Visiting Disneyland for the First Time as Walt Disney World Veterans
- kellyv935
- Jul 15, 2024
- 2 min read
As a Walt Disney World veteran, I love going and experiencing my favorite rides and attractions again and again. It’s nice to know what to expect and not have to worry about researching new things. Until this trip in May of 2022, I had not been to any other Disney park. The Marvel and Cars fans in my life wanted to visit Disneyland Resort. I am so glad we went to Disneyland and got to experience “The Happiest Place on Earth”!
From the moment we arrived at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa, we were in complete awe. It felt a lot like walking into Disney’s Wilderness Lodge at Walt Disney World, and we loved the Cast Members. We booked a theme park view room overlooking Disney California Adventure; Goofy’s Sky School was literally right outside our balcony! The resort lobby was decorated with Star Wars for May the 4th and they had some fun treats for sale for the occasion
The next morning, we walked to the entrance to Downtown Disney toward Disneyland Park (although to be honest, my family walked… I bounced with excitement) . Once we scanned our tickets and walked down Main Street, we saw Sleeping Beauty’s Castle for the first time. Because we were early, we were held at the castle until the official park opening time. With it being our first time and having 4 days to explore the parks, Rise of the Resistance (where most people headed) was not on our radar. We walked through the castle and took it all in when we were released. It was so much fun to just enjoy walking around and taking it all in for the first time! It was also so cool to know we were walking in the original park designed by Walt himself and walking where he did!
While Disneyland and Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom are similar in some ways, Disneyland still has some of its original rides! The one ride I was looking forward to at Disneyland that I normally avoid at Magic Kingdom was “it’s a small world”. The outside of the ride is stunning at Disneyland and I love the hidden Disney characters you can find throughout the ride. It made for a fresh new experience!
We did so many new things here including riding Matterhorn and Alice in Wonderland, powering our own canoe on Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes, and so much more. Even the rides that are similar to the rides in Walt Disney World still felt like it was a new experience. It was definitely a trip worth taking that we’ll remember forever!
Kelly
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