Disneyland

There are interesting differences between Disneyland and Disneyworld other than one opening in 1955 and the other in 1971.

The differences were notable even before we entered the park. Anaheim is built up all around the two California Disney parks, Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure. Parking in the Disney parking lots felt a lot like parking in a large mall parking lot.  The bus ride from the parking lot and the parks involve driving down city streets. At Disneyworld the experience is completely different. The parking is separate from the world around it. You realize that you are entering the happiest place on earth even before your car reaches the parking lot ticket booths. The transportation from the parking lots to the park is similarly removed from reality. Disneyworld is situated like an island in a largely wooded area while Disneyland seems like a piece cut out of a sprawling suburb.

I kept wondering as we were approaching Disneyland why I couldn't see the castle. Well, we got our answer as soon as we got to Main St. USA.

 
Honey, who shrunk the castle? It is about 1/3  down of the castle at Disneyworld. It is a mini castle. In addition, it doesn't look like the castle that the fairy sprinkled with pixie dust in the opening credits of Disney movies and specials. The castle at Disneyworld looks that way. This one, not really.

It is still Disney however. The staff is helpful and genuinely cheerful, and the attention to detail at every attraction is amazing. I could see how the individual neighborhoods at Disneyland grew into separate parks at Disneyworld.

All in all, it is an incredible park, but it isn't Disneyworld.

One thing Disneyland has that Disneyworld does not is Disney's California Adventure. Cathy and I visited this when it first opened in the 1990s and with the exception of one ride, it was lame. It has expanded greatly, and has one of the more amazing attractions I have seen, Cars Land.

Cars Land, in the same vein as The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal, is an attraction within California Adventure park that is recreated from the movie with unbelievable accuracy and detail. I am very familiar with the movie Cars, and I couldn't believe my eyes while walking around.

Here is Cameron eating lunch at Flo's V8 Cafe. Do you see the view out the window behind Cameron? That isn't a mural. Those are "mountains", scaled like real mountains, with real vegetation, and it looks exactly like the mountains surrounding Radiator Springs.

   
Here is the view down the main street of Radiator Springs. Everything here is to scale, and all the places in the movie are represented. It is incredible.

Here are a bunch of pictures.

This is while waiting in line for a Cars ride. The rock and cliff in the background is a good distance away and is very large. Essentially it is up that "mountain" behind Cameron.

In Luigi's tire shop. They had a good selection of tires.