First let me say that I appreciate all of the help given by many people on these boards and that my trip wouldn't have been as successful if not for the input I have got around here.
I'm not going to go day by day with a report of what we did, but I'm going to try and go through my experience mentally and jot down some things.
First off, I would highly recommend using either the Disneyland Express or Super Shuttle for your transportation to the resort if you are coming into LAX. Both worked fantastic for us.
The size of the resort did take a little getting used to, but around the last couple of days it felt "right". I'm still not a big fan of Downtown Disney, but I guess that was put into place more for the locals.
I knew that DL and DCA were close together, but pictures and video can't do justice to how close the two parks really are. I really liked that.
The Disneyland Hotel lived up to all of our hopes. We actually got one of the few standard view rooms in the Sierra Tower and the view was anything but "standard". We could see (and hear) the fireworks from our room every night and because we were on the 3rd floor, the greenery was right outside our window as well. That was much nicer than any other view we could have had in that tower. The rooms are very nice and have a lot of space and we would love to stay there again in the future.
Disneyland Park
First off, I must say that I think the castle here just isn't as good as Cinderella's at the MK......from Main Street. But up close and ESPECIALLY at night, I prefer Sleeping Beauty. That is something I wasn't expecting at all. Up close, I couldn't imagine changing anything about the castle. It just fits perfectly. And at night, you can't beat it.
Main Street USA felt much more like Main Street than it does at the MK now. Much more charming.
The Indiana Jones Adventure now has joined the MK's Splash Mountain and MGM's Tower of Terror as being tied for my favorite attraction. I knew the queue was long and well themed, but I wasn't expecting that. And the ride itself is much more thrilling than Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom. I still like Dinosaur, but it's not even in the same league as Indy.
I really liked how close Adventureland=New Orleans Square-Frontierland were together.
New Orleans Square was a lot of fun just to walk around in. When you were right in the heart of it, you almost felt like you were in a World Showcase pavilion. Very well done.
The part of the park that surprised me the most was Fantasyland. I like it at the MK and all, but I never really spend a ton of time there. Not so at Disneyland. The rides are great and the views are spectacular.
Now for the ride comparisons:
Enchanted Tiki Room - I had forgotten how much better the original show is until I saw it again. Much, much better at Disneyland
Jungle Cruise - I would say they are about equal. The DL version has some nice effects not found anywhere else, but the MK inside portion is missing as well. Different, but equal (I'll be saying that a lot)
Tarzan's Treehouse - Not really much different from the Swiss Family stuff.
Pirates of the Caribbean - I really like the MK queue......and that's about it. The DL attraction is in a whole other galaxy. I was expecting it to be better, but not by that much. It's not even close. My favorite room was right after the 2nd drop with the bright blue and green lights in the cave.
Haunted Mansion - Kind of a toss up. If we can get the floating Leota and the changes to the attic, I might have to give the edge to the MK version. But the DL version was fantastic.
Splash Mountain - Edge to MK. I thought the original was great, but certainly not to the level of what we have in Orlando. You go too fast through the scenes and you get a little too wet.....from the ankles down. All 7 or 8 times that I rode SM either my right or left foot would be completely soaked and sometimes it would be both. I have no problem with getting wet, but I think they go a little far here. But I still have it as a top 5 attraction in the park.
Winnie The Pooh - It's better at Disneyland. Sure it's nowhere near as good as the Country Bear Jamboree, but we all make mistakes.
Big Thunder Mountain - Better at the Magic Kingdom. It's fun and a little different at Disneyland, but not quite as good. However, if you can, you have to ride this when the fireworks are going on. We did it on two different nights and it was amazing. Just like all Disney coasters, the back row is best.
The Golden Horseshoe - Both parks have Horseshoe stages, but Disneyland actually USES theirs. I hate country/bluegrass music, but Billy Hill and the Hillbillies were fantastic.
Peter Pan's Flight - About the same. Still probably my least favorite of the Fantasyland dark rides.
Snow White - Better at the MK.
Autopia - Much better at Disneyland. We almost skipped it because of how boring it is at the MK, but it was themed much better at DL. One of my biggest surprises of the trip.
Buzz Lightyear - A thousand times better at Disneyland and not just because of the way the guns are set up either. How did they fit all of this into the CircleVision building?
Space Mountain - Almost an unfair comparison. Everything is better at Disneyland except the track layout. But I never felt so good to turn right so many times. I could have gotten off the ride after the two lift hills and I would have been happy.
Overall I feel that Disneyland is a much better park than the Magic Kingdom, especially right now. The Subs were everything I had hoped and Toontown was very cute. There are just so many more details to be found there. There are some things done better in Florida, don't get me wrong, but Disneyland is the best.
I'm not going to go day by day with a report of what we did, but I'm going to try and go through my experience mentally and jot down some things.
First off, I would highly recommend using either the Disneyland Express or Super Shuttle for your transportation to the resort if you are coming into LAX. Both worked fantastic for us.
The size of the resort did take a little getting used to, but around the last couple of days it felt "right". I'm still not a big fan of Downtown Disney, but I guess that was put into place more for the locals.
I knew that DL and DCA were close together, but pictures and video can't do justice to how close the two parks really are. I really liked that.
The Disneyland Hotel lived up to all of our hopes. We actually got one of the few standard view rooms in the Sierra Tower and the view was anything but "standard". We could see (and hear) the fireworks from our room every night and because we were on the 3rd floor, the greenery was right outside our window as well. That was much nicer than any other view we could have had in that tower. The rooms are very nice and have a lot of space and we would love to stay there again in the future.
Disneyland Park
First off, I must say that I think the castle here just isn't as good as Cinderella's at the MK......from Main Street. But up close and ESPECIALLY at night, I prefer Sleeping Beauty. That is something I wasn't expecting at all. Up close, I couldn't imagine changing anything about the castle. It just fits perfectly. And at night, you can't beat it.
Main Street USA felt much more like Main Street than it does at the MK now. Much more charming.
The Indiana Jones Adventure now has joined the MK's Splash Mountain and MGM's Tower of Terror as being tied for my favorite attraction. I knew the queue was long and well themed, but I wasn't expecting that. And the ride itself is much more thrilling than Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom. I still like Dinosaur, but it's not even in the same league as Indy.
I really liked how close Adventureland=New Orleans Square-Frontierland were together.
New Orleans Square was a lot of fun just to walk around in. When you were right in the heart of it, you almost felt like you were in a World Showcase pavilion. Very well done.
The part of the park that surprised me the most was Fantasyland. I like it at the MK and all, but I never really spend a ton of time there. Not so at Disneyland. The rides are great and the views are spectacular.
Now for the ride comparisons:
Enchanted Tiki Room - I had forgotten how much better the original show is until I saw it again. Much, much better at Disneyland
Jungle Cruise - I would say they are about equal. The DL version has some nice effects not found anywhere else, but the MK inside portion is missing as well. Different, but equal (I'll be saying that a lot)
Tarzan's Treehouse - Not really much different from the Swiss Family stuff.
Pirates of the Caribbean - I really like the MK queue......and that's about it. The DL attraction is in a whole other galaxy. I was expecting it to be better, but not by that much. It's not even close. My favorite room was right after the 2nd drop with the bright blue and green lights in the cave.
Haunted Mansion - Kind of a toss up. If we can get the floating Leota and the changes to the attic, I might have to give the edge to the MK version. But the DL version was fantastic.
Splash Mountain - Edge to MK. I thought the original was great, but certainly not to the level of what we have in Orlando. You go too fast through the scenes and you get a little too wet.....from the ankles down. All 7 or 8 times that I rode SM either my right or left foot would be completely soaked and sometimes it would be both. I have no problem with getting wet, but I think they go a little far here. But I still have it as a top 5 attraction in the park.
Winnie The Pooh - It's better at Disneyland. Sure it's nowhere near as good as the Country Bear Jamboree, but we all make mistakes.
Big Thunder Mountain - Better at the Magic Kingdom. It's fun and a little different at Disneyland, but not quite as good. However, if you can, you have to ride this when the fireworks are going on. We did it on two different nights and it was amazing. Just like all Disney coasters, the back row is best.
The Golden Horseshoe - Both parks have Horseshoe stages, but Disneyland actually USES theirs. I hate country/bluegrass music, but Billy Hill and the Hillbillies were fantastic.
Peter Pan's Flight - About the same. Still probably my least favorite of the Fantasyland dark rides.
Snow White - Better at the MK.
Autopia - Much better at Disneyland. We almost skipped it because of how boring it is at the MK, but it was themed much better at DL. One of my biggest surprises of the trip.
Buzz Lightyear - A thousand times better at Disneyland and not just because of the way the guns are set up either. How did they fit all of this into the CircleVision building?
Space Mountain - Almost an unfair comparison. Everything is better at Disneyland except the track layout. But I never felt so good to turn right so many times. I could have gotten off the ride after the two lift hills and I would have been happy.
Overall I feel that Disneyland is a much better park than the Magic Kingdom, especially right now. The Subs were everything I had hoped and Toontown was very cute. There are just so many more details to be found there. There are some things done better in Florida, don't get me wrong, but Disneyland is the best.
