This May/June, Mark and I headed out west for a 2 1/2 week long adventure. We started with a few days in Disneyland, then stayed with Mark's brother Damon for a few days in LA, then went to ABQ for about a week for my sister Julie's wedding.
We're big fans of Disney World (in Florida), but we'd never been to Disneyland together. I was last there in 1st grade, so a lot has changed since then (including the addition of the California Adventure park). Mark was last there in high school. We were eager to see how the two experiences compare.
In the end, we had a great time, particularly at California Adventure, but Disney World is unquestionably still our favorite. Disneyland was first, and Walt Disney was much more personally involved with that park (since he died when Disney World was still under construction), and a lot of people really love the feel of Disneyland. For us, though, it felt a lot like a rough draft--it was clear that Disney World gave the company a chance to improve and build on the park in ways that make a big difference. For example, Disney World has much wider walkways, so we always felt a bit cramped at Disneyland. Also, most of the attraction lines at Disneyland are out in the sun, while Disney World uses a lot more indoor queues (also probably a space issue--there's so much more land out in Disney World).
On the other hand, one of the best things about Disneyland was that Disneyland, California Adventure, and Downtown Disney are walking distance from each other; there's just one main security point, and from there, it's easy to access all three areas (or switch from one to another). We were also able to stay at a hotel just a short walk away (maybe 8 minutes), but it wasn't a Disney hotel (they are way expensive out there!), so we didn't get the same all-immersive feel as Disney World.
We enjoyed trying out unique attractions and shows, though, that don't exist at Disney World, and some of those were real highlights of the trip. It was also fun to compare/contrast rides that exist at both places but in slightly different forms (like Pirates of the Carribbean, which is actually longer, with a few extra scenes at Disneyland).
Overall, I'm really glad we decided to go, and I think if we were back in the southern CA area again, we'd consider going back, especially to California Adventure. But Disney World is still the place we look forward to visiting again and again.
Here are some highlights (in chronological order, so they'll jump around a bit from park to park):
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| The entrance (not very grandiose!) |
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| Cute castle |
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| one of our favorite Disneyland rides--Storybook Canal Boats |
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| Disneyland's afternoon parade featured drummer Mickey |
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| in Toontown |
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| early morning at California Adventure |
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new Guardians of the Galaxy ride
(that opened just a few days after our visit!) |
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| Cars Land was amazing! |
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| acrobatics in the California Adventure parade |
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| our hotel room (see...no Disney magic here) |
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| Mark's favorite ride this trip (thankfully, it's at WDW, too) |
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| garlic parmesan fries |
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| monte cristo sandwich |
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| this was our best meal at Disneyland |
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