Disney Parks Monstrous Summer Coast to Coast Adventure

The mission seemed impossible.  Celebrate Disney’s Monstrous Summer kick-off by visiting all three participating Disney Parks on May 24th during their special 24 hour 6 a.m. to 6 a.m. park hours.  The challenge?  One park is located in Florida.  The other two across the country in California.

On Friday morning at 5:55 a.m. ET, my daughter and I stood in front of the Magic Kingdom train station as the park began 24 hours of Monstrous Summer fun.

We watched the sun come up over Space Mountain…

Visited with Walt and Mickey with the early morning sun shining on Cinderella’s Castle…

Partied like rock stars on the People Mover…

Blasted some bad guys on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin…

Spun our Tea Cups way too fast…

Marched down Main Street U.S.A.’s sidewalk next to the Monsters University marching band…

And then we headed to the airport to hop on a 7 p.m. ET flight from Orlando to Los Angeles.  We landed at 9 p.m. PT, chasing the sunset for five hours and finally passing it, landing in the dark at LAX.  

Emma and I piled into a mini-coach along with the folks from Radio Disney, Disney Parks Blog, AOL Travel, a Disney Interactive Cast Member, and a couple new friends from the Disney Channel shows Shake It Up and Austin and Ally.

After a quick stop at Disney’s Grand Californian to drop off our bags, we went straight to Disney’s California Adventure, pausing just long enough to grab middle of the night (early morning?) churros.  If you’re going to enjoy Disney Parks for 24 hours on two coasts, you need to fuel up.

A quick stop for a picture of Paradise Pier…

And from there we headed to Cars Land, an area within Disney’s California Adventure that opened last year and recreates Radiator Springs right there in Anaheim.  We headed to the Radiator Springs Racers, which completely blew both of us away…

With time ticking and one park remaining, we crossed over to Disneyland.  Before heading to the Indiana Jones Adventure attraction, I stopped in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle for the first time, totally exhausted, completely overwhelmed, and having the time of my life…

Mission accomplished!

We were guests of Disney Parks for this event.  No other compensation was provided.  All opinions are my own.

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25 Comments

  • Didn’t you just love Disneyland and Cars Land? The kids and I had a wonderful time when we visited. We felt like we walked right into the movie. Everything was so realistic. Noah can’t wait to go back.

  • You just reminded me why you are my idol.

  • Big fun! I don’t know how you and your daughter lasted that long, but my hat is off to both of you, lol thanks for sharing this with us and taking us along on your adventure thru your tweets as well!

  • “…and a couple new friends from the Disney Channel shows Shake It Up and Austin and Ally” We need to know WHO. ***Alayna must know WHO.” lol

  • SO much fun!! This is going to be such an awesome memory for you both. Love.

  • This is crazy and amazing! It looks like a blast!

  • Oh wow, that is so awesome! What memories you have made.
    My kids want to go to Cars Land so bad. One day we’ll get there to see it.

  • WHOA!!! So cool!!I’m sure your daughter will never ever ever forget the experience and boy, I’m tired just reading about it all! WOW!

  • That is so awesome!! How fun!

  • OK, I’m a little jealous because you all had so much fun! I can’t wait to get back to Disney, best place on earth!

  • SO MUCH FUN! My son would have LOVED that so much!!

  • WOW! What a Monstrous day!! That is SO fun! I betcha not very many people can say they’ve been in Disney World and Disneyland on the same day. How super cool!

  • This is incredible! What wonderful memories you must have and beautiful photos too!

  • I am SO EXCITED that you were able to visit WDW and DL in the same day! I hope you totally fell in love with Disneyland. It’s so incredible!

  • Jamie

    Hi Amy,

    I found you!!! I just wanted to drop you a quick note and say HI, it was a pleasure meeting/working with you.

    Jamie 🙂

    • Yay, Jamie!!! Thank you for making this an INCREDIBLE experience for us. Watch for more posts focusing specifically on Disneyland/California Adventure.

      • Jamie

        It was my pleasure. I look forward to your future posts.

  • Alea

    Absolutely AWESOME!

  • That is SO FREAKIN’ COOL!!!! (I love the picture of the pier!) I can’t imagine how exhausted you were when you finally got to sleep, but WOW! What a great memory!!

  • You are completely amazing! And so is Emma, for enduring like a champ.

  • That sounds like so much and exhausting at the same time! I’ve never been to Disneyland. I can’t wait to hear more about it.

  • […] My good friend Amy @ResourcefulMom experienced a whirlwind trip full of coast to coast Disney goodness! She and her daughter had the experience of a lifetime traveling from Florida to California in order to be a part of Disney’s 24 hour Monstrous Summer Fun! What a trip that must’ve been! Her trip recap can be found HERE. […]

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