Hey Everyone, so just recently I posted about the food at Disneyland (which you can read here) so it was only right I finally do a review of the park itself. Mind you, this was two parks I believe (Disneyland Park and Disneyland California Adventure) and I went to both in the span of 15 hours. Yes, 15 hours since I was only able to go the one day and we were driving from Los Angeles to Anaheim. Also, since I did go on December 1st, 2021, it was a bit cold near the end so couldn’t go on all the rides I wanted to do but did most! Read below for pictures, tips, info, and more! Also, see below for TikTok recap videos of certain sections eg. Avengers Campus, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, etc. and a general recap of the how Disneyland was during the Holiday season before! Stay tuned to social media for more content like this by following on Tiktok, Instagram, and Facebook!
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Location and Parking
As stated before, Disney in California is not located in LA but in Anaheim specifically 1313 Disneyland Drive. We parked at the resort and it wasn’t bad for pricing as it was $45 for the entire day. However, I do want to warn you that it was a pretty long walk to the actually theme park. If I recall correctly, the park opened up at 8am but it did allow you to go in a bit earlier, nonetheless I would suggest downloading the Disney app as that is essential for when you go here because it will let you know the most up to date info in terms of operating hours and when you can get in que for certain rides.
Tickets and Pricing
You can usually find ticket deals via verified 3rd party sites such as Tickets at work. However, keep in mind you do need to make a reservation first via disneyland’s website before purchasing the ticket (that’s what we had to do, if there is a change let me know). If you were only going for one day like us, get the park hopper so you can enjoy both parks. It was $178 USD each which is a bit pricey but also worth it in my opinion. Something I highly recommend as well is to get the Disney Photopass for $20 which you can buy via the app. The photopass allows you to get your photo taken at special places all across the park by staff with professional cameras which is great, especially for families or groups.
Avengers Campus
The first thing we checked out was what I was excited for the most, Avengers campus! I believe it was still fairly new when we went but we went to explore and see a couple of things in this area. The first ride we did was the Guardians of Galaxy ride called Mission: Breakout. Let me tell you, regardless of what you think you are NOT READY for that drop! I literally flew up from my seat, it was intense, kind of scary, but fun. Therefore, I strongly suggest you make sure you can keep all your personal belonging secure. Also, you get to see some fun Marvel props and characters along the way such as Rocket. Also, there is usually a gift shop with exclusive stuff to that ride after you have gotten off.
The other popular ride there is called WEB Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure. I am not sure if it was because it was opened later in the morning due to some technical issues or because it was also fairly new, but the line up for this ride was really long. There a lot of cool little easter eggs you will see when waiting and heading to the ride itself including a special message from Peter Parker himself. In addition, you will see Marvel details on the building of this ride itself, so keep an eye out for that. The ride itself is not scary at all and great for everyone, even though I personally was not good at it. It felt similar to the final game at the Avengers Station in Toronto, but this was significantly better. Also, there are a lot of really cool WEB Slingers merch at the gift shop so browse around or shop through the app.
Throughout the area you will also see other fascinating Marvel things to explore and take pictures of such as the Avengers Campus itself, the jeep, and different character backgrounds/displays such as Black Panther Wakanda Forever, WandaVision, Captain America, and more. There was a nice Eternals display when I went as at that time that was the latest movie I believe and it had an interesting VR experience. While you are there, you might as well visit Pym’s Kitchen or the falafel cart but also be on the lookout for stands that sell special Avengers Campus merchandise. I got this zipup hoodie that is currently my favourite hoodie which is exclusive to Avengers Campus. Also don’t forget to visit the Avengers Mega Store as there is A LOT of Marvel collectibles, gear, toys, and more!
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
I was really excited about this and we were able to go near the end of the day (as you may have read in the Disney food review post). Unfortunately, we couldn’t go on one of the rides (Rise of the Resistance) because there was always such a long wait to join the que but thankfully we were able to go on the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run! It was really fun and you definitely feel like you’re flying the Millennium Falcon plus as you line up and wait, it feels like you are getting a mini tour. You do go in a group of 6 I believe and although it was awesome to be pilot like Chewy and Han, it was a bit stressful lol.
There are a lot of interesting things you can check out in this area and to me, it looked beautiful just to walk around, and to eat. I was initially interested in the lightsaber workshop but after asking a few questions, I was not interested at all because the customization is limited as you can’t really do much to make it more your lightsaber truly unique eg. engraving, colour, etc which is not worth the price in my opinion. However, there are a lot of cool shops where you can pick up nice Star Wars collectibles and souvenirs. However, I actually got a really nice Star Wars sweater (and saw some cool No Way Home merch) at the massive gift shop near Tomorrowland.
Tomorrowland
I ended up going here near the end of the day and it’s interesting because there is a Star Wars ride (kinda?) in this area called Star Tours, where you get to visit different settings in the iconic franchise. As mentioned above, they also have a really cool gift shop there as well. The other ride I went on in this area, which is actually my favourite, is space mountain! It was a bit of a wait but absolutely worth it and definitely lives up to the hype! Even though it was pitch black and you go really fast, it wasn’t scary at all! You feel like you’re in a space jump, plus with everyone else’s reaction, it was an absolute ball!
Pixar Pier
The Pixar Pier is where we went to near the beginning of the day and it was a great decision to do so. There we saw the most festive food available as well as some live performances for the holidays from singing to dancing. We did go on a few rides such as the Pixar Pal-A-Round, Incredicoaster, Toy Story Mania, Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind, and Ariel’s Under the Sea Adventure. These were cool to check out but I would say the most boring was the Little Mermaid ride but great for kids or for something to do after you ate. The Incredibles ride is a wild rollercoaster but I survived! I would recommend it to anyone who loves roller coasters but be mindful when getting out because I banged my knee when getting out. The Toy Story ride was fun and reminded me a bit of WEB Slingers in terms of the concept and gameplay. We did the Pal-A-Round with the swinging option and to be honest, it was a little worrying and can be a bit awkward depending on who is inside with you. The Inside Out ride was a kids ride but fun for all ages and not too much spinning.
Hollywood Land and Cars Land
We were only able to go to one ride in each area, in Hollywood Land we visited “Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!” which is a fun ride for all ages. It is slow paced but not too slow that it becomes boring. In Cars Land we went on the “Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree” which looks like a bumper cars ride but really you are just spinning around, still fun nonetheless. Also Soarin’ is also a chill but entertaining flight simulation that everyone can enjoy.
Adventure Land
The very last rides we were able to go on is the Jungle Cruise and the Indiana Jones Adventure. The Jungle Cruise is a really slow ride and wasn’t really something that stood out but maybe I had higher expectations. In terms of the Indiana Jones Adventure, I would say that it is the complete opposite where you did get to experience thrills and screams during the duration of this ride.
Holiday Lights
When I went it was the first day of December and I saw two beautiful festive light displays of the Disney Castles called “Wintertime Enchantment at Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle” and “It’s a small world: Holiday Lighting”. They featured beautiful lighting and animations so I would recommend you stay to watch the entire celebration when it is available. I might post the video I have of this but for now you can see some pics I took via the Instagram post above. As you can see, it wasn’t just the castle but also the trees around the park that get decorated nicely, and frankly it was nice to see the “snow” fall down at the end of the night.
Gift Shops
You can see so many gift shops and souvenir items all over featuring different products such as apparel to jewelry but the best one in my opinion is the Star Trader located at Tomorrowland. I mentioned it above but the reason why I think this is the best is because it has a lot of good selection of items and exclusive items I’ve never seen anywhere else including Star Wars, Marvel, and Disneyland merchandise. I remember my sister did get a nice matching sherpa sweatsuit that we didn’t see at any of the other stores and I know there were some exclusive spirit jerseys as well. I believe you can order from the app and you can also store it at the store while you browse around.
Overall
All in all, Disneyland in a day can be overwhelming because by the end of it I was tired and cold. However, I would say that you can definitely do a lot in a day and if possible, see what you can do by going for 2 days if your trip and budget permits that. It’s still a cool place to check out regardless of your age, and yes I wish the food can be better but they do have a lot of unique and fun rides which makes me curious about what they will introduce in the future. If you have gone, please let me know your thoughts in the comments below or on social media by following on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok ! Also stay tuned as I will be posting some videos and updating the blog with some more footage in the near future!
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