IheartRapunzel
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 9, 2013
- Messages
- 266
I have been meaning to write this for a while, but unfortunately, school has swamped me with work!! 
the life of a grad school student lol
This past May I graduated from college. My mother told me for my graduation gift she would send me and a friend to Disney World!! So cool right? Sadly, my mother got really sick. She spent some time in the hospital and we are still trying to get her to recovery. Of course I was a little disappointed that my trip had to be canceled, but I totally understood and for me, the most important thing was getting my mom back to health. My dad must of been talking to his mother about this, she lives in California...I think you may see where this is going. She had offered to send me out to see her and let me go to Disneyland. There was a lot of back and forth with this one. This ended with me getting a little depressed. I know it sounds selfish, but having something in front of you and always pulled away gets rough after a while. Its safe to say I bounced back pretty quickly and looked at it from a different point of view. Everything happens for a reason, and just because its postponed does not mean it will never happen.
This is when things got crazy! My dad felt bad about the whole situation. I did not do much of anything all summer besides helping my dad take care of my mom. Little did i know he was planning a special surprise for me. One day he sends me and my friend out to get our hair done and stuff. This seemed a little odd because thats something I normally don't do, but I went along with it.
Later that night my dad tells me to check my email...and there it was! I was leaving for Disneyland the next morning!! My friend knew the whole time and did an amazing job keeping this secret. I was very excited! My dad grew up in CA and my whole life Ive always heard him say that Disneyland was better. This of course made me very curious about it. I used to find myself reading info on the parks, watching youtube videos and dreaming that someday I can finally experience it. I've been to WDW many times, but I have always wanted to see the original and see where my dad grew up.
As excited as I was, I was also nervous. I have never been to the West Coast. I have never been on a 5 hour flight!! The good news is, I survived it all and would do it again in a heartbeat!
August 18th 7:45 am I left my hometown of Philadelphia,PA and was on my way to LAX. Wow! is that airport confusing! Thankfully the staff was very friendly and helpful. Soon enough I was waiting for the Disneyland Express and on my way to the Disneyland Hotel
First off, the hotel is amazing! I was in love with it. Since we had time to kill before checking in to our room we did some exploring in the hotel. I saw characters in the hotel lobby taking photos with guests. You never see that in WDW! It was really neat. The whole hotel was beautiful. One thing I did notice though was when I went to check in, they wanted to upgrade my room for an extra $60 a night. In WDW when I had those types of experiences the upgrade was free. No big deal, I kindly declined and waited for my room. They gave me a first visit pin and a just graduated pin. The magic was already beginning!
Finally it was time to walk in the parks for the first time ever! I was beyond excited!! I loved how close everything was. I am so used to having to take buses and such to the Disney parks so this was a nice change. Downtown Disney while smaller then the one in WDW was a lot of fun as well.
I decided I wanted Disneyland to be the first park I experienced, so off we went! Walking through the gates and looking around at everything for the very first time was something I just can't explain. I was SO happy and actually had tears in my eyes when I finally saw the castle. I've always heard people say things like "it's so small" I didn't feel that way at all! It was beautiful!! and since it was the end of the 60th, I was able to see it all decorated for the diamond celebration. I really loved seeing the history and where it all started. It was a really cool feeling knowing you were walking in Walt's footprints
Another thing I always hear people say is that Disneyland is so much smaller than Magic Kingdom, and I'm sure it is. I've seen diagrams in comparison. But I can honestly say it didn't feel small at all. Trust me my feet were still hurting by the end of the day lol
During the week I spent in the DLR DL won my heart over. I loved that it had some different rides, and although some rides are the same in MK....they were much better in DL (in my opinion of course!). My experiences in Disneyland were amazing! The cast members were wonderful and loved to talk to me and ask me questions when they saw my pins. They were pretty amazed that I flew 3000 miles to visit, and one even gave me a citizen of Disneyland pin. so fun!
Another thing I found that was better was the characters. They were everywhere!! I loved that. One of my favorites was Flynn Rider. You can say I kind of had a magic moment here. I looked on the app to find out where I could meet Rapunzel, if you can't tell by my user name she's my favorite princess. I asked the cast member working in that area if she would be out soon. He told me she was not here that day. I must of looked pretty bummed out as I explained she was my favorite princess lol So he tells me but her boyfriend was behind me. I feel a tap on my shoulder, turn around and Flynn says Hi, I'm Flynn Rider, want to go hang out? and I'm like YESSS!! it was so fun telling him how Rapunzel was my favorite princess. He loved that I had her dress on my pandora bracelet as well. Then he shows me her crown. I know it's in the movie and they included it in his costume but I've never seen it before. I was shocked when he pulled it out lol but what happened next was even cooler...he let me try it on! it was so fun! As I was leaving the cast member asks, and how was THAT? and later when I did meet Rapunzel I got to show her the picture and she told me I'm the lost Disney princess lol
There were many more amazing moments throughout the trip but that one stands out to me a lot. Another fun thing i really enjoyed was my own personal scavenger hunt. As I mentioned earlier my dad grew up in CA and used to go to DL a lot. He gave me some of his photos from the 60's and I went around taking pictures in the same places he was at as a child. It was so cool and a lot of fun. Even the cast members loves seeing the pictures.
Being at Disneyland was amazing! I loved all the beautiful decorations for the 60th. paint the night was incredible and so was Disneyland forever. They were by far the best Disney parades and fireworks I have ever seen. It made me cry! I cried several times on this trip...all happy tears of course. I dreamed of being in DL my whole life and finally made it.
I thought the weather and crowds would be brutal since I'm used to WDW summer crowds. (I refuse to go to WDW in the summer now. lol I much prefer fall and spring!)
IS ANYONE STILL READING THIS? I'M SORRY IT'S SO LONG!!
Back to what I was saying... the weather was AMAZING!! and the lines were much shorter than I expected. Most had 5-10 min waits. Expect for the bigger rides like space mountain and cars which I got fast passes for. I was there for 5 days and was able to ride every single ride at least once. DL seemed more laid back. I went there without any plans, dinning reservations and still managed to do it all. I loved that!!
California Adventure reminded me of Hollywood studios in a way (only better). Cars land was pretty neat. I really loved the ride as well. It's test track only so much better!! As I walked in the park they were handing out World of Color fast passes, which saved me time. I know a lot of people were not a fan of the new world of color, but since I didn't have anything to compare it to, I thought it was really neat. I loved that it was a tribute to Walt and his creations. I made a lot of fun memories in CA as well. One was my breakfast at Ariel's Grotto, since I love Disney Princesses...this was perfect!! The food was really good as well. I did most of the rides in this park as well.
I loved how the parks were so close to one another. I loved looking out my hotel window and being able to see parts of the park. So to make a super long story short...I LOVED Disneyland!! I can not wait until I can go back someday. Because as I was crying because it was time to go, i promised myself this was not goodbye forever!
Im sorry this is so long and probably boring as well..I'm sure I am leaving tons out but overall...it was a great trip!! Im in love with Disneyland and actually want to move to the west coast someday. the weather is amazing there!! lol If anyone is a WDW vet like myself, and is thinking about visiting DL, I'd say go for it!!
the life of a grad school student lolThis past May I graduated from college. My mother told me for my graduation gift she would send me and a friend to Disney World!! So cool right? Sadly, my mother got really sick. She spent some time in the hospital and we are still trying to get her to recovery. Of course I was a little disappointed that my trip had to be canceled, but I totally understood and for me, the most important thing was getting my mom back to health. My dad must of been talking to his mother about this, she lives in California...I think you may see where this is going. She had offered to send me out to see her and let me go to Disneyland. There was a lot of back and forth with this one. This ended with me getting a little depressed. I know it sounds selfish, but having something in front of you and always pulled away gets rough after a while. Its safe to say I bounced back pretty quickly and looked at it from a different point of view. Everything happens for a reason, and just because its postponed does not mean it will never happen.
This is when things got crazy! My dad felt bad about the whole situation. I did not do much of anything all summer besides helping my dad take care of my mom. Little did i know he was planning a special surprise for me. One day he sends me and my friend out to get our hair done and stuff. This seemed a little odd because thats something I normally don't do, but I went along with it.
Later that night my dad tells me to check my email...and there it was! I was leaving for Disneyland the next morning!! My friend knew the whole time and did an amazing job keeping this secret. I was very excited! My dad grew up in CA and my whole life Ive always heard him say that Disneyland was better. This of course made me very curious about it. I used to find myself reading info on the parks, watching youtube videos and dreaming that someday I can finally experience it. I've been to WDW many times, but I have always wanted to see the original and see where my dad grew up.
As excited as I was, I was also nervous. I have never been to the West Coast. I have never been on a 5 hour flight!! The good news is, I survived it all and would do it again in a heartbeat!
August 18th 7:45 am I left my hometown of Philadelphia,PA and was on my way to LAX. Wow! is that airport confusing! Thankfully the staff was very friendly and helpful. Soon enough I was waiting for the Disneyland Express and on my way to the Disneyland Hotel
First off, the hotel is amazing! I was in love with it. Since we had time to kill before checking in to our room we did some exploring in the hotel. I saw characters in the hotel lobby taking photos with guests. You never see that in WDW! It was really neat. The whole hotel was beautiful. One thing I did notice though was when I went to check in, they wanted to upgrade my room for an extra $60 a night. In WDW when I had those types of experiences the upgrade was free. No big deal, I kindly declined and waited for my room. They gave me a first visit pin and a just graduated pin. The magic was already beginning!
Finally it was time to walk in the parks for the first time ever! I was beyond excited!! I loved how close everything was. I am so used to having to take buses and such to the Disney parks so this was a nice change. Downtown Disney while smaller then the one in WDW was a lot of fun as well.
I decided I wanted Disneyland to be the first park I experienced, so off we went! Walking through the gates and looking around at everything for the very first time was something I just can't explain. I was SO happy and actually had tears in my eyes when I finally saw the castle. I've always heard people say things like "it's so small" I didn't feel that way at all! It was beautiful!! and since it was the end of the 60th, I was able to see it all decorated for the diamond celebration. I really loved seeing the history and where it all started. It was a really cool feeling knowing you were walking in Walt's footprints
Another thing I always hear people say is that Disneyland is so much smaller than Magic Kingdom, and I'm sure it is. I've seen diagrams in comparison. But I can honestly say it didn't feel small at all. Trust me my feet were still hurting by the end of the day lol
During the week I spent in the DLR DL won my heart over. I loved that it had some different rides, and although some rides are the same in MK....they were much better in DL (in my opinion of course!). My experiences in Disneyland were amazing! The cast members were wonderful and loved to talk to me and ask me questions when they saw my pins. They were pretty amazed that I flew 3000 miles to visit, and one even gave me a citizen of Disneyland pin. so fun!
Another thing I found that was better was the characters. They were everywhere!! I loved that. One of my favorites was Flynn Rider. You can say I kind of had a magic moment here. I looked on the app to find out where I could meet Rapunzel, if you can't tell by my user name she's my favorite princess. I asked the cast member working in that area if she would be out soon. He told me she was not here that day. I must of looked pretty bummed out as I explained she was my favorite princess lol So he tells me but her boyfriend was behind me. I feel a tap on my shoulder, turn around and Flynn says Hi, I'm Flynn Rider, want to go hang out? and I'm like YESSS!! it was so fun telling him how Rapunzel was my favorite princess. He loved that I had her dress on my pandora bracelet as well. Then he shows me her crown. I know it's in the movie and they included it in his costume but I've never seen it before. I was shocked when he pulled it out lol but what happened next was even cooler...he let me try it on! it was so fun! As I was leaving the cast member asks, and how was THAT? and later when I did meet Rapunzel I got to show her the picture and she told me I'm the lost Disney princess lol
There were many more amazing moments throughout the trip but that one stands out to me a lot. Another fun thing i really enjoyed was my own personal scavenger hunt. As I mentioned earlier my dad grew up in CA and used to go to DL a lot. He gave me some of his photos from the 60's and I went around taking pictures in the same places he was at as a child. It was so cool and a lot of fun. Even the cast members loves seeing the pictures.
Being at Disneyland was amazing! I loved all the beautiful decorations for the 60th. paint the night was incredible and so was Disneyland forever. They were by far the best Disney parades and fireworks I have ever seen. It made me cry! I cried several times on this trip...all happy tears of course. I dreamed of being in DL my whole life and finally made it.
I thought the weather and crowds would be brutal since I'm used to WDW summer crowds. (I refuse to go to WDW in the summer now. lol I much prefer fall and spring!)
IS ANYONE STILL READING THIS? I'M SORRY IT'S SO LONG!!
Back to what I was saying... the weather was AMAZING!! and the lines were much shorter than I expected. Most had 5-10 min waits. Expect for the bigger rides like space mountain and cars which I got fast passes for. I was there for 5 days and was able to ride every single ride at least once. DL seemed more laid back. I went there without any plans, dinning reservations and still managed to do it all. I loved that!!
California Adventure reminded me of Hollywood studios in a way (only better). Cars land was pretty neat. I really loved the ride as well. It's test track only so much better!! As I walked in the park they were handing out World of Color fast passes, which saved me time. I know a lot of people were not a fan of the new world of color, but since I didn't have anything to compare it to, I thought it was really neat. I loved that it was a tribute to Walt and his creations. I made a lot of fun memories in CA as well. One was my breakfast at Ariel's Grotto, since I love Disney Princesses...this was perfect!! The food was really good as well. I did most of the rides in this park as well.
I loved how the parks were so close to one another. I loved looking out my hotel window and being able to see parts of the park. So to make a super long story short...I LOVED Disneyland!! I can not wait until I can go back someday. Because as I was crying because it was time to go, i promised myself this was not goodbye forever!
Im sorry this is so long and probably boring as well..I'm sure I am leaving tons out but overall...it was a great trip!! Im in love with Disneyland and actually want to move to the west coast someday. the weather is amazing there!! lol If anyone is a WDW vet like myself, and is thinking about visiting DL, I'd say go for it!!
although I'm pretty sure she is MUCH younger than I am. Tangled is definitely one of my favorite movies. I LOVED that Disneyland had a show! WDW she gets a bathroom...whats up with that? it's a cool bathroom..but she deserves more than that. I am that person who will gladly tell a Frozen fan that Tangled is better haha! Frozen was cute, but way over done at this point
