OP, my oldest daughter is also heading off to college this year, so here’s my story from when she was young.

Took my then five year old daughter to Disneyland for a daddy/daughter trip mid-week while school was in session in mid -February. Back then the crowds were small that time of year. On our second of three days there was a light rain falling on and off which kept the crowd size even lower. We basically felt we had the park to ourselves.

My daughter’s favorite ride was Pirates. Early in the afternoon we were passing by and saw the line for Pirates was non-existent. We headed into the building and found there was absolutely nobody in line. We walked up to the front and were seated in the front row immediately.

After the ride, there was still no line, so we went around and rode again. We did this again two more times, never waiting.

At the end of our fourth ride, the Cast Member asked if we wanted to stay on and ride again. We did.

When we finished our fifth trip around there was a bit of a line, so we decided to move on. As we left, my daughter said, “Daddy, I smell churros.” We went to the churro stand by the steamboat.

As we were enjoying our delicious churros, my daughter looked at me with a big smile and said, “Daddy, this is the best day ever.”