How has it been 4 months already??!! I just went to a craft retreat over the weekend & worked on my Disney album and had so much fun reliving all of our Disney memories!!! We've been to Disneyworld many times but this was our 1st trip to Disneyland and it lived up to every expectation...and then some!
I spent a lot of time researching the parks (there are 2 parks compared to 4 in Disneyworld, not counting the WDW water parks) and hotels (there are only 3 Disney hotels in DL). Ultimately we decided to stay at a non-Disney hotel. I will admit I was a little worried about staying "off property". All we've ever known is WDW and it's all ecompassing magic staying on property. I was worried that it wouldn't seem "Disney enough".
Happily I was very wrong!!

We stayed at the Anaheim Fairfield Inn which was across the street from Disneyland and only about 5-6 hotels down the street. I forked over the extra money to have a themed room on a higher floor which just added to our Disney excitement!

The view from the balcony outside our room
I asked for and got the Toy Story themed room. Yes, it's essentially just some pictures on the wall, bedding, & shower curtain. But it added to our experience for sure. Having an upper level was great because we could see California Adventure from outside our door (in the photo you can see Tower of Terror, Mickey's Fun Wheel & California Screamin'...very cool at night!). The first night we got there we went to Downtown Disney and when we got back Disneyland had started their fireworks so we got to see that from the other side of our floor. Very cool!!!


We spent 5 days at the parks. Most people I asked said 2-3 days tops would be plenty but I'm so glad I opted for the 5 day tickets. Don't let the size of the Disneyland parks fool you...there is a LOT packed into those parks!!! I'm going to save California Adventure for my next post because Cars Land alone is worth a separate post!
We also had park hopper tickets but honestly there were only 2 nights out of the 5 that we utilized that, going to Disneland after California Adventure closed. So I don't know that I would pay the extra money for those again.

Walking into Disneyland Park was amazing (as is any 1st time to a Disney park!). I know a lot of die hard WDW people don't like Sleeping Beauty castle because it is much smaller than Cinderella castle. Yes, it is much smaller. But honestly, I thought it was so stinkin' cute!!
I tried to go on this trip with the idea that I wouldn't be comparing everything to WDW but sometimes it's hard not to. The thing I liked about our trip to Disneyland was that things were different. Even rides that both parks share were different. I loved that. It gives big Disney fans like us an entirely different and unique experience!
We spent 2 full days at Disneyland Park and 3 full days at California Adventure which gave us ample opportunity to experience lots of rides, shows, parades & meals.
One of our favorite meals was at Big Thunder Rance BBQ. It is served family style and let me tell ya, we chowed down!!

During the fireworks we got to see Tinkerbell and Dumbo fly!!! (Dumbo only flies in the summer)
Amazing!!!


Unfortunately, the Disneyland Parks only have 5 character meals (and 3 of those are at their hotels) so we opted to do the 2 that are in the parks. At the Plaza Inn character breakfast we got to me 9 characters!!! What Disneyland lacks in character meals they made up for in the amount of characters we got to see for sure!!
We also got to meet other characters that we've never met before, like Merida!
Merida was super sweet and took time to talk with all 3 of my kids individually :)
We also met Captain America!
So polite :) We wanted to meet Thor, too. But after waiting for CA we didn't want to wait in another line. Maybe next year when we go for my birthday...that can be one of my birthday presents ;) haha

One of the things my son wanted to make sure to be a part of was the Jedi Training Academy. We scoped out the times, made sure to get there a bit early, and I told Ben to jump, scream, & wave his arms so he'd get picked...and he did!! The big 'ol smile on his face was awesome!!! The little kids fought Darth Vador while the older kids fought Darth Maul.
He was scary looking!!! But Ben battled well :) I was so glad he got picked because this will be his last opportunity to try it (he'll be too old the next time we go to Disney).

One show that I would highly recommend was Mickey and the Magical Map.
Great show. Again, not like any Disney show we'd seen before. (It's also a great opportunity to take a break for a few!)

Disneyland Park was so much fun, filled with so many magical experiences! I think that photo says it all!!!
Next up - California Adventure and Cars Land!!!