Yaayyy Disneyland Anaheim in February!

[greenkai3000]

I would say pick the Grand Californian all the way... that is one of the most beautiful hotels I've ever been to. There's a private entrance to California Adventure that hotel guests have access to. If budget is a problem I would pick Paradise Pier , since it's just across the street from the Grand Californian. The DL Hotel is undergoing a LOT of renovations, so your stay will definitely won't be as "magical". Plus it's further away from the parks than the other 2.

[nemo1981]

Thank you guys for all your advice, I really appreciate that!! @Dave: I like animals a lot, and i think I´ll go to Sea World:-)

So that`s it, my plane to Los Angeles leaves on the upcoming Thursday! I`ll be back in Vienna on the 18th of February; and I`ll post a long and detailed trip report then!!!

[nemo1981]

I am back from an amazing trip!!!! I came back yesterday morning and now I am completely jetlagged ...

Alright let`s start this...

First I have to say, that I will post pics later, because all the pics were taken by my friend on her I-phone. And she is still in Los Angeles. However, she promised me, that she would send them to me as soon as possible. We didn`t take a lot of pictures anyway, we were taken away by the magic too much

First of all, this was my second time in California. I went to San Francisco some years ago and I loved it. This time L.A. and I loved it even more. California is just amazingly beautiful, so if you haven`t been to California, GO !!! The people are soooo friendly( in general, I mean sometimes I had the feeling every Californian is a Disney Cast member ), the weather is warm and nice and the mood is just great there. I stayed in Santa Monica in my friend`s apartment and again, I couldn`t believe how beautiful that place (Santa Monica) is....
Okay, I guess I will skip the rest of the California part , cause you are probably only interested in my Disney-experience ...

The first Themepark we did was Universal. And I have to say, that I was quite disappointed by that park, I had expected much more. I mean don`t get me wrong, I loved the backlot Tour, that was really good. Got to see Wisteria Lane from "Desperate Housewives" and the place where they shot the "Back to the future"movies, so that was pretty exciting...But the rest of the park, was just a lot of 3D movies, it was not really spectacular. I did enjoy the Mummy ride though and the House of Horror( was really, really scary)... and the most disappointing thing was the Jurassic Park ride. With this ride I had the feeling that it wasn`t done with much love...We ended our day with the Waterworld show, which definitely was the highlight of the day for us. Was a really good show..but as I said all in all this park did not live up to the expectation to a place that they call "entertainment capital of L.A."...

Alright here we go:
THE DISNEYLAND DAYS

We drove to Disneyland on a Sunday and decided to stay for two nights. We had bought the Southern California City Pass, which included Universal, Disneyland and Sea World. Our Plan was to spend two full days at the parks and then head on to San Diego to see Sea World.
In the end we decided to stay at the Disneyland Hotel, first we wanted to stay at the Grand Cailfornian, but that turned out to be too expensive. And I have to say it was fantastic!!!!! Everything was newly refurbished, and the refurbishments were completety done!! The rooms were lovely, and the staff that works there is incredibly nice and welcoming!!! We were in a Disneymood immediately

Our rooms weren`t ready when we arrived in the morning, but they told us, that we would get a textmessage, and until then we could store our luggage at the baggage claim.
After check in, we went to Disneyland Park. The walk through Downtown Disney is lovely!!! Much nicer than in Paris. and there is so much entertainment going on. A small band plays at every corner, it´s really nice.
The moment I saw the train station I couldn`t believe that I am finally there!!!
We decided to stroll through the Park first and get into the Disneymood...I was quite surprised how much smaller everthing is . Main Street, the castle, even the lands. But on the other hand there were much more attractions than in Paris. You turn around and stand in front of a new attraction. This place is crammed full of attractions
I won`t describe every attaction that we did, I can`t remember anyway what we did when ...But we did all of them,besides the ones that were closed(Matterhorn and Fantasmic and Sailing ship Columbia).

So, and I have to say that "davewasbaloo" was right about everything!!! Disneyland Anaheim is the ULTIMATE Disney experience!! To me the cast members and and the fireworks, World of Color and the high, really high level of maintenance made all the difference!! I never would have thought that the cast members could make such a big difference, but they can!!! I have been to DLP 9 times and not once have I a had such great encounters with cast members like in Anaheim. I really got the feeling that everyone who works there really loves the place a lot. There were so may cast members that would ask me where I am from, and they they are so happy to see me in disneyland and that they are so proud of being part of the magic. Every single one of them gave me the feeling of "hey, welcome at Disney, it`s great that you`re here"...The cast members of Paris don`t even come close to that, and as I said I have been there 9 times...Don`t get me wrong. i don`t think that the cast members in Paris are bad. I always thought that they are friendly, but they are not American, and they never will be...What I mean is, that the mentality in California in general is a different one. Europeans are not used to smiling all day long and being friendly to strangers on the street, and i think that makes a huge difference!! Some of the cast members there also told me how they grew up with the park, and that they still remember Walt Disney himself seeing on Television and that it`s a dream come true for them to work for Disney. So i also think that the history makes a huge difference. In the U.S. Disney is part of the culture and in Europe it isn`t.

I am running out of time,I will continue writing this report tomorrow...
So general conclusion of this first part of my report: Disneyland Anaheim rocks !!!!!!!!

[mattboywonder]

Agree with your comments about DL - I agree that because many people grew up with Disney and had Disneyland in their own backyard, there is a certain history and effection for the place lost on a European audience no matter how hard Disney try

What did you think of Indiana Jones - the best ride ever??? Is is for me - even after 17 years! Shame Fantasmic! wasn't going as its better than the Orlando version (even if you do have to stand unless you get there 3 hours early) and Mattahorn as its unique it DL. How about the submarine Voyage? ALice in Wonderland? Pirates is also the best at DL and the beautiful Haunted Mansion?

Shame you didn't think too much of Universal - personally I'm a big movie buff so I much prefer the real deal in Hollywood to the theme park only experience you get in Orlando. I even like that you can see Warner Bros studio from Universal. How was King Kong 3d? It opended since my last visit and it looks amazing on the internet as does Transformers

[dagobert]

Thanks for the trip report. I can't wait to see Disneyland Anaheim by mayself next year. I've never been to Calfornia, because we wanted to visit Disney World and other cities after our foreign semester in Ohio, US.

All our US friends told us how great Disneyland Anaheim is and they were quite disappointed with DLP in terms of CMs and maintenance. Good to see that you had a fantastic time.

Everyone who has visited DL in California is impressed with that park. Some of our friends even stopped going to DLP, because for them it's not worth the money anymore. I hope I don't think the same way, because I've always enjoyed DLP.

Cant wait to see your pictures, especially about Disney and Universal.

[Alice28]

I am a California girl and have been to Disneyland at least 35-40 times. It's my favorite! I've only been to the American parks (so far) though.

I'm SO glad you loved it! And I am glad you ended up at the DL Hotel- with the refurbishment, I think it's gorgeous! I have stayed at the Grand CA twice and although nice, it doesn't quite live up to the amount you spend per night. We are staying at the DL Hotel again in August and I cannot wait!

Yes, I think people who work at DL anaheim really GET Walt's dream. Although I almost always have excellent customer service in the Florida parks as well.

For me it will be interesting to see the flip side- I've been to DL the most and WDW 11 times.....cannot wait to see the differences at DLP. I've wanted to go since I saw the premiere on tv in 1992.

[Ravenseye]

I enjoyed reading the posts here
Makes me really want to go now, where as before I just thought hmmm maybe one day.
It sounds to me like the CM's at DLP could do with the identical training package that the DL CM's get. Maybe. It'd make sense.
I do remember the whole sense of 'I'm happy to work here' vibe at WDW, I have never felt that vibe in DLP.