Disneyland, Los Angeles

Dont compare Fla and California. You cant. They're two different places. Just let each place enlighten you in their own way.
Plan, plan, plan. Not just what to do, but when. Which day. Everything, Or you'll just waste your time in long lines, crowded places and it will ruin your experience.
My fiance and I traveled to Los Angeles to do all the tourist stuff. Obviously she was dying to see Disneyland. I have been to Walt Disney World in Florida a number of times growing up but never Disneyland (DL). Shes been once to FLA. Ive been told Disneyworld (DW) doesnt measure up to Disneyland (4 parks to 2 and about 70% more room kinda spells it out there) but we still went with an open mind. I'll start by saying if youre looking to nitpick and compare the 2 resorts side by side you'll ruin it for yourself. Its a different place. Let your imagination go and pretend youve never been to a Disney owned place before.
We went to Disneyland first. Parking is very simple. One HUGE parking garage for both parks located in the northwest section of the resort. Simple to get to off Interstate 5. GET THERE EARLY. The garage is for both parks so if you get there around 10 it gets backed up with more people coming in to the garage. You walk down the escalators and there are trams that take you to the main entrance to both DL and California Adventure as well as the opening to Downtown Disney. Different from DW is the monorail. You need a park ticket to ride. If you dont want to miss this later I suggest you skip the tram and walk through the Downtown Disney parking lot to the monorail station. You scan your ticket before you board so its not a "free ride" like DW. It takes a series of loops inside the actual DL park so you get a unique view of most of Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. The station is in Tomorrowland and you must get off there, No round trips available. One final note on the monorail is you can ride up front with the conductor (DW no longer offers this) so if you have small kids ask a cast member and you might get a more unique view.
Getting there early is very key to seeing and doing everything in one day while still enjoying taking the park at your own pace. We went to space mountain first. We got a fast pass (for 20 mins later than we were there) and then waited in the regular line which was only 20 mins!. after we got off we went fastpass and went twice! Space mountain twice in less than an hour! Only happens in the morning.
You cant get fastpasses for more than 1 ride at a given time so plan which rides you want to do first and which ones youll do fastpass for so youre not stuck at 12pm for a splash mountain fast ass for 7.
Fantasmic occurs around the Rivers of America in front of Pirates of the Car. so get there about 30mins before it starts for a decent view, earlier if you want a really good spot. Definitely a must see.
We didnt really care about parades so we went on rides during them. Lines thin a little during the parades for medium name attractions (buzz lightyear, haunted mansion) so hit those if you choose to skip the parade. Once its over everyone rushes for the closest ride so keep an eye on the end of the parade when you're around it.
We ate at hungry bear restaurant for lunch and the Blue Bayou for dinner. Lunch is easy but if you want a nice sit down dinner you need a reservation. 5pm to 7pm dinner is packed so we ate late lunches and late dinners to avoid the rush.
Another big thing we have noticed and heard from cast members is its best to go on a weekday. While DW has bigger crowds on weekends as well, DL is filled with more locals than DW, so weekends can be even more crowded. If possible go on a weekday. I scheduled my whole vacation based around days I wanted to do certain things and both parks were for weekdays. Big benefit
If you compare Magic Kingdom to Disneyland Park i would say I like DL park better. More rides and things to see than MK since there 3 other parks to spread stuff out. But DW resort is still king over DL resort
If you want to make the most out of your trip to either park my biggest advice would be 1. Plan everything. 2. Get there as early as possible. 3. Keep an open mind if DW is your favorite. 4. Do popular rides earlier so if you have time you can do them a 2nd time later instead of missing it because the line was too long
I hope this was helpful and everyone going has a great time no matter the ages!
Mike

My family and I recently went on a trip to Disneyland and California Adventure. Here's my positives and negatives about the trip. Positive, Disneyland is so much fun, there is lots to do and see. California Adventure is growing into a bigger and better park. And, even though it was summer and it was crowded the lines went by pretty fast. Also, a great positive is you could bring your food into the park, this means you don't have to spend a fortune on lunch.

The negative's are that these parks are separated, they have individual entrances. Also, parking for the parks is such a hassle. You have to park far away and it cost $15 for parking. Since we came from LAX, we had Prime Time Shuttle take us to the front and we walked about 5min to the entrance. This seemed like the easiest way for us. Overall, our trip was phantasmic it's definitely a fun thing to do every summer.

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Fifty years on and Disney parks are still a measure for others. Only this century has the cartoon-to-ride tratit been bucked, with the Pirates of the Carribean franchise and the Haunted Mansion growing movies out of attractions.

Won't attempt to describe the rides here other than to say that Space Mountain remains a favourite after 30 years, and to say that, unlike Disneyworld FLA, you cannot dine in the castle, but the best dining in the park is the Blue Bayou - you will be seated looking over the Pirates of the Carribean ride. But you MUST book - and I found out to my cost that booking on the morning is too late, so do what we'll do next time and ring the Disney dining number days in advance. I have listed the number below, I am adding this footnote after having booked up for LA again August 2010, find you can reserve the Blue Bayou SIXTY days in advance.

I went with friends to Downtown Disney one rainy January evening for gift shopping. The town is certainly impressive and it made me wish we could have afforded to bring our son here when he was younger.
The car park is large and was busy on a wet Monday night - the town is a mix of shops, bars, cafes and restaurants and the Disney store here is the largest in the Disney empire - it was four times the size of the standard Disney stores found in English shopping centres.
Beautifully illuminated and a delight just to walk around even if like me you have grown up children.

If you are staying at a hotel near Disneyland, don't drive to the park and pay for parking. You should park and walk. It is A LOT cheaper and when you park at Disneyland, you have to park so far away anyways. By the time you walk to the shuttle to take you to your car, you are already half way or more to your hotel. You are already paying so much to just go to Disneyland, it is nice to save money where you can.

It probably goes without saying that when school is on break, Disneyland crowds up. I had originally planned to go on Christmas day thinking that people would want to be with their families at home. I was advised not to go on Christmas as it is one of their busiest days. I read advice that said that earlier in Winter Break, it is not as crowded as it is on Christmas. Not true. I went the first Monday of Winter Break this year and Disneyland was to full capacity early on in the morning. If you have options of when to go to Disneyland, I would definitely try to plan a trip when it is less crowded. While it is still fun and you can still get on rides, it makes for a lot better experience if it is less crowded.

If you decide to visit Disneyland, you should top of your trip with a viewing of Fantasmic. The show is an awesome experience. The show has live action, cool animation, and is just an absolute treat for your eyes. The show's viewing area (New Orleans Square and Frontierland) can get really crowded before the show's start so get there early if you want to be in a prime location. I personally have never waited for the show and have seen it just fine, while having to be creative some times to see. However, the show is big and you can pretty much see from any point in the area. Although Disney workers are pretty strict about where you can stand and watch so be aware of that. The show can be a little scary for kids, but it has a great message and in the end is happpy and fun.
If you time it right, and Disneyland has a fireworks show that night as well, you can see Fantasmic and then almost immediately after see the fireworks which takes place in the sky above Fantasyland.

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When Walt Disney Draw a figure of a mouse in the 1920's when he was just a struggling animator in the depths of despair at not succeding at that time, never did he realized that he was setting the foundation of a Worldwide Entertainment Empire and the "Happiest Place on Earth", This Disneyland started it all when it opened in 1955 in the LA suburb of Anaheim which was a backwater then. Today, about 520 million people have visited this theme park and many have been repeat performers (like me). Disneyland revolutionized the way that theme parks will become a total package for families and groups. Again, it all started with one anonymous pet mouse of Walt Disney!

It Gives you the goosebumps upon entering disneyland since the last time i've been here was when a was 18 years old (ages ago!) and again back for the 50th anniversary in 2005. Disneyland is divided into Themes or realms which radiate like the four cardinal points of the compass from Central Plaza, and well-concealed backstage areas. These themes are the ff: Main Street USA, Adventureland, New Orleans Square, Frontierland, Critter Country, Fantasyland, Mickey's Toontown and Frontierland. There's different rides and attractions for the whole family and it was a good thing that the last time i've been here was late september so it was a lean season unlike in summer or spring break so you can ride almost all rides in one day without buying front of line passes.

Opens everday: 10:00 am - 8:00 pm

2008 Theme Park Tickets Ages 3-9 Ages 10+

2-Day Park Hopper® Ticket
Valid now thru January 5, 2009. $123.00 143.00

1-Day Park Hopper® Ticket $84.00 $94.00

Single-Day Theme Park Ticket $59.00 $69.00

(hopper ticket means you can go to both Disneyland and California Adventure Parks)

We have many theme parks in Southern California, but Disneyland is simply the best. This fact is reflected in the price of its tickets--it is definitely worth it. Once in a while, Southern Californians are given promo prices for "2fer" tickets--two theme parks for the price of one (the other park being the California Adventure). I personally think that it's a great deal although I have not availed of it yet.

I recently visited Disneyland for the second time. It was a holiday (Columbus Day) so the park became pretty crowded pretty soon. Fortunately, I was familiar with the attractions plus I knew about FastPass so I was able to maximize my visit. The attractions I saw that day include Star Tours, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Tom Sawyer Island, Indiana Jones Adventure, Splash Mountain, Mark Twain Riverboat, and the Parade. My ticket allowed me to visit the California Adventure theme park, too. There, I saw the "Aladdin" musical at the Hyperion Theatre. I also rode Soarin' Over California, which was like flying over the major cities and parks of the Golden State. By the way, I wanted to check out Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean but the line was simply too long.

One day was not enough to see even half of the major attractions in Disneyland and California Adventure. To me, Disneyland is still the "Happiest Place on Earth," and California Adventure is a nice complement.

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The park is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company.

When the park initially opened, it consisted of five themed areas:
Main Street, U.S.A., an early 20th century Midwest town
Adventureland, featuring jungle adventures
Frontierland, illustrating western frontier
Fantasyland, bringing fantasy into a reality
Tomorrowland, looking into the future.

After the inital opening, three additional areas were added:
In 1966, New Orleans Square, based on 19th century New Orleans
In 1972, "Bear Country", later renamed Critter Country, themed both to the South in the 19th century and to forests of the Pacific Northwest.
In 1993, Mickey's Toontown, themed on the Toontown seen in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Look out for parade along Main Street and fireworks display at nighttime.