I did a little mini-series a few years back about the things I loved about Disneyland, with each day centered on a different category. Since we have been quite a few times since then and experienced some new and different things, I thought it would be fun to do an updated series!
So, here starts day 1 of I Love... Disneyland! Take Two:
FAVORITE RIDES
I don't feel like this list has changed too much, but there have been a few changes/differences to some of the rides, as well as a few that I feel deserve to be spotlighted here.
Pirates of the Caribbean
I have to start with this one, because it is my absolute favorite. I also love that it's Josh's absolute favorite as well, so we ride on it as much as we possibly can when we are there. I'm not sure what I love more: the smell when you enter the building, the infamous song "Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life for Me", or the crazy pirates and their various antics throughout the ride. I honestly love everything about it. We try to make it the first ride we go on whenever we start a trip to Disneyland. It's just that good.
The Haunted Mansion
Just down the road a little bit in New Orleans Square lies The Haunted Mansion. This ride is all sorts of fun. I love the fact that it still scares me a little bit (total honest moment here. I get freaked out to this day by the ghosts that pop out from behind the graves) and yet I will ride on it over and over again. I love that they added the Hatbox Ghost last year as a part of Disneyland's Diamond Celebration for its 60th anniversary. The stories are a little conflicted as to how long the original Hatbox Ghost resided in the Mansion when it first opened, but regardless, it wasn't more than a few weeks. "Hatty", as some of his die hard fans refer to him, has had a cult following for many years and people have requested and awaited his return. If you haven't been to Disneyland at all in the past year, be sure to look for him as you exit the attic scene on the right hand side. He's pretty awesome.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
(A Hidden Mickey!)
So this is a new addition to my list. I'm not sure why I didn't include it before, but it's here now! I seriously love this ride. I have a harder time with the rides that jerk you around a lot, so we usually only go on one of those types of rides each day. I wish I could ride this one more often though. It's super fun! They remodeled it a little over a year ago and added this really cool "indoor" scene with dynamite. I will not ruin the surprise for those that haven't seen it, but I do recommend sitting in one of the cars further back to get the best experience. I love that Disney incorporated Rainbow Ridge in this ride (the little town you pass by right before you exit the train), as this ride is on the site of a previous attraction called Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland.
Jungle Cruise
This is a fun one. I love the jokes the skippers tell. Some of them are super corny and some I've heard a million times...but then you ride and hear some you haven't heard before and it's just amazing. It's seriously the best ride for a laugh and a little break from the throngs of people hanging out in Adventureland.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye
This is right next door to the Jungle Cruise and is worth the wait (though I do recommend getting a fast pass for this one whenever possible). It can be super jerky and bumpy at times but it never gets old. I love everything about this ride and I love that they brought some of its original glory back a few years ago when they redid the beginning sequence of the ride. If you ride more than once, you may notice that the colors and themes change a little in that initial room.
Space Mountain
Ok, so I love Space Mountain. For an indoor, can't really see anything in front of you, roller coaster, it's pretty awesome. We've been on it when it changes to Ghost Galaxy around Halloween, which is also pretty fun. And the past couple of trips, we got to experience the most recent overlay of Hyperspace Mountain, which has a Star Wars theme. Let me tell you, that one is not my favorite. I love the fact that I can't see stuff in front of me on that ride and yet Hyperspace Mountain ruins that. It actually freaked me out the couple of times we went on it because you can see the track in front of you at times and how close you are to hitting stuff! If you're cool with that, I'm sure you'll love it. For me, it just makes me super nervous with a pounding heart. I'm really looking forward to the day that it is back to its original and glorious form (little known fact: the score for Space Mountain was done by Michael Giacchino, who also did the Alias theme song. If you ever go back and watch that, you'll probably notice that the music styling is very similar between the two. Also, Giacchino did the score for Up, which is one of my most favorite Pixar movies).
Peter Pan's Flight
The line for this ride is ridiculously long no matter what time of year you go. We went once right when the park opened and still had to wait for over 30 minutes to ride it. And considering the ride is probably only about 2 minutes long, it may not seem worth it. But I just love this one. Peter Pan is one of my all-time favorite stories and I love the fact that you "fly" on this ride. Also, they refurbished it last year and added some really cool animated features to the ride, as well as enhanced some of the other parts. It's definitely worth going on at least once in awhile.
Alice in Wonderland
This is also a new addition to the list! I didn't realize my love for this ride until a few years ago when I rode on it for the first time (at least, the first time that I can remember). For a Fantasyland dark ride, it is one of the longest, and to me, that makes it worth the 20 minute line it typically has. This one also had a refurb a few years back and has some really cool additions. Fun fact: on our last trip to Disneyland, we were supposed to ride this as part of our Walk in Walt's Disneyland Footsteps Tour, but the ride broke down before we were even inside. Because of where our vehicle stopped, they had to call the Disneyland fire department to come and "rescue" us. It was the first time Josh and I have ever been escorted off a ride together and it wasn't our last time on that trip!
Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters
Which leads me to this ride (which was the other ride we got escorted off of on that trip). This one is just fun. It usually has a pretty short line and it's a fun competition for us. Josh almost always beats me (I honestly think I've only scored higher than him maybe twice) but it's still super fun. We know some of the higher scoring places to aim and we do our best to get the highest scores we possibly can. Plus, I love that you can email yourself a copy of the picture instead of having to purchase it.
And before we head over to California Adventure and my favorite rides there, I wanted to give a couple of honorable mentions for some other rides that I also enjoy:
It's A Small World
We have to ride on this one at least once a trip, because it's just fun. And it's a nice long ride, which is a great break if it's super hot outside. It's my favorite at Christmastime, because of the way they decorate the outside, but also because I love all of the decorations inside (and the song changes to Jingle Bells).
Star Tours
This one is really fun and I love that a few years back, they changed it to where you go to a different destination each time. This one can be really jerky sometimes, though, so we don't often ride this one too many times in a trip.
My LEAST favorite Disneyland ride is the Matterhorn. It hurts so bad. If you have any back, neck, hip, joint, or knee problems of any kind, or if you'd like to not have to visit a chiropractor after your visit, I would suggest skipping this one. They redid some stuff on it last year and added a cooler looking Abominable Snowman, but you can watch lots of videos on YouTube to see it. The ride is rough!
Over in California Adventure, I have a couple of favorite rides:
Toy Story Midway Mania
This is another competition ride, but this one is in 3D and has a bunch of different mini games that require you to shoot at different targets with different ammo. It's really fun and I often beat Josh on this one. The line is also super long, so we tend to only go on it when it's either not super hot outside or when the line is on the shorter side. I think the shortest we've ever waited was 20 mins and the longest was probably closer to 50 mins.
Radiator Springs Racers
It's by far the best ride in California Adventure. I love this ride. The Cars movies aren't my favorite, but Cars Land in California Adventure is like walking through Radiator Springs in the first movie. And this ride takes you through the city as well and it's awesome. This is also a competition ride, though you have no control over who wins. But it's seriously amazing. We always do single rider on this ride, unless we are with a big group, in which case we will get fast passes first thing in the morning. But single rider is definitely the easiest way to avoid the 1-2 hour wait this ride usually has.
Soarin' Over California
This one will soon be a thing of the past. Well, at least in its current form. It is changing to Soarin' Around the World in June. I'm excited to see what they do differently, but I am also very sad that they will no longer have the California film with the smells and the music. I love to take my flip flops off on this ride and imagine that I'm really hang gliding over the places on the screen.
Monsters Inc.: Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
Honestly, Monsters Inc. is one of my favorite Pixar movies and I just love this little ride. I think my favorite scene is with the bedroom doors. I love Boo and Sulley and their relationship. This ride also tends to have a wait of between 5-10 mins, so it's the perfect ride to go on when it's hot outside.
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure
I also really love this one. It has a super short line most of the time and it's just so fun. I love singing along to the songs and enjoying the cool air. I love that it makes you feel like you're going underwater. It's just a great ride.
And my LEAST favorite ride in California Adventure is The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. It's not because it's a painful ride...but it freaks me out! I've been on it about six times, so I feel like I gave it a pretty good try...but it's just not for me. If you like the feeling of falling super fast, going up and falling again a few times, you will love it!
Stay tuned for my next post tomorrow about my favorite place!
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