I love Disney World. I made my first trip to Disney World in 1976 when I was just three years old. Being an East Coast girl, I was perfectly content to take my three-hour flight to Orlando again and again. Disneyland sounded nice, but it never really entered my mind to make the trip to Anaheim. About this time last year, I heard a few of the Disneyland Team’s podcasts, and my interest was certainly piqued. I booked my trip and dove headfirst into planning my vacation.
I arrived at the Disneyland Hotel during a rare February heat wave, and from the moment I stepped into the Fantasy Tower, I knew I was in for one amazing trip. I never expected to fall head over heels in love with Disneyland, but I did. If you’re like me and have spent decades visiting Orlando and wonder what all the hoopla is about, here are my top reasons to break free of WDW and head to California.
In Anaheim, you can walk to everything. I was lucky enough to stay at the Disneyland Hotel, but even some of the offsite properties are within walking distance to the parks. What made this great was the amount of time we were able to save by walking. There were no hassles of catching buses, or parking our car or waiting in line at the TTC to get on a monorail. In the morning, we generally ate a quick breakfast in the room and hightailed it through Downtown Disney to make it for the rope drop. After lunch, we could leisurely walk back to the hotel to rest and freshen up before starting our nighttime activities. Plus, the parks cover a lot less acreage than their counterparts in WDW, so your legs stay fresher throughout the course of a week’s stay.
Walt is here. Okay, so technically he passed away in 1966, but the spirit of Walt Disney is everywhere at the Disneyland Resort. There was a photo hanging over my bed of Walt in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, and every night when I looked at it, it reminded me how cool it was to be in a place where Walt actually walked. Before my trip, I read Walt Disney: An American Original by Bob Thomas and found it provided me a real appreciation for the history of Disneyland. As a tangible reminder he is still there, the light still shines in his apartment over the fire station on Main Street.
The weather in Anaheim beats the weather in Orlando. I already mentioned I arrived in Disneyland during a freak February heat wave. It was in the 90s for most of my trip, but the amazing thing was this heat was a dry heat. So, yes, we were hot, but we weren’t dripping sweat like what normally happens in Orlando during a heat wave. Plus, there were no daily afternoon thunderstorm to dodge.
Disneyland has some amazing rides. From the classic rides you’ve missed since your childhood (Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride and Snow White’s Scary Adventures), to WDW rides done just a bit better (Pirates of the Caribbean, Hyperspace Mountain), to Disneyland exclusive attractions (Radiator Springs Racers, California Screamin’), there is something for everyone. Yes, Disneyland is smaller than Disney World, but there were still so many rides, I didn’t get to go on all of them.
Cars Land. If you want to see what Walt Disney Imagineering is capable of, you have to step into its recreation of Radiator Springs. Walking down the street, you actually believe for a moment you’ve left Anaheim behind and are in another place. The headliner attraction, Radiator Springs Racers, is incredible. Though lines mount early for this ride, it’s worth the wait, and it does have a FastPass and a Single Rider line. Imagine Test Track with heart.
The food at Disneyland is worth the trip. There were so many good things to eat in and around Disneyland, I didn’t manage to eat everything I intended to try. Some of my favorites include Mickey Waffles with Bananas Foster topping for breakfast at Steakhouse 55, the Lobster Pad Thai Imperial Roll at the Carthay Circle Lounge, the Guacamole at Tortilla Jo’s, Mickey Beignets from the Mint Julep Bar in Disneyland, the Pomme Frites from Café Orleans in Disneyland, and that’s just to mention a few.
There’s always live music or some sort of live entertainment to enjoy. Being so close to Los Angeles and the heart of the music industry, Disneyland gets a lot of really high quality entertainers to perform for its guests. During the course of the day, you will see the Disneyland Band parading throughout Fantasyland, the Dapper Dans serenading guests on Main Street, the Red Car Trolley News Boys harmonizing in California Adventure, several live music acts jamming in Downtown Disney and much more. Everywhere you turn, someone is singing or playing the guitar or heading up a Dixieland Jazz Combo.
Paint the Night and Disneyland Forever. Let’s just get this out of the way- I don’t like parades. When in WDW, during a parade time, I hope to catch some shorter lines at some of the headliner attractions. But Paint the Night is different. It’s not easy to describe, and I would rather just say it is a MUST SEE. The music, the lights, and the characters lead to an unforgettable experience. The Disneyland Forever fireworks may not be the best fireworks I’ve ever seen, but in combination with the projections on Main Street and the Matterhorn, they provide an unrivaled nighttime entertainment extravaganza.
People are happier in Disneyland. Over and over, you will hear people referring to Disneyland as the “happiest place on Earth,” and after my week there, I agree. It was not that we didn’t see kids crying or parents yelling, but although it may sound trite, I felt there was magic in the air. In addition to seeing children dressed up as Disney characters, plenty of adults were too. From the moment I met my first cast member at the check-in desk of the Disneyland Hotel, I sensed something was different. At WDW, sometimes the “magic” seems to have been left behind in an effort to make more money. One night, standing in the middle of Main Street during the Disneyland Forever fireworks, I was dancing and singing “Let it Go” at the top of my lungs with thousands of my closest friends. I got goosebumps on my arms and thought “this is what happiness is.”
The paper Fast Pass still exists! Enough said.
