About two weeks ago, we took a long-awaited trip to Disneyland Resort and Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, CA. This will be a lengthy trip report covering both days and both parks.
The first stop on our trip was heading right into Disney California Adventure. The entrance plaza is fantastic as always:
First of all, we headed to the Grizzly River Rapids area to pick up fastpasses for the World of Color show that night. But as this was my first time in the park since they re-did the entrance and Buena Vista Street, we stopped to admire Disney's wonderful theming:
The electric cable car is a smooth and quick way to get to Tower of Terror from the entrance plaza:
I really like how they made Buena Vista Street to look like a almost 60's themed area:
The christmas tree was up and standing tall:
Finally, the park opened, and we made our way over to the Grizzly area. Along the way, we passed by Soarin' Over California, which I still consider to be a fantastic ride:
The Rapids! We'll come back to this ride later:
For all you chain lift nerds out there:
After getting passes for World of Color, out next stop was the great Intamin classic, California Screamin'. Paradise Pier is my favorite area of the park and these photos might explain why:
The grandeur of this area gets me every time. Its almost magical:
Train shot!
The lakeside setting makes it that much more magical:
The launch on this coaster may not be nearly as fast as some of the rides I've been on, but it still packs a heck of a punch:
The weird thing is, this ride almost always doesn't have that long of a wait. It never got longer than 20m while we were there:
The sad thing is, there is a major lacking of theming on this ride:
They were only running one side while we were there:
Leaving the area after two great rides on Screamin', it was glad to see how amazing Disney is at Christmas decorations. Everything was festive, and there were lights everywhere:
Our next stop was Cars Land, and the relatively new Radiator Springs Racers. The theming here is very accurate to the movies:
We decided to wait the full 50m for the Racers:
I personally like this ride much more than Test Track at Epcot:
The real reason we were here is for a trip with our High School Marching Band to march in the Disneyland parade. So, after Racers, we had to head back to Disneyland to go backstage and get ready to march in the parade:
Disneyland still has a certain magic surrounding it that California Adventure can't match, although it is very crowded:
The famous Partners statue:
Tomorrowland was calling, but it would have to wait. There was a parade to march in:
The Matterhorn is still a great classic:
After the parade, we headed back to California Adventure for the rest of the day:
The Nighttime atmosphere around Paradise Pier is unrivaled. We stopped by for one last ride on California Screamin':
After a quick ride on Soarin', we went over to Tower of Terror for our first ride of the trip; the lines were way too long all day, so we got fastpasses:
Although not as good as the version in Hollywood Studios in Florida, this ride is still amazing and packs a lot of airtime and thrilling elements. The theming on this ride is probably the best in the entire CA Adventure. They were super intricate with everything, from the little cracks in the tile and the spiderwebs and creaking noises:
That was it for that day, except for World of Color, which is Frozen-themed for the winter time and was impressive as always. Moving on to day two, we started that day in Disneyland park:
We headed straight to Space Mountain, which I consider to be the best ride in the entire park:
The ride is still fantastic after all these years. 10 minutes after the park opened, the line was already at 45m, and we decided to wait it out:
The station is super modern and well themed:
After getting passes for another ride on Space Mountain, we headed over to one of the other mountains, Splash Mountain:
Hard to see, but a train shot:
We were long overdue for a spin on one of the most innovative rides at the park, Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye:
After lunch and another ride on Space Mountain, it was time to challenge yet another mountain at the park, The Matterhorn:
The amazingly decorated castle:
As it was hot November day in So Cal, we took advantage of the Park Hoppers to go take 4 more rides on Grizzly River Rapids. An amazing rapids ride, definitely the best I've been on:
For the station nerds:
Back to Disneyland to redeem our passes to Star Tours, which we had gotten earlier in the day:
The Christmas atmosphere is one of the best things about visiting these parks during the holiday season. Disney is super intricate with all of the decorations:
Time for some Tomorrowland sunset shots:
It's a Small World looks absolutely gorgeous at night:
The comparison between night and day is stunning:
Last ride of the trip was well spent at the last mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad:
That weekend was probably the best I've had ever. Thanks for Disney for making it so special! If you liked this long trip report and would like to see more, leave a comment and share this with your friends! Also, while you're at it, follow us on Instagram for more awesome pictures. The maps from these parks will be featured on our Instagram giveaway at 2k followers. A quick side note: Please answer the poll so we know what to post on here and what you want from us.