Trip Report Mahalo Disneyland for 60 Magical Years!

Disneyland 2016-Castle Down Main Street 01 by JUNEAU BISCUITS, on Flickr

Aloha!

My name is Len and some of you might remember me from my trip report to Walt Disney World this past Christmas! If you haven't seen it, and are curious, here is the link:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/mele-kalikimaka-wdw-adventure-2015-completed.909533/

Having visited a Disney park in 2015, I didn't think I would be back to one for a couple of years. However, my wife Sue had a workshop in Las Vegas about a month and a half ago. She asked if I would come along, but not being a big Vegas fan, I initially declined. Sue asked me again as she really wanted company and I jokingly asked if I could stop at Disneyland first. To my surprise, she said YES! Faster than you can say "Bob's your Uncle", I immediately began making plans to visit the park during the tail end of its 60th Diamond Celebration.

As with my WDW trip, I took hundreds of photos and am roughly half done with post processing. It will be a few more weeks before I get the majority done that I want to use for this report, but I thought I'd do a quick intro so that folks here don't think I've gone AWOL!

Some quick thoughts before I get back to Lightroom and Photoshop. I think my pictures, at least composition wise, are much better this go around. One of the reasons is that Disneyland is so much smaller than WDW! Attractions are closer to each other which works for wide angle shots (I like seeing two different icons or attractions in one image). The less commute time between lands allowed me to take just a bit more time composing and studying my subjects.

Whereas I'm happy with a good number of my night shots, I totally failed at shooting dark rides. Not sure why, but you won't see many ride shots for this report. I did manage to get a pretty decent shot of the Abominable Snowman from the Matterhorn, which you'll see later down the road.

Because I was at DL for roughly 3 and a half days, I don't have as much to report as my WDW trip. I'm going to break this report down by the parks and resort rather than a day by day accounting. I think it will keeps things less confusing and much more focused.

Okay, I think that's it for now! The image I'm leaving you with is similar to the first one I posted for my last report. For WDW, it was a picture of Cinderella's Castle looking down Main Street after park closing. This one is very similar except you can sub in Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Unfortunately, you'll immediately notice the security guard on the right side of the street. I waited a good half hour for him to leave, but he wasn't budging...LOL! I think a lot of my "after hour" shots have one or two stragglers in them (it became a running joke with me), but it didn't bother me too much for some strange reason.

As Arnold always says, "I'll be back!"
 
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myhappyplace

myhappyplace

Crazy Cat Lady
Premium Member
Beautiful shot!

Can't wait for the rest; I so enjoyed your report from earlier!

Did Sue go to the parks with you, or were you solo? And if she did, did she become the Sue Hatter again?? (I remember her fondness for trying on hats)
 
Juneau Biscuits

Juneau Biscuits

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
myhappyplace said:
Beautiful shot!

Can't wait for the rest; I so enjoyed your report from earlier!

Did Sue go to the parks with you, or were you solo? And if she did, did she become the Sue Hatter again?? (I remember her fondness for trying on hats)
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Thank you for the kind words...glad you'll be trudging through this next report...LOL!
Sue joined me for the last two days. By some cruel stroke of fate, she had to spend her birthday at DCA (she's not a big fan of the parks), but I tried to make the best of it by taking her to Carthay Circle Restaurant for dinner and a massage at Disney's Grand Californian's Mandara Spa.

Yep, Sue did the hat thing again...LOL! Not as much selection as WDW, but we did do a few (pictures to follow)!
 
MinnieM123

MinnieM123

Premium Member
Mahalo! Yea, you're back--one of the finest photographers on the forum. :happy: The Disneyland castle is gorgeous. Please feel free to share more pictures of your vacation, anytime!

That was a nice gift for Sue--I've been to the Mandara Spa at the Dolphin at WDW, so I imagine the spa they have over at the Grand Californian must also be elegant.
 
Juneau Biscuits

Juneau Biscuits

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
MinnieM123 said:
Mahalo! Yea, you're back--one of the finest photographers on the forum. :happy: The Disneyland castle is gorgeous. Please feel free to share more pictures of your vacation, anytime!

That was a nice gift for Sue--I've been to the Mandara Spa at the Dolphin at WDW, so I imagine the spa they have over at the Grand Californian must also be elegant.
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Hi @MinnieM123! How have you been? Don't know about being a "fine" photographer...LOL..but thank you nonetheless!
Sue said the spa was "okay" which makes me think the one at the Dolphin is probably much more impressive.
 
Juneau Biscuits

Juneau Biscuits

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
KwikE said:
What type of lens was used to take that picture of the castle? Its amazing.........
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I normally use an ultra wide angle lens for this type of shot, but I went with a 70-200mm f/2.8 telephoto lens for compression to make the castle appear closer in the image.
 
Juneau Biscuits

Juneau Biscuits

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
fractal said:
Looking forward to this one!

PS - what lenses were you using for the dark rides?
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Hey Chris! You probably already seen a lot of the photos I'm going to use on my Flickr page...LOL!
I shot with all f/2.8 lenses and they were mostly bad (lots of noise, out of focus, etc). I know the Haunted Mansion is really dark so I should have used my f/1.8 prime lens, but I find it too restricting on a ride. I think the main problem is I was shooting at too high a shutter speed. Since I can only get to the parks every other year or so, I don't have the luxury of riding an attraction multiple times to narrow down the correct settings (my friend Eddison Esteban, an amazing photographer, shot the Mansion with the exact same lens and came away with some amazing stuff). Ahhh, who am I kidding, I'm just making excuses for my failures...hah!
 
fractal

fractal

Well-Known Member
Juneau Biscuits said:
Hey Chris! You probably already seen a lot of the photos I'm going to use on my Flickr page...LOL!
I shot with all f/2.8 lenses and they were mostly bad (lots of noise, out of focus, etc). I know the Haunted Mansion is really dark so I should have used my f/1.8 prime lens, but I find it too restricting on a ride. I think the main problem is I was shooting at too high a shutter speed. Since I can only get to the parks every other year or so, I don't have the luxury of riding an attraction multiple times to narrow down the correct settings (my friend Eddison Esteban, an amazing photographer, shot the Mansion with the exact same lens and came away with some amazing stuff). Ahhh, who am I kidding, I'm just making excuses for my failures...hah!
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Certainly more challenging at f/2.8. Hit and miss for me as well.

Yes, you have loads of beautiful shots on your Flickr page!
 
DisneyPrincess5

DisneyPrincess5

Well-Known Member
Hi @Juneau Biscuits !

I remember your awesome Christmas report! Love your photos and writing style. Wow- great quick thinking with the Disneyland idea, and hoorah to your wifey for being on board! What a match made in Disney, errr heaven...same place. Can't wait for your DL report!
 
Juneau Biscuits

Juneau Biscuits

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
DisneyPrincess5 said:
Hi @Juneau Biscuits !

I remember your awesome Christmas report! Love your photos and writing style. Wow- great quick thinking with the Disneyland idea, and hoorah to your wifey for being on board! What a match made in Disney, errr heaven...same place. Can't wait for your DL report!
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Mahalo @DisneyPrincess5 for your kind words! I hope you'll find some enjoyment out of this new trip report! LOL, good thing my wife puts up with me!
 
Juneau Biscuits

Juneau Biscuits

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Disney's Grand Californian 00 by JUNEAU BISCUITS, on Flickr

Okay, I've finally finished processing enough photos which will give a good cross representation of the Disneyland parks and hotel (at least according to my eyes and actual experiences). I didn't take nearly as many pictures as compared to WDW, but I was dealing with basically two parks that are much smaller and more intimate than their Floridian counterparts. I'm probably way off base, but it felt like both Disneyland and DCA could easily fit into Epcot with tons of room to spare! I'll get to the comparisons and differences in more detail when I get to the park portion of this report, but in general, I found it much easier and less stressful to cover most of the major park attractions and highlights even though I had much less time.

As mentioned in my first post, I'm going to attack this report a bit differently. I won't be doing a chronological day by day approach, but rather breaking it down by parks/hotel. So without further adieu, let's get this report rolling with pictures and commentary on Disney's Grand Californian resort.


Like much of the California resort, the Grand Californian is much smaller and more intimate than its Florida cousin, The Wilderness Lodge. Yet both have a lot in common with its rustic, outdoor theming, abundant use of wood decor, and a real "home away from home" feel. The more intimate feel is mostly a result of not having huge amounts of space that is Florida's trademark. When I walk into Wilderness Lodge, it's an "Oh WOW!" feeling...the sheer size and immensity of the lobby forces the air out of your lungs. For GC, it's more of a subtle feeling of amazement...it's beautiful but not in a out of this world sort of way. The above picture is a 9 shot panoramic image to give you an ideal what the lobby looks like when walking though the entrance door (you can immediately tell it does not have the height nor immensity of WL). The Disney theming is almost non-exsistant. If not for the big "D" over the fireplace commemorating the Diamond Celebration, you might not know it was a Disney hotel.

Disney's Grand Californian-Lobby View from the 3rd Floor by JUNEAU BISCUITS, on Flickr


Disney's Grand Californian 2016-Lobby Long View by JUNEAU BISCUITS, on Flickr

Disney's Grand Californian 2016-Front Desk Side View by JUNEAU BISCUITS, on Flickr

This wasn't our first time at DGC as Sue and I had stayed there in fall 2010. We paid a little under $300.00 a night which was pretty acceptable to me. No luck this time around as our summer travel dates added another $250.00 per day for a hotel room here. Now, I don't think any Disney resort is worth $500.00 + a night (and we're talking your basic room, not a suite) including my much loved Wilderness and Animal Kingdom Lodges. So you can be sure it was painful paying the tab for a two night stay here. The reason I bit the bullet was that it happened to be Sue's birthday, and some readers may remember she is not a big Disney park fan. The main reason for our trip out to the west coast was a training seminar in Las Vegas for my wife's job. Being that she's a sweetheart, Sue allowed me to stop off at Disneyland first to take in the Diamond Celebration. The least I could do was have her stay at top notch resort, and hey, what's a grand??? Right???

Disney's Grand Californian 2016-Entrance Sign by JUNEAU BISCUITS, on Flickr

Disney's Grand Californian 2016-Entrance Booth by JUNEAU BISCUITS, on Flickr
 
Juneau Biscuits

Juneau Biscuits

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I must say the staff @ GC was outstanding and up to Disney standards. Jeremiah checked us in and he was super friendly and helpful. He initially had problems locating our reservations, so he comped us four fast passes which we used for Soarin' and Radiator Springs Racers. A lot of fellow forum members enjoyed my cast member photos, so let's start off with a few of the resort folks!

Disney's Grand Californian 2016-Front Desk Cast Member Jeremiah by JUNEAU BISCUITS, on Flickr

Disney's Grand Californian 2016-Front Desk Cast Members Kimberly & Ellie 02 by JUNEAU BISCUITS, on Flickr

My initial reason for taking cast member photos was to document the various outfit worn throughout the resorts and park (I really liked the uniforms Disney provided for GC cast members...very classy). But that reason became secondary to the personal interaction and chance to engage with cast members one on one. It's also really helped my confidence in approaching strangers to take their photo. I get the occasional "no" and sometimes suspicious looks, but for the most part, people are happy to oblige. At Disney, I have literally no fear, as I think cast members are encouraged to make visitors happy, even pesky ones with cameras!

Disney's Grand Californian 2016-Cast Members Joni & Courtney by JUNEAU BISCUITS, on Flickr

I've begun to notice a pattern while traveling, and not just to Disney parks. Tripods attract security like bees to honey. There's something about a camera on a stick that sets off alarms and questions...LOL! I had read about non-guests getting asked to leave Grand Californian while shooting the hotel interior. Being an actual guest, I didn't think this would be an issue. Nonetheless, I had double checked with Jeremiah if it would be okay to photograph the lobby with a tripod during the wee morning hours. He assured me it was no problem and that staff on duty would be more than happy to accommodate me. I set the alarm for 3:30 am and headed down the stairs, bushy haired and groggy eyed. Some custodians were mopping the floor so there were those "Wet" cones lining the floor. I made sure to stay out of their way and set up my tripod at the far end of the room behind the cones. Before I could even pop off the lens cap, I saw a security guard approaching me from the corner of the room. He asked me what I was doing and if I was a guest here. After answering his questions, he warned me about staying away from the slippery areas and left without saying another word. Looks like we both needed coffee and some happy pixie dust...LOL!

Disney's Grand Californian 2016-2nd Floor View of the Front Desk Lobby by JUNEAU BISCUITS, on Flickr

Disney's Grand Californian 2016-Birdseye View by JUNEAU BISCUITS, on Flickr

Disney's Grand Californian 2016-Fireplace 01 by JUNEAU BISCUITS, on Flickr

During the morning, we would grab coffee from Hearthstone Lounge, a really beautiful area to sit and relax with a drink or bite to eat. I made it a point to head here to shoot some pictures without a soul around.

Disney's Grand Californian 2016-Hearthstone Lounge 01 by JUNEAU BISCUITS, on Flickr

Disney's Grand Californian 2016-Hearthstone Lounge Corner View by JUNEAU BISCUITS, on Flickr

Disney's Grand Californian 2016-Hearthstone Lounge Fireplace by JUNEAU BISCUITS, on Flickr
 

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