So after my second trip to Disneyland, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the attractions I got to experience... By the way, the time we went was supposedly supposed to be a "ghost town"... But it was definitely the OPPOSITE of a ghost town! Let's dive in.
The second trip to Disneyland for me (First trip was 3 years ago) was more focused on doing everything I didn't get to do the first trip. The attractions I experienced 3 years ago are among the following, but I won't review them (Unless they were apart of this trip)..
Alice in Wonderland
Enchanted Tiki Room
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Pinocchio's Daring Journey
Pirates of the Caribbean
It's a Small World
Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy
The Little Mermaid - Ariel's Undersea Adventure
California Screamin'
When I went 3 years ago, we only had a 1 day 2 park pass before the cruise we were going on. This time, we got a 2 day 1 park pass and got to experience a bit more attractions! So I'll go down the list of attractions and give my personal review of them. This is what we did in order.
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters - I finally understand why everyone complains about Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin at WDW! Disneyland's version is FAR more superior! From the queue all the way to the end of the ride! We were actually able to pick up the guns which made it a lot better already! It didn't feel as cheap as WDW's version did! And I love the ending where Buzz Lightyear is shooting at Zurg. Zurg's voice sounds more on point as well. It was a GREAT attraction. However, it was odd seeing Buzz Lightyear surrounded by nothing but Star Wars in the rest of the entire land.
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue - This was the first thing I decided to get fastpasses for. (Which by the way is still paper based. Which was awesome.) Definitely worth the fastpass as the wait time in the afternoon was 60 minutes. This was the first time I have ever experienced the new version of Star Tours since the original. I have to say.. I was a bit underwhelmed. I don't know why. I'm not a huge star wars fan, but I think I enjoy the original version a lot better than the new version. I'm glad I got fastpasses because I personally don't believe it is worth more than a 20 minute wait. However.. It was a good ride. Just not as good as I expected it to be. The queue line was definitely amazing! And it was cool seeing Rex in the queue line malfunctioning and repeating some of his old lines.
Marvel Super Hero HQ - Eh. We walked up to the top.. Walked through it, and then went downstairs. Just a couple of meet and greets. Just... Eh?
Star Wars Launch Bay - Again.. Eh. I'm neither a Marvel or Star Wars fan. However, we did get a picture with Chewbacca. Which, by the way, that character is AWESOME! It was a 5 minute wait, but after we got up, I'm sure it shot up to a 20 minute wait by looking at the line. We left after we got our picture taken.
After Star Wars Launch Bay, we headed over to Fantasyland.. Which was PACKED. We waited 30 minutes to ride Mr Toad's Wild Ride.. However, we got out of line because the attraction broke down. We waited forever and nothing happened. We didn't go back to Fantasyland for the rest of the day. It was just too crowded.
Hyperspace Mountain - This was the 2nd attraction we got fastpasses for. This ride was AWESOME! However, I like the ghost galaxy version better. This Space Mountain, in the words of my parents, ran a lot smoother than the version at MK. I agree. It was a lot better too.
Mickey and the Magic Map - This was a pretty good show. Not amazing or spectacular. Not along the lines of Finding Nemo or Festival of the Lion King great.. But... Good. I enjoyed it.
Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin - Another attraction that made me VERY underwhelmed. We waited about 25 minutes to ride this thing. The queue line was the best part of the attraction. I actually wish the queue line existed in Storybook Circus in WDW, just as a walk through! It was so ridiculously well themed and awesome! The ride, however.. Was.. Weird. It made absolutely no sense, to be honest. It was really hard to spin the cab as well. I didn't like it. I'm not sure what I was expecting out of this attraction, but what I experienced wasn't it. It was just kind of.. Meh? But the queue line was so good.
Pirates of the Caribbean - As many of you know, or have heard... Pirates of the Caribbean is a lot better at Disneyland. It has a longer cave scene.. A second drop.. The backwards waterfall.. The bayou scene with the restaurant.. And a small extra scene where pirates are shooting at each other. However, I much prefer WDW's queue line. And I feel like the animatronics at WDW are in better condition.. Mainly speaking about the mouth movements. Including the final captain jack sparrow animatronic.
The Haunted Mansion - Basically almost the same experience. WDW's version is better, though. The queue line and exterior of the attraction is better. The "stretch room" is better at WDW as well. Mainly because at Disneyland you KNOW it is an elevator when the floor moves. Plus you could see the picture frames coming out kind of like a scroll. The doom buggies seemed smaller? I could be wrong about that. Also WDW has the new hitch hiking cgi ghost affects. WDW wins this one.
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - Again, basically the same attraction. WDW's version is a little better. The ride vehicles may look better than WDW's, but WDW's vehicles actually makes you feel like you're being drifted around in the water and then bouncing with tigger. Disneyland's just goes up and down. I also prefer the ending of WDW's version as well.
Indiana Jones Adventure - I now understand why everyone would prefer Indiana Jones Adventure over AK's DINOSAUR. It is by far the BEST Disney attraction that has EVER existed in my opinion! We waited 45 minutes to ride this baby and boy was it worth the wait! It completely exceeded my expectations. It was also my parents favorite ride as well. It was freaking AWESOME. The queue line was amazing as well!
The Enchanted Tiki Room - I know this was Walt's favorite attraction.. And it is a true classic. But lets face it.. It is FREAKING. BORING. Walt was always about moving forward and making things better. I'm sure if he was alive today and experienced attractions like Indiana Jones, Buzz Lightyear, or Radiator Springs Racers.. He would have probably replaced this show a long time ago. Nostalgic, yes. Entertaining? No. We were among a total of 5 other people in this attraction.
The Disneyland Story Presenting Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln - The museum part was very awesome and cool. It was amazing to see some of the objects and information about the park in there. We also enjoyed watching the Steve Martin video about Disneyland. We ended our entire day here, with Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. It's like a mixture of The Hall of Presidents from MK and The American Adventure from EPCOT mixed up into one show... And it works very well! It was amazingly good.. And I highly recommend ending your day with this relaxing show. Especially since it is right beside the park entrance.
The next day, we went to California Adventure. There was not as many attractions here so we took our time and relaxed. I immediately got in a 15 minute wait to get fastpasses for Radiator Springs Racers, which ran out of fastpasses by about 11:00 A.M.
Toy Story Mania - Right after I got fastpasses for RSR, we immediately walked over to Toy Story Mania. This was the first time I ever experienced this attraction. We waited about 30 minutes. I have to say it definitely exceeded my expectations. From videos and pictures, it just seemed like a wii video game in a chair.. And basically.... It is. But the movement of the cars makes it very exciting, oddly. However, I still much prefer Buzz Lightyear over this thing. And I now know that it isn't going to be worth more than a 30 minute wait or a fastpass+ use when I go to HS this summer.
Monsters, Inc Mike and Sulley to the Rescue! - Another attraction that passed my expectations. Mainly from looking at posts and reviews of this dark ride online.. People make it seem like this attraction really isn't that good. I have to disagree. I REALLY liked this ride! It was freaking awesome and presented the movie very well! I would honestly take this over the Laugh Floor from WDW any day. Obviously not a popular attraction with its 15 minute wait in the middle of the afternoon, though. I feel like this dark ride could be 100X better with moving mouths on the animatronics, though.
Tower of Terror - Basically the same as the version at WDW... Buuuut again. I like the WDW version better. Only because the version at WDW ends in a different location. Disneyland's just take you back to where you load in, which kind of sucked.
Radiator Springs Racers - Oh. My. Freaking. God. This. Ride. Is. AWESOME! I don't care if it has NOTHING to do with the theme of Epcot.. Replace Test Track with THIS! Easily my 2nd favorite Disney ride now! By the way, we won the race (;
We went to go check out "It's Tough to be a Bug," but a movie preview for Zootopia was occupying the theatre... BOOOOO!! Stupid.
Goofy's Sky School - The second thing I got a fastpass for. Because I didn't want to wait 30 minutes for a wild mouse coaster... That's all it is. A wild mouse coaster. Primeval Whirl at AK is a LOT better than this.
The Little Mermaid - Ariel's Undersea Adventure - Still my favorite dark ride of all time. Same exact ride as WDW's. But WDW has the freaking awesome queue line, whereas this attraction is just kind of in a random building at DL.
California Screamin' - A REALLY awesome roller coaster with REALLY awesome in-sync music! I love it!
The Bakery Tour - Well... It's a tiny little exhibit explaining how bread is made.. But hey! Free bread samples inside!
Animation Academy - This made me a bit depressed... Knowing that we no longer have the full, real experience in WDW anymore. At least you can still experience this at Disneyland. Relaxing and quiet. I could do it all day. We drew Jack Skellington by the way.
Why is it that at WDW, the wait time for Anna and Elsa is about 2 hours or more.. But at Disneyland, I got to walk RIGHT UP TO THEM without waiting behind a SINGLE PERSON!!!??
Mickey's Fun Wheel - A good way to end the day. We did the "swinging" side. My parents got sick. But I enjoyed it.
After we left the park, we ate a whopping $115 dinner buffet at the Storytellers Cafe inside Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. Great food. Too expensive. Soda drinks were included, though!
The second trip to Disneyland for me (First trip was 3 years ago) was more focused on doing everything I didn't get to do the first trip. The attractions I experienced 3 years ago are among the following, but I won't review them (Unless they were apart of this trip)..
Alice in Wonderland
Enchanted Tiki Room
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Pinocchio's Daring Journey
Pirates of the Caribbean
It's a Small World
Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy
The Little Mermaid - Ariel's Undersea Adventure
California Screamin'
When I went 3 years ago, we only had a 1 day 2 park pass before the cruise we were going on. This time, we got a 2 day 1 park pass and got to experience a bit more attractions! So I'll go down the list of attractions and give my personal review of them. This is what we did in order.
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters - I finally understand why everyone complains about Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin at WDW! Disneyland's version is FAR more superior! From the queue all the way to the end of the ride! We were actually able to pick up the guns which made it a lot better already! It didn't feel as cheap as WDW's version did! And I love the ending where Buzz Lightyear is shooting at Zurg. Zurg's voice sounds more on point as well. It was a GREAT attraction. However, it was odd seeing Buzz Lightyear surrounded by nothing but Star Wars in the rest of the entire land.
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue - This was the first thing I decided to get fastpasses for. (Which by the way is still paper based. Which was awesome.) Definitely worth the fastpass as the wait time in the afternoon was 60 minutes. This was the first time I have ever experienced the new version of Star Tours since the original. I have to say.. I was a bit underwhelmed. I don't know why. I'm not a huge star wars fan, but I think I enjoy the original version a lot better than the new version. I'm glad I got fastpasses because I personally don't believe it is worth more than a 20 minute wait. However.. It was a good ride. Just not as good as I expected it to be. The queue line was definitely amazing! And it was cool seeing Rex in the queue line malfunctioning and repeating some of his old lines.
Marvel Super Hero HQ - Eh. We walked up to the top.. Walked through it, and then went downstairs. Just a couple of meet and greets. Just... Eh?
Star Wars Launch Bay - Again.. Eh. I'm neither a Marvel or Star Wars fan. However, we did get a picture with Chewbacca. Which, by the way, that character is AWESOME! It was a 5 minute wait, but after we got up, I'm sure it shot up to a 20 minute wait by looking at the line. We left after we got our picture taken.
After Star Wars Launch Bay, we headed over to Fantasyland.. Which was PACKED. We waited 30 minutes to ride Mr Toad's Wild Ride.. However, we got out of line because the attraction broke down. We waited forever and nothing happened. We didn't go back to Fantasyland for the rest of the day. It was just too crowded.
Hyperspace Mountain - This was the 2nd attraction we got fastpasses for. This ride was AWESOME! However, I like the ghost galaxy version better. This Space Mountain, in the words of my parents, ran a lot smoother than the version at MK. I agree. It was a lot better too.
Mickey and the Magic Map - This was a pretty good show. Not amazing or spectacular. Not along the lines of Finding Nemo or Festival of the Lion King great.. But... Good. I enjoyed it.
Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin - Another attraction that made me VERY underwhelmed. We waited about 25 minutes to ride this thing. The queue line was the best part of the attraction. I actually wish the queue line existed in Storybook Circus in WDW, just as a walk through! It was so ridiculously well themed and awesome! The ride, however.. Was.. Weird. It made absolutely no sense, to be honest. It was really hard to spin the cab as well. I didn't like it. I'm not sure what I was expecting out of this attraction, but what I experienced wasn't it. It was just kind of.. Meh? But the queue line was so good.
Pirates of the Caribbean - As many of you know, or have heard... Pirates of the Caribbean is a lot better at Disneyland. It has a longer cave scene.. A second drop.. The backwards waterfall.. The bayou scene with the restaurant.. And a small extra scene where pirates are shooting at each other. However, I much prefer WDW's queue line. And I feel like the animatronics at WDW are in better condition.. Mainly speaking about the mouth movements. Including the final captain jack sparrow animatronic.
The Haunted Mansion - Basically almost the same experience. WDW's version is better, though. The queue line and exterior of the attraction is better. The "stretch room" is better at WDW as well. Mainly because at Disneyland you KNOW it is an elevator when the floor moves. Plus you could see the picture frames coming out kind of like a scroll. The doom buggies seemed smaller? I could be wrong about that. Also WDW has the new hitch hiking cgi ghost affects. WDW wins this one.
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - Again, basically the same attraction. WDW's version is a little better. The ride vehicles may look better than WDW's, but WDW's vehicles actually makes you feel like you're being drifted around in the water and then bouncing with tigger. Disneyland's just goes up and down. I also prefer the ending of WDW's version as well.
Indiana Jones Adventure - I now understand why everyone would prefer Indiana Jones Adventure over AK's DINOSAUR. It is by far the BEST Disney attraction that has EVER existed in my opinion! We waited 45 minutes to ride this baby and boy was it worth the wait! It completely exceeded my expectations. It was also my parents favorite ride as well. It was freaking AWESOME. The queue line was amazing as well!
The Enchanted Tiki Room - I know this was Walt's favorite attraction.. And it is a true classic. But lets face it.. It is FREAKING. BORING. Walt was always about moving forward and making things better. I'm sure if he was alive today and experienced attractions like Indiana Jones, Buzz Lightyear, or Radiator Springs Racers.. He would have probably replaced this show a long time ago. Nostalgic, yes. Entertaining? No. We were among a total of 5 other people in this attraction.
The Disneyland Story Presenting Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln - The museum part was very awesome and cool. It was amazing to see some of the objects and information about the park in there. We also enjoyed watching the Steve Martin video about Disneyland. We ended our entire day here, with Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. It's like a mixture of The Hall of Presidents from MK and The American Adventure from EPCOT mixed up into one show... And it works very well! It was amazingly good.. And I highly recommend ending your day with this relaxing show. Especially since it is right beside the park entrance.
The next day, we went to California Adventure. There was not as many attractions here so we took our time and relaxed. I immediately got in a 15 minute wait to get fastpasses for Radiator Springs Racers, which ran out of fastpasses by about 11:00 A.M.
Toy Story Mania - Right after I got fastpasses for RSR, we immediately walked over to Toy Story Mania. This was the first time I ever experienced this attraction. We waited about 30 minutes. I have to say it definitely exceeded my expectations. From videos and pictures, it just seemed like a wii video game in a chair.. And basically.... It is. But the movement of the cars makes it very exciting, oddly. However, I still much prefer Buzz Lightyear over this thing. And I now know that it isn't going to be worth more than a 30 minute wait or a fastpass+ use when I go to HS this summer.
Monsters, Inc Mike and Sulley to the Rescue! - Another attraction that passed my expectations. Mainly from looking at posts and reviews of this dark ride online.. People make it seem like this attraction really isn't that good. I have to disagree. I REALLY liked this ride! It was freaking awesome and presented the movie very well! I would honestly take this over the Laugh Floor from WDW any day. Obviously not a popular attraction with its 15 minute wait in the middle of the afternoon, though. I feel like this dark ride could be 100X better with moving mouths on the animatronics, though.
Tower of Terror - Basically the same as the version at WDW... Buuuut again. I like the WDW version better. Only because the version at WDW ends in a different location. Disneyland's just take you back to where you load in, which kind of sucked.
Radiator Springs Racers - Oh. My. Freaking. God. This. Ride. Is. AWESOME! I don't care if it has NOTHING to do with the theme of Epcot.. Replace Test Track with THIS! Easily my 2nd favorite Disney ride now! By the way, we won the race (;
We went to go check out "It's Tough to be a Bug," but a movie preview for Zootopia was occupying the theatre... BOOOOO!! Stupid.
Goofy's Sky School - The second thing I got a fastpass for. Because I didn't want to wait 30 minutes for a wild mouse coaster... That's all it is. A wild mouse coaster. Primeval Whirl at AK is a LOT better than this.
The Little Mermaid - Ariel's Undersea Adventure - Still my favorite dark ride of all time. Same exact ride as WDW's. But WDW has the freaking awesome queue line, whereas this attraction is just kind of in a random building at DL.
California Screamin' - A REALLY awesome roller coaster with REALLY awesome in-sync music! I love it!
The Bakery Tour - Well... It's a tiny little exhibit explaining how bread is made.. But hey! Free bread samples inside!
Animation Academy - This made me a bit depressed... Knowing that we no longer have the full, real experience in WDW anymore. At least you can still experience this at Disneyland. Relaxing and quiet. I could do it all day. We drew Jack Skellington by the way.
Why is it that at WDW, the wait time for Anna and Elsa is about 2 hours or more.. But at Disneyland, I got to walk RIGHT UP TO THEM without waiting behind a SINGLE PERSON!!!??
Mickey's Fun Wheel - A good way to end the day. We did the "swinging" side. My parents got sick. But I enjoyed it.
After we left the park, we ate a whopping $115 dinner buffet at the Storytellers Cafe inside Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. Great food. Too expensive. Soda drinks were included, though!
