Trip Report My First Trip to Disneyland! - Spring Break 2026

Hello everyone! Welcome back to what I believe is my third trip report. However, this is my first for Disneyland! As you can tell by the title, this was my first ever trip to the parks in California. Actually, it's my first ever time to California. I have been to WDW 25+ times, but never made the trip out west. So let me get started with the basics...

When: March 23rd-27th
Who: My dad and I
Where: Fairfield Inn (across the street from Disneyland)
Why: My dad and I have been talking about this for a couple years, and we decided 2026 was our time.

Let's get started!

 

[Figgy1]

Howdy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

Awesome, and lookin’ forward to more…!!!!!!!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

 

[PUSH]

Just a fair warning that I will likely be making many comparison to WDW in this TR. It's very hard not to when that's what you know. Once I'm finished, I will likely do a more organized rundown of my thoughts between the two locations.

Day 1, Part 1 - Travel Day

We live in Southwest Wisconsin, and we prefer direct flights. Well, if you're ever been to Southwest Wisconsin, you know that there aren't many options nearby for airports. The closest to us is Madison, but they don't have direct to the SoCal area. We were looking around and found that they flew direct to John Wayne Aiport out of Des Moines, IA. Even though it's a 3.5 hour drive, we chose that option for the smaller airports and it being direct. Our flight was at 7am on Monday the 23rd, so we stayed at a Holiday Inn across the street from the airport the night before. Nothing to really write about there... it was an older convention-style hotel that had some cosmetic upgrades. It got the job done.

The next morning, we headed over to the airport around 5:00. We got through the check-in line and TSA in about 10 minutes. I love small airports, and Des Moines was really nice. We flew Allegiant, and it was the nicest plane I've been on with them. The flight was uneventful. Nothing to really talk about. The only thing that might be something was I believe we flew over Palm Springs and specifically the location of the golf course scene from Soarin' Over California. I cannot confirm, but it looked very, very similar.

We landed a little after 9:00am PT, grabbed our suitcases from baggage claim and got a Lyft to the Fairfield Inn by Marriott, which was right across the street from Disneyland. When we arrived, our room wasn't ready. I wasn't surprised since it was so early, but we were able to leave our bags with them. I changed into shorts and grabbed a couple things out of my bag, then we headed over to Disneyland!

The walk was very short. Once we left the lobby, we just had to walk across a parking lot, then about half a block down the street, and we were at the crosswalk to Disney property.

We got through security and arrived at the front gates. The entry system is a bit different than we were used to at WDW, but once we knew what to do, it was extremely easy. We had also used a couple of our WDW MagicBands, so that made it even easier. After flying out at 7:00am CT, we were in the gates at 9:50 PT. We made a lot better time that I had expected! I was assuming we'd be there by 11am at the very earliest. The fact that we had almost an entire full day was a great bonus.

We spent a little time looking at the sights and taking in the ambience in front of the train station and on Main Street. I got a little chill when walking through the tunnel and into Town Square. As a huge fan of Disney parks, it was really cool to finally be in the one that started it all. I got the feeling that Walt had actually worked on the park personally, and he had walked through those tunnels and streets. One of the first things I looked for was the lamp in Walt's apartment above the fire station.

After taking in the ambience down there, we headed up to the castle area and soaked that in. My first impression of the castle was it's actually bigger than I expected. Everyone has said it's so much smaller than Cinderella Castle, and it is, but I think in my mind people made it seem much smaller.

Once we had taken in that area, I checked wait times, and Pirates wasn't too long. If my memory serves right, that was my first ever ride at WDW when I was 7 years old. It's only fitting that it's my first at DL.

I knew the general area it would be in, but it definitely took a little bit to figure out the layout of the park. I'm so used to knowing every little nook and cranny at WDW, so it was a new experience of having to look at the maps for different locations. We walked through Adventureland and then into New Orleans Square, eventually finding the entrance below the bridge.

One thing I noticed with the ride, and I would notice throughout all of DL is that the queues are not nearly as elaborate at WDW. I know they have less space, and the weather is better in California for outdoor queues, but it was a difference that I hadn't really thought about.

Once we got on the ride, it was so cool to see the differences from WDW. Probably as no surprise to everyone, but the ride was leaps and bounds better than WDW. I will say now that I will always love WDW's versions, but in general the duplicate rides are better at DL. There are a couple of exceptions, but overall I'd say it's true. The bayou and cave scenes are much longer and have way more detail and scenes to them. I will say the ending scene at WDW is better, with Jack in the treasure room.

Up next: Day 1, Part 2 - More Disneyland!

 

[Minnie1986]

Very excited to see how you like the parks out here!

 

[PUSH]

Day 1, Part 2 - Haunted Mansion & Fantasyland!

After riding Pirates, I checked the wait times and found that Haunted Mansion wasn't too long, so we headed over. Much like Pirates, I found the queue to be less exciting than it's counterpart at WDW, but it wasn't a bad queue by any means. The loading area before the stretching room was much smaller. The stretching room itself was better. You could tell it was an actual elevator, and the room "stretched" higher. The scene with the man hanging was much clearer than WDW.

This is one of the few duplicate rides I actually prefer at WDW. The stair scene and the scene with the piano were missing, or integrated into other scenes at DL. The bride is also better at WDW. However, I liked the hitchhiking ghosts at DL better. I'm not a fan of how they interact with you at WDW, partially because they are never fully lined up properly. I also prefer the unloading area at WDW. All that said, it's still a fun ride, and I always like the classics!

After Haunted, we were getting hungry. We decided to eat at the nearby Hungry Bear Barbeque. I just got the chicken strips, because you can't go wrong with Disney chicken strips. The wait was pretty long, as they weren't cranking out the food very quickly. The chicken strips were good, but honestly a little tougher than what I've had at WDW. The fries were really good, though.

After lunch, we headed over to Fantasyland since the waits were ranging between 15-25 minutes. We were able to check a lot off here. Our first stop was Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. I liked this one. I had seen this ride on livestreams before, and it was fun to see in person. I'm a sucker for dark rides, though.

After Mr. Toad, we headed over to Snow White. This was one of my favorites, surprisingly. I think it was a combination of it being one of my first, as well as a classic dark ride that really gives the "Disneyland" feel.

Next, we rode the Storybook Land Canals. This was a fun little ride, but at this point I started to regret not putting on sunscreen before coming to the park. It was buried in my suitcase, and because the room wasn't ready, I didn't want to dig it out before heading over to the parks. I burn really easily, and it wasn't the smartest decision of my life. So riding around in the direct sun in the hottest hours of the day was not great.

While on the ride, I got a text saying our room was ready. We had originally planned to head back after this ride, but based on some Lightning Lanes, we didn't think we'd had any time to rest a little when we got back. We decided to stay in the park a little longer through our lightning lanes, then head to the hotel after that.

Up next: Day 1, Part 3 - More Disneyland!

 

[PUSH]

Day 1, Part 3 - Mr. Lincoln & Small World!

After the Canals, we had a little bit of time to kill before our first LL for Space. We decided to sit for a little bit and watch Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. I didn't realize that some of this overlapped with The American Adventure in Epcot. Seeing the animatronic was cool, though, knowing there's a lot of history behind it.

We still had some time before our LL, and we saw that Small World had a low wait, so we went to check that off. Again, the queue isn't anything special, but the facade was much better than WDW. We got to see the people come out and move around, which was neat. The downside to this line was the family behind us... they had a young kid who kept running ahead of us. The mom kept telling him to get back, he said no, and she did nothing around it. He was multiple groups ahead, and she just let him wait there. He was bumping into everybody, and she just kept telling him to come back, but he never did. It was pretty annoying.

The ride itself was fun. I liked seeing all the characters, but it was done in a subtle way that didn't seem like they forced an IP down your throat. I would say the scenes are better at DL, but I like how the water goes right up to the scenes in WDW. If I was ranking them, I'd probably lean in favor of DL, but WDW isn't too far behind.

Up next: Day 1, Part 4 - Tomorrowland!