Don't go "commando" at Disney Parks

Recently my wife and I headed down to Disneyland Resort for a quick getaway and we did something we rarely do, we took it slow at the park. We are notorious for going "commando" and just running through the parks rididng as many attractions as possible. Now understand that as much as Disney fans love to hate on going "commando" at Disney Parks, when you're there, you can't help but find yourself thinking, I have to get on as many attractions as I can to make this worth the price. I can say that for us, we go so often, it often seems silly to stop and watch a show or parade or even the fireworks.
This past trip, we decided to go ahead and take it slow at the park (partially because it was a rainy day so there was no rush to ride anything) and I have to say, the experience was amazing. I felt almost like I had never been to Disneyland or Disney California Adventure (DCA) before. All of the sudden we noticed the environment and the theming of the attractions and queues instead of searching for the hidden Mickey's and trying to rush to be first in line. We saw a performance at the Golden Horseshoe and it was hilarious ("She's so ugly, she headed into the Haunted Mansion and didn't come out scared, came out with a job!").

 

At DCA, we watched for the first time the Instant Concert!...Just Add Water and it was hilarious and down right Goofy! It reminded me of watching the classic Goofy "How to" cartoons live! We stared into the gigantic Christmas tree in Buena Vista St. and noticed that there were ornaments all over it with lesser known Disney secondary characters (I could swear that Mickey's nephews, Morty and Ferdie, were on one such ornament). We also checked out kids going to sit on Santa's lap at Elias & Co. and it actually seemed like a real department store (aside from the amazing outfits, friendly elves and jolly Ol' St. Nick).

 

 

At Disneyland, we rode the railroad and actually watched the landscape instead of checking our iPhones to see what attraction had the lowest wait and we saw things like feral cats, hidden Mickeys, and even what I believe to be an Indiana Jones reference (if the dog bowl says Indiana, I'm inclined to believe it's a reference to Henry Jones Jr.'s famous monicer). We even saw the snow fall on Main Street and for at least a second, we believed that Disney had used some magic and brought us snow in a city that doesn't snow.

There is so much to see and experience at the parks that I have to jump on the bandwagon and say hey, don't rush to get on Space Mountain and Indiana Jones, take a second to take in the atmosphere, and you won't regret it, in fact, you just may notice those intricate details for the first time.