Sharing my long DL post with my Geek friends too . . . my impressions of DL . . .
Well guys, I guess I should spend some time and give you my impressions of DL and my trip to California.
This is my first trip I have ever (sad huh?) taken West of St. Louis. I really enjoyed the flight, and looking out the window to see the Grand Canyon and other sights from the air. It was truly amazing. The mountains are beautiful, and the wilderness is spectacular. V, you will enjoy flying Frontier back from LA, they were a very nice airline to fly.
Orange County Airport is very convenient to DL, but I am glad I chose not to drive there and took a shuttle. The highways seem very confusing to me.
The DL Hotel is very nice - the lobby and entryway are really cool, and very Disney. The room was well-appointed, but showed signs of age (like the shower head that was at chest level). I was in the Main building - Magic Tower.
The thing that will strike any WDW veteran who has never been there is the proximity and compactness of the DL resort. EVERYTHING is within walking distance if you are on resort property. Since we are staying at the GC after the cruise, it is even closer to the parks than the DL hotel.
When you see all this, you begin to understand why Walt did what he did in Florida with the purchase of all the land. The real World truly intrudes on DL.
That is the other difference a WDW person will notice about DL. DL is more like an amusement park you might experience around here. It is not the "other world" immersive experience you get at WDW, where you truly feel that you are insulated from the rest of the real world. The real world is all around DL, at some places you can see and hear the road and highway around the resort. This is not meant as criticism of DL - it is just a real observation.
DTD has more of a "strip mall" feel than it's Orlando counterpart. Everything is kind of lined up. If you left my hotel, you would make a left, walk through DTD (with the GC Hotel on your right shortly after you enter DTD - with DTD storefronts in front of it, and the hotel above those storefronts) and you shortly thereafter enter the plaza that has DL on the left, and CA on the right. You can walk to DL from the DL hotel in about 10 minutes max. It is really strange for someone who is used to WDW where everywhere is a bus ride or drive. That is a nice thing about DL - although I only left the area ONCE in my short stay probably because of this.
There are many different shops in DTD from the one in Orlando. Shops like Libby Lu, and Fossil that Orlando does not have. It is all one area too - vs. the West side and main part of DTD in Orlando.
So, on to the parks. Both parks at Dl seem to take elements of the parks that are in Orlando, and try to combine the best of those elements into two parks instead of the Orlando four. For example, DL has "Honey I shrunk the audience", "Star Tours", and "Fantasmic" as a few examples. CA has a Hollywood backlot street, "Tower of Terror", and "Soarin' over California". It can seem somewhat confusing for a WDW veteran.
On to the parks.
Disneyland is significantly more compact than it's Florida counterpart. All of the elements are the same, but they are closer together, and more compact. The train station is smaller, and while I can't tell you I measured, Main Street seems shorter. The Castle . . . well there is really no comparison in size. That is the biggest shocker for WDW veterans - the castle is SIGNIFICANTLY smaller in size. When I get done with this long post I will try and post some pictures.
My impressions of the rides that are the same ones at both parks:
Space Mountain - MUCH better at DL, and you ride side by side like a regular roller coaster
Splash Mountain - Better at WDW - shorter ride at DL
Big Thunder Mountain - Better at WDW - shorter again at DL
Small World - Don't know - it was closed.
Train - big shock - you ride SIDEWAYS! Facing the inside of the track - not facing forward.
Haunted Mansion - very different, but like both equally now that Orlando is redone. Before the redo, I would rate DL better. The outside of DL is definitely better.
The other rides like Dumbo, Snow White, etc. are pretty much the same.
Toontown - must say I was disappointed at DL. It seemed like a real "shoehorned" area, with a lot of forced perspective to make it look bigger than it was - that did not work.
Overall, DL is a much easier park to navigate because of size, and in my opinion it is much better landscaped, with beautiful flowers, shrubbery, and great attention to detail.
I loved DL for the history that you can feel throughout the park, and the knowledge that Walt walked there. I actually rode on the Nemo subs with someone who rode the ride with Walt as a little boy.
The Matterhorn was more like Space Mountain with an outside and inside component (you ride behind each other). Indiana Jones was kind of like the dinosaur ride at AK - and I could take that one or leave it. I did not get to ride the Jungle cruise as it was not working when I was in the park.
The Monorail . . . once again very different. Much smaller at DL, and a RIDE instead of a ride and form of transportation. Can you believe the windows are open and down in the monorail?
CA next - this post is too long!
(cleaned up for the DIS) 
John! 
Amy is going to find some trouble soon!
Oh and see the Aladdin Show in CA if you get a chance. It is really awesome. And, get a free tortilla at the tortilla factory at CA too! Yum hot and fresh! And you can take the monorail into and out of the park. It will save you steps and lines. Of course the first time it is worth it to enter thru the front gate so you get the AAAWWW of Main Street and see Walt's apartment there on your left above the firestation. And, and......And DrHug said to send for Amy because it is a great place for a date!
but it only has lights right now (mainly because it is a prelit tree 
) the rest of the decorations will go on it this weekend. IF I CAN FIND THEM! 
It shows what a great group we have. 
Long Live the Geeks! 
