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View Full Version : First trip to Disneyland!



CharDog1
03-28-2010, 11:36 PM
Despite being a 22-year-old male in college, I am still a WDW fanatic. Having been more times than I can count on family vacations, it has always been a part of my life!

I haven't been to WDW since I was a senior in high school - I'm now a senior in college - so, you can imagine my bitterness when my dad decided to take my little brother down for President's Day Weekend. Since I had already had plans to be in NYC for the weekend, I failed to receive an invite.

However, with a trip planned to LA for my spring break, I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to finally check out the original - Disneyland! Although I was going to be with a few friends from school, I knew not everyone would be as enthusiastic as I was about doing a day trip to Disney. Luckily, my friend Joey was down to make the trip with me.

We ended up going on a Friday, which I was skeptical about since I wanted to avoid crowds the best we could, but it ended up not being too crowded. Not to mention, we handled Fastpasses like pros.

Between sleeping in longer than planned and traffic, we didn't leave West Hollywood till about 12:30 and didn't get to the park until about 2. Because we got there later than expected, we ultimately decided to get Park Hoppers and stay for the fireworks.

The first thing I first noticed about the property was that it felt much more like a resort than I expected. I had always been told Disneyland is so much smaller and "older feeling," so I was pleasantly surprised that the whole "experience" felt much more like being at a mini-WDW than a theme park in the middle of Anaheim.

We decided to go in Disneyland first. After taking some pictures in front of the castle (it really did seem so small in comparison to Cinderella's Castle!), we headed towards Big Thunder. We got on in about 10 minutes and I requested to sit in the back, which they were more than happy to let us wait for.

After our first ride, we were feeling kind of hungry and went to get some fish and chips at one of the little restaurants near Pirates. After eating, we decided to get an Indiana Jones FP before getting in line for Pirates. It was great to ride the original Pirates and I enjoyed the changes, which I had yet to see at WDW.

Afterwards, we had time until our FP for Indy, so we went and did Splash. Definitely prefer the WDW version. Not only did I dislike the single logs, but I also felt the ride went a lot more quickly. It felt very rushed.

When we returned to Indiana, they had shut it down for a while, but told us it should be open within the hour. Instead, we went and got Dole Whips and headed through Fantasyland. FL was pretty packed with kids on the verge of meltdown by this time, so we headed towards Tomorrowland. We ended up getting in line and did Space, which was great!

We ended up wandering Main Street after this, because I was on a hunt for a vintage attraction poster. I was going to use the new Disney art program they have introduced, but when I discovered it would cost more to have them put a matte on it that it would just to buy the piece in the park, I opted to find a poster that was already made. I ended up deciding on the Peter Pan's Flight poster, which came in a perfect purple matte for $30 and it was only $8 to ship it back to my apartment in Boston!

Anyway, we decided we would hop parks, but decided to go see if Indiana was functioning yet - it was! This was one my most anticipated attractions and it didn't disappoint. I thought it was a great ride, especially having grown up in love with the "Temple of Doom."

Afterward, we hopped on the Haunted Mansion. I know the ride is the same, but I love the Orleans-esque mansion it is set in at Disneyland. I thought it was charming and added even more to the ride. It is and always will be a classic.

It was about 6 p.m. and we began to make our way over to California Adventures. As mentioned in the other recent DL resort, I didn't find it to be anything special and the construction on the left side of the park was a huge blockage from seeing a lot of the park.

We went straight to the Tower of Terror and got Fastpasses so that we could cruise around. The park is actually very pretty and well-designed. We ended up stopping in Ariel's restaurant to see about dinner. We weren't starving, but I was game to meet some princesses and eat. The hostess said she could seat us and began explaining the menu. She asked if we were hungry and we told her not really. She then basically told us we should eat upstairs since dinner was so much food. I asked if I could still get a picture with Belle and she said, "No." Lame! I understand they have rules, but after essentially talking us out of dinner, I thought we might still be able to take a picture, especially considering the restaurant / bar upstairs seemed to essentially be attached.

Anyway, after a drink and snack, we went and got on the Ferris Wheel. We did the "Swingers" side, which was quite frankly terrifying. It was a neat Ferris wheel, but too intense for me. I am not a coaster person and it was actually a miracle that Joey was getting me on ToT.

After this we headed back towards the Hollywood Tower Hotel. I actually really enjoyed the ride. The drops were pretty ridiculous (I think we had four), but it was pretty entertaining. As far as drops go, I actually enjoyed these more than the Splash drop.

Our day was finally winding down and we headed back to the Magic Kingdom where we caught the fireworks before heading home.

I really can't complain about the park - it was a great time! I was really impressed by the whole property and all the CMs were super friendly as always. It was neat to finally see where it all started and to see the differences between the two resorts. Obviously, nothing compares to getting to WDW and walking into the smell of the Polynesian, but this was still a great fix for the lack of Disney in my life.

NotaGeek
03-29-2010, 12:17 AM
Thanks for the report! I am glad you had a nice time at Walt's Park... :mickey:

MegaDisney
03-29-2010, 11:47 AM
:welcome: to INTERCOT!

I am so glad you enjoyed your trip to the Original!

Thanks for taking the time to post!

maizey05
03-31-2010, 12:03 PM
:thumbsup:Good review! Too bad you didn't have more time to spend there. There are some great rides at CA, that it sounds like you didn't have time for.

faline
03-31-2010, 12:43 PM
Glad you got to experience Disneyland!

pdrlkr
04-04-2010, 08:39 AM
Thanks for the Report! :balloon: and :welcome: