Disneyland - March 2006 Sorry so late! About This Page:

[WDWRonda]

A little background.......this trip was myself DS (10) meeting my Mom (67)

While DH and older DS were off skiing in Colo DS, Mom and I decided to venture to the original. DS and I are both Disney nuts and Mom had never been to any Disney park, but my love of Disney came from her.

We stayed at the Grand Californian, very very wonderful. Much like Wilderness Lodge at WDW.

Day one: DS and I (about noon) arrived at Orange Country airport and took a taxi to DL. Our room was ready to we unpacked and headed to Disneyland. The crowds were fairly heavy, we waited 40 minutes for Peter Pan as an example. We did all the Fantasyland stuff and climbed to the top of Tarzan's treehouse twice plus Pooh and a couple of things in Futureland. We had dinner at GC's counter service restaurant.

Day Two: DCA! The private entry from GC was awesome. My son ran to Soarin' for our first DCA attraction. We also did the new Monsters, Inc. which was great and walked around just exploring.

Finally Mom arrives in the afternoon so it's back to Disneyland. As we walked down main street I will never forget the look on Mom's face at her first glimpse of the castle. It was a enrapt and thrilled as any child's.

It was very moving to take my Mom to Disneyland to watch her on her first flight with Peter Pan etc...........

That evening we saw Aladdin at DCA and it was spectacular, the best show I've ever seen at a Disney park!

Dinner at GC that night and it was yummy!

Day Three: Split again between the 2 parks and dinner at Ariel's Grotto. A very moving experience watch my Princess crazy son with the Princesses.

A word of warning we had to wait 2 hours in spite of ADRs because it was raining and 1/2 the tables are outside so it was really backed up.

General impressions:

While walking the "streets Walt walked" was great it just isn't as all encompassing and varied as WDW. The weather was not great 50s and 60s and rainy so I would pick a different time of year. DS is a major water hound and the pool at GC was marginal at best. He swam everyday while I sat wrapped in towels! DCA was a little disappointing, the whole Paradise Pier section is a carnival atmosphere (I know that was the point),but I can get that at the State Fair!

I am glad we went, but don't see us repeating since WDW is closer and in my humble opinion better!

[Joy J]

I enjoyed your trip report but was sorry to read that you weren't all that impressed with DL as opposed to WDW. The two parks are very different from each other so I guess it basically comes down to a matter of personal taste.

Joy

[Meggera]

At least you got to experience DLR, the "original" park. My family is really excited about going there in October. But, we realize that the parks are different and are going without any expectations.

Glad your mom enjoyed herself! It is nice to take someone for the first time. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Laura

[PrincessSharon]

Sorry you weren't impressed with DL. I guess the poor weather didn't help either. Thanks for sharing!