap of allergies requiring me to keep an epipen on my person. I just got back from my first solo overseas trip and thought I would make my first blog post.

I soon realized I could actually utilize my anxiety and plan so that I could for the most part try and anticipate and prepare for things that might go wrong.

In October 2022 after not traveling overseas since July 2021 because of global pandemic and losing a very dear friend to brain cancer. I decided I didn’t want to wait anymore. I wanted to take my dream holiday in June this year. In February this year I began making contact with my Travel agent .

The biggest thing that helped elevate my anxiety was using a travel agent. My TA helped me book my flights to LA from La to NYC , from NYC to LHR and LRH back to Australia. Along with helping organize airport transportation from LAX to my hotel in Anaheim & accomodation. They were supposed to help me book my Disneyland & universal package however it ended up being easier for me to book these things myself. The also helped remind me of things like insurance and visas (ESTA)

So towards the end of April I booked my Disneyland , Disney California Adventure tickets and hotel (paradise pier hotel). I was with in my 60 days window to begin making my dining reservations so I logged into the Disneyland resort app and noticed that on the application it said staying at Disney’s paradise Pier hotel on 28/6/23 (the day I was meant to be checking out and going to LA for two days) I immediately rang paradise pier hotel to check and they transferred me to Disney's international travel line. While I was on hold any anxiety I had was immediately replaced by excitement because the hold music they played was Disney movie soundtracks. I spoke to a lovely cast member (I wish I had made note of her name) who told me that Disney puts both your arrival date and your departure date as dates staying on your itinerary. With the anxiety alleviated I began making my park reservations alternating one day Disneyland park, DCA with the final day in Disneyland. Although it didn’t really matter which day I spent where as I had booked park hopper tickets which meant I had the ability to go to the other park after 11am. The other important reservation I made was a reservation at Lamplight lounge, a Pixar themed lounge/ restaurant at Disney’s California Adventure for dinner. I tried to make a reservation at Olga’s cantina in Star Wars land but it was unavailable. I would have to try my luck with a stand-by wait-list on the day.

I had a really bad anxiety day a few weeks before I was about to travel and needed an escape/ distraction. I opened my Disneyland resort app and began excitedly planning what I would do at Disneyland and DCA. This soon became my favorite way to escape my anxiety. I also added an additional dining reservation for an early dinner at Cafe Orleans because I had to try the famous mint Julep. I also caved and bought a magic experience of dessert and watching the world of color at DCA.

Another important thing for me was going to the chemist and stocking up on enough medications to get me through the 3 weeks I would be overseas. I also booked an appointment with my GP and got a letter for all my medication so CBP wouldn’t have an issue with me taking my medication in to America.

Traveling from CBR-Anaheim (24/6/2023)

The flight from Canberra to Melbourne went really well other than me realizing I’d left my British passport in Canberra so I’d have to use my Australian passport to enter the uk. but when I got to Melbourne after waiting for my chair for over an hour they couldn't find my chair. Turns out they had accidentally loaded it on the plane to LA so they had to get someone from the airline to escort me to the lounge. Honestly that frustrated me lot because for me that’s like they took away my legs and independence and having to rely on someone else to help me from point a to b but it’s okay it worked out and I was met by my lovely driver in LA who drove me to Disney.

Disneyland arrival

The arrival at disney's paradise pier hotel was really quite wonderful . They saw how big of a fan I was and gave me my first visit badge and a Pixar themed bag with a few disney goodies inside. I was shocked and I almost cried with joy. I placed my bags in my room and headed to downtown Disney for some shopping and dinner. Let me tell you, when you're used to walking on the left hand side of the pavement, suddenly changing to the right side is a little bit jarring. On my way to downtown Disney I experienced a really nice moment when one of the security guards working saw my first visit badge and gave me a Mickey Mouse sticker. Dinner was pizza and a cocktail at Naples restaurant. Working out tips is hard but thankfully most restaurants in the US give suggested tip amounts. I also messaged a couple of my American friends who told me it’s normal to tip 18-25%. after dinner I went to World of Disney to purchase a few Disney items for my park day and went back to my hotel to sleep ( with the help of my melatonin) which worked really well and enabled me to sleep until around 6am.

( picture of room at paradise pier)

Disney day 1 (Disneyland and DCA)

I woke at 630 am layed in bed and got myself ready for my first official park day. I took the short cut via the grand Californian hotel & started my day with a trip to Starbucks to grab a coffee while I got into the parks around 7.30am.

I needed to make a trip to city hall to get my Disney Access service pass(DAS) which is a program offered by Disney to guests who can’t do extended wait times in conventional queueing environments due to disability. I explained to the person behind the desk that I felt I needed one due to the fact that with my spinal cord injury I can’t wait for extended periods of time in lines due to pressure injury risks. Das enabled me to book a return time at select rides at the Disney and enter through either the exit or the lighting pass lane once I have my return time. She explained that while I could only hold one ride on my DAS at a time I could also ask rides for an Location return time (LRT) this did take time so it was closer to 8am by the time I actually arrived at space mountain to get my LRT. While on space mountain I met a lovely couple who offered me advice on how best to use my DAS and said I would really need to use it for Rise of Resistance in Star Wars land and Mickey and Minnie’s runway in toontown.

(space mountain ride photo)

After space mountain I rode buzz light year and star tours before making my way back to main st to get A mickey macaron raspberry flavored from Jolly holiday bakery which was over hyped and tasted like artificial cherry not my cup of tea.

(the Mickey macaroon )

After my trip to the bakery I did photos in front of the castle and met Aladdin and sleeping beauty i then made my way to fantasyland because the rides had low wait times. I also rode Matterhorn which my experience to sum it up was more of an oh I love it and I hate it at the same time. then made my way on to toontown to wait in a ten minute line which turned into an hour to meet Mickey Mouse while I waited my time for Mickey and Minnie’s runway.

After runway I made my way to Star Wars land as I had added rise of the resistance while I waited for my time. I rode smugglers run which had a low wait time for single riders. I personally actually preferred smugglers run to the more popular rise of the resistance I forgot to buy churros while in Star Wars land. I then went to Frontierland to grab a somewhat disappointing corn Dog before I rode big thunder railroad and did Adventureland including the famous jungle cruise and Indianana jones and New Orleans square before my early dinner at cafe New Orleans where I had a mint Julep and braised ribs in red wine sauce I rode pirates of the Caribbean and haunted mansion I then got lost in New Orleans trying to find Main Street so I could get to DCA for my desert world of colours reservation. Which ended up in me taking the railroad to Tomorrowland which had delays which resulted in me panicking that I wouldn’t make my reservations in dca . I did get to DCA in time however my 4 blisters I had got on my hands throughout the day popped and I debated seeking first aid for them after world of colour but I a couldnt find the first aid in the dark and B just wanted to go back to my hotel after world of colour and riding goofy’s flight school to sleep. As it was 9.45 and I was shattered.

Disney day 2 DCA and Disneyland.

This day I went to DCA arriving about 7.45 and made a beeline for Guardians of the Galaxy mission breakout. Which honestly was probably one of my favourite rides at DCA.

(mission breakout ride photo) While in DCA I didn’t really have to use my DAS as their ride ques are fully accessible and weren’t that full yet. I then rode web slingers which was tiring and kinda hard. I then had a fabulous French toast at pyms test kitchen and a cold brew coffee for breakfast (don’t get me started on how disappointing the coffee in america is )

(breakfast at Pym test kitchen)

before doing Cars land taking advantage of the single riders lane after waiting 15 in the normal one before they announced single riders only had a 5 minute wait and I was like there’s a single riders line count me in. I then did Pacific wharf followed by Pixar pier and the little mermaid . Then back to pacific warf for lunch a rather tasty birria taco before using my pass for grizzly river rapids after calling my mum back in Australia. I made a detour to get bandaids from first aid at the insistence of my mum. I did soaring regretted it as the height of it almost made me pass out. I then did Hollywoodland for monsters inc ride and met Elsa and Olaf before heading back to Disneyland for a dole whip float which I promptly spilt on my pants and more adventures in Disneyland until dinner at pizzas planet after riding space mountain.

(Pizza planet)

Unfortunately I had an an allergic reaction and found myself needing to approach a couple of nice guest relations cast members to get a nurse to me thankfully I only needed an antihistamine as this was a moderate allergic reaction (unfortunately it being America it was the drowsy kind so like 20 minutes later on autopia I was feeling it). The nurse gave me an extra antihistamine should I need it and flyers with local hospitals on it. She also told me that since I was staying on property I could get my hotel to call a nurse if I felt worse. One of the lovely guest relations cast members walked me tothe autopia attraction and I kinda got to feel like I had my own plaid for 5 minutes. Autopia was probably the hardest ride for me physically as it involved me maintaining a lot of pressure using my left foot a challenge for someone with reduced sensation and movement below the knee on the left side. Afterwards I did the storybook river ride before wheeling as fast as I could to try and get to main st to see the fireworks this was an incredibly stressful experience and I almost had an anxiety attack Disneyland fireworks are not worth it but I did enjoy the music. After the fireworks I went back to my hotel and straight to bed

Day 3 Disneyland and DCA

I slept in until about 8 am. I woke up, went to Starbucks and got a caramel frappuccino.

(Pride in Downtown Disney ) I did a small amount of shopping at the famous emporium on main st before getting a time for pirates of the Caribbean. I got the Mickey Mouse beignets and a mint julep from Royal street for breakfast. I then set on my Disneyland adventures starting in Adventureland. In fantasyland I tried the grey stuff at the red rose tavern.

(The grey stuff it was indeed delicious )

I was able to meet a range of different characters including Cinderella and Minnie dressed in a Minnie Mouse Disneybound .

Meeting Minnie Mouse dressed in a Minnie Mouse DisneyBound I rode smugglers run before having lunch at docking bay 7 food and cargo I had the Edorian fried chicken Tip-yip and a Phattro drink. I gotta admit Star Wars land has some of the best food you can get in the Disneyland resort. I then went and got a drink from Starbucks and went back to my hotel to rest for a bit which is a good thing because I was a little bit sunburnt on my arms so I had to Ubereats some after sun and antihistamines from cvs ($100 aud rip). I then went to DCA and rode a couple of rides before I had my Lamplight lounge reservation for dinner before heading back to Disneyland for the fireworks.

(my dinner at lamplight lounge)

Day 4 breakfast at storytellers cafe and LA day 1.

I began the day dining reservations at storytellers cafe at the grand Californian hotel. A buffet style breakfast where characters such as Minnie Mouse, Pluto, chip, dale and Mickey greet you as you eat your breakfast. I can tell you there’s nothing much more magical than sitting down to breakfast and having Minnie and chip and dale join you, certainly a lovely way to finish my time at Disney. Didn’t get any pictures.

I then got a taxi to LA. I was planning on doing the Warner brothers studio tour in LA and I’m not sure whether or not it was Jetlag? Or just the exhaustion of 3 days at Disney Disney or if I actually had some form of sun set poisoning but when I got to my hotel room at the Sheraton universal city I just fell straight into a nap missing my tour entirely. After FaceTiming my Mum I forced myself out of my hotel room to explore universal city walk for a couple of hours I grabbed myself donut from voodoo donuts in city walk because I’d skipped lunch and intended on potentially watching a movie at the cinemas there but I was too tired so I just got a shuttle bus back to my hotel and went to bed missing dinner. Had I been well enough I probably would have gone to the Chinese theater for a movie then had Taco Bell for dinner or gone to one of the restaurants from vanderpump rules for dinner but I guess there’s always next time.

Day 5 universal

Woke up and took the shuttle bus for universal. I bumped into the guy who helped me to my room the previous day and I must have looked rough when I arrived at the hotel because the guy remarked “you look more rested than you did yesterday. You were out of it when I dropped you I almost sent someone to check on you” I explained that I was just tired. I took the bus to Universal, bought a Mario karts shirt and got Starbucks for breakfast. I then started my day at Universal starting on the upper lot doing pretty much all of the rides because I’d paid for an express pass. I did manage to bang my knee getting out of flight of the hippogriff but otherwise I had a fun time I then went to the lower lot for Jurassic world and Super Nintendo world and some other rides. I will say Super Nintendo world looks amazing but I didn’t get to go on the ride because it was basically to full and wasn’t accepting new people in the que and the toadstool cafe was too full for me to experience.

(Super Nintendo world)

(Wizarding world of Harry Potter)

I then went back to wizarding world of Harry Potter for lunch of fish a chips at the three broomsticks. Before doing the remainder of the things I had to do in the upper lot before heading back to my hotel intending on coming back for dinner but I was just too tired so I ended up resting at my hotel and going to bed early missing dinner again.

Day 6 the end of my solo adventures traveling to nyc

By the time I woke up today it became obvious I was sunburnt. I packed up my room and went made my way to LAX where I spent the entire time I had left my self for the airport at tsa and finding my gate I was the very last person on the plane. I got to nyc and met up with my dad.

The end of my solo adventures