Well, after about 9 years, I have finally gotten a chance to go back to LA and see Disneyland. I have heard a whole bunch of talk on the additions over there. Mostly negative stuff. Of course, I always make it a point to check it out for myself before making a decision.
First off, I must say I had a wonderful time! The good defenitly outweighed the bad for me.
I went at a great time of the year, because the Christmas celebration had just begun, and favoite DL attractions had been decked up for the holidays.
We stayed at Paradise Pier, which was nice. The elevators were kinda slow, but aside from that, we didn't stay around the hotel much, so it was all good. The parks were just a walk or monorail ride away, which is always good.
But there was one thing we hadden't expected on dealing with that annoyed us through most of the trip: RAIN! Boy, of all the times to come! It rained friday and saturday all day, the first rain Anaheim's gotten since July, we heard :brick: . Because of the rain, the Christmas fireworks, the snowfalling on Main Street, and the Electrical Parade were all canceled. And, of course, when we left, the sun was shinin brighter than ever. :lol: Just our luck. Oh well, at least it drove the crowds away!
My favorite DL ride this trip was defenetly Haunted Mansion Holiday! I've heard a lot of complaining on how they changed the music or something, but I thought the whole thing was awesome! I've never had a better time at the Mansion. I hope they do this at WDW some time so East Coasters can have a chance to see this wonderful attraction.
However, once the HMH is gone. my favorite "permanent" ride is defenetly Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin. The best dark ride I've ever been on! I'm a real cartoon buff, and Toontown at DL is like a cartoon utopia! MUCH better than Toontown fair at WDW. It was great to see all the Roger Rabbit characters again, too!
Pirates of the Carribbean is also MUCH better than WDW's. When I went on it, I would have never guessed how good it was. The whole loading area next to the reastaurant, the waterfalls, and a much longer ride with many more animatronics/scenes. Fun!
We took the Walk in Walt's footsteps tour (in the rain) which was very interesting and fun. You learn a lot of inside details and stories about some of the parts all around DL, including Lillian Disney's petrified tree, Roy's non-gold spier atop Sleeping Beauty's castle, and the real skull hidden in PotC. It took about 3 hours, but it was worth it.
We also saw the less popular Great Moments w/ Mr. Lincoln and the Walt Disney Story" on Main Street, which was very well done IMO. (A great use of binatural sound for the theater presentation, like that at Sounds Dangersous w/ Drew Carey.)
Well, that's enough for tonight. I'll continue when I get the time!
First off, I must say I had a wonderful time! The good defenitly outweighed the bad for me.
I went at a great time of the year, because the Christmas celebration had just begun, and favoite DL attractions had been decked up for the holidays.
We stayed at Paradise Pier, which was nice. The elevators were kinda slow, but aside from that, we didn't stay around the hotel much, so it was all good. The parks were just a walk or monorail ride away, which is always good.
But there was one thing we hadden't expected on dealing with that annoyed us through most of the trip: RAIN! Boy, of all the times to come! It rained friday and saturday all day, the first rain Anaheim's gotten since July, we heard :brick: . Because of the rain, the Christmas fireworks, the snowfalling on Main Street, and the Electrical Parade were all canceled. And, of course, when we left, the sun was shinin brighter than ever. :lol: Just our luck. Oh well, at least it drove the crowds away!
My favorite DL ride this trip was defenetly Haunted Mansion Holiday! I've heard a lot of complaining on how they changed the music or something, but I thought the whole thing was awesome! I've never had a better time at the Mansion. I hope they do this at WDW some time so East Coasters can have a chance to see this wonderful attraction.
However, once the HMH is gone. my favorite "permanent" ride is defenetly Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin. The best dark ride I've ever been on! I'm a real cartoon buff, and Toontown at DL is like a cartoon utopia! MUCH better than Toontown fair at WDW. It was great to see all the Roger Rabbit characters again, too!
Pirates of the Carribbean is also MUCH better than WDW's. When I went on it, I would have never guessed how good it was. The whole loading area next to the reastaurant, the waterfalls, and a much longer ride with many more animatronics/scenes. Fun!
We took the Walk in Walt's footsteps tour (in the rain) which was very interesting and fun. You learn a lot of inside details and stories about some of the parts all around DL, including Lillian Disney's petrified tree, Roy's non-gold spier atop Sleeping Beauty's castle, and the real skull hidden in PotC. It took about 3 hours, but it was worth it.
We also saw the less popular Great Moments w/ Mr. Lincoln and the Walt Disney Story" on Main Street, which was very well done IMO. (A great use of binatural sound for the theater presentation, like that at Sounds Dangersous w/ Drew Carey.)
Well, that's enough for tonight. I'll continue when I get the time!
)