bestillandwrite As you may have noticed, we are very much Disney World people. However, last month we tried Disneyland for the very first time. The experience was an interesting one, filled with high highs and low lows. I’m not sure we will be going back, but I’m glad we got to experience it once. Read more about the Honest Thoughts About Our First Trip to Disneyland below.
Let’s Start with the Bad….
1. Crowds
Although this shouldn’t have been surprising, Disneyland was crowded. Early morning wasn’t too bad, but by brunch time the lines and crowds were difficult to navigate. We went to Disneyland at the beginning of Thanksgiving week, so this may have played a roll in the volume of guests in the park. The later in the day the more crowded it became, and honestly it was a tad overwhelming.
2. Proximity
Everyone told us how close the rides are to each other, and they are! It’s nice you don’t have to go far to get to things. However, with the crowds being a bit much and everything so close together, it started to feel cramped. The lines are also very narrow, so if you have trouble with claustrophobia, you have been warned.
3. Disney Magic
One thing we found lacking during our day at Disneyland was that unexplainable quality of Disney magic. We all wore our first time visitors buttons, but no one outside of our hotel acknowledged them. With a couple exceptions, cast members seemed to be almost bored or tired? It’s hard to explain, but we started the day with such high expectations and ended the day a little deflated.
4. Parade
We arrived at the parade almost 45 minutes early, and that wasn’t nearly early enough. The entire parade route was packed full of people, so much so that we had to stand behind two rows of people to get a view. Then when the parade finally got to our area there were large gaps between each float. It made us all antsy and we honestly wished we had skipped the parade in favor of rides.
5. Lines
We normally pay for multipass in order to skip lines that can be difficult when traveling with a small child. However, most of the kid-friendly rides at Disneyland are not included in Lightning Lane Multipass. This means that we had to wait in a line with our daughter over and over again in order to ride things like Alice in Wonderland, Storybook Canal Boats and the Casey Jr Train. The waiting was a bit wearing, because the lines are so narrow and even a 20 minute wait was tiring with a three-year-old.
I’m sure if we had been at the park with someone who knew where things were and the best order of rides it may have been a smoother process, but I found myself missing Disney World.
And Now for Some Good…
6. Characters
One of the highlights of our day was seeing and meeting so many characters. They are scattered throughout the park and always wandering, which is very different from our experience at Disney World. We enjoyed getting to casually pass by characters like Mary Poppins, Minnie and Mickey, Genie, Geppetto, and much more.
7. Food
Overall I did find the food to be superior to the food in Disney World. We enjoyed trying all sorts of treats, including our first Disneyland churro. Mobile ordering was easy to navigate and we never had trouble at pickup.
Thank you for reading the Honest Thoughts About Our First Trip to Disneyland. I hope this information will help you on your next family vacation. For more helpful tips, be sure to read the additional content below:
Mistakes We Made on Our 1st Trip to Disneyland
Where to Find Quality Disney World Clothes for Kids
Helpful Tips for Bringing a Stroller to a Theme Park
If you have any questions feel free to send me an email or message on Instagram. Follow @gentryjourneys on Pinterest for more travel tips and tricks and don’t forget to subscribe below for new content every week!
Safe Travels,
