I Visited Disneyland Last Week

[gppnj]

I won't go into all the details of my trip because I don't have time to type a full report, but here are some highlights:

1. The place looks great. When I was there in February 2001, many parts of Disneyland were looking rather shabby. I was very happy that they got their act together and got everything looking back to traditional Disney standards.

2. DCA is still very mediocre. I was extremely underwhelmed back in 2001 when I visited that park for the first time. It's gotten a little better since then, but it's still not very good. There are some good attractions, but I can't see spending more than a few hours at this park. DCA still has a very long way to go.

3. The new Space Mountain is great. Even though the track layout is still the same, this attraction has improved enormously. It's now smooth rather than jerky, which makes a world of difference. It's also darker, and the music (never working when I was there in the past) greatly enhances the experience. I've always like Space Mountain, but I was delighted by how much better it is now.

4. I enjoyed the Small World and Haunted Mansion holiday overlays. This is the first time I've experienced them. The holiday versions are a lot more different from the regular versions that I thought they'd be.

5. I am passionate about the Grand Californian. I love that place, and I'm so glad I stayed there for two nights. It is so beautiful and peaceful, and the short walk from there to the parks can't be beat.

6. I really enjoyed my lunch at the Blue Bayou. The food was great, and the portions were huge. Apparently dinner portions are even larger; I can't imagine how anyone can finish it all. I'm especially glad I made my reservation to eat there well in advance. When I went to check in, there were five people ahead of me. It turned out all of them were there to see if they could get a reservation to eat there at any time that day. The restaurant wasn't accepting any walk-ins. When I got to the podium, the host was glad he finally didn't have to turn someone away.

7. Rainforest Cafes get bad reviews from a lot of people. I ate dinner at the one of Downtown Disney. The food was very good, as was the service.

8. At World of Disney, I bought a Disneyland shadowbox for $75. I love it. There were also similar ones with the names of the individual lands, but buying all of them would have busted my budget, and I don't have room for them anyway. The generic "Disneyland" one is so nice. This weekend I'll figure out where I want to display it.

 

[gppnj]

FYI, this is the shadowbox I bought that I really liked:

http://www.mousetreasures.com/avanzino/disneyland.shtml

The $900 price tag must be for the original or something. Mine was $75.

 

[Judy from Boise]

glad you had a good trip !

 

[hawkrn]

did you get a room with a view at GC?

 

[gppnj]

did you get a room with a view at GC?

I liked the view, but it wasn't considered a "room with a view." I couldn't see DCA or DTD. All I could see were other GC rooms across the way. In between were lots of big pine trees. (Obviously these trees haven't been there all the time, so Disney had to bring in some big trees for this space.) Every once in a while the monorail would pass, but it was very quiet. I didn't spend a lot of time on my balcony, but when I did, it was very nice and peaceful.