Next week I will be joining my fellow Glass Slipper Concierges at Disneyland Resort for our annual Agent Education Program! Our agenda is packed full of great training sessions and resort tours with some free time to enjoy the parks. In honor of our upcoming AEP I am going to share with you my five favorite things about Disneyland Resort.
1. The More Manageable Size
Disneyland Resort is 160 acres in size. That includes three hotels, 2 parks and Downtown Disney. For comparisons sake, Walt Disney World is 40 square miles, or about 27,000 acres, roughly the size of San Francisco! Everything at Walt Disney World is very spread out. Getting around requires using some form of transportation - bus, boat, monorail, car, etc. That is not the case at Disneyland. The turnstiles to Disneyland Park and California Adventure Park are maybe 100 yards away from each other. This makes park hopping so incredibly easy. Here is a photo from Disney's website that is meant to show where will call is located but it does a great job at also showing how close both parks as well as Downtown Disney are. Also note it is an old image, and the entrance to California Adventure no longer has the word California or the Golden Gate Bridge (which does make me sad).
I often go back and forth between both parks a couple times in a day. The Disney hotels are all easily walking distance to both parks as well. Disneyland Hotel and Paradise Pier are a 10 minute walk through Downtown Disney or just a couple minute walk to the monorail. The Grand Californian Resort & Spa is the closest Disney hotel to ANY Disney park. It even has it's very own entrance into California Adventure. You will also notice a difference in size between Disneyland Park and the Magic Kingdom in Florida. Everything is closer together and getting from Frontierland to Tomorrowland is so much quicker and easier. Because of it's smaller size, Disneyland Resort is a great weekend destination!
2. Cars Land
If you haven't seen Cars Land yet you are truly missing out. It is Disney magic at it's best. You truly feel like you stepped into Radiator Springs. It's so much fun to be in Cars Land right as the sun sets and all the neon lights come on. Really makes for some great photos. I love seeing Tow Mater and Lightning McQueen driving down the road to meet the guests. So much fun! Not to mention how much fun Radiator Springs Racers is, of course. Simply walking around, checking out all the details, is a great evening in my book!
3. Space Mountain
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| iPhone photo |
I have probably said it before but Space Mountain is leaps and bounds better at Disneyland than at Disney World - for so many reasons. It feels faster, you sit side by side in the vehicle making it much more comfortable, there are speakers in the head rest (similar to Rock 'n' Roller Coaster at Disney's Hollywood Studios), did I mention it is more comfortable?? It is the ride I want to do over and over again when at Disneyland!! Another thing I prefer about Disneyland's version is when they take the ride photo. It is done right at the very end when you are excited and having fun. I always find the location of the Disney World version to be quite silly. We always look bored because it is taken before the ride has really begun. Of course it's partially sentimental for me as I have some great memories being in a very empty park with my dad and riding Space Mountain at Disneyland over and over again without having to get back in line.
4. New Orleans Square
New Orleans Square is my favorite themed area of any Disney park. It's so beautiful. It's no wonder why Walt was designing an apartment of his very own right in New Orleans Square (where the Royal Suite is now located). I love how Disneyland incorporates both Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion into this land. Then there is my favorite restaurant when it comes to atmosphere -Blue Bayou. You just can't beat listening the the crickets and watching the Pirates of the Caribbean boats go by.
5. Disneyland Hotel
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| From www.disneyland.com |
Though the Grand Californian Resort & Spa is steps away from the parks and, as the name implies, is more grand I still favor the Disneyland Hotel. The first hotel to bare the name Disney, it was beautifully renovated in 2011. The standard rooms are larger than at the Grand Californian and, of course, you can't miss the magical headboard!
All the Disney details makes my Disney geek heart so happy. It has a pretty awesome pool with very cool monorail slides. Oh, and two very very large hot tubs! Of course I can't forget about Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar. Seriously this place alone deserves to be one of my favorites but as I was narrowing this down to 5 I am including it with the hotel. Trader Sam's is not to be missed! I can't wait to get Mai Tais with my fellow GSC peeps! Is it next week yet?
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| From www.disneyland.com |
