A WDW vet's love letter to Disneyland

[o0quirkygirl0o]

My family and I went on our first trip to Disneyland the beginning of this November. On this trip I learned something I never expected: Disneyland is the park for me.

I grew up as a Walt Disney World person. My family went on vacations to Disney World when I was a child/teen and we never really considered Disneyland equal. In fact, when I was a tween we went on a trip to LA and my parents convinced me to only go to California Adventure (it had just opened, and what a mistake!) and not Disneyland by saying, "It is just like Magic Kingdom but smaller. You won't like it because it isn't as good." Boy were they wrong!

So, as an adult I decided to schedule a trip to Disneyland for the Diamond Celebration. I was going to finally get my trip to Disneyland, and nobody could convince me otherwise. I forced my husband and my parents to come along with me, none of which were overly sold on the idea. But, they figured they would have a good enough time.

But, once were were all there something happened, we all fell a little in love. There is something about Disneyland that no other park can quite touch. It is in the lovingly crafted details that were made with care instead of a corporate vision. It is the charming quaintness that time has not managed to wipe away. It is in the guests who you strike up conversation with. Who, instead of being harried families trying to get the optimum experience for their money, are casual and welcoming. Somehow everyone actually is happier in Disneyland.

I can't oversell how much the people of the Disneyland parks really made the experience amazing for us. It was little things, like how every time we road the Tower of Terror everyone in the elevator interacted with each other and it became an awesome group experience. Or how we ended up on the same schedule as another family every morning and the last morning they motioned us over to join them in line for Peter Pan because they said, "You are part of our party, now. You need to ride with us!" Or how whenever we were waiting for a parade or show we became friends with the families around us, learning names and chatting about our lives. It was in our interaction with all our restaurant servers who spent time laughing and joking with us instead of just rushing off because they had a few too many tables to serve. It was a different experience than I have ever had in any Disney Park. People just wanted to share their mutual love for for this awesome place.

I felt the magic. I felt it everywhere. And, now I am a convert. Even my husband said, "I could see us going back to Disneyland really easily, Disney World not so much." It feels like my home park now. It feels like the place I want to go back to when I need a reminder that there is still magic out there in the world. No, I'm not from California, but I feel that same pride that Californians do when they say that this is "their" park. I'm not sure how the park inspired that feeling within me, but somehow it did. And, I'm better for it.

Thanks for sticking with me through this rambling love letter to Disneyland, but I had to tell someone. And, I felt like you guys are the people who will truly understand.

 

[KalamityJane]

I completely agree! I grew up in Orlando going to WDW. I got married and we lived on the west coast, so we took the kids to Disneyland. Oh my goodness, I just fell in love with Disneyland and DCA. It's magical It feels more intimate than WDW.

I should add, I do have a special place in my heart for Fort Wilderness though

 

[corinne76]

That was beautiful. Thank you for sharing

 

[JenB1104]

We just did a trip to DL and loved it too! So easy to park hop!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

That was lovely! Thank you for sharing your experience with the Original Magic Kingdom.

 

[minniecarousel]

I love when a WDWer "gets" it!

WDW is amazing, but it's so vast & exhausting. I still walk too much in Disneyland, but it's quaint & familiar.

 

[o0quirkygirl0o]

Thank you for all the wonderful comments. I'm glad I'm not the only person who feels this way!

 

[cijay]

I am so glad to hear this for various reasons. Financially, California makes the most sense for me. It's a shorter trip so less money.

I was at Magic Kingdom in February and while I liked it - there's something about Disneyland that is special, I think it's because Walt spent a lot of time there. He loved to drive the main street cars up and down there and he oversaw a lot of it.

The one thing I imagine is opening day in 1955. TV was new and the only time kids saw things in colour was at the movies. So a lot of what they would have seen were cartoon or black and white. I can't imagine what it was like to go from a black and white world and go through those doors where everything is so... 'there' and in colour. While I grew up with black and white TV, there was more and more colour coming in (I think we were last in the world to get colour TV) so it wouldn't have been as big of a deal had we gotten down there as kids. (I am glad I waited 'til my mid 20s though).

But it was more your talking about making friends and chatting with the people around you that I enjoyed hearing about. I was recently made aware that I was committing several faux pas (plural?) by talking to strangers next to me, men, women or children in line ups or waiting for shows. It's not something I ever viewed and weird or suspicious 'til it was brought up and now I'm fairly self-conscious of it.

I'm glad you had such a good time. I think there's plenty of good to say about all of the parks without it coming to a comparison game.

 

[ADLFAN]

Uh oh, is WDW not like that!? The communal happiness is my favorite thing about Disneyland!! It's the best!

 

[grannyminnie]

I could have written this! Being a long-time WDW fan (because of proximity), I did not expect to be so taken with Walt's original.....but I was. I have told friends and family here that I think I now prefer to go to DL. And those who know me are amazed.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

But it was more your talking about making friends and chatting with the people around you that I enjoyed hearing about. I was recently made aware that I was committing several faux pas (plural?) by talking to strangers next to me, men, women or children in line ups or waiting for shows. It's not something I ever viewed and weird or suspicious 'til it was brought up and now I'm fairly self-conscious of it.

I think it's a shame that someone said it was a faux pas to talk to people around you. That couldn't be further from the truth, and I think we should reach out to those around us when there is an opportunity. It is quite common at Disneyland for us to talk to our "neighbors" while waiting for a show. Last Monday, I was at the Paint the Night parade with my DIS friends from the Walt Disney World side, and one of them (used to be a mod here) was using her paint glow brush (the ones that change the colors of other people's glow hats, etc.) to have a "war" with this young boy in front of us. His dad had his back to us and was trying to do the same thing, but she kept changing the boy's brush so the dad thought his was broken. At first the younger boy didn't know what was happening, but then caught on to my friend (in her 40's, mind you) messing with him, and the older (probably 15?) brother also caught on. We were cracking up, and the father finally caught on. He started laughing, too, and we had so much fun chatting with them while we waited for the parade. Another opportunity came when we were in line for Pirates. This young girl and her brother (probably 10 & 11) asked me if they would get wet on the ride. We found out it was their first time, and also the parents, who were from San Francisco. I gave them a basic outline, and the girl started translating to her parents. Since I speak Spanish I just started talking to them. Again, we chatted as we waited in the queue and the time went by quickly. After the ride was over, the dad told me that his wife thought the pirates were real. It immediately brought me back to that first time we went on the attraction, and how I was so surprised it was still bright and sunny outside, and not dark like in the ride. I love seeing that new awareness for first-time visitors. That would never happen if I didn't talk to people. (My daughter's friend always laughs and says, "there goes Mary Jo with her new friend."

So, that was a bit long-winded, but don't let others discourage you from reaching out to others. There may be some guarded/private people out there, but there are a lot more open and friendly people who will enjoy a chat. (We do this at Walt Disney World, too, so I think it depends on the crowd and how outgoing you are.) Disneyland is a great venue to just let go and have fun.

 

[GatorChris]

Uh oh, is WDW not like that!? The communal happiness is my favorite thing about Disneyland!! It's the best!

It always depends on who you're sitting next to. If you sit next to me, expect to get to know me and the family. And that's regardless if I'm in Anaheim, Orlando, or anywhere else. I've found both places to have the same amount of friendly people.

Glad that the OP likes the atmosphere here. Funny. I brought some WDW fanatics to go to DL with me and they couldn't wait to get back to Orlando. I think they're more visual people and DL just isn't as "grand" as WDW.

 

[elaine amj]

So glad you had such a wonderful experience at DLR! We were there this summer for the Diamond celebration as well and it was wonderful.

That said, my heart is still at WDW. Maybe because I know it so much better? I kept feeling "off" at DLR. And for some weird reason, have way more fun chats with strangers at WDW than I did at DLR. It was still magical though and it is entirely likely that we'll be back one day

 

[Winnowill]

I decided after my last visit to DL that it is DEFINITELY my preferred park, and I completely agree with the OP.

 

[Satchmo128]

Disneyland will always be my favorite since it was my first park. Love this!

I also LOVE to talk to people when in line for rides, shows, etc.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Thank you for putting into words so much of what I love about Disneyland, and why it's my "home" park, even if WDW is physically closer to where I live I always feel at home at DLR in a way I never do at WDW. There is truly magic in the happiest place on earth!

 

[d1gitman]

We too fell in love with Disney Land / California Adventure after our first visit. we has the pleasure of living in SoCal for a year and got to go as locals often. Disney Land / California Adventure is amazing. No knocks on WDW as we love it too, but given my druthers, Disney Land / California Adventure is our home.

 

[Caroline NZ]

I agree, Disneyland will always hold a special place in my heart

 

[grannyminnie]

I think it's a shame that someone said it was a faux pas to talk to people around you. That couldn't be further from the truth, and I think we should reach out to those around us when there is an opportunity. It is quite common at Disneyland for us to talk to our "neighbors" while waiting for a show. Last Monday, I was at the Paint the Night parade with my DIS friends from the Walt Disney World side, and one of them (used to be a mod here) was using her paint glow brush (the ones that change the colors of other people's glow hats, etc.) to have a "war" with this young boy in front of us. His dad had his back to us and was trying to do the same thing, but she kept changing the boy's brush so the dad thought his was broken. At first the younger boy didn't know what was happening, but then caught on to my friend (in her 40's, mind you) messing with him, and the older (probably 15?) brother also caught on. We were cracking up, and the father finally caught on. He started laughing, too, and we had so much fun chatting with them while we waited for the parade. Another opportunity came when we were in line for Pirates. This young girl and her brother (probably 10 & 11) asked me if they would get wet on the ride. We found out it was their first time, and also the parents, who were from San Francisco. I gave them a basic outline, and the girl started translating to her parents. Since I speak Spanish I just started talking to them. Again, we chatted as we waited in the queue and the time went by quickly. After the ride was over, the dad told me that his wife thought the pirates were real. It immediately brought me back to that first time we went on the attraction, and how I was so surprised it was still bright and sunny outside, and not dark like in the ride. I love seeing that new awareness for first-time visitors. That would never happen if I didn't talk to people. (My daughter's friend always laughs and says, "there goes Mary Jo with her new friend."

So, that was a bit long-winded, but don't let others discourage you from reaching out to others. There may be some guarded/private people out there, but there are a lot more open and friendly people who will enjoy a chat. (We do this at Walt Disney World, too, so I think it depends on the crowd and how outgoing you are.) Disneyland is a great venue to just let go and have fun.

My sister and I consider one of the most fun things to do while enjoying WDW is meeting new Disney friends! We met the nicest family in Sept. at DL, and had such a good initial conversation that all of us walked around together most of the morning! It's just so fun to have interaction with people like us who "get it"! Same goes for meeting and chatting with new (and especially old) CMs in the resorts. It's just a part of our Disney experience.

 

[PoohsFan1]

I couldn't agree with you more!! We too are WDW vets who went on our first DLR trip in 2013 after countless number of trips to WDW (my kids are 14 and 12 and have been going yearly since they were 4 and 2, while DH and I used to go as kids), and before we left for our trip we kept hearing from people that it is nothing like WDW, that we probably won't like it as much...i.e. much smaller, only 2 parks, can walk to everything, it's within a city so you will hear the outside noises, etc. When we finally arrived, we instantly fell in love with it, sure it was much smaller then WDW, but that is what we liked about it, plus we loved the fact that there are rides that is only Disneyland specific or rides that are extinct in WDW, but are still booming in DLR. Because we live in the Midwest, we thought that would be our first and only trip to "Walt's Park" but a year later, DH and I got the chance to return for a day while vacationing in Las Vegas (it was an adult's only trip and we had a blast, kids to this day don't know that we went to DLR), then a couple months ago our family decided that we wanted to head back to DLR because we wanted a change from WDW and all of the construction that is going on there (it seems like it is never ending), so now we are excited to say that we are returning in June and will be celebrating my DD's 13th birthday there...an early birthday, but that is o.k. the important thing is, we are returning .

And to the PP that said that they were made aware that it was a "faux pas" to talk to strangers in lines or anywhere else in DL (or WDW)...what I say to that is there is nothing faux pas about it. That is one of my favorite things to do while in line, to get to know others around you...yes there are very little times where people don't want to talk to you and that is o.k., but there are many many more times where people are much more willing to engage in your conversation, especially to make the time go by faster. I have met so many people from so many different places around the US and other countries by doing this (sometimes I start the conversation and a lot of times they start it). So my Disney loving friend, don't worry about what other's think and have fun doing what you like doing, especially striking up a conversation with those that you don't know...you more then likely won't be seeing them again in your life time anyways .