Short Disneyland review

[Wines Not Whines]

I think this board skews heavily towards WDW, but I just returned from a trip to DLR and I thought I'd mention some of the highlights. I'm an east coaster who grew up in FL and have gone to WDW many times, but I kind of prefer DLR.  

1. The Paint the Night parade and Disneyland Forever fireworks show are AMAZING. Especially Disneyland Forever. I can't even describe it as a fireworks show - it was like a fully immersive experience involving music, colors and moving projections (on the castle, main street, and other locations in the park), fireworks, fire effects, and other really cool and surprising effects (Matterhorn erupting, Tinkerbell flying, Nemo "swimming" over the castle, 3D effects on Main Street, and snow falling on Main Street during the Frozen sequence). It was just amazing. Everyone was clapping and gasping and cheering at various points in the show. I'm sad this is ending in September and we won't have another chance to see it. It was so much more impressive than any other Disney nighttime show that I've seen (and I've been going to WDW regularly since the 1980s). I sat on a curb for a ridiculously long time to see the parade and show, but it was worth it. 

2. If your kid is interested in Jedi training, I thought the sign-up process was much easier than at WDW. My son didn't decide he wanted to sign up until around 11 am, and they still had spots available for the three afternoon shows that day. We just walked over and signed him up, easy peasy. It wasn't like at WDW where you have to rush over to the sign-ups first thing in the morning. Also, as an FYI, the area where they do the Jedi training show is in full sun in the morning, but gets shade in the afternoon. 

3. DLR and WDW have many of the same rides, and the lines for many popular rides seemed to be shorter at DLR. For example, Toy Story Midway Mania had about a 30 minute wait each time we rode it. This is far shorter than the crazy waits at WDW if you don't have a fast pass. 

4. If you like roller coasters and Star Wars, you have to ride "Hyperspace Mountain." They turned Space Mountain into a Star Wars ride, and it's awesome. I rode it 3 times. It's like Star Tours on steroids. 

5. We enjoyed riding some of the classic rides that aren't at WDW (or aren't there anymore), like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Alice in Wonderland, and Snow White. My son also loved Toon Town. I remember visiting Mickey's Toon Town at WDW when I was a kid, so it was great to see it at DLR. 

[kittycatlove]

Our first trip as a family we went to DLR. We wanted to start small, especially since DS was only 2.5. We loved it and really want to go back at some point.

Glad you had a great trip.

[abs]

Glad you had a good time! I think we may doing DLR in March.

[spaghetticat]

Sounds fun! Thanks for sharing!