Disneyland-A One Time Experience
Written: Mar 02 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean Rides
Cons: Not much to do, and inclement weather takes out a lot of rides!
The Bottom Line: Disneyland is nice, but Disney World is better!
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| ImAmes's Full Review: Disneyland |
OK, I have been to Disney World many times, and would have never even thought to visit Disneyland until a friend of mine moved out to CA and started to work there. She invited me down for a week, and because she is employed there, I got in for free- not a bad deal! So, I decided to check out DL and DCA.
The best way to explain Disneyland to you folks is to explain how my day went there, and my honest and true "epinion" of the place.
I started my day out by parking in the largest parking structure/garage I have ever seen! We arrived at the Disneyland gate at noon because of a late start at my friend's home.
My first impression of the entrance was that it wasn't to exciting. I was used to the MK entrance, where it was magical how you got there by steamboat, monorail, or Disney bus. The entrance has the flowers that make up Mickey's face, which lay in front of the Train Station that sit high atop the gates.
We walked under the Train Station and arrived on Main Street. On my right was a building which hosted Walt Disney's Story, and on my left was City Hall. In the Town Square lay park benches and a flag pole, which I passed to get a glimpse of the famous Sleeping Beauty Castle.
My first impressions of the Castle was that it was quite small, and then I was quite disappointed to find out that there is nothing INSIDE the Castle for the viewing public like myself. At least in Cinderella's Castle you can have a nice meal and get a feel of what it is like inside a storybook castle.
Main Street U.S.A. was pretty much the same as in the Magic Kingdom, which had the Emporium, the Candy Store, the Penny Arcade, and so on.
To the right of Main Stree is Tommorowland, and this is where my impression of things started to sour a bit. My first ride here was Star Tours- and I was so NOT impressed with the waiting area- because there wasn't anything outside the ride to build up the excitement. Inside they had 3CPO and R2D2 talking their spiel, but there were no characters walking around, as I did experience Ewoks and Chewebacca at the MGM Studios one in WDW. The ride was the same, and the store was less to be desired. Also in Tommorowland was Space Mountain, which was down, Honey I Shurnk the Audience 3-D Show, and the Innoventions Plaza. Again, HISTA was the same, and pre-show was not as powerful and beautiful as Epcot's one, and Innoventions was not even close to Epcot's either. Innoventions is located in the old Carousel of Progress ride, which I didn't like because it would spin slowly, and if you get motion sickness easily, you won't like the outside of this attraction.
On to Mickey's Toontown, where it began to pour. All there was to see now was Mickey's and Minnie's house, because Roger Rabit's Car Toon Spin was down, along with Gadget's Go Coaster- quite disappointing.
We took the train out of Toontown to get to Frontierland, New Orleans Square, and Adventureland. The train ride was cute, and took you through a tunnel full of Dinosaurs and such- much different than the train ride at the MK.
We got off at New Orleans Square where we headed into the Haunted Mansion- this one looks a lot bigger than the one at the MK, but the ride was the same, and a fun one always!
As we headed to Pirates of the Caribbean, I got confused in how they have the line set up here- it winds up two different levels, around a restaurant, and then inside the building- wierd! We got on with no wait and I have to say this is MUCH BETTER than the one in the MK!!! It has two drops, the first one being much higher than the second, and the atmosphere is more dark and smokey- I loved it!
After a breif encounter with the Country Bear Jamboree, it was off to attempt the Indiana Jones Ride. OK, I was scared out of my mind!! The waiitng line, which we walked right through, winds through cave after cave, making me more nervous as I got closer and closer. You sit in a car that has three rows of 7 seats, and they make sure your seatbelt is VERY secure! The ride is basically trying to save Indiana and yourself while trying to avoid huge snakes, collpasing bridges, and runaway boulders. It is not a rollercoaster, but a car that works alot like a simultion ride, that tosses and turns you every which way, and it is the BEST RIDE in the park by far- I did it MANY times!!
Because of the rain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the Matterhorn, and Splash Mountain were either down or temporarily closed. So, all that was left was Fantasyland.
I am a HUGE fan of the Fantasyland in the MK, so I was hoping I would love this one too....and I did! I never had been on Pinnochio, Peter Pan was a little different than the MK's, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is still here, and Snow White's Scary Adventures was the same as well. Ths Storybook boats, Dumbo, the Tea Cups, and Alice in Wonderland were all down, which I had REALLY wanted to see, so I rode the Carousel instead!
The park was to close at 9 p.m., but due to the low crowd numbers, and the bad weather, they announced at 7:50 p.m. that they were closing the park at 8:00 p.m. I was quite irritated with this, but I couldn't do anything about it, so I shopped at the Emporium and headed home.
My overall epinion of this park is that it is cute and small, but if someone were to ask me between WDW and DL- the obvious would be WDW because of the lack of activities in DL and DCA!
Have any questions? Are you traveling to CA to see DL or DCA? Email me at ImAmes@new.rr.com and I will be happy to answer any of your questions!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
ImAmes
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Member: Amy Joy
Location: Midwest
Reviews written: 174
Trusted by: 215 members
About Me:
Love cures people- both the ones who give it and those who recieve it.
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