We are going to spend one day at Disneyland!
That being said, I have to say that we have never, ever been there. Now, let me clarify just a little….my hubby and I have been to WDW in excess of 14 times since we have been married, and we are well acquainted with the Magic! However, being the East coasters that we are, we have not yet had an opportunity to set foot on the Happiest Place on Earth. I have looked forward to this opportunity for a long while.
So how do we prepare for our visit to this special place?
Well, the first thing that I need to bear in mind is that there is a difference between Disneyland and Disneyworld. Disneyworld is Walt Disney’s expanded vision of what he wanted, and so it is much bigger and much more spread out. Disneyland is what I like to call the Disney Park Prime, the first, the initial expression of the dream. There are going to be similarities, resemblances between the two, and then there will be vast differences. My experiences have been at Disneyworld, and so I have to shift my mindset a bit to visit the other.
Secondly, I have been talking to some folks to get an inside idea on what my expectations should be. My brother in law and my cousin both agree that they enjoy Disneyland and Disneyworld equally but in differing ways. They also both concur that Disneyland is like the all the best things about WDW rolled into one! I had one person tell me that It’s a Small World is 10 times better at DL and that I must make it a point to ride it. So. I am gathering from my conversations that some gems await me. 🙂
Thirdly, I must heed my own advice (to those who travel to WDW) for my upcoming adventure: don’t expect to do all of it in one day! Because we are traveling for business, our visit to Anaheim is just one of several places we want to experience. Therefore, one day is all we have, and we are not going to see everything. So….we are making a list of things that the kids want photos of, iconic images we can’t pass up, and the like! I am of the mind that I will be with the man who I first visited WDW with on our honeymoon, so to just set foot in Disneyland with him will be a treat. I will appreciate the time that we will have there together and the memories we will make.
And that leads me to my last point: it’s all about making memories. As we prepare to go and gather information and make our lists, the joy is in knowing that we are making another family memory…yaaayyy! We will go with realistic expectations, we will try to do and see all that we can there, and we will have a great time. Look out, Happiest Place on Earth….here we come!
We do have been to WDW about a dozen times in the past 10 years and 2 summers ago we went to DL for the first time. It is very different and yet also very much the same. It’s A Small World is 10x better, my husband said Space Mountain was better too and they have the Matterhorn, Mr. Toad, and Pinocchio rides out there. The attractions that are at California Adventure were great too, very few were duplicated. We are looking forward to going back in the next few years. Hope you have a great time!
Great! Thank you so much for the valuable information, Becky. I will put all those rides on our list! 🙂
I am the reverse of you! I have spent one vacation at WDW and many days at DL as a pass holder. My best advice is to be there at opening. At busy times of year they even open the gates early and have a rope drop. Certain hotels ofer EMH to get in the park one hour early. Unlike WDW visitors do not leave for a rest and return . Because the park is so compact, you can have a plan to get in the most attractions without crisscrossing the park. Get a map online at the Disney site. Space mountain is much better and so is Small World.
We usually start out in adventure land and make our way to Indiana jones, pirates, haunted mansion ( also different) and splash mountain. We come back later in the day to do jungle cruise and Tiki Room (which is different). We walk from splash mountain around the lake and hit Big Thunder and take the back passage to
fantasyland we will usually do Matterhorn and move to tomorrow land and do Nemo, Space Mountain and then Star Tours. After all the long wait biggies are ridden, we go back for the rest!
In fantasyland, Peter pan and Dumbo are long waits. Your priorities in
Fantasyland will depend on the kids (will they be with you?) We always like to ride the Disneyland railroad and usually board in tomorrowland and ride back to new Orleans to get back to jungle cruise and tiki. If you have kids and will be taking a trip to Tom Sawyer’s Island, note that it closes at dusk.
Take a walk through Sleeping Beauty’s castle and see the diorama that shows the story. There is a new eating venue opening, The Jolly Holiday Bakery!
Parades are awesome. See if you can find out which direction the parade with start from.
Check on wait time apps for your smartphone. Don’t forget buzz light year.
Have fun!
Wow! I feel like I have a great roadmap laid out for me. Thanks so much for the tips, and I wil see what we can apply to our upcoming trip! And yes, I have heard about the bakery, and we WILL be making a stop there, haha 😉