My husband and I visited California in 1997, we just had to visit Disneyland. We had already been to the one in Orlando but wanted to see if there was any difference.
Apparently this was the original park and is slightly smaller than the one in Orlando.
We were staying in Anaheim the home of Disneyland at the castle inn , this was a good motel/hotel right across the road from Disneyland. We have actually booked to go there again in October along with Vegas.
Disneyland in California was the first theme park of it’s kind, it was built in 1955. People back then warned Walt Disney the owner , that it would be a failure. How wrong could they be.
You will probably know it as Magic Kingdom.
Nowadays millions of people all over the world travel to these parks.
They are not just for children, theres something for everyone here.
The park is divided into themes, there is Main Street, fantasyland, Frontierland, Tomorrowland and Adventureland. Then there is New Orleans Square, Critter Country, Mickeys Toontown.
There is another addition to this park which has just recently opened, it is next door to Disneyland. They were buiding it in 1999 when we were last there.
Disneyland holds the slogan ’’The happiest place on earth’’, you really can get lost in all that especially when they have the parades.
There are various terminals for admission, the queuing looked massive at first but soon went down.
It costs us about £50 for the both of us, which is quite expensive but you do get to spend a full day there. We actually came out seeing as though our hotel was right across the road and went back at night for the fireworks.
You start off down Main Street, straight away we saw Mickey Mouse, time for a photo, you’ve not a lot of choice as the photographer grabs you. he then gives you a ticket to collect your photo at the end of your visit. It costs about £5/7.oo We didn’t buy one.
There were plenty of musicians down here, from barber-shop singers to Ragtime Bands.
This street is edged with old fashioned gaslights , there are horse drawn trollies, and old buses and cars dotted about.
The shops are made to look antique-ish. You can actually go in some of the shops but most were just for decoration.
If you take a right turn you come to Tomorrowland. here are unusual attractions like The Extra Terrestrial Alien Encounter. You go in and sit in seats, there are speakers behind your ears, you know then that something is going on. There is a large glass dome in the middle of the room, there are voices coming through the speakers, telling you of a human being transported , things go wrong and an alien gets it causing the experiment to go wrong. The glass dome explodes , this really makes you jump. There is a slight spray of water which makes you think it’s glass shattering onto you. I went on this three times, I loved it.
Another ride here is Space Mountain, it is a rollercoaster in the dark. Whilst you are approaching the ride you go down long corridors, it is all illuminated. The yanks certainly know how to build good rides, they keep you entertained whilst waiting.
Space Mountain is good, but I think if you have been on it several times you could get bored.
You sit in a rocket style cabin with several people, you get strapped in and off you go. It is ok for young children but you do have to be a certain height for this ride. There are also strobe lights so be careful of these if you are epileptic, there are signs saying the dangers before entering a ride.
It was quite a fast ride and made your stomach drop a little, I’ve been on worse though.
I think now they have altered this ride and made it more scarier.
Adventureland have more childlike rides. When we want to cool off from the hot temperatures , my wife and I go on the kiddies rides. We went on the Pirates of the Caribbean. It was a boat ride going through actual water.
The pirates get caught up in a fight right over your heads, you can see them firing gunshots at each other. You descend rapids and go through swamps, you get a little wet. Americans have a thing about wetting you.
I’m not that bothered when it’s hot outside, you soon get dry.
There is a show with Indianna Jones. These are only on at certain times of the day. I recommend that you start queuing at least 20 mins earlier. People seem to come from nowhere whenever a shows about to start.
You sit in a arena, the show it really a stunt show, it shows excerpts from The Temple of doom acted out by Disney Staff.
It is a great show and they do some good stunts.
The enchanted Tiki room was a laugh, there are meant to be 225 singing birds, they aren’t real of course. I was a bit worried in case they were real birds, Iam scared of certain birds for some unknown reason.
They do a little show and sing some funny songs, the kids loved it.
Critter Country is where Splash Mountain is, it’s different at Orlando, there I think it’s at Frontierland.
Splash Mountain is obviously a water ride(See I told you that they love water). Here you get soaked even as a specatator , if you stand close.
It’s like a log flume ride, you see animated figures like Brer rabbit and Brer Fox, my wife didn;t relax all the way through as she was waiting for the big drop at the end.
All of a sudden you see daylight then you go at a speed of 65kph and drop down 52ft and get wet. Since then I’ve been on jurrassic park the ride and that’s an even bigger drop.
It’s ok but, you really are just waiting for the last bit.
Throughout the day, we had several things to eat. You can dine with the characters if you liked. We just went and had a sandwich and fries along with the usual Cola and free refills.
It’s not too bad, we paid around £8.00 for both of us, remember that their portions are much larger than ours.
It was thirsty work, there were several stands selling iced cold drinks, 7up, Coke, water etc and also ice lollies. Expect to pay $2/2.50 per bottle, about £1.50 in our money, they usually add tax on as well.
I suppose you just pay those prices when you are desperatley thirsty.
The highlight of the day was the parade. It was about 3.0clock when it started.
It was hard to get a good view especially for me as iam only 5ft.
My husband is 6ft so he was OK..But we managed to see most of it.
Depending on what Disney film is out at the time, they have floats displaying the latest film characters. There are dancers dressed up as different characters, Mickey Mouse of course appears. We saw The Lion King and The Little Mermaid. The music blasts out, ’’It’s time for the magic’’. It gives you a lump in your throat. You should see the kids when they get asked to join in.
The show at night is even better, it’s fantastic. the show we saw was Main St Electrical parade, it’s only on in Summer.
There were the usual parades but all lit up, you should have seen it, I’ve never seen so many lights and different colours. The music was more dramatic, why do the americans come up with so many good ideas. There were differnt characters than during the day, I can’t explain how good it was.
I would recommend going here, if only you do it once.
sometimes there were long queues , but I’ve seen worse at Universal Studios. We only waited about 20 mins at the longest. It does depend on which time of year you go.
I can’t wait to go in October, who needs kids.