I’ll be honest, Disneyland can definitely get nuts. Especially on a weekend, and ESPECIALLY during holidays. It’s a very small, compact park, and up until 2016 (thankfully no more), California residents have gotten deep-discount passes, so it’s absolutely mobbed during times when kids are out of school. And it sounds like you got the worst of it, all while having to deal with the special-needs pass situation, which is a shame. I’d be pissed off too if that was my first experience there (especially if I loathed everything Disney to start with).
