I just recently got back from a weeklong trip to the Disneyland Resort in California. I have been to Walt Disney World many times, but I hadn't yet made the trip out west to visit the land where it all began...Disneyland...that is, until now. All I have to say is, I don't know what took me so long. I'm sure it had a lot to do with the fact that I consider Walt Disney World my "home". When I want to go to Disney my immediate thoughts go to Walt Disney World. That is what I am comfortable with, that is where my memories are, it is so vast there is so much I have yet to do there, the restaurants I like are there, yada yada yada...Oh and lets really be honest, for someone who gets a little nervous about flying (ok, maybe a lot nervous...it's not so much the flight as it is the fear of plummeting to my death) the 2+ hour flight to Florida is a lot more appealing than the 5+ hour flight to California...All I can say is, thank you Southwest Airlines for funny flight attendants and free Live TV streaming! I flew into LAX which I thought would be really intimidating, but it actually was not bad at all. The few things I didn't like were A.) I didn't see any celebrities B.) I had to organize my own transportation to Disneyland ahead of time and C.) I had to claim my bags at baggage claim. There is no free Magical Express bus like Walt Disney World has, and no one to pick up your bags and have them delivered to your room so that you can avoid baggage claim. Disneyland does have a shuttle that you can pay for, but it only runs certain hours and has specific pick up times. I chose to take the Super Shuttle instead of Disneyland transportation. It was a little cheaper too. Disneyland is about 45 minutes from LAX airport...and 45 minutes turns into almost 3 hours when your flight arrives at rush hour!
I stayed at the Disneyland Hotel which is one of the three Disneyland Resort Hotels. The other two being the Grand Californian Hotel and Paradise Pier Hotel. I loved the rooms at the Disneyland Resort Hotel. Your bed is cozy and it has a fireworks headboard that plays music when it first lights up (Dear Husband, I want one! Yours truly, your wife), there are beautiful pictures in the room, and the bathroom has little Mickey touches everywhere, right down to the handles on the sink faucet. Our room overlooked Downtown Disney and you could see California Adventure Park and Disneyland in the distance.
I stayed at the Disneyland Hotel which is one of the three Disneyland Resort Hotels. The other two being the Grand Californian Hotel and Paradise Pier Hotel. I loved the rooms at the Disneyland Resort Hotel. Your bed is cozy and it has a fireworks headboard that plays music when it first lights up (Dear Husband, I want one! Yours truly, your wife), there are beautiful pictures in the room, and the bathroom has little Mickey touches everywhere, right down to the handles on the sink faucet. Our room overlooked Downtown Disney and you could see California Adventure Park and Disneyland in the distance.
There was so much that I really loved about Disneyland. I will be honest when I say that I really didn't think I would like it as much as I did. My number one reason for thinking this is because I love Walt Disney World and people have always told me how small Disneyland is. Well, it is small, but mighty! I think it is the smallness of it that I liked so much. We WALKED to EVERYTHING! That was the best part in my mind! We would walk out of our hotel, walk through Downtown Disney, which is also very small, and then go through security. Once you went through security you could either go into Disneyland Park or California Adventure Park...and guess what?! They are RIGHT ACROSS FROM EACH OTHER! So if you get the park hopper it is SO EASY to park hop. You don't have to hop on a bus or monorail you literally just walk across the walkway and BOOM you are there.
I was anxious to see California Adventure Park because of Cars Land. It did not disappoint. Cars Land is so adorable and Radiator Springs Racers ranks up there as one of my all time favorite Disney rides...we rode it a lot :) Thank you single rider line! Cars Land is really cool during the day, but even cooler at night. If you have seen the movie Cars the whole strip lights up just like in the movie. Check your weather app or a cast member to see what time sunset will be that day, then head over to Cars Land a little before sunset so you can watch the strip slowly light up. They do it one at a time and it is really neat.
I was anxious to see California Adventure Park because of Cars Land. It did not disappoint. Cars Land is so adorable and Radiator Springs Racers ranks up there as one of my all time favorite Disney rides...we rode it a lot :) Thank you single rider line! Cars Land is really cool during the day, but even cooler at night. If you have seen the movie Cars the whole strip lights up just like in the movie. Check your weather app or a cast member to see what time sunset will be that day, then head over to Cars Land a little before sunset so you can watch the strip slowly light up. They do it one at a time and it is really neat.
There is lots to do in California Adventure Park. Buena Vista Street, which is their "Main Street", has shopping and dining, Hollywood Land has lots of fun stuff including a really cute Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley ride, a fun Broadway type show of Disney's Aladdin (the Geanie is hilarious!), The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and a few other shows. A Bug's Land is also super cute and makes you feel like you stepped into the movie A Bug's Life, and has lots of really fun rides for kids. The Pacific Wharf area has lots of dining. The Grizzly Peak area has some dining and a few rides, including the Grizzly River Run and Soarin' Over California. I was really surprised at how short the line to Soarin' was. In Disney World the line is always crazy long. The longest I saw it while I was in California Adventure was 30 minutes. The Paradise Pier area was really neat. Lots of attractions to ride including California Screamin' roller coaster. I got a fast pass for it but when it came time to ride it I chickened out. Later on I opted to ride Goofy's Sky School because it looked more tame. Let me tell you that looks can be deceiving. They make it look like a kiddy coaster, but I screamed and laughed my head off (I laughed because I was being such a sissy!). I think I would have done better on California Screamin'. Paradise Pier is also home to the very popular night show World of Color. This is not to be missed! Right now they are showing two shows. One for the Holidays, "Winter Dream" and one for Disney's 60th Diamond Celebration, "Celebrate". Both are amazing but "Celebrate" was my favorite...and I may have cried just a little...shhhh! I had gotten a fast pass for "Celebrate" and the view was just so so. For "Winter Dream" I had a World of Color dining package from Ariel's Grotto and that view couldn't be beat. We had front row seats, plus the food was amazing...I'll blog about that another time. California Adventure Park also has the Pixar Play Parade which is really cute, and at night on the weekends they have the Mad T Party, which features live entertainment by Alice in Wonderland members. As you can see California Adventure Park has a lot to offer and is really a lot of fun.
Now I need to talk about Disneyland Park!
Now I need to talk about Disneyland Park!
My first time entering Disneyland Park was actually not through the main entrance. There is a monorail that you can catch in Downtown Disney but it is very different than the monorail in Disney World. To get on this monorail you actually have to go through security and have a ticket to get into Disneyland Park because the monorail drops you off INSIDE Disneyland park. We were coming into the park at night to see Fantasmic, which is one of Disneyland's night shows. I had not been to Disneyland before so I didn't realize the monorail went through parts of the park. I was looking at photos on my phone and had I not looked up in time I would have missed a truly beautiful thing. The monorail goes right by It's a Small World ride and during the Holidays it is decked out in Christmas lights. An amazing sight to see! There are three rides in Disneyland that go all out for the Holidays. It's a Small World is one of them, plus the Jungle Cruise, which turns into the Jingle Cruise, and finally the Haunted Mansion. All of them are must sees, but be sure to see Haunted Mansion Holiday if you can only pick one. Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas takes over the Haunted Mansion and they really go all out with the decor. You can see all three rides without waiting in line if you take the "Holiday Time at Disneyland Tour"...which I did take and will blog about that tour in another entry.
Disneyland Park is smaller than Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, but they utilize the space they have very well. In fact most people are surprised to hear that Disneyland Park has more rides than any other Disney Park in the World, and Disneyland Park and California Adventure Park combined have more rides than all FOUR theme parks in Walt Disney World! One of the biggest differences between Disneyland Park vs. Magic Kingdom is the castle. When I did enter Disneyland Park the next day through the main entrance down Main Street I kept trying to get a glimpse of Sleeping Beauty's castle (75 feet tall)...and it was small and harder to see than Cinderella's Castle (189 feet tall). In fact the Matterhorn bobsled ride is really the focal point and stands at 147 feet. Once I got used to the smallness of the castle I was fine. In fact after being there for a week I got so used to seeing the small Sleeping Beauty Castle that now when I see pictures of Cinderella's Castle it just seems so ginormous!
Some of the rides in Disneyland are similar to rides in Walt Disney World but there are quite a few rides that are different and some that are better (I won't list them all, but will highlight some). The Main Street area has dining and shopping, and a must see on Main Street is the firehouse. Above the firehouse is Walt Disney's family apartment. You can actually see inside the apartment when you take the "Walk in Walt's Disneyland Footstep's Tour". Adventureland has dining and some of your classic rides like the Jungle Cruise, but it also has a ride called Indiana Jones Adventure which is a lot of fun and similar to Animal Kingdom's Dinosaur ride. New Orleans Square has the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. I personally like Disneyland's Pirates ride better because it is longer, and I like the outside of the Haunted Mansion better as well. And you can't beat the Haunted Mansion Holiday. New Orleans Square also has some unique shopping and dining. If you like beignets this is the place to go. Very tasty but you will end up with powdered sugar everywhere. Not the best things to eat when you are trying to appear like a lady. I had it everywhere...mouth, forehead, hair, pants, shirt...but they were good! Critter Country has rides, like Splash Mountain and Winnie the Pooh plus Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes. Frontierland has a few rides including one of my favorites Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I don't know what it was about this ride in Disneyland, but I kept sliding in the seat making the ride even more fun and had me laughing through the whole ride. I don't know if the seats are wider or if the turns are harder, but I don't remember sliding in Walt Disney World. My poor friend kept getting nailed by my boney hips throughout the whole ride. Frontierland is also home to the night show Fantasmic! Some of the dining and attraction space in Frontierland will be closing to make room for Star Wars Land. Can't wait!! Fantasyland in Disneyland Park has a lot of the classic kid rides including Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Snow White's Scary Adventures, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Alice and Wonderland and more! Fantasyland is also home to the Matterhorn Bobsleds. Fun ride but really bumpy. I had jeans on that have buttons on the pockets...I felt every bump thanks to those buttons! Mickey's Toontown is a really cute area that has houses for the Characters plus Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. Tomorrowland has some of the classics like Autopia, Space Mountain, and Star Tours. Plus while we were there "Season of the Force" just opened so there was quite a bit of Star Wars things going on...including turning Space Mountain into Hyperspace Mountain. I also had the pleasure of getting a big furry hug from Chewbacca and entered the Dark Side when I met Darth Vader.
A lot was going on in Disneyland when we went. When we got there the Avengers half marathon was going on. Plus Holidays at Disneyland and Feel the Force was starting, and of course the 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration is going on! For the Diamond Celebration there is the amazing Disneyland Forever fireworks show, plus the super fun Paint the Night Parade. Don't miss either!!! During the Holidays there is also the Christmas Fantasy Parade which is really cute.
A lot was going on in Disneyland when we went. When we got there the Avengers half marathon was going on. Plus Holidays at Disneyland and Feel the Force was starting, and of course the 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration is going on! For the Diamond Celebration there is the amazing Disneyland Forever fireworks show, plus the super fun Paint the Night Parade. Don't miss either!!! During the Holidays there is also the Christmas Fantasy Parade which is really cute.
So I know this blog is long, and hopefully you made it to the end. As you can see I had a lot of fun in Disneyland and I hope to go back again sometime soon. Disneyland is definitely more of a leisurely trip. I was there for a week which is more than enough time, and I didn't feel like I had to do the Disney death march to fit things in. We could really take our time seeing the parks and shows, and I even fit an LA day tour in. I will blog about that tour in another entry. As I mentioned earlier, Disneyland is small but mighty. It would be a good place to take younger kids because there are a lot of rides, and because it is smaller it is not as overwhelming as Disney World. The fact that everything is in walking distance makes it a lot easier for strollers too. You don't have to worry about getting strollers on and off buses or monorails. There is more than enough fun too for adults without kids.
I have so much more that I could talk about but this blog is long enough. If you want to head west feel free to contact me and I would love to tell you more and help you book your trip!
Keep checking back because I plan to blog about my LA Day tour that you can book when you take a trip to Disneyland, plus the Holiday Time at Disneyland Tour and much more!
I have so much more that I could talk about but this blog is long enough. If you want to head west feel free to contact me and I would love to tell you more and help you book your trip!
Keep checking back because I plan to blog about my LA Day tour that you can book when you take a trip to Disneyland, plus the Holiday Time at Disneyland Tour and much more!