| The Disneyland Resort, located in
Anaheim, California, is made up of three parts: Disneyland Park, Disney's
California Adventure, and Downtown Disney. Disneyland Park is the main park,
featuring many rides and attractions for people of different ages. Disney's
California Adventure is another theme park, designed to be a condensation of
the entire state of California. Downtown Disney is a shopping and restaurant
district. Disneyland's rides are generally considered to be fun, or at least
well-done. California Adventure's rides are less popular, but still decent
(especially "Soarin' Over California"). Cast members (Disney term for
employee) in all sections of the park are very friendly and helpful. The
attention to detail throughout the parks is extraordinary. The two biggest
problems with the Disneyland Resort as a whole are crowds and price. The
parks are usually pretty crowded, especially during the summer, which leads
to long lines for the popular attractions. And everything about Disneyland
(at least at the two parks) is expensive: admission, souvenirs, and food,
both dining and at snack stands.
Get In
• Disneyland is within driving distance of a number of Southern
California airports.
• As with much of California, by car is probably the easiest way to
get to Disneyland from the surrounding area (or even San Diego, Las Vegas,
and Northern California).
• Local trains and buses are the cheapest ways to get to the
park. Metrolink's Anaheim station serves Disneyland. From 6:30am to
8:45am a free OCTA bus (route 430) will take you directly into Disneyland
from the station. That same bus will take you back to the station for free
from 3:30pm to 6:00pm. Other than these times line 50, which runs from Cal
State University Long Beach to the Orange Mall, services the station and
Disneyland every 20 minutes. Other OCTA routes that services the park but
not the station are the 43, which runs from La Habra to Downtown Newport
Beach every 15 minutes (although you will need to walk ten minutes to get to
the park for this route), and the 205 which goes from the Laguna Hills Mall
directly into the Disneyland Resort. The latter three routes cost $1.25 per
boarding. Greyhound offers service to the park and the City of Anaheim runs
a tourist bus service.
Dining
• The Blue Bayou is a sit-down restaurant located next to the
Pirates of the Caribbean attraction in New Orleans Square serves great food
in an atmosphere that is very romantic, especially if you get a seat next to
the water, where boats from the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction float
by. (The downside is that the restaurant is more expensive.) The Monte
Cristo sandwich is especially good.
• Redd Rockett's Pizza Port in Tomorrowland serves pizza, as well as
salads and varieties of pasta and is slightly less expensive than other food
offerings in the park.
• The Carnation Cafe is a sit-down restaurant located just north of
the Emporium on Main Street. The food is quite good and there are no
reservations required. It is an outdoor venue and affords a great view of
the parades and excellent people watching. This restaurant is moderately
expensive.
• The Bengal Barbeque
is a food stand located right across the Indiana Jones ride in
Adventureland. It serves chicken, steak and vegetable skewers that make for
a great snack. There is a very small sit-down area so be prepared to eat the
skewers standing up. The skewers run about $4.00. |
|

• Attractions
Get Around
Once in the park, everything it reachable by foot. Disneyland also has
pretty good access for wheelchairs and other mobility-assistance vehicles.
Outside of the park, a car is again the best way to get around, though many
of the hotels and restaurants are just across the street.
Lodging
The Disneyland property is home to a few hotels. Like the rest of
Disneyland, the hotels are very nice but cost a lot of money. There are
many, many hotels and motels in the local area of wildly varying cost and
quality. There are three official Disney hotels. They are the Disneyland
Hotel, Disney's Grand Californian Hotel, and Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel.
Links
• The Disneyland Report -
Disney News and Secrets |