Disneyland - Trip Report 2016

This is a pretty old review, seeing as I went the last week of January, but better late than never! It was also the Diamond Celebration!

I have only been to the Disneyland Resort one other time in my life and that was on a choir tour in 2009, which meant I was only able to experience about a total of a days worth, it was also pre-Cars Land. This trip was for business, so I got to experience the park from open to close on multiple days. IT WAS GREAT.

The down side was that a ton was closed.

Disneyland:
Disneyland Railroad
It's A Small World (one week to tear down the holiday decorations)
Fantasmic!
Autopia
Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes
Mark Twain Riverboat
Sailing Ship Columbia
Jungle Cruise
Tom Sawyers Island

Disney California Adventure:
Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular
World of Color (one week refurbishment)


So that was a bummer, especially World of Color and Fantasmic, both of which I was unable to see my first trip.

But I got to experience Hyperspace Mountain, and what I consider the best nighttime parade that currently plays at any Disney park (an argument could be made for the best ever, but would loose to Spectromagic).

Hyperspace Mountain was fantastic! It was the Seasons of the Force which basically meant all of Tomorrowland became Star Wars Land.

Disneyland's cute Space Mountain!

This ride was a dream for any Star Wars fan. The music was all John Williams scores from Episodes I-VI, and definitely brought a tear to my eye. Every time I rode there were multiple cars that came back into the station with people cheering, I may have been one of those people. Also original FASTPASS for the win!

Also this was the first time I got to ride Radiator Springs Racers, and it was really good. I still prefer Test Track for the thrill, but the dark ride portion is amazing!

Much like Test Track, the car holds 6 people, it has it's own single rider line (which I found is rare in Disneyland), and will usually have a 60+ minute wait.

Seriously, some of the best Audio Animatronics I've ever seen!

From there you start your race against another car through Ornament Valley. This would be my favorite ride ever if "Life is a Highway" started playing, Listen!

All in all, a great ride. Good Job Disney!

Cars Land it self is beautiful and looks exactly like the movie. It's pretty stunning to see the exact replicas of the buildings in Radiator Springs. It was also massive.

This is the Cadillac Mountain Range. You can also see the fire station and the Cozy Cone Motel.

Luigi's Flying Tires was closed, as it was being transformed into Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters.

Flo's V8 cafe! I actually didn't try the food, but the roast beef looked pretty tempting.

Ramone's House of Body Art!

All in all, a great addition to the least attended US Disney Park.

I was super bummed that I was not able to see World of Color or Fantasmic! I was not able to see either my first visit and was looking forward to maybe catching them. I was also bummed that I was unable to go on It's A Small World. Oh well.

I really hadn't explored Disney California Adventure the first time I had visited because I really wanted to see all of Disneyland. All I saw in DCA the first time I visited was Muppet Vison 3D and Soarin' Over California, both of which I have seen on a regular basis, I just wanted my friends to expirence Soain' so after we left.

I LOVE Paradise Pier, I think there could be another E-ticket ride here but both Toy Story Mania and California Screamin' are awesome. Here is the video (not mine).

I absolutely loved California Screamin'. It is a launch coaster and launches you into a hill which is pretty unique. Before I went on I thought it would be fun, but not comparable to Rockin' Rollercoaster, or Expedition Everest, but I was wrong, It was better.

No it is not as thrilling as Rockin' or Everest, but it was just good old fashioned fun. It does have a inversion, just one loop, but that isn't even the best part, it's the atmosphere and view you get while riding, as well as a great soundtrack that is synced with the train. It is the longest coaster in California and one of the longer roller coasters I've been on, which is much different than the very quick Rockin' Rollercoaster which seems like it's over even before it starts.

California Screamin' has de-throned Space Mountain (Florida) as my favorite roller coaster of all time. I never thought those words would be spoken, or written rather. And go at night, preferably not when it's raining, that kinda hurt the old face.

Anyways, back in Disneyland, everything was great. It was the Diamond celebration so the castle was sparkling.

I got time to ride pretty much everything in Disneyland. I only missed Peter Pan's Flight, The Storybook Canals, and the peoplemover (jk RIP).

Splash Mountain was a little bit awkward since I was spooning a father of three, and my pants started to rip, but it was still fun!

A clothes pin and Dole Whip Float later I was at the Enchanted Tiki Room, which is far superior to Walt Disney World's Tiki Room for one reason. I could bring in the DOLE WHIP. Seriously seeing a Tiki show is far better with a Dole Whip Float, I couldn't imagine the show without it. I tried to bring it in to the Tiki Room in Florida and was told that I could only eat it outside, and had to wait for the next show. LAME. I am currently trying to find a way to enjoy Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room with my Dole Whip, but lets keep that on the DL.

I guess Walt Disney World does not trust you to throw your tiki trash away...

Then I ventured to Star Wars land, sorry I meant Tomorrowland to check out the new Force Awakens scene in Star Tours and ride Hyperspace Mountain again, and meet Chewbacca.

Rawr...

I wasn't even going to go to Marvel HQ, but I'm glad I did. I am a pretty big Marvel fan, and Iron Man is my favorite of The Avengers, so I was pretty happy to see the Iron Man suits.

Mk. III as seen in Iron Man (2008)

Mk. IV as seen in Iron Man 2

Mk. V as seen in Iron Man 2

Mk. VI as seen in Iron Man 2, and The Avengers

Mk. VII as seen in The Avengers

and Mk. XLII as seen in Iron Man 3

Definitely awesome. I wish that they had like an Avengers Lounge or the S.H.E.I.L.D. Hellicarrier. I would love it. I would love to see a Marvel meet and greet other than Spider-man and Thor.

But the most exciting part of the whole trip was actually the nighttime entertainment. I cannot tell you how much I love the Paint The Night Parade. I am so over the Main Street Electrical Parade at Walt Disney World, and this was such a breath of fresh air. The Parade was set to the tune of "When Can I See You Again" (the credits music from Wreck-It Ralph) which I don't know if I've even heard it besides the one time I watched the movie but it is amazing. The Baroque Hoedown (from MSEP) is also intertwined into the medley.

Seriously, I'm not really a parade person although this blog is proving otherwise, but this is amazing.

Some of the coolest floats I've ever seen.

Looks suspiciously familiar to a whrillyball from Spectromagic

Also off topic is this guy not way more frightening than..

Okay maybe they are both frightening

Anyways so many cool floats, the coolest by far was Mickey's multidimensional ball of light thing as seen here.

Honestly, It was just great to see a night parade that wasn't MSEP. That music is cute for like 2 minutes. I would love to see Paint the Night in WDW for it's 50th celebration, almost as much as I would want to see a revival of Spectromagic.

Also Disneyland Forever was amazing. Made for the Diamond celebration, Disneyland Forever utilized projections on Main Street, and had a great soundtrack to go with the fireworks. They had an awesome Tangled portion, as well as Circle of Life, which was epic.

All in all, a great visit to Disneyland!

Everything's Better At Night! Magic Kingdom Edition

Everything's better at night at the Walt Disney World Resort. OK maybe not parasailing, but that might be it. Night has always been my favorite time to visit the parks whether that be because of the fireworks, parades, colder temperatures, short lines, it's all good.

Walt Disney's favorite time to go to the park was at night. He felt it was more magical and wanted guests to leave the park feeling special. He also wanted fireworks to end the day, they were to be a "Kiss Goodnight".

For those of us taking family vacations to WDW on a yearly basis, do you remember when you had to go back to the room to sleep while the adults went to E-ride nights (now in the forms of Disney After Hours, Extra Magic Hours)? I remember, I couldn't wait to be old enough to stay out late.

Fast forward to now, some 20 years later, I try to spend every single moment I can at the parks, even after close. For some that I have vacationed with, it is perhaps too much. In my experience, It's never too much.

Here are my favorite things to do at nighttime at the Magic Kingdom.

1. Visit Main Street U.S.A.

Main Street U.S.A. at night is gorgeous, even when exterior renovations are happening to some of the buildings, Main Street lights up the night while you are walking in/out of the park. Music from the turn of the century, that's the 20th century of course, plays as you enter the gateway to our 6 themed lands of the Magic Kingdom. Listen to some Main St. music!

This actually may be my favorite land in all the Magic Kingdom. You've got your Confectionery which has the best sweets in the park, but unfortunately no longer has a choose your own taffy (Disneyland still lets you though!)

Or possibly the best "souvenir shop"in any of the parks, the Emporium, which honestly doesn't really say much because they all have pretty much the same merchandise, but still looks cool and has awesome scenes from Disney classics in its windows.

Definitely my favorite and most visited quick-service restaurant, Casey's Corner. A hot dog lovers paradise!

Opposite of Casey's is the Plaza Inn Restaurant and the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor. I've actually never eaten at the Plaza Inn Restaurant, but I have had many ice cream cones and sundaes from the ice cream parlor and they are great. Expect to wait a little longer at night though.

There is also the Main Street Bakery, which is great if you love Starbucks. As of 2012, Starbucks has a location in each one of the US parks (not the water parks). That means the Main Street Bakery no longer sells Nestle coffee, or specialty baked goods like the cinnamon rolls which are now at Gaston's Tavern. But if you want a quad venti carmel macchiato with a slow roasted ham and swiss, you know where to go.

 And you can even meet a really cool talking Mickey Mouse in Town Square. Visit during Extra Magic Hours, there is hardly any wait.

2. Significantly less wait times.

Especially during Extra Magic Hours, your wait times are going to be cut by about 75%-90%.

What would normally be a 25 minute wait (depending on the time, and time of the year) will be a 8 minute wait.

If you are really into stats and wait times, give TouringPlans.com a look, it's pretty great. You can see what wait times are projected at for your next vacation, and even historically because you have nothing better to do like me!

You can get your own boat!

It's a Small World! (this one was at Disney After Hours)

Fun fact: Space Mountain was built outside the perimeter of the Walt Disney World Railroad, so in order to reach the ride you must walk underneath the tracks.

3. Different ride experiences at night.

Obviously not every ride has a different experience at night, but some are a lot more fun when the sun is down.

Big Thunder Mountain at night is a pretty different experience at night. Be sure to ride it both during the day and at night. In the dark is pretty fun, obviously you can hardly see anything which makes this wild ride, even crazier. I actually think Disney has toned down the lighting on the "Mountain" itself sometime within the last year.

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is cool at night too, but really doesn't change anything. Unless you ride it when its pouring rain, that makes this very tight squeeze interesting to say the least.

Splash Mountain is such a great ride day or night. In fact it is my favorite ride in the Magic Kingdom when all the effects, audio and Audio Animatronics are working (it maybe my favorite ride in all of Walt Disney World), especially on a hot Florida afternoon. Usually crowds tend to avoid this water ride at the end of the night, which gives you a great time to experience free falling into the briar patch at night. Be warned it may be chilly at night, and you may want to bring spare clothes (and socks), or just avoid sitting in the front. 

4. Wishes and Celebrate the Magic!

Wishes is probably the most underrated fireworks show at Walt Disney World. Or it is for me anyway. When I am planning a vacation Wishes is probably the first nighttime show to go on my itinerary, not because it's bad, no it's because it hasn't changed since 2003. I KNOW THAT FANTASMIC AND ILLUMINATIONS HAVE BEEN AROUND LONGER, but hear me out. The Magic Kingdom's fireworks usually revolve around Disney movies, which there have been a lot of since 2003. I think there is a lot of potential for a revised Wishes, not necessarily a whole new show because Wishes has become a classic.

Wishes really upped the ante from the historic Fantasy in the Sky fireworks which had played for 32 years. Be warned, if you are at the Magic Kingdom on a busy day, you will more than likely be herded into groups to watch the show. I do not have any really tips to avoid such madness. If you are planning to stay in the park after fireworks, watch Celebrate the Magic and Wishes from Main Street and be prepared to book it towards the Tomorrowland Terrace if you're going to Tomorrowland or Fantasyland, or  the Crystal Palace if you're going to Adventureland, Frontierland, or Liberty Square.

 Also check out Celebrate the Magic which is an awesome castle projection show. It incorporates all  the new classics as well!

5. The freaking castle

I feel like I don't actually have to say anything about this.

B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L

Don't mind the scrim!

Finished product of the Hub redevelopment.

6. Holidays at night (Seasonal)

The Holidays are a special time in the Magic Kingdom! Fall is the best time to visit the Magic Kingdom, and Walt Disney World in general (try to avoid the actually holidays if you hate crowds). During both Halloween and Christmas the park looks amazing for both morning and night, but it's especially magical at night.

Main Street Station looking very festive 

This is the 2014 - present Christmas decorations for Main Street!

And of course the castle in it's icicle glory!

It's really spectacular to see in person.

And Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade is wonderful. If you love Christmas you'll love this parade and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Not only do you get to enjoy the park with  less crowds, you get to experience Christmas Disney style. Real snow falling on Main Street, free cookies and cocoa and special Christmas time shows and character meet and greets.

But my favorite ticketed event and just plain time in the Magic Kingdom is the Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. On these nights, adults can ware costumes and trick or treat in the park along with their kids. If you don't have kids, no worries the party is for all ages, and A LOT of groups with no kids go. 

For example:

This is by far the most fun I've ever had in the Magic Kingdom (and that's saying something).

Do not miss Mickey's Boo To You Halloween Parade! It is the best parade on property (Spectromagic formerly held the title for me) and very popular so remember to get your place extra early.

HalloWishes and Holiday Wishes makes use of the Magic Kingdom's perimeter fireworks which can be seen from as far away as the parking lot! Seriously both are terrific and are only rivaled by Symphony in the Stars at Hollywood Studios and IllumiNations at Epcot.

(photo credit: disneyworld/go)