honeebee86
08-08-2012, 07:41 PM
Where do I begin....I guess I will start on saying what my impression was of Disneyland before we came here. First, I kept telling myself not to be disappointed by the size, not to laugh at the tiny castle, to remember the CMs may not be as nice as the ones at WDW, and that the magic may not be as believable because the real world was just beyond the gates. We said to ourselves that we would have a good time and just be happy to see Walt's original park and to be able to say we had been there but in the back of our mind never imagined that Disneyland could have the potential to make us feel like something was missing at WDW and we found it here. Well, we have to say that that is exactly what happened. Being locals and going to WDW so often, you start to notice things more than someone who only visits a few times their lifetime or even an annual visitor. In our opinion, we have seen maintenance issues, cleanliness issues (not always Disney's fault but sometimes at the fault of guests), unfriendly to even rude CMs, and other things as well. Now please do not get me wrong....we still love WDW and will continue to go, but Disneyland has opened our eyes to the potential WDW could have. We have come to the conclusion that as a company, it makes sense that if Disney is going to choose which park to drop the most money in up-keeping that it would be Disneyland. The reason is because unlike WDW, Disneyland is mainly visited by locals and these locals come all the time! They will notice if quality slips and their voice will be louder compared to that of WDW's locals since they are such a small percentage compared to Disneyland's visitors. Also, there is a sense of pride and care from not only the CMs here but from the guests as well. Working from the outside in, here is what we think: Yes, Disneyland is obviously smaller compared to WDW. It is located in one central area and not spread out. You can walk to EVERYTHING! Personally, I loved this. I thought it was so cool to stand in the middle and look to my left and see CA, look straight ahead and see DTD, and to the right Disneyland. As for the city outside, we never once felt like there was a city while inside the Disneyland property. I think we also saw the surrounding city as being a part of Disneyland and that helped. We also found it neat that people could live so close and just walk to an escape from the real world. Time was not wasted by waiting for buses or traveling long distances. Now, obviously it is not fair to compare all of WDW to Disneyland. But, I will say that I feel like if you have never been to Disneyland, you will find enough here to keep you busy and happy for 5 days and maybe even more. I wish we had at least one more day here. So I will first say our general comments of CA. We loved this park. We felt it was comparable to Hollywood Studios in basic design but was larger and better thought out. The boardwalk area reminded us of the Boardwalk hotel and again, we felt it was better thought out. Yes, a lot of rides are basic fair rides, but they are fun! They have enough unique rides to appeal to everyone as well. Screamin' was awesome, Mermaid was adorable and made us anxious to see the one at WDW, Monsters was cute, we thought the Muppets was in much better condition than WDW, the Aladdin show was just like watching a Broadway show, and we appreciated the shorter wait for Soarin'. As for Carsland....amazing! It is beautiful and we are looking forward to taking a stroll down Route 66 tonight. Radiator Springs was simply a great ride. Our lunch at Flo's was really great and the pretzel bites we had from Cozy Cone were fresh and tasty! So, now it's Magic Kingdom vs Disneyland. So I will quickly get out the things that we notice were more an annoyance than worse than MK. Yes, the pathways are more narrow and because it is the summer, it was hot and crowded and sometimes that was annoying. However, I think the pathways are better in a way as well. When you first walk into Disneyland, the layout of the park seems to be the same, but it is actually quite different. There are pathways everywhere instead of just around in a circle like at MK. This adds to the charm that is Disneyland. I really don't know how to explain it, but it is just different. I felt this made the park feel larger than MK even though I know it really isn't. Also, nothing is spread out. There is something to do every step of the way. Also, due to the heat here, the waiting can be exhausting because most waiting areas are outside and offer little to no cover. However, this would only be an issue in the daytime during the summer. The nights were comfortable and even a little chilly for us Floridians. I am trying so hard to describe why I found the magic to be here so much more than at WDW and all I can say is you can see the love put into this park. WDW seems like a dish that someone cooked up because they had to. Yes, it is very good but something is missing. Disneyland is made with love and it shows in everything. It is your grandmother's famous warm chocolate chip cookies. Welcoming and comforting. Every CM we came in contact with was beyond nice and you could tell they had pride working here. Even the guests were friendly. I didn't see guest leaving trash behind all over the place and to us, it shows they care about this special place and want to keep it special. Things that we really liked about Disneyland were that we went the whole trip so far without eating a burger or hot dog. There are so many other options for food besides deep fried fast food. The food is much better quality to us, as we have seen the food quality slip at WDW. Most places give you real plates and silverware to eat with at counter service which makes it nice. Portions are also huge here! As for the castle.....I didn't laugh...not one bit. In fact I thought it was beautiful and seemed larger than what I thought it would seem. I found it to be something out of a storybook and just like everything else, it was warm and welcoming. I am sure there is so much more I have to say but I will end here. Please ask me any questions!!! We will miss Disneyland and will be sad that it will be a few years until we can come back. But, we will enjoying knowing such a special place exists here in Anaheim. :mickey: Thanks for reading!