The Unexpected Journey

[devores 382]

Lets squeeze a quick update in here.

 

Still day one. We had just checked in and headed out to the Magic Kingdom.

 

The first major difference is the location of everything. The map posted shows the proximity of everything.  

 

The plan was to get some lunch and get our bearings for the next day so we didn't waste any time looking for things.

 

We walk down DTD district and through bag check then right up to the turnstiles. I do not have many pictures from this walk as I did not expect this to out the way it did.

 

So far, even though it was the middle of the day and a Friday, we have zero crowds. Yes zero. No wait for bag check, we get our tickets and are in the Magic Kingdom without a single wait.

 

 

We pass under the train station and are on main street.

 

 

Do you notice something missing? Yes, we are at the end of Main Street, near the hub and Emporium. The fire station is to our left and the town square theater to our right. But something seems to be amiss.

 

Well, don't worry. I assure you there is a castle at the end of Main Street. We will see it in a bit.

 

We decided we wanted a classic Disney lunch. Something we get almost every visit to the MK. Casey's corn dog nuggets. We head to where Casey's should be. Sure enough, we are greeted with familiar façade, only the name is Corner Café. No worries. It cant be that different. We peruse the menu and find a problem. There are no corn dog nuggets on there. What the fort. 

 

But we are on vacation and are flexible, so we go with hot dogs and find a place to sit.

 

While sitting on the curb enjoying our lunch, some CMs come by and rope off a section of the sidewalk.

 

We ask what is going on and are told that a parade was starting in 20 mins. It is the Mickey's Soundsational street parade.

 

The parade starts in 20mins and there is NO ONE lined up to watch it. NO ONE. This is just blowing my mind. So we discuss it and decide to stay and watch it.

 

 

 

Mickey is really playing the drums.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall I liked this parade. I would not trade the WMK (we will refer to Disney World's MK as WMK from this point on and Disneyland's MK as MK) 3:00 parade for it, but it would be nice for a DHS alternative.

 

After the parade we walked down MS to get a better look at the cute little castle at the end.

 

 

Heres bit of trivia, every Disney location has a Partner's Statue with the exception of Hong Kong. WMK is the only park with a Roy statue though.

 

 

See I told you there was a Castle here. This is Sleeping Beauties castle. The height of the castle is due to height restrictions of the area. The castle is the exact geographical center of the park. There is a survey marker just below the center spire in the walkway to mark this.  

 

 

You might also notice the lack of a stage. There are no stage shows at MK. You can always walk through the castle.

 

Trivia time: The draw bridge on Sleeping Beauties castle is a real working draw bridge. It was only raised once, during the dedication ceremony. 

 

Theres another cool feature of this castle. You can go inside it. It used to be an A ticket attraction.

 

Do you want to see what it looks like in there?

 

Well, you will have to wait until the next update.

[alexwyattmommy 181]

Their Tink makes a better face.  But what is up with their Ariel having fake skin showing?  Was it cold?

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Excited to see the inside of the castle!

 

Their Tink makes a better face.  But what is up with their Ariel having fake skin showing?  Was it cold?

 

The one in FL is like that too. I'm guessing they don't want her showing too much skin.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great update, Dave.

 

It's weird to hear how people don't stake out spots for the parade.

 

The MK Ariel is way better than the DL Ariel.  And the MK castle is way better too.

 

I know those wires over the castle allow Dumbo and Tink to fly around at night, but I think they look bad.

 

TCD

[alexwyattmommy 181]

Just for the parades?  Because Little Z's girl was showing some skin.

[devores 382]

Lets try to get some responses in here.

 

I'm in on page one! 

 

Best line in this report, so far:

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the map.  It's hard for me to grasp how compact Disneyland is.

 

Was the Paradise Pier hotel built by Disney?  Or is it a hotel they bought and refurbished?  It looks nice, but it doesn't have that "Disney" look to it.

 

That pool definitely doesn't look very "Disney."

 

TCD

 

Youre question was answered correctly. There were no plans for any Disney resorts around Disneyland when it was originally built. Then the city quickly grew around it and there was no room then. So Disney had to resort to buying preexisting structures and making them theirs. The only one built by Disney is the Grand Californian. And I hate to say, I walked through there everyday and did not take one picture of it. But, if you have been to the Wilderness Lodge, you have seen the Grand Californian. They look almost the same.  

I guess that's another example of the "lessons learned" between the building of DL and the planning for the Florida Project. 

Yes. Walt did not envision how things would turn out and he quickly lost the land surrounding DL. He applied these lessons to the Florida Project. In fact, when buying land for DL, people quickly raised the cost of their land and made him pay dearly. This is why he was so secretive with the Florida Project.

 

That was the main reason he fought so hard to get all that land in FL, all the buildup (most of it tacky) right up to the fences at Disneyland.

 

Although as Dave will probably state, in recent years a lot of that has been cleaned up and revitalized and staying offsite at DL is NOT a problem.  There are many, many reasonably priced hotels within easy walking distance to the Disneyland resort gates.

 

When I went, I stayed at a Super 8 on Katella, and had the Disneyland/California Adventure gates within a 15 minute walk and had a mall complex right next door that had some really good restaurants (California Pizza Kitchen, Bubba Gumps, PF Changs, etc.)

Yes, there are buildings and shops right against the fence to DL. But it has been cleaned up allot. Years ago, you would not want to walk down the street at night. But now its quite nice and clean.

[devores 382]

Their Tink makes a better face.  But what is up with their Ariel having fake skin showing?  Was it cold?

It was cold at night, but at 5 when this parade was going on, it was 82. The nights get down to 60.

 

Excited to see the inside of the castle!

 

 

The one in FL is like that too. I'm guessing they don't want her showing too much skin.

Ariel does wear a body suit when the water is cold, but for the most part she does not. Not sure why she wears one at DL.

 

Great update, Dave.

 

It's weird to hear how people don't stake out spots for the parade.

 

The MK Ariel is way better than the DL Ariel.  And the MK castle is way better too.

 

I know those wires over the castle allow Dumbo and Tink to fly around at night, but I think they look bad.

 

TCD

I agree. I was not impressed with many of the characters at DL. e had one GREAT interaction, which you will hear about in a future update, but most did not have that "look" like WDW characters do.

 

You are correct about the wires. you will see in a later update how they are used, so slow down......

[DaveInTN 3,247]

You'd think if Ariel was going to wear fake skin they would at least make it tight fitting and not so evident.  Looks kinds of weird. 

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Wow, the castle is really underwhelming when you step onto Main Street!  The parade looks like fun.  I'm anti Ariel's fake skin too.  Doesn't fit very well. 

 

Looking forward to more of your report!  We will never go to Disneyland ... have no desire ... but love seeing pics!

[BuckeyeFortFan 35]

Question....I have always thought the term "Magic Kingdom" applied only to WDW's MK and Disneyland's was just known as "Disneyland". No?

[Beckers 1,136]

Question....I have always thought the term "Magic Kingdom" applied only to WDW's MK and Disneyland's was just known as "Disneyland". No?

I was under the same impression.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Question....I have always thought the term "Magic Kingdom" applied only to WDW's MK and Disneyland's was just known as "Disneyland". No?

 

I thought the same thing.  I thought the theme parks in CA are Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure.  No MK in Cali, or anywhere else in the world. MK is just at WDW.

 

TCD

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Looking forward to the interior castle shots.

Dumbo and Tink fly on those wires?

I had not heard that before.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Just for the parades?  Because Little Z's girl was showing some skin.

 

She actually has a body suit on. It just looks better. But also notice that Z has a fleece on.

 

[Beckers 1,136]

Looking forward to the interior castle shots.

Dumbo and Tink fly on those wires?

I had not heard that before.

Look on YouTube for some videos. It's pretty neat, I haven't seen it in person only on YouTube but it looks awesome.

[alexwyattmommy 181]

It does fit much better and is not as obvious as the one on the float.

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

Look on YouTube for some videos. It's pretty neat, I haven't seen it in person only on YouTube but it looks awesome.

I've never seen Dumbo fly, but I have seen Tink fly at Disneyland, and it is awesome!

[Lou... 3,118]

Ok Dave, I haven't read the entire TR as I don't do that, EVER, but what is the real reason you went to CA?

I can't believe that two WDW CMs, who spend most of their lives at WDW, would travel 3 million miles just to experience even more Disney.

[Grumpy and Grandma 740]

It does fit much better and is not as obvious as the one on the float.

But if you look closely, under her hair, it appears to be loose fitting also.

[kampfirekim 260]

I'm in! :yay:

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Ain't much worse than loose fitting fish skin.  I like my seashells to be perched on the real deal. 

[devores 382]

Question....I have always thought the term "Magic Kingdom" applied only to WDW's MK and Disneyland's was just known as "Disneyland". No?

 

 

I was under the same impression.

 

 

I thought the same thing.  I thought the theme parks in CA are Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure.  No MK in Cali, or anywhere else in the world. MK is just at WDW.

 

TCD

The official name is Disneyland. But the park is known as the original Magic Kingdom as it is the one Walt used to base the Magic Kingdom. The cast all refer to it as MK but there is nothing officially stating this.

 

Look on YouTube for some videos. It's pretty neat, I haven't seen it in person only on YouTube but it looks awesome.

Huhhum....why you giving away some my TR content? You cant wait 1 day?

[devores 382]

Ok Dave, I haven't read the entire TR as I don't do that, EVER, but what is the real reason you went to CA?

I can't believe that two WDW CMs, who spend most of their lives at WDW, would travel 3 million miles just to experience even more Disney.

Since you don't read TRs, you wouldn't know where we went anyway......but, we did make the trip just for Disneyland. The only thing we paid for was airfare and food. Cant have a cheaper vacation than that.

[devores 382]

Lets get another update in here.

 

We left off getting ready to walk into Sleeping Beauties castle. 

 

Remember it used to be an A ticket attraction. Ill tell you now, if I wasted a ticket on this, Id be upset.

 

It is a walk through a dark hall with windows scattered throughout. In the windows, you see the story of sleeping beauty being played out in pictures. Next to the windows are these books to tell the story.  

 

 

and this is what the hall looked like (not sure who or what that is in the picture. It was dark and I didn't see her until I looked at the pictures.)

 

 

and the windows

 

 

 

It was cool, but like the castle, very underwhelming.

 

We exit the castle and head to Fantasyland. Remember, our intentions was to just look around. But we have already seen the parade and walked through the castle.

 

So, we walk through Fantasyland and happen upon an old classic.

 

 

We all know who that is, right?

 

If not, stop reading now, turn in your Disney card, and never return.

 

But if you need a hint....

 

 

Yes, that's THE Mr Toads Wild Ride.

 

many WDW veterans know this as the Pooh ride now.  

 

And guess what?

 

It was walk on. Literally, we walked right on it. Zero people in line. We couldn't pass that up. So our scouting expedition wasn't going so well.  

 

We ended up with a parade, castle walk through, and an old classic.

 

After a ride in Mr Toads taxi through the streets of London, we meander our through Fantasyland. Disneyland is not as large as WDW. You could fit the entire park in the MK parking lot. So it doesn't take much time to get around. But everything is pact in there.

 

We came across another walk on ride. This one may be a little hard to identify for some.

 

 

Any guesses?

[Total Joker ... TJ 203]

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