Disneyland Review
- Chief Wish Officer Christy
- Jan 31, 2018
- 4 min read
Mouse Genie went to Disneyland last week! This was our first trip to Disneyland/Disney California Adventure. This was also our first Disney trip with our friends Chante and Ava, and our first official Disney girls' trip!
As super Disney World veterans, we approached this trip with much of the same mindset - plan, plan, plan. Was I in for a shock! Disneyland is very...laid back. They don't even post their parade and showtimes until about 6-8 weeks before they are to happen. WHAT KIND OF LIFE IS THIS? In a world where we do 180-day advance dinner reservations, I had to really had to adjust our expectations, which caused me a little bit of anxiety (ok a lot of anxiety). Our trusty Disney travel agent Brenda assured me that I needed to just relax, and go with the California vibe. (Also yes, we use Brenda for all of our trips. You are missing out if you don't.)
I'll summarize all the best MG Tips at the end of the blog post.
Accomodations
We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel. I want to say I chose this hotel because of it's historical significance to the Disney property, but honestly because a) the pool slide was shaped like the monorail and b) you can get a Dole Whip on site. Everything was up to Disney standards - themed, clean, and conveniently located. We had a double queen room in the Adventure tower facing Downtown Disney, and could hear the band each night. They were always done by 10pm, which was no problem for us. The Adventure tower is the closest tower to Downtown Disney security entrance.
Disneyland
The original park, and the one that started it all - Disneyland. This park was the inspiration for Magic Kingdom at WDW. It was a great experience, as a fan of Walt Disney, to be in this place where he once walked Main Street with his own kids. I might like Disneyland better than Magic Kingdom for one tiny reason - there were less people - and there were still A LOT of people. There were easily double the amount of people in Disneyland every day than there were in Disney California Adventure.
Disney California Adventure
Disneyland's other park is Disney California Adventure. It's a lot like WDW's Hollywood Studios. Here you'll find the big rides like California Screamin' (closed for the Pixar Pier refurbishment), Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout!, and the completely awe-inspiring Cars Land. Cars Land has my new favorite ride of all time - the Radiator Springs Racers! If you like Epcot's Test Track...this one is Test Track time two! The girls had a "celebrity" spotting in Cars Land and saw Jojo Siwa and her mom going to ride the Racers. I would bet that celebrity sightings at Disneyland/Disney California Adventure aren't that uncommon.
The Food
Ok, I know you're here to get to the *meat* of this blog. People I knew that had been to both California and Florida parks all said "the food in California is so much better!" Well you may or may not know that I kind of love food, especially good food. And I do agree that WDW park fare lacks, but you can get really great meals at many of the hotels (but that's another blog post). We had a delicious meal at known great Blue Bayou. If you've ever eaten at the San Angel Inn or ridden the Three Caballeros ride at Epcot, you'll feel right at home. The Pirates of the Caribbean ride goes right through this restaurant, so ask for a waterside table!
We ate every churro stand we could find. We had Dole Whips from Adventureland. We had frozen apple juice, which is apparently a thing at most refreshment stands around Disneyland (we suggest the one at the Cozy Cone Inn in Cars Land). There were more flavors of popcorn than we could count. While you didn't have the worldwide culinary adventures of Epcot, Disneyland kept up. They had Mickey shaped beignets and chili *cone* queso and smoothies and Matterhorn macaroons. If you couldn't find something to eat, you wanted a plain adult-size hamburger and a side of fries. THERE WAS EVEN A PLACE THAT JUST SOLD GOURMET HOT DOGS CALLED AWARD WEINERS. We had a lot of fun talking about that place and embarrassing our children. Don't forget the character meal! We had brunch at Plaza Inn - a character meal with Minnie and Friends. The food was buffet style (they had an omelet station!), and we saw characters you don't normally get to see out in the park - Chip, Dale, Captain Hook, Rafiki, Eeyore, Pooh, Tigger, and of course Minnie! The character interactions were very fun and lengthy. The crowd at this brunch was nothing like a WDW character meals. There were so many empty tables!
Mouse Genie Tips for Disneyland/Disney California Adventure
MG Tip #1 Get the Max Pass! Disneyland still utilizes paper Fast Passes, and the Max Pass puts you back in an app like we're all used to by now - and you get more passes. It's worth the $10. TRUST ME.
MG Tip #2 Bring a lanyard with a card holder or buy one once you get to Disneyland. They still use cards for everything and there are no MagicBands. There's a card for your room/charging, and a card for the park entry. If you keep it in a clear pouch, you don't have to keep taking it in and out.
MG Tip #3 You'll get wet on the Matterhorn Bobsleds. People say you won't. You will. These same people will also tell you that you have nothing in your teeth when you clearly do.
MG Tip #4 Book a character meal. They are less crowded and rushed than WDW.
MG Tip #5 Check the refurbishment schedule, and try to avoid going in mid-late January. Holiday take down and refurbishment was still going on when we were there last week, and there are a lot of things we didn't get to see.
We can't wait to go back to Disneyland - we were prepared to not like it as much, and were so happy and surprised that we enjoyed it. We also loved sharing our trip with our great friends, and couldn't have imagined a more special girls' trip!
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