Hey everyone! We just got back yesterday from our Disneyland trip…it was beyond amazing and I already want to go back!
Long review ahead…
The park itself (Disneyland) was so charming and beautiful. I especially loved New Orleans Square and Fantasyland…they were gorgeous. If we had more time I would have loved to just sit in New Orleans Square and people-watch. Main Street was beautiful and gave me a much more “nostalgic” feeling than WDW’s Main Street…and I loved the new window displays. Also as a huge Starbucks fan that needs her daily Iced Chai Tea Latte fix I really appreciated that DL’s Starbucks had seating and felt much less cramped than MK’s Starbucks. Sleeping Beauty’s Castle is obviously not as impressive at Cinderella’s Castle at MK, but I thought it was pretty and I loved the little path around it that leads to Snow White’s wishing well. Tomorrowland left a little to be desired theming-wise, although I feel the same way about WDW’s. I liked DL’s Adventureland better than WDW’s, but I think WDW’s Frontierland is slightly more impressive. Toontown was cute and it was fun to be able to walk through Mickey’s house again, but we didn’t feel the need to spend much time in that land.
It was really fun to ride some of the Fantasyland attractions we WDW locals no longer have like Mr. Toad and Snow White (even though they were slightly different at WDW), and some dark rides we have never experienced like Pinocchio and Alice in Wonderland (one of my new favorite rides…it was so adorable)! . Peter Pan’s Flight was amazing and I hope WDW’s version gets some sort of upgrades soon…it doesn’t compare to DL’s version. The Storybook Canal Boats and Casey Jr. Train were absolutely adorable. I also love the look of DL’s Teacups with the outdoor lanterns. The Matterhorn was cool to look at and we rode both tracks at least once…but man that ride is rough! I am only 30 and in good shape and that thing killed my back! LOL. I understand the ride is old and all but I think it would benefit from padded seats like WDW’s Space Mountain.
Speaking of Space Mountain…we were not that thrilled with DL’s version and much prefer WDW’s version of the ride. Granted we rode the “Ghost Galaxy” version, but the track itself just didn’t seem as fun as WDW’s and didn’t seem to have any drops…just a bunch of twisting and turning. We liked DL’s Buzz Lightyear ride better…the sets were more impressive and it was nice that you were able to pick up your gun. Autopia is much cuter than WDW’s Speedway…I liked the Mr. Toad car statue and the little “mouse crossing”. The Monorail was interesting…it was strange to utilize it as a ride and not as a mode of transportation. It was odd to look outside and see “non-Disney” things like a Panera Bread and offsite hotels along the way. We never rode Star Tours because the line was always long and we figured it was the same as WDW’s. The Finding Nemo subs were fun although slightly claustrophobic LOL.
All of the rides in Adventureland and New Orleans Square were fantastic. Indiana Jones might be my new favorite ride and I would take that ride any day over Dinosaur. The sets were really impressive and it was just a really fun, well-done ride. I think we rode Indiana Jones more than any other ride while we were there. DL’s Pirate’s is so much cooler than WDW’s version…I love the beginning where you pass by the Blue Bayou and all of the extra scenes. I was skeptical of Haunted Mansion Holiday before we went because I wanted to experience the “original” version and I am not the biggest Nightmare Before Christmas fan…but it ended up being one of my favorites! I could not believe how much was re-themed…it felt like a completely different, but equally as enjoyable ride. I also loved that you enter the mansion through the front door instead of WDW’s where you enter around the side of the mansion.
I loved DL's Big Thunder Mountain and found it to be far superior to WDW's. The rock/explosion scene was great!
Critter Country was cute…I found DL’s Splash Mountain to be about equal to WDW’s (I might like WDW’s slightly better). DL’s Winnie the Pooh was much better than WDW’s.
The shows and parades at Disneyland were fantastic. We were able to catch a showing of Fantasmic while we were there and it was amazing! I loved the Peter Pan scene and the dragon was obviously much nicer than our dragon-on-a-stick LOL. I do like WDW’s seating better (it was a little hectic trying to get to our section and having to stand in a crowd for an hour) but the show was great. Mickey and the Magical map was really cute and I loved the whole princess montage with actual singing. The Soundsational parade was fun…but I think Festival of Fantasy is much better and is one of the few WDW offerings that has DL beat…FOF’s floats are much more impressive and beautiful. We watched the little Frozen show from the back and it looked cute…but we never sat in the theatre and actually watched the whole thing. Paint the Night…oh where do I begin…this is what all Disney night parades should aspire to be. I loved it so much and really, really, really hope WDW gets a parade like this in the not-to-distant future. It was simply breathtaking and one of my favorite things of the entire trip. My only critique was it was a little too Pixar-heavy for my taste but overall it was fabulous…it takes a lot to bring tears to my eyes and when we watched this parade for the third and final time of our trip I was definitely tearing up.
During our trip we ate (in Disneyland) at Cafe Orleans, River Belle Terrace, and I grabbed a quick burger one night at Tomorrowland Terrace before the parade. All of the food was great and was definitely higher quality than the food at WDW.
California Adventure was also a really fun park. I am not a huge Cars fan (one of the only Pixar movies I can’t even watch all the way though without getting bored)…but Cars Land was great! Really fantastic theming and Radiator Springs Racers was amazing! The single riders line was non-existent so we were able to ride it multiple times during our trip. The animatronics were top-notch and the “race” at the end was really fun. The Tow Mater ride was also cute. We ate lunch at Flo’s and it was really good! They actually put our food on “real” plates…they definitely don’t that at WDW LOL.
We much preferred WDW’s Tower of Terror to the one at California Adventure. The lobby wasn’t as impressive as WDW’s and the loading process was strange…it was odd having to walk across the unload corridor to get into the elevator.
Toy Story Mania and Ariel’s Undersea Adventure are basically clones of WDW’s, but the WDW versions have much nicer themed queues.
The Aladdin show was fantastic! The Genie jokes were a little corny but I suppose he did that somewhat in the movie as well. Overall we really enjoyed it.
The Monster's Inc. ride was cute...I wasn't expecting anything great but it was cooler than I thought it would be.
The Animation building was really cool with the screens everywhere, and we walked right into the Anna and Elsa meet and greet (unheard of at WDW)! The sets were way cuter and they actually meet together unlike WDW where you now meet them separately.
Paradise Pier was ok. We rode California Screamin’ but didn’t ride any of the other “carnival-style” rides. We ate lunch at Ariel’s Grotto which was cute. The characters were great and the food was better than I thought it would be for a princess meal.
We watched World of Color once during our trip. It was really cool but I wouldn’t go out of my way to stand in a crowd and watch it again. I much prefer the parades/Fantasmic-type of nighttime offerings.
Our last night we went to the Halloween Party. It was fun but didn’t seem to have as many special Halloween offerings (parade, shows, etc.) as WDW’s Halloween Party. We loved Paint the Night though so we weren’t complaining about DL not having a special Halloween parade. The fireworks weren’t as impressive as WDW’s, but I loved flying Zero…he was super cute! My sister and I were dressed as Peasant Belle and Briar Rose and we received tons of compliments on our costumes…lots of people went all out and had really amazing costumes so it was really fun to people-watch that night.
We stayed on the concierge-level at the Grand Californian. The room was not “amazing” but it was very nice and had a view of the pool area, Tower of Tower, and the Grizzly Bear rock statue. The beds were surprisingly super comfortable and the housekeepers were great. The food offerings in the concierge were just ok…but I am gluten-free so it would have obviously been easier for me to eat there if I wasn’t. My mom and sister definitely got their money’s worth though. It was also nice to be able to walk in and grab some water or a hot tea/coffee whenever we wanted. The main perk though was the distance to the parks…it was nice to go back to the room in the afternoon and grab a cup of tea and change into something warmer for the evening.
I went into this trip thinking how can DL possibly beat WDW…we are blessed with size and have four theme parks to choose from…but DL really exceeded all of my expectations. The parks were charming, clean, every CM we encountered was super nice, and the other visitors just seemed more pleasant and less stressed/pushy. We literally liked everything at DL better except for the day parade, Space Mountain, and Tower of Terror. It was just an overall amazing experience and I am already wondering when we can go back.
Thank you to everyone who posted suggestions for us for our trip. We seriously had a fantastic time and I am now a little jealous of you DL locals! Hopefully I can visit your park again soon!
