The TCD Gang Goes to Disneyland!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Loving everything I read so far and can not wait for more!!

 

Glad you like it so far.  I'll work hard to keep it coming.

 

BTW. is there a picture of the Citizen of Main Street button?  I would really love to see that.

 

I don't think I took a specific photo of the button, but I'll bet we will see it in one of the upcoming photos. I'll try to remember to point it out.

 

Oh I can't wait to read more. We are leaving the day after Christmas for a three-month RV trip out West and arriving at Anaheim RV Resort on January 2 staying until the 10th. My husband and oldest son were at Disneyland this past summer and I can't wait for the rest of us to visit. 

 

Wow, that sounds like a blast!  Those dates ought to be great for low crowds.  I've heard that there are RV parks within walking distance of Disneyland, and I thought about going on a walkabout one day to scout for them, but we hit the parks so hard that I didn't have the spare time or the spare energy for that.  I hope that I'll post some information that you can use for your trip planning.

 

I'm so in for this one! I would love to go to Disneyland in California one day. I've been to Tokyo Disneyland a few times but don't remember it. I'm so excited for y'all, just reading about this!

 

Wow, Tokyo.  The twins really want to go there.  And now I do too.  I never really had an interest in seeing the other parks around the world, but after this trip, I think I would enjoy visiting the others.

 

Dave and Ray have not caught on yet that the young hip cool folks join in on page 2.

 

Hey now, Dave and Ray are yip and cool. I'm not sure about the young part, though.  But, they're both younger than me.

 

In and excited to read along!  I was born in CA and grew up in WA State...so I've been to Disneyland numerous times however... not since California Adventure was added (so I think my last visit was around 13 years ago?).  I grew up camping next door to Disneyland (I think it's a parking lot now).  Looking forward to hearing about your adventures and, of course, all the pictures! :)

 

Wow, camping next to Disneyland.  I can't even imagine that.  The area around Disneyland is totally covered with hotels, restaurants and stores.  I would have loved to been able to visit when you could camp there.

 

No we've caught on. It's just that the young hip, cool folks haven't figured out yet that they're suppose to join in on page two. :rofl:

 

LOL.

 

Seriously considering another long road trip this summer (especially if gas prices continue to drop).  The highlight of the trip will be Disneyland.  I have already learned a lot and look forward to the rest of the report.  It sounds like the area surrounding the parks are safe places to be at night.  I have already done a little research on a few campgrounds that are close to DL.  Interested to see if you have any information on nearby campgrounds.  I am looking forward to the rest of the report. 

 

That would be awesome if you can pull it off.  Yes, the area that we were in seemed nice and safe.  Much nicer than some of the fringe stuff around Disney World.  As I mentioned above, I did entertain the idea of walking around the area to check out some of the other hotels and RV parks, but I didn't have time to do it. 

 

I feel bad for your oldest DD who couldn't go but if you ask me that's just a reason to go back!

Smart thinking on the twins part for figuring out the days to request off ahead of time.

Can't wait to hear about staying club level. We had an upgrade once at AKL for a one night stay and it was awesome. Hard to believe some people get to stay that way all the time.

 

It was really a shame that my oldest DD couldn't make it, and I considered not going myself just because I felt guilty going when she simply couldn't.  To her credit, she encouraged me to go, and reassured me that she would be fine.  Now that we've been, you're right about it being a good reason to go back- she definitely needs to see it.

 

The twins did a perfect job planning the dates for this trip and with our tour planning.  As I'll mention later, they quizzed a lot of their coworkers who had been to Disneyland about things to do when we were there.  One of Twin #1's managers worked at Disneyland before he moved to Florida, and he gave her a list of things that we "had" to eat.  That guy was spot on with his recommendations.

 

We have also stayed Club Level a couple of times at WDW, including at AKL.  It is a lot of fun, but so, so expensive.  It is hard to believe that some people are able to enjoy those accommodations all the time.  We saw a bunch of folks when we were there that clearly were regulars.  I always wonder what these people do for a living to be able to afford it.

 

OK I'm in. Fashionably late. 

 

Hey, you get solid page two bragging rights.

 

Nothing wrong with that.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Glad you got to share this awesome time with your daughters!

 

I am too.  Now I wish that the whole family could have been there.

 

But, as mentioned above, we now have a good reason to go back.

 

In, page 2 is just fine.

Even though there's tons of pre-Christmas stuff to get done, I'll be making time to read this report....which I have a feeling is going to be EPIC. :)

 

You have a ton of pre-Christmas stuff to get done?

 

I just realized yesterday that Christmas Eve is two weeks from today.  I thought we had another week!

 

But, this report has to be written, and you have to read it.

 

Traitor.

 

That place sucks. Where is the castle? Do they even have one? It should dominate the view from Main Street.

 

LOL.

 

I'm not a traitor.  I just had to see it for myself.  As a whole, WDW is way, way better than Disneyland.  But, there are parts of Disneyland that put WDW to shame.  I will point those out as we go along.

 

I will be getting to it in the next update, but they definitely have Castle deficiency out there.

 

Please tell me you purchased an ooey gooey MSB cinnamon roll.

They can have a canon but Mickey can't have a musket at the Fort? WTF?

I heard Miley twerks in the concierge level lounge at the Grand Californian. Is she the celeb you met?

 

I have some bad news to tell you about the MSB cinnamon rolls at Disneyland.  They ain't the same as what we used to have at WDW.  They look like big hockey pucks with a lot of icing on them.  We passed.

 

You're right about the canon.  And, their Jungle Cruise Skippers still have guns that they have to load with blanks before each trip.  Big blanks, with real brass casings.  We get some lame recording of a gun shot, and they get a nice loud realistic sounding gun shot.  It's not fair!

 

We didn't see Miley, or even hear any stories about her.  But, we did have a server in the concierge lounge who gossiped about celebrities that she had encountered there, including Dick Van Dyke (class act), Johnny Depp (same), Brittany Spears (high maintenance)  and Justin Bieber (total A-hole).  The celebrity we met is somebody you will know, but the twins had no idea who it was.

 

I'm fashionably late too!

 

Page two isn't late.  Welcome!

 

Haha.... yes, but it's Sleeping Beauty's castle, not Cinderella. 

 

Correct.

 

Hoping to read an update while I eat my lunch in a few hours. (Hint, hint!)

 

An update is on the way. I'll try to post it before you lunch, but you may need to take a late lunch, just in case.

 

Now that we are page two ill comment.

I don't want to be accused of taking up all if page one. Lol.

I'm so glad y'all got to go to Disneyland. I know you've talked about it before.

Harbor Blvd has a lot of good hotels that are, as you know, right across the street from the parks. Growing up I've probably stayed at probably 1/2 of them. That area was a popular area for conventions and business meetings. And dad always brought us with him for those meetings/conventions.

But I think the Park Vue Inn and the Best Western are as close as you can get to the park. Way to scoring that hotel.

And that's cool that you were able to get a Rez got the Californian. Did you have a park view or DTD view?

I'm liking your compare and contrast reporting so far. Keep up the good work.

 

I thought Harbor Blvd. was great.  As mentioned earlier, I would have loved to visited before there was as much congestion as there is now. 

 

Our view at the Grand Californian was classified as a premium view-I think that was an upgrade, because I'm pretty sure we booked a standard view.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but we ended up liking the view.  Of course, there will be photos of that when we get there.

 

So that's why you cant see it. Shes laying down on the job again. 

 

LOL.

 

The castle is actually really nice and you definitely see it from Main Street. I'm sure TCD had another pix of it.

If I remember correctly it's less than 100' tall so it definitely doesn't stand out as much as Cindy's castle. But as a kid we use to be able to not only walk thru the castle but see of the inside rooms. Now you can just walk thru it.

 

Yes, of course I have more castle photos.

 

I didn't realize it was less than 100' tall.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Just googled it.

Sleeping Beauty's castle is 77' tall.

 

Wow.  That's a short castle.

 

For comparison:

 

Magic Kingdom[edit] Cinderella Castle was completed in July 1971, after about 18 months of construction. The castle is 189 feet (58 m) tall, as measured from the concrete bottom of the body of water, which itself is 6 feet (1.8 m) deep at the bridge.

 

http://en.wikipedia....nderella_Castle

 

Thanks for that information, Marty.  So, the MK castle is way more than double the height of the Disneyland castle.

 

That's a big difference.

 

The inside rooms were opened back up a few years ago. We saw them when we were there on the road trip. 

 

Yup.

 

We saw them, and I have some photos from inside the castle in the next update.

 

I didnt notice that when I was there a few months ago. But I was trying to do both parks in one day. Are the upstairs rooms open?

 

It is hard to notice.

 

The twins were the ones who pointed out the entrance.  We initially found one small room and thought that was it.  But, there was a door on the other side- and there were a lot of stairs involved.

 

We stayed at the Peacock Suites. Its maybe 8 minutes further than where you were walking on the other side of the mall. The Art bus picks up there thought and it works out really well. Its the first stop for pick up and for drop off so you always get a seat going and the shortest ride coming back. All the rooms are suites and while it is a time share location they dont give you a lot of pressure to join in. They offer you a sales meeting and you can turn them down and your done. They had a Cyber Monday sale and we actually have a room reserved there again unless I can find a better price down the road. 

 

Thanks.  Sounds like a nice place.  I saw those ART buses running constantly, and it never looked like there were long lines for the guests catching them at park closing.  I would consider staying further out next time, but only if it was a really good deal.  Being able to just cross the street and fall into bed at the end of the day was pretty sweet.

 

When I was there. You enter from the back on one side go up and through looking at little scenes from Sleeping Beauty and come back down on the other side in the back. 

 

That sounds exactly like what we did.

 

I am on page 3?  Maybe?  I am excited for this TR!  Hate that your oldest couldn't go.

 

I have so many great memories there and seeing some of your photos makes me smile.  I will have to share with my oldest.  

 

Yes, you made page 3!

 

Way to go!

 

If you have anything to add as we go along, please do.  There are things we saw remnants of that I wondered about,  I also have a lot of questions about the monorail, and how it used to be, because it's not very impressive now.

 

TCD

[shoreline99 137]

IIRC the Cinderella castle at WDW was purposely built to that height to avoid having to put a red blinking light on top of it (aircraft avoidance light)

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

IIRC the Cinderella castle at WDW was purposely built to that height to avoid having to put a red blinking light on top of it (aircraft avoidance light)

 

I heard the same thing about the castle and Expedition Everest as well.  If I'm not mistaken, EE was built to be just a hair shorter than the castle so that the castle will always be the tallest structure in any of the WDW parks.

 

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I found here http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Expedition_Everest that EE is 199.5 feet.

 

The same site says the castle is 189 feet. 

 

Don't know how accurate that is.

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

Count me in!

 

Glad to hear that everything fell into place with the planning and trip, it sounds awesome!

 

I think about making a trip out there all the time, but I guess now I'm going to wait until the kids are older.  I've actually been once before, but I was young, probably under 10 and the only thing I really remember is the Haunted Mansion, I can still picture the outside of it.

 

Ready for more!

 

WBI

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I found here http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Expedition_Everest that EE is 199.5 feet.

 

The same site says the castle is 189 feet. 

 

Don't know how accurate that is.

 

OK- then maybe I heard wrong, or maybe that article is wrong.  Either way, the WDW castle is way taller than Disneyland's.

 

Count me in!

 

Glad to hear that everything fell into place with the planning and trip, it sounds awesome!

 

I think about making a trip out there all the time, but I guess now I'm going to wait until the kids are older.  I've actually been once before, but I was young, probably under 10 and the only thing I really remember is the Haunted Mansion, I can still picture the outside of it.

 

Ready for more!

 

WBI

 

Glad to have you aboard, Nick.

 

Although I wish I had gone sooner, it was really cool to see it with my daughters as adults.  We all could appreciate and point out the differences.  Plus traveling with little ones is a lot of work.

 

And the twins had a very unique perspective as Disney CM's.  I already mentioned that this led to a lot of very interesting interactions with the Disneyland CM's.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Update time.

 

We are still enjoying our first few moments in Disneyland.

 

It was a strange sensation to be there.  We had just flown across the country, and we were definitely far from home, but everything seemed so familiar.  But different.

 

The Disneyland Main Street seems wider than the WDW one.  To me it did, anyway.  The girls didn't think so,

 

They had all kinds of vehicles out and in operation.  Way more than we have ever seen at WDW:

 

 

As we walked toward the castle, it actually started to look smaller:

 

 

The Disneyland Main Street still has side alleys on both sides, so the one side is not one huge continuous gift shop like it is at the MK:

 

 

That's a seating area for a full service restaurant that is squeezed in that spot.  Full service.  You can sit right there and enjoy a meal out in the open.  I was surprised by how many things in Disneyland are out in the open and uncovered.  They must not have anywhere near the amount of rain and storms we have in Florida.

 

This is the view from about halfway down Main Street, looking back at the Christmas tree:

 

 

At the end of Main Street, we stopped to behold the castle. I have to say that it is small and underwhelming:

 

 

But looking just to the right of the castle, we saw the majestic Matterhorn.  What a strange and fascinating thing to see.  According to what we heard from a CM, this was the first rollercoaster to ever use tubular steel for the tracks, and it was built in the 1950's.  That is very impressive. But, it's odd that this giant thing is standing basically right next to that itty bitty castle:

 

 

From the very same spot I took that photo, we are now looking back at the castle:

 

 

I don't know if we were visiting on a day that was considered busy by Disneyland standards, but there were people everywhere.  There don't seem to be as many walkways, and there is definitely much less open space in Disneyland than there is in the Magic Kingdom.

 

The partners statue is nice. I am not sure if it's identical to the one in the MK, but it seems bigger and more prominent.  That may just be because the castle is not imposing:

 

 

At the MK, when you take a photo of the Partners Statue, the gigantic castle will be in the background.  Not so here.

 

I had to step to the side to get a photo of the castle from this point:

 

 

We walked closer to the castle, and got a good look at it.  I wish we could have seen it without the holiday decorations and the fake snow on the roof, but the decorations were nice-especially when illuminated at night:

 

 

I really could not get over the small size of the castle, and took one more shot to show it from a side view:

 

 

We all agreed that it's a nice castle.  But way too small.  We soon learned something, though.  Disneyland people are very sensitive about their inadequate castle, and you should never criticize it.  The first few CM encounters we had after this, the question would inevitably come up asking us what we thought of Disneyland, and if we said anything about the castle, the response would be something like that is how Walt wanted it.  Later on, when we spoke to CM's we wouldn't point out the obvious castle deficiency, but they would sometimes bring it up themselves-saying how everyone always says their castle is so small.  We learned to avoid the subject and just say that the castle was nice.  Which it was.  We learned it was best to not strike a nerve and mention the size.

 

So, they have a puny castle.  But, they have a lot of Main Street Transportation vehicles, including the double decker bus, which you rarely see out at WDW:

 

 

Of course we had to walk through the castle.  We've seen photos of Walt standing near this spot, and it was cool to think that Walt himself had walked where we were now walking:

 

 

It looks kind of cloudy in that last photo.  California had a couple of really rainy days before we arrived, and the forecast for today included a slight chance of rain.  But, like always, the TCD gang brings the good weather with us, and we had no rain that day, or on any day for our entire trip!  We had some cloudy and hazy days, but no rain, and very pleasant temperatures.   It is good to be TCD.

 

Over to the right of the walkway into the castle, we saw Snow White's wishing well.  You can see they have a statue of Miss White, as well as lots of statues of forest critters, and  nice waterfall over there:

 

 

Now we're walking in to the castle.  Even from this perspective, it doesn't look very tall:

 

 

Not only is the castle much smaller than the MK's, but it's also narrower.  Maybe half the width of the MK's.  There is a small gift shop in the castle, but no BBB and no restaurant.  In no time flat, we popped out on the other side.  And we ran right in to Flynn Rider.  He's standing over there by himself.  No character attendant.  No Rapunzel.  Just Flynn.  And a very short line of guest waiting to meet him:

 

 

You can't meet Flynn like that in the MK.  He's only available for hard ticket parties, and even then, you're going to have to wait in a long line an meet him in conjunction with Rapunzel.

 

It was strange to see characters without character attendants.  And people behaving nicely and waiting their turn.  We found that the people in Californian are more respectful.  Not once did we see any line jumping, or gigantic strollers, or tour groups of any kind. Or, come to think of it, iPad photography.  That was a nice change.

 

As mentioned in the comments above, the Disneyland castle has a walkthrough feature, where you can walk through the castle and see murals and displays telling the story of Sleeping Beauty.  The displays were simple, but nice:

 

 

There were various 3D displays along the way, which were lit with blacklight effects.  I wasn't able to photograph those, but they definitely are not original to the castle. They are well done and in very nice condition.

 

Walking along, it feels like you are in a castle, the walkways are narrow, and there are several sets of stairs to navigate.  And there was also a Corridor of Goons:

 

 

I am not sure where the goons were, unless they were referring to me.  I definitely saw the corridor, but no goons.

 

This is one of the staircases in the castle:

 

 

I was surprised by the amount of stairs in just this one attraction.  Soon, however, I learned that almost every attraction in Disneyland requires you to walk up or down, or both, stairs.  Seriously, stairs are everywhere.  Very different from the MK where there are lots of ramps, but very few stairs to navigate.  Also, almost all of the attractions still have turnstiles that guests must pass through.  I think those have all been removed at WDW.  As the girls said, Disneyland is not a friendly place for those who are Pooh sized.

 

The castle walk through ended with a scene showing Maleficent changing in to a dragon.  It was very well done, but not something that I could photograph.

 

Overall, we liked the walk-through.  It's neat to be able to actually enter the castle and walk through it.

 

After our tour of the castle, we headed back out.  Rides were not a priority on this day, but since they have paper Fastpasses still, I thought it would be smart to take advantage of those and get some for some of the high demand rides.  We could tour the park while waiting for our return times.

 

After looking at the list of rides which offered FP's, we decided to get one for the Indiana Jones ride.  We don't have that ride at WDW, but we know it uses the same ride vehicles as Dinosaur, and we were all curious about it.

 

So we headed back to the hub in search of Adventureland.

 

It was now 12:14 pm local time, and they still had a horse and wagon out.  You don't see that at the MK, where the horses are only out in the mornings:

 

 

Adventureland was where we expected it to be, in basically the same location as it is in WDW:

 

 

But unlike at WDW, they very first attraction you see upon entering Adventureland is the Enchanted Tiki Room:

 

 

That's the Dole Whip stand right at the front of the Tiki Room.  And it's double sided. The outside always had a long line.  If you walk into the courtyard for the attraction, there is almost no line.  But, people still stand out there in that line.  We encountered this phenomenon several times.  These California people love to stand in line.  A lot of them don't use the FP machines, and just wait.  It was something we saw over and over.   Strange.

 

That's real fire coming out of those torches.  They don't have that at WDW's Adventureland:

 

 

The next attraction we came to was the Jungle Cruise. They are also doing a Jingle Cruise version for the holidays, and it's much more popular at Disneyland than it is at Disney World. The standby sign says it's a 55 minute wait.  And they don't have FP's for this one like they do at WDW:

 

 

Also note in that last photo that part of the queue is upstairs.  That's how it is with a lot of the attractions here.  The only reason I can think of is lack of space.  They have a two story queue so they can fit twice as many folks in the same footprint.  That's not necessary at WDW.

 

The Indiana Jones ride is right next to Jungle Cruise, so I pulled our FPs' there.  It was weird to use a FP machine again.  And theirs requires you to insert your ticket just one way, or it won't work.  I figured that out, and we got the FP's with at 2:50-3:50 return time.  Not bad, considering it was around 12:30 when I pulled those:

 

 

Since the FP area dumps you out by the Jingle Cruise entrance, I got one more photo of the sign at the entrance to that attraction:

 

 

Disneyland converted their Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse into a Tarzan Treehouse several years ago.  We wanted to see that, but the tree was closed when we walked by.  We don't know why, as it wasn't posted as one of the attractions that would be down today.  But it was.  For now, we could just look:

 

 

Since it was past noon, and really past 3 pm to us, we were all hungry and wanting lunch.  The list of suggestions Twin #1 got from one of her managers included a Monte Christo sandwich which is available at two places in Disneyland.  One of the places is the Blue Bayou restaurant, which overlooks the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction like the Mexican sit down restaurant does with the Mexico boat ride at Epcot.  I never knew that the Disneyland pirates had a restaurant in it, but it does.  That place is expensive and a sit-down that requires reservations, so that was out for today.  The other place we thought was a quick serve location somewhere around there, so we went looking for it.

 

This is a side view of the entrance to the Disneyland Pirates attraction.  Those people you see are entering the queue for pirates.  And those stairs lead up to the Dream Suite.  They couldn't put their Dream Suite in that puny castle, so theirs is built above the Pirates ride:

 

 

While searching around for the quick serve restaurant that served the Monte Christo sandwiches, we wandered in to the next land.  It's called New Orleans square, and it's much bigger than Adventureland or Liberty Square at the MK.  Tom Sawyer Island sits across from New Orleans Square:

 

 

That doesn't look very Tom Sawyer-ish, does it?  No windmill, no Aunt Polly's.  That end of the island looks like it's a stage.  That's because it is a stage.  They perform Fantasmic from there.  In Disneyland.  On that island.  No special venue.  No stadium.  No giant stage and set.  Just that stage on the island.  We all agreed that we would need to see how that was done.  But we would have to wait until tomorrow, because they only perform Fantasmic a couple of times a week, and this week that was Friday and Saturday night.

 

We saw several restaurants in New Orleans Square. They had one called the French Market, and another called Café Orleans.  It turned out that Café Orleans was the place we were looking for, but it is also a table service restaurant, and was only taking guests with reservations when we arrived.  So, we had to go with another suggestion on Twin #1's list.  That meant more searching through New Orleans Square:

 

 

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Tiny little castle ... narrow walkways ... lots of stairs ... hmmm.

[Northerngirl--Lori 5]

Great update, I like the decoration on the castle.

[Memphis 105]

Makes me thankful Disney World was built 2nd and they were able to correct some of the mistakes they made at Disneyland.

Still Disneyland was a heck of a first try. 

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

Thank you for the well-timed update.  I enjoyed reading while munching. :)

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

 When I was younger you used to be able to just walk up and get your picture taken with any character you liked. They were everywhere and no one rushed them and most of the time they were by themselves. When my husband and I honeymooned in 1999 I was surprised to see the meet and greets and the long lines for them.  15 years later and trying to get pictures with characters is even worse. I mean a fp for a meet and greet, really?  They also used to have fire coming out of the torches going into adventure land. I used to marvel at how they stayed lit even in the rain. Also at the Poly at night there would be torches lining a lot of the pathways. Your post has me doing a lot of reflecting on the WDW of yester year.  I never realized just how much has changed, sad really. Seems like you got to enjoy a throwback. 

 

I am curious as to what you definition of a huge stroller is? I am seeing some in the pictures you posted so I think our definitions are different.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Please feel free to ask any questions and add any observations.  Unless I'm mistaken, you've been to Disneyland already, right?

 

Do you already have your hotel reserved for your trip? 

 

TCD

Yes, I went to DL back in 2008. I really loved the compact size, the walkability, and the things that were not the same as WDW.

 

Yes, we have our hotel already. Not quite as close as you were, but close enough. We're staying at the Hotel Indigo around the corner on Katella. Being close is nice, but FREE (on hotel points) is better :)

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Tiny little castle ... narrow walkways ... lots of stairs ... hmmm.

 

Hmmm, what?

 

Great update, I like the decoration on the castle.

 

The decorations on the castle were good, especially when seen after dark.  Both parks were very well decorated for Christmas.  I would say much more so than at WDW.

 

Makes me thankful Disney World was built 2nd and they were able to correct some of the mistakes they made at Disneyland.

Still Disneyland was a heck of a first try. 

 

Agreed.  It's amazing that Walt conceived of the idea and built this park and that it functions so well today.  There are definite areas where mistakes were made, and these were corrected when WDW was built.  It's interesting to visit the adjacent California Adventure and see how much better the design and layout of the park is there.  But, Disneyland is, indeed, one heck of a first try.

 

Thank you for the well-timed update.  I enjoyed reading while munching. :)

 

I'm glad I wasn't too late.

 

 When I was younger you used to be able to just walk up and get your picture taken with any character you liked. They were everywhere and no one rushed them and most of the time they were by themselves. When my husband and I honeymooned in 1999 I was surprised to see the meet and greets and the long lines for them.  15 years later and trying to get pictures with characters is even worse. I mean a fp for a meet and greet, really?  They also used to have fire coming out of the torches going into adventure land. I used to marvel at how they stayed lit even in the rain. Also at the Poly at night there would be torches lining a lot of the pathways. Your post has me doing a lot of reflecting on the WDW of yester year.  I never realized just how much has changed, sad really. Seems like you got to enjoy a throwback. 

 

I am curious as to what you definition of a huge stroller is? I am seeing some in the pictures you posted so I think our definitions are different.

 

Interesting observations, and right in line with some of the impressions we formed on our trip.  Why do people behave so differently toward the characters at WDW?

 

As far as I know, they still do have fire in the torches at the Polynesian, and they also have big torches around the lake in the World Showcase at Epcot.  But, I don't think we have fire in Adventureland anymore.  Which reminds me, the lamps on Main Street in Disneyland are real gas lamps with flames. 

 

I am not sure I have a definition for a huge stroller, but I'm talking about the gigantic ones some people use at WDW.  They are designed as jogging strollers with wheels like would go on a small bicycle.  You see them everywhere at WDW.  Not so much at Disneyland.

 

Yes, I went to DL back in 2008. I really loved the compact size, the walkability, and the things that were not the same as WDW.

 

Yes, we have our hotel already. Not quite as close as you were, but close enough. We're staying at the Hotel Indigo around the corner on Katella. Being close is nice, but FREE (on hotel points) is better :)

 

Oh, so you saw California Adventure before the big update in 2012.  I wish I had.  What is there now is really nice.  We liked that park a lot.  Especially Cars Land, which is new since you were there.

 

I actually had reservations at Hotel Indigo before something came up at Park Vue Inn.  They say they're .5 miles from the entrance, and that it's walkable.  We drove past there on the way in.  The area looks nice, and the hotel looks great too.  I think that's a good choice, and you can't beat free.  I will be interested to hear how you like it.

 

TCD

[dvccamper 32]

Loving this trip report. We had a Disneyland trip planned a few years ago but had to cancel it so I had done my fair share of research. Looking forward to hearing your opinion of Indiana Jones because I remember reading that it is way above Dinosaur.

I think it must have been cool to take everything in, knowing this was Walt Disney's vision and he was able to enjoy it.

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

Not so sure about the character thing but it is weird. 

 

Agreed on the jogging and like it style strollers. Especially the ones where that stupid long pole juts out in front with a wheel on it. Really they should not be allowed into the parks as they can be dangerous. It has been 7 years since we have been back to WDW so I was not aware that folks were actually using those. 

 

Since we are reflecting back I also remember when you could just walk up to just about any restaurant and eat. We used to get to the park and make dinner reservations at the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon. Another thing you can't do anymore. Good times and good memories.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

I'm studying this one closely, as I'm still trying to finagle a trip out to DL sooner than later myself.

 

Oh and my favorite line so far... "I thought about it for a really short time..." 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Loving this trip report. We had a Disneyland trip planned a few years ago but had to cancel it so I had done my fair share of research. Looking forward to hearing your opinion of Indiana Jones because I remember reading that it is way above Dinosaur.

I think it must have been cool to take everything in, knowing this was Walt Disney's vision and he was able to enjoy it.

 

I've always heard that Indian Jones is better than Dinosaur too.  We will be heading there after the next couple of updates, and I'll let you know what I thought.

 

There is a really cool display near the park entrance that has a lot of information about the early years of the park.  We found it on our last night, and didn't get to spend as much time in there as I would have liked.  It really is amazing to think that Walt basically invented the modern theme park.

 

Not so sure about the character thing but it is weird. 

 

Agreed on the jogging and like it style strollers. Especially the ones where that stupid long pole juts out in front with a wheel on it. Really they should not be allowed into the parks as they can be dangerous. It has been 7 years since we have been back to WDW so I was not aware that folks were actually using those. 

 

Since we are reflecting back I also remember when you could just walk up to just about any restaurant and eat. We used to get to the park and make dinner reservations at the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon. Another thing you can't do anymore. Good times and good memories.

 

Yeah, those jogging strollers are all over WDW.  Most of them are double-wides, and people wheel them right into the stores and attractions if they can. As the TV commercial says:  If you haven't been to WDW lately, then you haven't been.  Those gigantic strollers and idiots taking photos and videos with iPads are everywhere.

 

You are right about the good old days when you could walk in to a restaurant and be seated without a reservation.  That apparently can still happen at Disneyland.  And, their quick serve locations are way better than WDW's.  I'll get to that in due time.  Oh, and they still serve food and have a live show in the Golden Horseshoe at Disneyland.

 

I'm studying this one closely, as I'm still trying to finagle a trip out to DL sooner than later myself.

 

Oh and my favorite line so far... "I thought about it for a really short time..." 

 

Knowing your finagling skills, I believe that this trip will most certainly be happening.

 

All I can tell you is that you will love it.  There are so, so many things that they have done right there. So go.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I'm posting another update today, because I want to get this report off to a good start.  Plus, we have a lot of ground to cover, and I'd like to get as much of it done before Christmas so everyone can enjoy the Disneyland Christmas decorations as much as I did.

 

We left off looking for a place for lunch in New Orleans Square. 

 

I was fascinated by New Orleans Square.  I knew that there was such a land in Disneyland, but I didn't know it was so big or so detailed.  I thought it might be a small area like Liberty Square in the MK, but it was much bigger, and much more detailed.

 

Having been to the actual French Quarter a time or two, I would have to say that Walt got this right, right down to the Mardi Gras beads hanging from the wires over the street:

 

 

I have heard of the private club, Club 33, in Disneyland, but didn't know that it was in New Orleans Square.  Well, here it is:

 

 

After some more searching, and questioning a CM, we found what we were looking for, the Royal Street Veranda:

 

 

As you can see, there menu is not very extensive.

 

In fact, you have your choice of three items.  All of them soup.  And all of them served in a bread bowl.  I have no problem with this.  In fact, I loved it.  Disney World used to be like this.  You could find unique things at specific places throughout the parks.  Then the DDDP (Darn Disney Dining Plan) took over, and everything had to be homogenized so every location everywhere could offer something similar along with some crappy dessert.  But they don't have the DDDP at Disneyland, so uniqueness abounds.

 

We ordered our soup and found a table.  Twin #1 and I both ordered the clam chowder and Twin #2 tried the steak gumbo.  Here's my soup:

 

 

And we got a pleasant surprise when we ordered.  Twin #1 asked if they offered a CM discount, and they said yes, so we got 20% off:

 

 

This is a big change from WDW, where very few quick serve places give a CM discount.  Over the course of our visit, we learned that all of the quick serve places in Disneyland give a CM discount and they also give Passholder discounts, which is not the case in WDW.

 

That soup ended up being excellent, but the best part was the bread bowl.  Wow, it was good and fresh.  We found out why- they actually bake the bread daily over at California Adventure.  It's not baked in some factory in New Jersey like the bread they use at WDW.  They have an actual bakery that actually bakes things at Disneyland.

 

Twin #2 said the Steak Gumbo was good, but a bit spicy.  I tried it, and she was right- it was very spicy.  She still enjoyed it though.

 

After lunch, we had some time to kill before our Indiana Jones FP's were good, so we decided to go and check on something the twins had heard.  They heard CM's can use their ID's to pull extra FP tickets in addition to those pulled by the passes issued at the turnstiles.  We wanted to go and check on that over at the Haunted Mansion, so we decided to head that way.

 

Right outside of the restaurant where we ate, a band of pirates walked up and started playing their instruments and singing.  They were very good:

 

 

I've never seen a group of pirates do that at WDW, and I was impressed with the talent level of these guys.

 

As we stood and listened, I admired the surroundings.  Look at the ornaments, garland and other decorations they put up in New Orleans Square:

 

 

That's the place where we ate lunch:

 

 

And there's the Pirates queue again.  The entrance to the queue is actually under a bridge which is to the left of the area shown in this photo.  After walking in to a courtyard, guests walk up a flight of stairs to the enter the ride building.

 

 

Turning far to the left, you can see the familiar form of Big Thunder Mountain, and Tom Sawyer island again on the left:

 

 

Even though we were enjoying the singing pirates, we needed to move on, so we did.  On the way to the Haunted Mansion, we passed an area where Jack and Sally from the Nightmare Before Christmas were meeting.  Again, the line was nothing like it would be if they showed up at WDW on a normal park day.  They have hour long waits during the limited admission MNSSHP's at the MK:

 

 

Also in that last photo, on the left, you can see the stern of the sailing ship Columbia, which is docked here at Disneyland.  I heard that they used to let guests on it, but I thought that they leave the boat there as a decoration now.  I believe that this ship was here in the Rivers of America when the park opened, which is pretty cool.

 

We found the Haunted Mansion FP machines, and the twins tried their double dip trick.  It didn't work.  Oh well, it was worth a try.

 

When we got to the FP machines, we saw that there was a train station here in New Orleans Square.  I wanted to ride the train all the way around the park so we could see where things were and kill some more time before it was time to use our Indiana Jones FP's.  The twins thought that was a fine idea, so we headed to the train station.

 

The Haunted Mansion is hidden behind the big tree in the center of this shot:

 

 

This is the French Market restaurant, which is a quick serve, but very nicely themed and with a nice seating area:

 

 

Notice how much seating there is outdoors.  I can't think of a quick serve place in the MK like that- we need cover and air conditioning in Florida.

 

The train came fast.  I think the sign says they come every 5 minutes.  They must have more trains than WDW:

 

 

Here's something I didn't know- their seats face the side of the train:

 

 

And here's something I had heard about, but didn't know much about- there's an enclosed caboose on this train:

 

 

 

It's called the Lilly Belle, and guests can ride in it.  But I'm not sure how that is arranged.  In case you didn't notice, the car was empty today:

 

 

If you are perceptive, you also would have noticed that we did not make it on to that train, even though the line was very short.  The train arrived pretty full, and not many folks got off. I thought that meant we might be waiting here a while, and we contemplated leaving the line, but we decided to wait and see if we made it on to the next train.

 

We were right at the front of the line, and right across from what I presume is supposed to be the conductor's office.  We could hear a Morse code message being played in there, but my Morse code is rusty, so I didn't know what the message was:

 

 

Thanks to Google, I found a post from a train nerd that tells us the Morse code message is something very special:

 

"TO ALL WHO COME TO DISNEYLAND, WELCOME. HERE AGE RELIVES FOND MEMORIES OF THE PAST, AND HERE YOUTH MAY SAVOR THE CHALLENGE AND PROMISE OF THE FUTURE."

 

http://www.hiddenmickeys.org/disneyland/secrets/square/morse.html

 

That is from Walt's opening day speech at Disneyland.

 

What a neat little detail.

 

There are buildings on the other side of the train tracks, but I don't know what they're for:

 

 

Here comes another train.  I think the locomotive on this one is a different color than the first one was:

 

 

And the seats on this train faced forward, just like they do at WDW:

 

 

There was plenty of space on this train, and we were soon on our way.

 

We passed through a tunnel and saw a scene from Splash Mountain, just like at WDW, and then we passed by Critter Country.  That's the name of a land at Disneyland.  Critter Country.  The Winnie the Pooh ride is way out here, and not in Fantasyland.  Strange:

 

 

We then passed the water with Tom Sawyer Island across the way, just like at WDW.  The narrator on the train told us that this is Mike Fink's keelboat, the Gullywhumper:

 

 

Our first stop was the Toontown Station.  We weren't planning to get off there, but as we drove in, we saw a big theater and people streaming in to it.  A show was about to start.  Look at all the strollers parked outside, and you can't miss the Matterhorn there in the background:

 

 

One of the twins checked out Times Guide and found that the show Mickey and the Magical Map was about to start.  We wanted to see that show while we were here, and decided that since we were right here we ought to hop off the train and see it now.  So we did.

 

We missed driving past the outside of Small World- look how the train passes right in front of it:

 

 

I had also heard that there was a Grand Canyon diorama and a Dinosaur diorama that you can see from the train, but we missed those too.  

 

We made it right in time to see the start of the show:

 

 

The show was excellent.

 

All live acting and singing.

 

And the talent of the performers was amazing.  This Pocahontas looked the park and had a great singing voice:

 

 

You can't tell because that's just a photo, but he huge screen behind Pocahontas was animated, and they projected all kinds of backdrops on it for the show.

 

The princesses and characters just kept coming.  Here, we have Pocahontas, Mulan, Rapunzel and Flynn Rider all on stage and singing:

 

 

One of the final scenes involved Lilo and Stitch.  We were surprised by how much the people in California like Stitch.  But, the twins reminded me that they don't have that awful Stitch ride out here, which is the source of all the Stitch hate at WDW.

 

There is no show like this at WDW.  Maybe the closest thing is the Beauty and the Beast show at DHS.  But, the number of actors with speaking and singing parts was way, way more in this show.  And their talent level was through the roof.  I've heard this before about Disneyland. There are so many aspiring actors out here that Disney has many more talented people to choose from for their shows than they do at WDW.  That fact became very obvious throughout our stay.  Disneyland has much more live entertainment, and it is all far superior in quality to anything you will find at WDW.

 

The show ended at just a bit past 2 pm.  Our return time at Indiana Jones was still 50 minutes away, but I was allowed to get new FP's at 2:20.  I suggested to the girls that we hit Toontown now, so I could get a Roger Rabbit FP at 2:20.  None of us even knew that there was a Roger Rabbit ride, but since it had a FP, and rides like Pirates and Jungle Cruise didn't, it must be a good ride, right?  Plus, the girls wanted to see Toontown, and we were right here, so they agreed with that.  We will be heading there next.  As you probably know, the MK's Toontown got ripped out when New Fantasyland came along.  And the TCD girls miss it.  We spent a lot of time in Toontown when they were younger, and they have fond memories of it.

 

We were all surprised by the size of and how much there was in Disneyland's Toontown.

 

TCD

[red...Susan 37]

The map show is really good. I also love the bread bowls.

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

A little known fact that I think is still true. the Fastpass for roger Rabbit isnt tied to the rest. You can get one for there while still holding one even if your time isnt ready. Not sure if that has changed but it was that way when we went.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

You've already convinced me that I need to make this trip happen.

 

 

the twins reminded me that they don't have that awful Stitch ride out here, which is the source of a of Stitch hate at WDW.

 

Truth.

[HappyRedhead......Betsy 16]

I see what you mean by saying things looked familiar but unfamiliar.  DL seems to have maintained the charm that brings people back time and again.  Unfortunately WDW seems to be losing it's original charm to the never ending quest for more money.  I still love to visit, but I do long for the details that seem to have dissappeared.