February 5, 2025 • 43 mins
There’s just something special about Disneyland. From the moment you step onto Main Street, U.S.A., you can feel the history, the charm, and the unmistakable Disney magic. In this episode, We dive into just a few of the many reasons why Disneyland is so awesome—from its one-of-a-kind attractions and timeless nostalgia to the hidden details that make it the Happiest Place on Earth. We talk about what sets Disneyland apart from other Disney parks, our favorite must-do experiences, and why it continues to capture the hearts of Disney fans year after year. Whether you're a first-time visitor or a lifelong Disneyland devotee, this episode is a celebration of the park that started it all! 🎡✨
Tune in and share your favorite things about Disneyland with us!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello, the seatbelt check is around the corner. You actually were telling the truth
(00:04):
I do that quite a lot your people are always surprised welcome aboard
To those guests who've just joined us welcome
Hey everybody welcome back to escape to the magic podcast
(00:26):
We are your host of the show my name is Ryan and I am Dan and on this week's episode. We got a fun topic
We are talking about the eight reasons why we love
Disneyland
Yes, we've done this little series of the eight reasons why we love and we've done a few other locations
We're looping Disneyland all in together, which I could not be more excited about
(00:50):
Man, we've talked about this before you sold me on Disneyland
I was not a believer until I went and fell in love. Yeah, just Disneyland is an amazing park
Yeah, it's it's so great. There's so many reasons to love it and I was kind of the same way I
You know cut my teeth in the Disney world on
(01:12):
Or cut my teeth in the Disney realm at Disney World is what I'm trying to say
That was our first park loved it absolutely love going to Disney World and it always has fond memories
But man once I went to Disneyland a couple of times
I just caught that bug and I just love going to Disneyland now when was your first trip to Disneyland
(01:33):
So I believe it was right around
2018 or 2019
okay, I
had a work function being out in California and
My wife babby came along with me and we just kind of did Disneyland on our own funny story
Just a quick little funny story. So I was at my conference during the day and
(01:57):
She went to Disneyland on her own. She run she ran into the guys from Duck Dynasty. Remember that show? Oh, yeah
So she's Phil and I came from the guys, right?
So she's just sitting there and all of a sudden she looks over and there's the whole Duck Dynasty family
Chilling, so that was her first experience. She talked to one of the brothers. I can't remember which one anyways
(02:21):
so
That was a great experience and then we ended up going back one more time as a family to introduce our girls to it and all
Of us fell in love. We just it became kind of our family
Our new family park is Disneyland over Disney World. It's crazy. That's and you guys were
annual pasts olders for a while. Yeah, yeah
(02:41):
We loved it. So just kind of worked out to be a situation where we had bought some tickets
They got put on a hold and then by the time we could go back again
We still had active tickets just not used and so we were like well
If we just kind of pay an extra couple hundred bucks each we can get an annual pass and so we did that and
(03:06):
And it was great. Hey, so we started so we've been doing these guys trips for for a while now and
Obviously it was you who brought up the idea. Hey, let's do it Disneyland guy strips
I was at 20 like 20 21 or 20 20 things 2020 September of 2021. Yeah, it was post-covid
It was definitely post-covid
(03:27):
But yeah, I think it was 2021 and it's a three-day trip and man like like I said earlier
It I was hooked. Yeah, totally hooked on Disney on the whole Disneyland experience. So I want to thank you, Dak
You're and I have I have publicly apologized before because I was not a fan of
Even trying Disneyland. Yeah, it's hard right because you fall in love with your home park, which again
(03:51):
That's what I was trying to say earlier is Disney World was our home park
That's where our girls first started going to Disney and so I had a lot of
Sentimental value there and it's not like we don't still love Disney World if you said let's go to Disney World today
I'd be like my bags already packed. So
It's not like you don't love Disney World. It's just I
I I personally ranked Disneyland a little bit higher than I do Disney World and we'll we'll get into some of those reasons why well
(04:18):
Well, let's do it. All right
so reason number one
the history and its waltz like
That's to me. That's the biggest thing is you walk in that park knowing
This is where it all started right like won't
help design build
Put his personal fingerprint on you know a lot of this park obviously
(04:42):
There's been a lot of updates over the years and changes over the years
But this is his park and I you know when you say that I think of the iconic
You know his iconic opening monologue from the you know opening day at Disney to all who come to this happy place
Welcome. Yeah, you know, it's just it almost gets a little teary-eyed thinking about you know, hey, that's where yeah
(05:04):
Like you said, that's where Walt walked. That's where he he had the apartment above the firehouse. That's still there. Yeah, right, you know
And I you know when you watch the imaginary story on Disney Plus you get to see a lot of
his creative process that went into
Disneyland and really how much love and joy and
(05:25):
You just all of his emotions that went into
To getting Disneyland off the ground and and just making it what it is
Yeah, and just just to add to that, you know his creativity when I think about Disneyland
I think man, you know in today's world Disney has
billions of dollars to work with and design and
(05:46):
You know one of the cool things about the Disneyland story is just how limited his budget was
at the time crazy and just how creative they had to get to make it work, right and
develop and grow over the time and create sponsorships and they still do sponsorships and all that stuff, but I
(06:06):
Mean not to the even close to the level that they did starting out at Disneyland and so
It's just a testament to who he was and his tenacity to
Fulfill that dream of his of having this park. Yeah, I had a double check something
But do you remember how much it cost to build Disneyland?
(06:27):
Man, I want to say I
Can't remember off the top of my I want to say he had like a 15 million dollar budget or something like that
But that seems way too high. It was 17 million and I think I think he went over budget. Oh, he did
Yeah, so I don't think the original budget was 17. Yeah, that's what he ended up spending a believe. Yeah, so anyway, for sure
(06:47):
Yeah, what's touch? I love that dude
All right, should we go to number two? Yep. Yeah sleeping beauty castle. So again, this is just I
Mean for a Disney Worlder, I will say the first time you see the Disneyland castle coming from Disney World Forest
You're like
Where is it?
(07:08):
But I promise you it grows on you like it just becomes this charming little castle that
Is just magical, right? Like I don't know how else to describe it. Okay, so
Let me let me describe my my experience for the first time that I saw it again
(07:29):
Very similar to a lot of people's first time seeing the castle. It's
Where's the rest of it? Yeah, right? It is it is tiny. Yeah, like surprisingly tiny compared to Cinderella's castle for sure
And I would say too as a point of reference because when you're at Magic Kingdom in Florida
You you use the castle as kind of a reference point because you can see it from all areas of the park
(07:51):
Not the case at Disneyland you get off away from the castle and you can get lost
Totally disoriented because you're like wait a minute. I need the castle to kind of orient myself and fix myself back on the center on the hub
It's hard to do. Yeah at Disneyland, but it is charming, you know, it's it's obviously like again
(08:12):
It's the castle that Walt built, you know, and I love the fact that there is actually an attraction in the castle
Which is the story of Sleeping Beauty as a what kind of a walkthrough? Yeah experience which that you don't have that at
Cinderella's castle. No, I would say that's a huge advantage that the Disneyland
Sleeping Beauty's castle has over Cinderella's castle is that you actually get to do that walk through and experience being in the castle
(08:38):
at Cinderella's castle in Florida
You're kind of limited to do I have a dining reservation there at Cinderella's Royal Table
Or do I have a Bibbidi-Babdi-Boo boutique reservation and that's about it unless you're one of those lucky people that when
Win the the trip to spend the night in Cinderella's castle
(08:58):
This is as close as we're ever gonna get to staying in the in that suite. Yeah, right now
But no absolutely love the and I love the overlays they still do you know when you get there at Christmas time there?
you know hanging the snow caps on it and
Making it just look beautiful. So while it's small it's charming and and
(09:21):
Has personality in my opinion. No, and that's true. I guess I mean again
I think when you go to Disneyland for the first time and we talk about this all the time on the show
You have to manage expectations the expectation needs to be that it's going to be unlike any other castle that that Disney has
Constructed at any of their parks. It is the smallest castle, but again, it's the first castle
(09:43):
It's the it's a charming castle. It's it's got great history
It's got a great story behind it and you just enjoy for what it is. No, absolutely. All right number three
Attraction variety and uniqueness. So I think this is one of the most charming things about or
One of the most things that I love about
(10:03):
Disneyland is you just get such a unique experience with different ride attractions that don't always show up in other parks
So for example the Matterhorn Indiana Jones Adventure
Roger Rabbit's cartoon spin. These are just some of the unique rides you get to get on at Disneyland
That don't seem to be anywhere else in the parks across
(10:26):
the globe true and you know when you said Matterhorn my back immediately started to hurt
You know, I had heard stories about about the Matterhorn and about the pain
That it can cause you and that you know again on our trip there
So actually our first guy's trip the Matterhorn was down. I didn't get to do it until
(10:47):
I did a trip with my brother and okay his wife and my wife Holly and
sure enough
Matterhorn was one of the worst experiences of my life. Yeah, like literally I could not lean back against the seat because the
Vibrations of the coaster were so strong that it was causing pain
so but once I once I sat up a little bit it became tolerable and
(11:10):
You know, I remember that attraction though and this was one of the things I do remember growing up and again
I'd never been to Disneyland growing up, but I do remember
the
Like the repellers the the Mountaineers. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that would repel down from from the mountain
That was kind of one of Disney's advertising
Yeah, you know when they put out a TV commercial in the 80s
(11:32):
Hey, you know check out these these Mountaineers that are climbing down the the Matterhorn and that's actually that that's referenced on the
Imagining story as well for sure. That's and I don't know why they don't do that anymore. Is that a safety thing? I don't know
Yeah, I think um, I think that's a great and then they used to have the skyliner that would go through it as well
So that's right those old bucket
(11:54):
skyliner
rides would go right through it, but
Um, man, I I think the other thing that I really love is just how different
some of the attractions are at the parks right even on the
Well, I can ride pirates at you know, Disney World or some of the other parks as well. It's just
(12:15):
Each park has its own little unique spin. I love the pirates at Disneyland
There's a couple more drop or there's another drop. There's you know, just
Well, it's also longer. It's yeah, it's longer. What would we say like four to five minutes longer than the Disney World?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think so just just great and then same thing with Space Mountain
(12:36):
Just a little twist or uniqueness to it. That's different than the original Space Mountain at Disney World
Right Disney World you you ride, you know all in a row whereas Disneyland your side-by-side
I love it. Yes, it makes the Space Mountain attraction more
Uh, I mean, I'm not gonna lie. Disney World Space Mountain
Can be a little scary. I mean even though it doesn't even go that fast. Yeah, right?
(12:59):
But just because you're sitting single file in the in the cart
Makes it seem like you're you're kind of all alone, right? But yeah, the the Disneyland version you sit side by side
It doesn't feel as rough
Um, and it's it's a small world
Yeah, like that. Okay, again
I think on our last episode we bashed it's a small world
(13:20):
I think so. Yeah at Disney World, right?
But the one at Disneyland, I tell you it is
Like it's this huge. They have this huge facade again
They go into the history of it on the imaginary story like how they you know design this clock
You know for it
Um, the lighting scheme especially around the holiday season when they when they had it up for Christmas
(13:44):
I'm telling you. Um, they do the um the show
As well the projections off of it because it's that big it's
Again, we talked. Yeah, I think it was our last episode. We kind of talked about rides that we might be okay with
They got a rid of and I may have said it's a small world
But I would say I would say the Disneyland version
is such an iconic attraction. Yeah, and
(14:07):
Just everything just the construction of it the lighting
The history behind it again
It's Walt wrote it himself
Yeah, you know, there's video of him in the boat with little children doing it's a small world
It's like, okay. This is an attraction that has stood the test of time and will continue to stay in the test of time
Forever. Yeah, right for sure. So
(14:30):
Um, hey, I like that reason number three. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Let's keep going reason number four. We love Disneyland is its superior food
So I think some people are gonna argue that
What's that? Okay, continue continue
You know Disney world has some amazing options. We talked about this on our on our
(14:52):
Best park episode where we kind of drafted and ranked each park according to its food its attractions
Its convenience all those things can't remember which episode that was but
One of the things that you and Randy agreed on is that Epcot has the best food on it
So what you agreed on is that Epcot has the best food options
(15:14):
I argued that Disneyland has the best food options. I think you can't go wrong either way. True. I'm not gonna
kick you out for
Forcing me to go to Epcot to eat one day
But I just think Disneyland brings
some amazing food options to you and they have some great restaurants that you can kind of
(15:34):
You know enjoy some of the food there
so
just for example
Uh
Disneyland they have this is one of my favorite places to stop and take a break the tropical hideaway
This is where you can get multiple dole whip flavors
You sit down you got the
tropical
Jungle cruise music playing in the background and this isn't this where Randy likes his uh, oh gosh. Yeah, what barbecue flavor dole whip?
(16:01):
No, no, it's not barbecue. It's uh like the cante flavor. Yes kind of spicy. Yeah, they they all the time they're offering different
versions of the dole whip as seasonal dole whips man. It's just it's great, right? You get
You can get different raspberry and
You know, whatever pineapple swirl just good dole whips there
(16:22):
um
man, I know I know you're a big fan of
cafe or leans and again you turn me on to that
Monte Cristo sandwich which I had never had before and I remember again
Storytime the first time we went you're like, I think we can I think this is big enough to share
So we I think we I think between you me and Randy we split to yeah
(16:45):
to Monte Cristo sandwiches
And I remember thinking bro. I could have housed that myself. Yeah, and I was furious that you're like
No, no, we got to share this. I'm like bro. So every time I've gone back since then I'm like I made sure
I get my own Monte Cristo sandwich and the fries
Uh with that special seasoning and then they come out with the dipping sauces
(17:05):
Man that and it's it's like it's actually reasonably priced too. Yeah, it's not an expensive meal
You know, so that is yeah Monte Cristo. I would say it was one of my most favorite meals
anywhere
At Disney World or Disney? It's like it's it's just up there. Yeah, so man. I'll tell you another place. I love for
Snacks, I'm a big I love to get the snacks. I'd almost rather have snacks all day than than meals, right?
(17:31):
I love the Jolly holiday
Like just there's just some great snack offerings in there and it's seasonal, right? So they're switching out they have
similar to what you have in
La Halls La Als in France in Epcot. They have this raspberry tart macaroon at Jolly holiday
So good. Mmm. Man. So good. And so
(17:56):
Yeah, I just think Disneyland has some great food offerings any others that like jump well, you know, and I think
Well, the one of the obvious ones is that
People always say that the Disneyland churro is better
I can't taste the difference, but you know, they they say it's because of the
What is it lack of humidity that's what they say that they they produce a better churro? I can't tell the difference
(18:23):
I like churros
at both parks, but
Um, I would say this though because we have had we've done the lamp light lounge. No, no, no, that's a California venture
Yeah, scratch that scratch that. Yeah, I'll tell you one that uh, I almost forgot about that
I need to mention is you go over to the mint Jula just outside of tianas and the haunted mansion
(18:45):
Get yourself some Mickey binye's
And that's another one. They'll do seasonal flavorings on the binye so you can get a gingerbread
Uh, toppings, you know sugary topping on the binye
Of course the standard powdered sugar binye for those of you who aren't from the south a binye is like a fried
(19:06):
Doughnut, but it's not a donut consistency. It's
Yeah, I mean a fried doughnut is probably the best way to describe it, but it's not a doughnut. Yeah
Um, christmas time you can get a peppermint. That's so good
So and and just a mint julep itself. So a mint julep is kind of like a
Tangy
(19:28):
I don't know how to describe it. I'm not a fan of the mint julep. Oh really? Yeah, man
I don't like mint
It's like a minty lemonade. I don't know how else to describe it other than that
Uh, but it's just good. It's just pure goodness right there
Like you got powdered sugar all over your face and you're sitting there and you're on the the rivers
(19:49):
And you got tianas behind you you can hear the haunted mansion ahead of you
And you got the you know boat going around the rivers. It's just that's heaven right there
I get that's as close as you're gonna get to heaven. Well, and that and that reminds me and maybe I should have talked about this on
Our reason number three attraction variety and uniqueness. I love just the whole area
(20:11):
The new orlin square area like that is such a unique part of
disneyland with
parts of the caribbean with
um
tianas with
Cafe orleans with blue bayou with the the shopping that they have there. It's like all this quaint
(20:31):
kind of new orlin style
Look like a miniature shopping district. It's just really charming. Yeah, just that entire area over there. So no, I totally agree and I think they
Man, I think what's cool is not to get too far off topic on this
um
But even as you go through there in different places throughout disneyland, I love how the imagineers use authentic looking
(20:57):
I mean, they're really trying to engulf you in the story there of being oh, yeah in new orlean square or in
you know
To give some disney world love in liberty square, right? Like they're using
Real history real background information and they're building the story around
Things as they actually were and so I I love that and there is a there is the club 33 access. Yes, right there in the square
(21:21):
so
All right, we're in number five. It is compact and has a walkable layout
This is this. I think this is this reason is
This is I think this is where disneyland has a leg up on disney world
So the the ability to walk from disneyland to downtown disney to california adventure
(21:46):
And back and forth without having to get in your car without having to hop on a monorail without having to take a bus
Is it is such a huge advantage?
No, I I couldn't agree with you more. I think this is probably one of my top two or three reasons
Why I love disneyland so much
It is so manageable. In fact, if I have people
(22:08):
Call me or text me and they're like, hey, we're thinking about doing a disney trip
What do you suggest california or florida?
A lot of first timers. I want to send them to disneyland because it's so manageable
I mean even like now what's a little crazy about disneyland if you've been to disneyworld first is that once you step off property
(22:30):
You're back in the real world
Whereas the disney bubble of disneyworld expands out, right? Like
but what I will say is even
As you're there at disneyland your hotels all around the parks are very accessible
You're totally within walking distance
To get into the parks from your hotels now, of course, obviously you can you know stay
(22:55):
further away, but
I think there's all reasonably priced hotels
Very close to disneyland that are very walkable and just
And we love so we love staying at the disneyland hotel the actual disneyland hotel
So you're still on property
Man, I just that
(23:17):
If this was my own personal list that would be its own number. It's the disneyland hotel
I just love that hotel for the charm and the history and the nostalgia
That is there at the disneyland hotel, but at least for this reason of it being compact and walkable
It's so nice to be within walking distance
(23:37):
Of the parks. Yeah, every time that I've gone we've stayed off
Stayed off property, but within walking distance. I don't think we've stayed more than maybe half a mile away
And because the weather is so fantastic there you can you can leave your hotel at
738
Walk to the parks, you know, it's a 20 minute walk and you're not sweating when you get there, right?
(23:58):
Right, but you couldn't do that in florida. Yeah, you know in the summertime. Yeah, even from the contemporary or to the
You know magic kingdom, you're like, okay, here we go. Yeah, the sweat's going
I think also what is nice about
um, now I've never done the research on this but I've heard it from several different sources and that is that
(24:20):
Disneyland
Proper if you will so that and disney california adventure have as many attractions
as disney world
I find that hard to believe
but
I've heard it from multiple different sources
So what that tells me is that if each park and i'm just going to throw out a random number
(24:42):
I'm not saying this is the number but if each of those two parks disney world disneyland have 50 attractions
the compactness of disneyland
In that you can hit multiple attractions boom boom boom boom. They're just right on top of each other
Makes the parks very walkable and very enjoyable to be able to just go through the parks and go right from pirates and you take like
(25:07):
You know 100 steps and you're right next to jungle cruise or you're right next to indiana jones and they're just
Really, I mean indiana jones and jungle cruise are like literally right next to each other
Yeah, well, you know and one of the things that wall. I mean, let's be honest. That was one of wall's complaints
about disneyland, uh, you know when he built the park
You know all these developers gobbled up the real estate outside of disneyland, right? So he he was kind of confined into this area
(25:32):
When he went to disney world, he bought what was it? What 47 square miles of property? Everything is laid out differently
Right, it's just it's just it's just a different way of living
It's just a different way of living so
um
But yeah, you're right. I mean it's like
easily I think because of the walkability
When we go out there, it's like we do three days, but
(25:56):
Usually you can get everything done in about two and a half because you're not having to waste time
You know park hopping because park hopping at disney world takes
Again, this is kind of the dilemma that we're having right now with my own trip
That's come up here in in about a month and a half is like
Like it's a two-day park hopper. Yes. Yeah, like okay, but if you're park hopping from
magic kingdom to
(26:17):
Hollywood studios
That's probably a good 45 minutes to an hour. Yeah, right. It's a big difference just to get from one to the other
If you're park hopping from disneyland to california venture
That's 20 minutes. Yeah tops. Yeah, right. So just just a different
Just just different. Yeah. Yeah. No, I totally agree and I think it's one of those things where
(26:37):
Um
I don't know obviously this was not by design, but I think it's one of those things where you almost have to get a park hopper
When you go to disneyland because it's just so daggum convenient
To go over to the next park like it's it becomes so much of a no-brainer that you're like, well, yeah
We have to get a hopper like yeah, it just becomes part of your ticket price. Yeah pro tip get the park hopper when you get a
(27:02):
Disneyland absolute. Yeah, absolute. All right moving on. Let's go to number six
Best versions of the iconic rides
So you put this one together. What do you mean by that best versions of some of these iconic
Iconic rides. Yeah. Well, we kind of hit on earlier like for example like pirates of the caribbean, right?
(27:24):
It's longer. It's you have the extra drop
A space mountain
I think space mountain at disneyland probably is a little bit better because
it's the side by side
and you get
The overlay you get the hyperspace mountain, right?
Over at the haunted mansion you get the haunted mansion overlay for halloween, which they do not
(27:45):
I don't know why they don't do it at disney world
Yeah, I've heard different excuses. I don't like it's like they are to me like you guys are you know
So six hours apart by by air like but you know, you're a second apart by email like
How about the people at disneyland just send over the plans to disney world?
Okay, this is how you this is how you do the haunted mansion overlay, right?
(28:07):
This is how you do hyperspace mountain like I just to me. It just makes sense. I don't know why they don't do that
No, I think you're right. I think that's to me again. So I said food is one of the
Or the compactness is one of the top two or three. This is again in that top two or three reasons why I love disneyland
I love the overlays like I cannot get enough of them
(28:28):
I will specifically plan trips around times where I know they're doing the overlays you brought up earlier
Uh, the christmas overlay that they put on
Um, it's a small world. Love it. There's just so many lights and they do the projection mapping on the side of the building
I love nightmare before christmas overlay at hollywood or at haunted mansion
(28:51):
during the holidays
Um, I just can't get enough of it. I I absolutely love it. I would say the other thing
Kind of going back. We miss this on the compact version of it is that when disney does holidays
it is like
Overload holidays, right like they're because it's so
So tied together and all these rides are so close. It just seems like the decorations are on
(29:16):
You know hyperdrive because they're just
Everywhere everywhere whereas, you know, again, some of the other parks because they're so spread out
It just doesn't feel like it's so much in your face
Which I love the in your face when it comes to halloween and christmas and some of these holiday overlays that they do
So I'm I'm all on and I think too because disneyland still has
(29:37):
Some of those iconic like mr. Toad's wild ride. Yes. Um, that they got rid of a disney world
Yeah, like there's just some attractions there at disneyland that
You know, and maybe this is kind of bleeds into the number seven region with reason, which is the nostalgia factor, right?
There's still a lot of things at disneyland that
(29:59):
I mean, it's been there since
The park opened
right
Yeah, no, I I totally agree and I think you feel that
Again, this these are all starting to blend together, right? So you go into fantasy land at disneyland
And not only is it compact. What do they have there like probably
six to seven different rides from
(30:22):
storybook canal to dumbo to
mr. Toad's
you know
Peter Pan's flight
Pinocchio snow white all those are right there in that small little compact area
And they're all those old nostalgic childhood memory
Attractions right dumbo Peter Pan snow white Pinocchio
(30:45):
All these things if you grew up on these cartoons, they're all right there
And you just you know boom boom boom boom boom just go right in order to them and get to them
Plus the carousels right in the middle of all that
So here so here's a pro tip when they do the firework show there
So back it and in this area. So we're talking about fantasy land right behind the castle
What they will do is that once the firework show is over
(31:08):
They actually will have they have that entire section roped off for about 30 to 45 minutes, right?
They're letting the fireworks kind of settle down. They're kind of washing down all of the concrete there. Yeah making sure it's safe, right?
Well, you start forming the line. They have a little section that you can line up and we did this
Uh on our couples trip
Man, it was awesome. Like we hit all of these attractions. Mr. Toads Peter Pan snow white Pinocchio
(31:35):
in about
15 20 minutes totally awesome because nobody was back there. Yeah after the firework show
So pro tip if you want to do fantasy land do it after the firework show. Yeah
I think one more thing on the nostalgia factor is
for me
Uh, I think disneyland
(31:57):
And I mentioned this before disneyland hotel
They have this like retro 50s 60s vibe
Even disneyland there's some there's sometimes where you feel like it's just like
Man, I can still see this as its original glory
Park right and definitely you see that at the hotel the hotel is all in that
(32:20):
You know 60s 50s deco, you know kind of vibe to it and man, I just
For me personally, I love it. Like I just love that
feel of like because
For whatever reason, I mean, I'm not a kid of the 50s or 60s. I'm not that old yet, but
(32:40):
You know going to grandma's house or going to whatever and seeing that old vibe
It just for whatever reason hits me in the memories of like that nostalgic feeling like
The old wooden
You know tv stand and the yeah, and you know, I think this maybe this is a little cynical
I don't I feel like nostalgia is becoming
(33:03):
Maybe a thing of the past. Yeah
Because you know, we grew up we're products of the 80s
I would say, you know grew up in the 80s early 90s a kind of our formidable youth in
In teenage years, right?
When I mean again our generation we always talk about how life was a little more simple back then right played outside till dark
right no internet like
(33:24):
Didn't have cable television. We had to entertain ourselves and I think when you do that
You you just naturally create
These types of memories, right and maybe that's something that's not happening. I'm asking with my own kids like
You know, they're all connected. You know, and there's nothing wrong with that
You know, I just wonder though if that
nostalgia of
(33:45):
You know creating memories
is becoming
Less and less that could be totally wrong
This might be a part of the podcast that we just added out because it's not making any sense
But we're talking about the nostalgia factor, right and you know, I just I just I guess I guess here's the thing
I hope that
You know when you go like you said when you go to disneyland or disney world
But we're talking about disneyland that you do get a sense of the nostalgia. Yeah that that is there
(34:10):
No, for sure. It reminds me of uh
This is so crazy. It reminds me of uh
Lanfume's christmas vacation where he gets caught up in the attic and he turns on the old like projection
Show of him having this nostalgic christmas moment from 1955
And he's like tearing up that's kind of how I feel at disneyland and at the disneyland hotel is i'm just like
(34:33):
Oh man, this is like old school
You know just family
gatherings and just you know, you always remember the happy
moments of those old christmases you used to have at grandma and grandpa's or you know, whatever
So anyways, that's the nostalgia that I feel for whatever reason
uh, which
(34:53):
There's no
Reason to connect that to disneyland other than for it just hits that button. It just does. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah
All right. Number eight. This is our last one
The magic after dark
So I don't think this is unique to disneyland
But it sure is magical at disneyland and what I mean by that is like you go to magic kingdom
(35:15):
At night and we've talked about this before you're on main street and the lights
And this is the same at disneyland the lights have that like softer
glow to them
And it just becomes
Absolutely magical the trees all have those like soft
pulsating
You know flicker to them like the old time
(35:38):
Old time christmas lights, right? And it's just they almost look like fireflies that are kind of you know going off
It just becomes such a magical
feeling
um
Go ahead. No, you know, you hit the nail in the head. It's like this is not unique to disneyland
But I think it's important to note that
(35:59):
you're you know
Like for example, you're a lover of disney world and you're going to disneyland for the first time like I did a couple years ago
Like you expect that nighttime
to be
Equally magical and you and you 100% get to experience that at disneyland like it's still magical
Like you said the flickering lights the ambiance the music everything that goes on that you that you find the disney world
(36:22):
You're gonna find the disneyland, right? Do you have happily ever after? No
Nobody does that's disney world, right? We're not talking about disneyland
Like fantasmica is fantastic. They do a firework show. I will say during the
When was it the oogie boogie bash? Yeah
Uh, when we were there whenever it was september of 2021 20 anyway, um, I thought the castle show
(36:46):
During the oogie boogie bash was fantastic. Yeah, it was so good
So I think that that's one thing that again is kind of unique to disneyland and this speaks to
You know, whatever our number was number five of it being compact
You know for a nighttime show you kind of get the best of both worlds
(37:07):
So you head over to frontier land and new orleans square you get to see phantasmic there on the river
And then immediately after that is typically when they have the castle show for
You know, whatever it is they're showing that night
I love that now it could be a little not it could be a little crowded
It could be very crowded there and it could make it a little bit harder to navigate your way back over to main street in the castle
(37:32):
But to be able to get two shows for one and it's it's pretty sweet. Yeah, it's sweet
Um, so I love that, you know, one thing is you were talking there that I think we haven't hit on
That I particularly love at night in in disneyland is the weather
So, oh, yeah
You know, here's the thing florida is hot. I mean you can be there in
(37:57):
November december january and it can still be 80 degrees easily and so
Going to california and the weather that they have out there. I mean they call it sunny california for a reason
but I think even more so than that than that
is
When you're there on a cool september night or october night
(38:18):
And you've been in the parks all day and you're like walking around and the sun goes down and the weather just really cools off
You're like, oh, I might need a little jacket here
That's the best like you and I have this little thing we say to each other
You know, whenever the weather is really good here in texas. We're like, oh, it's a disney day, right?
Like that's our little joke between it is
(38:40):
Because there's just something about being at disney
When it's a little bit cool
There's a little bit of a crispness to the air and it just feels like okay
It's gonna be a good day the sun is shining
But it's still cool outside and kind of you know, you're like, um and I might put on a little bit of a long sleeve shirt or something
(39:00):
Like that and just go enjoy this day put some sunglasses on and there's nothing better
Well, because weather plays such a huge part in our lives on a day-to-day basis no matter where you live, right?
but
I think to your point. I think this is what I what I'm hearing is like
Southern California disneyland
You don't really have to factor in the weather into your plans. You're not worried about
(39:23):
Bringing an umbrella or bringing crocs or bringing an extra pair of socks because it's gonna rain or
You know, I'm gonna sweat through my clothing by one o'clock in florida. I might need to bring an extra t-shirt
Like that's just something that's eliminated and you just get to enjoy
Everything else because the weather is taken care of yeah, so yeah, I mean like it's not
(39:44):
Eternal bliss, right? Obviously there's hot days. There's true. It rains, you know that sort of thing but overall I would say
95% of the time it's gonna be just
Perfect like just so perfect and so
For me, that's you know, that kind of wraps up my number eight reason is I just love
(40:05):
Disneyland at night and the crispness of the air
the
You know the glow of the lights. It's just man. It's just a fun place to be
At night time. So I think the whole point of the show today has been
Go to disneyland if you've never been again. I I am speaking from personal experience
(40:26):
I I was the naysayer. I was the doubter for such a long time and I went and
I would say it's it was it was not only was it a great decision, but I've gone back twice
I've I've not done three trips to disneyland
since
2021 2022 and we will continue to go because it is
(40:47):
That great of a park. You think you'll take your girls 100%? Yeah. Yeah, we want to because it like I mean
There's so many differences between the two parks. Yeah, like
100% I mean
Yeah, and we didn't even talk about california. We'll we'll do an episode about california adventure, but
Yeah, I just think
(41:08):
You know, definitely want to get the girls out there and have them experience
Like this again, like I don't want to get emotional like this is waltz park. Yeah, you know
Like this is the park that he built. This is the park that he he walked down the streets. He
Sat up in his apartment and would overlook the people coming in totally like that's that's special, you know
(41:29):
No, I agree and I think you know, I think
A testament to it is everybody compares like in what I'm saying is
In the amusement park world, I think everybody holds disneyland as the standard, right? Oh, they are like
Yeah, yeah, I mean, uh, I think that that's the standard by which everybody says, okay
(41:52):
How do we measure up to this right and so
To me again just to kind of maybe bring everything full circle. I think that's what really
Sets the standard is is disneyland saying, okay, this is how we're doing our park. We're clean. We're
organized we're you know
(42:13):
Walkable it's all these things all these different things we talked about that I think the entertainment amusement park world says, okay
How do we make our park?
Maybe we don't want to be a carbon copy of disneyland, but we want to figure out how to be
As enjoyable as what disneyland offers to a lot of people. Yeah and other parks are still trying to catch up for sure for sure
(42:36):
so
Well, hey man, this was a fun episode. Yeah, you know, it's uh, it's always fun to talk about disney
So hey guys, thanks for listening today. Uh, listen, we are on social media find us at
at escape to the magic
Facebook tick tock instagram
Instagram, um looking forward to coming back next week with a brand new episode. Absolutely. Thanks everyone later
Hello, the seatbelt check is around the corner. You actually were telling the truth
(00:04):
I do that quite a lot your people are always surprised welcome aboard
To those guests who've just joined us welcome
Hey everybody welcome back to escape to the magic podcast
(00:26):
We are your host of the show my name is Ryan and I am Dan and on this week's episode. We got a fun topic
We are talking about the eight reasons why we love
Disneyland
Yes, we've done this little series of the eight reasons why we love and we've done a few other locations
We're looping Disneyland all in together, which I could not be more excited about
(00:50):
Man, we've talked about this before you sold me on Disneyland
I was not a believer until I went and fell in love. Yeah, just Disneyland is an amazing park
Yeah, it's it's so great. There's so many reasons to love it and I was kind of the same way I
You know cut my teeth in the Disney world on
(01:12):
Or cut my teeth in the Disney realm at Disney World is what I'm trying to say
That was our first park loved it absolutely love going to Disney World and it always has fond memories
But man once I went to Disneyland a couple of times
I just caught that bug and I just love going to Disneyland now when was your first trip to Disneyland
(01:33):
So I believe it was right around
2018 or 2019
okay, I
had a work function being out in California and
My wife babby came along with me and we just kind of did Disneyland on our own funny story
Just a quick little funny story. So I was at my conference during the day and
(01:57):
She went to Disneyland on her own. She run she ran into the guys from Duck Dynasty. Remember that show? Oh, yeah
So she's Phil and I came from the guys, right?
So she's just sitting there and all of a sudden she looks over and there's the whole Duck Dynasty family
Chilling, so that was her first experience. She talked to one of the brothers. I can't remember which one anyways
(02:21):
so
That was a great experience and then we ended up going back one more time as a family to introduce our girls to it and all
Of us fell in love. We just it became kind of our family
Our new family park is Disneyland over Disney World. It's crazy. That's and you guys were
annual pasts olders for a while. Yeah, yeah
(02:41):
We loved it. So just kind of worked out to be a situation where we had bought some tickets
They got put on a hold and then by the time we could go back again
We still had active tickets just not used and so we were like well
If we just kind of pay an extra couple hundred bucks each we can get an annual pass and so we did that and
(03:06):
And it was great. Hey, so we started so we've been doing these guys trips for for a while now and
Obviously it was you who brought up the idea. Hey, let's do it Disneyland guy strips
I was at 20 like 20 21 or 20 20 things 2020 September of 2021. Yeah, it was post-covid
It was definitely post-covid
(03:27):
But yeah, I think it was 2021 and it's a three-day trip and man like like I said earlier
It I was hooked. Yeah, totally hooked on Disney on the whole Disneyland experience. So I want to thank you, Dak
You're and I have I have publicly apologized before because I was not a fan of
Even trying Disneyland. Yeah, it's hard right because you fall in love with your home park, which again
(03:51):
That's what I was trying to say earlier is Disney World was our home park
That's where our girls first started going to Disney and so I had a lot of
Sentimental value there and it's not like we don't still love Disney World if you said let's go to Disney World today
I'd be like my bags already packed. So
It's not like you don't love Disney World. It's just I
I I personally ranked Disneyland a little bit higher than I do Disney World and we'll we'll get into some of those reasons why well
(04:18):
Well, let's do it. All right
so reason number one
the history and its waltz like
That's to me. That's the biggest thing is you walk in that park knowing
This is where it all started right like won't
help design build
Put his personal fingerprint on you know a lot of this park obviously
(04:42):
There's been a lot of updates over the years and changes over the years
But this is his park and I you know when you say that I think of the iconic
You know his iconic opening monologue from the you know opening day at Disney to all who come to this happy place
Welcome. Yeah, you know, it's just it almost gets a little teary-eyed thinking about you know, hey, that's where yeah
(05:04):
Like you said, that's where Walt walked. That's where he he had the apartment above the firehouse. That's still there. Yeah, right, you know
And I you know when you watch the imaginary story on Disney Plus you get to see a lot of
his creative process that went into
Disneyland and really how much love and joy and
(05:25):
You just all of his emotions that went into
To getting Disneyland off the ground and and just making it what it is
Yeah, and just just to add to that, you know his creativity when I think about Disneyland
I think man, you know in today's world Disney has
billions of dollars to work with and design and
(05:46):
You know one of the cool things about the Disneyland story is just how limited his budget was
at the time crazy and just how creative they had to get to make it work, right and
develop and grow over the time and create sponsorships and they still do sponsorships and all that stuff, but I
(06:06):
Mean not to the even close to the level that they did starting out at Disneyland and so
It's just a testament to who he was and his tenacity to
Fulfill that dream of his of having this park. Yeah, I had a double check something
But do you remember how much it cost to build Disneyland?
(06:27):
Man, I want to say I
Can't remember off the top of my I want to say he had like a 15 million dollar budget or something like that
But that seems way too high. It was 17 million and I think I think he went over budget. Oh, he did
Yeah, so I don't think the original budget was 17. Yeah, that's what he ended up spending a believe. Yeah, so anyway, for sure
(06:47):
Yeah, what's touch? I love that dude
All right, should we go to number two? Yep. Yeah sleeping beauty castle. So again, this is just I
Mean for a Disney Worlder, I will say the first time you see the Disneyland castle coming from Disney World Forest
You're like
Where is it?
(07:08):
But I promise you it grows on you like it just becomes this charming little castle that
Is just magical, right? Like I don't know how else to describe it. Okay, so
Let me let me describe my my experience for the first time that I saw it again
(07:29):
Very similar to a lot of people's first time seeing the castle. It's
Where's the rest of it? Yeah, right? It is it is tiny. Yeah, like surprisingly tiny compared to Cinderella's castle for sure
And I would say too as a point of reference because when you're at Magic Kingdom in Florida
You you use the castle as kind of a reference point because you can see it from all areas of the park
(07:51):
Not the case at Disneyland you get off away from the castle and you can get lost
Totally disoriented because you're like wait a minute. I need the castle to kind of orient myself and fix myself back on the center on the hub
It's hard to do. Yeah at Disneyland, but it is charming, you know, it's it's obviously like again
(08:12):
It's the castle that Walt built, you know, and I love the fact that there is actually an attraction in the castle
Which is the story of Sleeping Beauty as a what kind of a walkthrough? Yeah experience which that you don't have that at
Cinderella's castle. No, I would say that's a huge advantage that the Disneyland
Sleeping Beauty's castle has over Cinderella's castle is that you actually get to do that walk through and experience being in the castle
(08:38):
at Cinderella's castle in Florida
You're kind of limited to do I have a dining reservation there at Cinderella's Royal Table
Or do I have a Bibbidi-Babdi-Boo boutique reservation and that's about it unless you're one of those lucky people that when
Win the the trip to spend the night in Cinderella's castle
(08:58):
This is as close as we're ever gonna get to staying in the in that suite. Yeah, right now
But no absolutely love the and I love the overlays they still do you know when you get there at Christmas time there?
you know hanging the snow caps on it and
Making it just look beautiful. So while it's small it's charming and and
(09:21):
Has personality in my opinion. No, and that's true. I guess I mean again
I think when you go to Disneyland for the first time and we talk about this all the time on the show
You have to manage expectations the expectation needs to be that it's going to be unlike any other castle that that Disney has
Constructed at any of their parks. It is the smallest castle, but again, it's the first castle
(09:43):
It's the it's a charming castle. It's it's got great history
It's got a great story behind it and you just enjoy for what it is. No, absolutely. All right number three
Attraction variety and uniqueness. So I think this is one of the most charming things about or
One of the most things that I love about
(10:03):
Disneyland is you just get such a unique experience with different ride attractions that don't always show up in other parks
So for example the Matterhorn Indiana Jones Adventure
Roger Rabbit's cartoon spin. These are just some of the unique rides you get to get on at Disneyland
That don't seem to be anywhere else in the parks across
(10:26):
the globe true and you know when you said Matterhorn my back immediately started to hurt
You know, I had heard stories about about the Matterhorn and about the pain
That it can cause you and that you know again on our trip there
So actually our first guy's trip the Matterhorn was down. I didn't get to do it until
(10:47):
I did a trip with my brother and okay his wife and my wife Holly and
sure enough
Matterhorn was one of the worst experiences of my life. Yeah, like literally I could not lean back against the seat because the
Vibrations of the coaster were so strong that it was causing pain
so but once I once I sat up a little bit it became tolerable and
(11:10):
You know, I remember that attraction though and this was one of the things I do remember growing up and again
I'd never been to Disneyland growing up, but I do remember
the
Like the repellers the the Mountaineers. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that would repel down from from the mountain
That was kind of one of Disney's advertising
Yeah, you know when they put out a TV commercial in the 80s
(11:32):
Hey, you know check out these these Mountaineers that are climbing down the the Matterhorn and that's actually that that's referenced on the
Imagining story as well for sure. That's and I don't know why they don't do that anymore. Is that a safety thing? I don't know
Yeah, I think um, I think that's a great and then they used to have the skyliner that would go through it as well
So that's right those old bucket
(11:54):
skyliner
rides would go right through it, but
Um, man, I I think the other thing that I really love is just how different
some of the attractions are at the parks right even on the
Well, I can ride pirates at you know, Disney World or some of the other parks as well. It's just
(12:15):
Each park has its own little unique spin. I love the pirates at Disneyland
There's a couple more drop or there's another drop. There's you know, just
Well, it's also longer. It's yeah, it's longer. What would we say like four to five minutes longer than the Disney World?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think so just just great and then same thing with Space Mountain
(12:36):
Just a little twist or uniqueness to it. That's different than the original Space Mountain at Disney World
Right Disney World you you ride, you know all in a row whereas Disneyland your side-by-side
I love it. Yes, it makes the Space Mountain attraction more
Uh, I mean, I'm not gonna lie. Disney World Space Mountain
Can be a little scary. I mean even though it doesn't even go that fast. Yeah, right?
(12:59):
But just because you're sitting single file in the in the cart
Makes it seem like you're you're kind of all alone, right? But yeah, the the Disneyland version you sit side by side
It doesn't feel as rough
Um, and it's it's a small world
Yeah, like that. Okay, again
I think on our last episode we bashed it's a small world
(13:20):
I think so. Yeah at Disney World, right?
But the one at Disneyland, I tell you it is
Like it's this huge. They have this huge facade again
They go into the history of it on the imaginary story like how they you know design this clock
You know for it
Um, the lighting scheme especially around the holiday season when they when they had it up for Christmas
(13:44):
I'm telling you. Um, they do the um the show
As well the projections off of it because it's that big it's
Again, we talked. Yeah, I think it was our last episode. We kind of talked about rides that we might be okay with
They got a rid of and I may have said it's a small world
But I would say I would say the Disneyland version
is such an iconic attraction. Yeah, and
(14:07):
Just everything just the construction of it the lighting
The history behind it again
It's Walt wrote it himself
Yeah, you know, there's video of him in the boat with little children doing it's a small world
It's like, okay. This is an attraction that has stood the test of time and will continue to stay in the test of time
Forever. Yeah, right for sure. So
(14:30):
Um, hey, I like that reason number three. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Let's keep going reason number four. We love Disneyland is its superior food
So I think some people are gonna argue that
What's that? Okay, continue continue
You know Disney world has some amazing options. We talked about this on our on our
(14:52):
Best park episode where we kind of drafted and ranked each park according to its food its attractions
Its convenience all those things can't remember which episode that was but
One of the things that you and Randy agreed on is that Epcot has the best food on it
So what you agreed on is that Epcot has the best food options
(15:14):
I argued that Disneyland has the best food options. I think you can't go wrong either way. True. I'm not gonna
kick you out for
Forcing me to go to Epcot to eat one day
But I just think Disneyland brings
some amazing food options to you and they have some great restaurants that you can kind of
(15:34):
You know enjoy some of the food there
so
just for example
Uh
Disneyland they have this is one of my favorite places to stop and take a break the tropical hideaway
This is where you can get multiple dole whip flavors
You sit down you got the
tropical
Jungle cruise music playing in the background and this isn't this where Randy likes his uh, oh gosh. Yeah, what barbecue flavor dole whip?
(16:01):
No, no, it's not barbecue. It's uh like the cante flavor. Yes kind of spicy. Yeah, they they all the time they're offering different
versions of the dole whip as seasonal dole whips man. It's just it's great, right? You get
You can get different raspberry and
You know, whatever pineapple swirl just good dole whips there
(16:22):
um
man, I know I know you're a big fan of
cafe or leans and again you turn me on to that
Monte Cristo sandwich which I had never had before and I remember again
Storytime the first time we went you're like, I think we can I think this is big enough to share
So we I think we I think between you me and Randy we split to yeah
(16:45):
to Monte Cristo sandwiches
And I remember thinking bro. I could have housed that myself. Yeah, and I was furious that you're like
No, no, we got to share this. I'm like bro. So every time I've gone back since then I'm like I made sure
I get my own Monte Cristo sandwich and the fries
Uh with that special seasoning and then they come out with the dipping sauces
(17:05):
Man that and it's it's like it's actually reasonably priced too. Yeah, it's not an expensive meal
You know, so that is yeah Monte Cristo. I would say it was one of my most favorite meals
anywhere
At Disney World or Disney? It's like it's it's just up there. Yeah, so man. I'll tell you another place. I love for
Snacks, I'm a big I love to get the snacks. I'd almost rather have snacks all day than than meals, right?
(17:31):
I love the Jolly holiday
Like just there's just some great snack offerings in there and it's seasonal, right? So they're switching out they have
similar to what you have in
La Halls La Als in France in Epcot. They have this raspberry tart macaroon at Jolly holiday
So good. Mmm. Man. So good. And so
(17:56):
Yeah, I just think Disneyland has some great food offerings any others that like jump well, you know, and I think
Well, the one of the obvious ones is that
People always say that the Disneyland churro is better
I can't taste the difference, but you know, they they say it's because of the
What is it lack of humidity that's what they say that they they produce a better churro? I can't tell the difference
(18:23):
I like churros
at both parks, but
Um, I would say this though because we have had we've done the lamp light lounge. No, no, no, that's a California venture
Yeah, scratch that scratch that. Yeah, I'll tell you one that uh, I almost forgot about that
I need to mention is you go over to the mint Jula just outside of tianas and the haunted mansion
(18:45):
Get yourself some Mickey binye's
And that's another one. They'll do seasonal flavorings on the binye so you can get a gingerbread
Uh, toppings, you know sugary topping on the binye
Of course the standard powdered sugar binye for those of you who aren't from the south a binye is like a fried
(19:06):
Doughnut, but it's not a donut consistency. It's
Yeah, I mean a fried doughnut is probably the best way to describe it, but it's not a doughnut. Yeah
Um, christmas time you can get a peppermint. That's so good
So and and just a mint julep itself. So a mint julep is kind of like a
Tangy
(19:28):
I don't know how to describe it. I'm not a fan of the mint julep. Oh really? Yeah, man
I don't like mint
It's like a minty lemonade. I don't know how else to describe it other than that
Uh, but it's just good. It's just pure goodness right there
Like you got powdered sugar all over your face and you're sitting there and you're on the the rivers
(19:49):
And you got tianas behind you you can hear the haunted mansion ahead of you
And you got the you know boat going around the rivers. It's just that's heaven right there
I get that's as close as you're gonna get to heaven. Well, and that and that reminds me and maybe I should have talked about this on
Our reason number three attraction variety and uniqueness. I love just the whole area
(20:11):
The new orlin square area like that is such a unique part of
disneyland with
parts of the caribbean with
um
tianas with
Cafe orleans with blue bayou with the the shopping that they have there. It's like all this quaint
(20:31):
kind of new orlin style
Look like a miniature shopping district. It's just really charming. Yeah, just that entire area over there. So no, I totally agree and I think they
Man, I think what's cool is not to get too far off topic on this
um
But even as you go through there in different places throughout disneyland, I love how the imagineers use authentic looking
(20:57):
I mean, they're really trying to engulf you in the story there of being oh, yeah in new orlean square or in
you know
To give some disney world love in liberty square, right? Like they're using
Real history real background information and they're building the story around
Things as they actually were and so I I love that and there is a there is the club 33 access. Yes, right there in the square
(21:21):
so
All right, we're in number five. It is compact and has a walkable layout
This is this. I think this is this reason is
This is I think this is where disneyland has a leg up on disney world
So the the ability to walk from disneyland to downtown disney to california adventure
(21:46):
And back and forth without having to get in your car without having to hop on a monorail without having to take a bus
Is it is such a huge advantage?
No, I I couldn't agree with you more. I think this is probably one of my top two or three reasons
Why I love disneyland so much
It is so manageable. In fact, if I have people
(22:08):
Call me or text me and they're like, hey, we're thinking about doing a disney trip
What do you suggest california or florida?
A lot of first timers. I want to send them to disneyland because it's so manageable
I mean even like now what's a little crazy about disneyland if you've been to disneyworld first is that once you step off property
(22:30):
You're back in the real world
Whereas the disney bubble of disneyworld expands out, right? Like
but what I will say is even
As you're there at disneyland your hotels all around the parks are very accessible
You're totally within walking distance
To get into the parks from your hotels now, of course, obviously you can you know stay
(22:55):
further away, but
I think there's all reasonably priced hotels
Very close to disneyland that are very walkable and just
And we love so we love staying at the disneyland hotel the actual disneyland hotel
So you're still on property
Man, I just that
(23:17):
If this was my own personal list that would be its own number. It's the disneyland hotel
I just love that hotel for the charm and the history and the nostalgia
That is there at the disneyland hotel, but at least for this reason of it being compact and walkable
It's so nice to be within walking distance
(23:37):
Of the parks. Yeah, every time that I've gone we've stayed off
Stayed off property, but within walking distance. I don't think we've stayed more than maybe half a mile away
And because the weather is so fantastic there you can you can leave your hotel at
738
Walk to the parks, you know, it's a 20 minute walk and you're not sweating when you get there, right?
(23:58):
Right, but you couldn't do that in florida. Yeah, you know in the summertime. Yeah, even from the contemporary or to the
You know magic kingdom, you're like, okay, here we go. Yeah, the sweat's going
I think also what is nice about
um, now I've never done the research on this but I've heard it from several different sources and that is that
(24:20):
Disneyland
Proper if you will so that and disney california adventure have as many attractions
as disney world
I find that hard to believe
but
I've heard it from multiple different sources
So what that tells me is that if each park and i'm just going to throw out a random number
(24:42):
I'm not saying this is the number but if each of those two parks disney world disneyland have 50 attractions
the compactness of disneyland
In that you can hit multiple attractions boom boom boom boom. They're just right on top of each other
Makes the parks very walkable and very enjoyable to be able to just go through the parks and go right from pirates and you take like
(25:07):
You know 100 steps and you're right next to jungle cruise or you're right next to indiana jones and they're just
Really, I mean indiana jones and jungle cruise are like literally right next to each other
Yeah, well, you know and one of the things that wall. I mean, let's be honest. That was one of wall's complaints
about disneyland, uh, you know when he built the park
You know all these developers gobbled up the real estate outside of disneyland, right? So he he was kind of confined into this area
(25:32):
When he went to disney world, he bought what was it? What 47 square miles of property? Everything is laid out differently
Right, it's just it's just it's just a different way of living
It's just a different way of living so
um
But yeah, you're right. I mean it's like
easily I think because of the walkability
When we go out there, it's like we do three days, but
(25:56):
Usually you can get everything done in about two and a half because you're not having to waste time
You know park hopping because park hopping at disney world takes
Again, this is kind of the dilemma that we're having right now with my own trip
That's come up here in in about a month and a half is like
Like it's a two-day park hopper. Yes. Yeah, like okay, but if you're park hopping from
magic kingdom to
(26:17):
Hollywood studios
That's probably a good 45 minutes to an hour. Yeah, right. It's a big difference just to get from one to the other
If you're park hopping from disneyland to california venture
That's 20 minutes. Yeah tops. Yeah, right. So just just a different
Just just different. Yeah. Yeah. No, I totally agree and I think it's one of those things where
(26:37):
Um
I don't know obviously this was not by design, but I think it's one of those things where you almost have to get a park hopper
When you go to disneyland because it's just so daggum convenient
To go over to the next park like it's it becomes so much of a no-brainer that you're like, well, yeah
We have to get a hopper like yeah, it just becomes part of your ticket price. Yeah pro tip get the park hopper when you get a
(27:02):
Disneyland absolute. Yeah, absolute. All right moving on. Let's go to number six
Best versions of the iconic rides
So you put this one together. What do you mean by that best versions of some of these iconic
Iconic rides. Yeah. Well, we kind of hit on earlier like for example like pirates of the caribbean, right?
(27:24):
It's longer. It's you have the extra drop
A space mountain
I think space mountain at disneyland probably is a little bit better because
it's the side by side
and you get
The overlay you get the hyperspace mountain, right?
Over at the haunted mansion you get the haunted mansion overlay for halloween, which they do not
(27:45):
I don't know why they don't do it at disney world
Yeah, I've heard different excuses. I don't like it's like they are to me like you guys are you know
So six hours apart by by air like but you know, you're a second apart by email like
How about the people at disneyland just send over the plans to disney world?
Okay, this is how you this is how you do the haunted mansion overlay, right?
(28:07):
This is how you do hyperspace mountain like I just to me. It just makes sense. I don't know why they don't do that
No, I think you're right. I think that's to me again. So I said food is one of the
Or the compactness is one of the top two or three. This is again in that top two or three reasons why I love disneyland
I love the overlays like I cannot get enough of them
(28:28):
I will specifically plan trips around times where I know they're doing the overlays you brought up earlier
Uh, the christmas overlay that they put on
Um, it's a small world. Love it. There's just so many lights and they do the projection mapping on the side of the building
I love nightmare before christmas overlay at hollywood or at haunted mansion
(28:51):
during the holidays
Um, I just can't get enough of it. I I absolutely love it. I would say the other thing
Kind of going back. We miss this on the compact version of it is that when disney does holidays
it is like
Overload holidays, right like they're because it's so
So tied together and all these rides are so close. It just seems like the decorations are on
(29:16):
You know hyperdrive because they're just
Everywhere everywhere whereas, you know, again, some of the other parks because they're so spread out
It just doesn't feel like it's so much in your face
Which I love the in your face when it comes to halloween and christmas and some of these holiday overlays that they do
So I'm I'm all on and I think too because disneyland still has
(29:37):
Some of those iconic like mr. Toad's wild ride. Yes. Um, that they got rid of a disney world
Yeah, like there's just some attractions there at disneyland that
You know, and maybe this is kind of bleeds into the number seven region with reason, which is the nostalgia factor, right?
There's still a lot of things at disneyland that
(29:59):
I mean, it's been there since
The park opened
right
Yeah, no, I I totally agree and I think you feel that
Again, this these are all starting to blend together, right? So you go into fantasy land at disneyland
And not only is it compact. What do they have there like probably
six to seven different rides from
(30:22):
storybook canal to dumbo to
mr. Toad's
you know
Peter Pan's flight
Pinocchio snow white all those are right there in that small little compact area
And they're all those old nostalgic childhood memory
Attractions right dumbo Peter Pan snow white Pinocchio
(30:45):
All these things if you grew up on these cartoons, they're all right there
And you just you know boom boom boom boom boom just go right in order to them and get to them
Plus the carousels right in the middle of all that
So here so here's a pro tip when they do the firework show there
So back it and in this area. So we're talking about fantasy land right behind the castle
What they will do is that once the firework show is over
(31:08):
They actually will have they have that entire section roped off for about 30 to 45 minutes, right?
They're letting the fireworks kind of settle down. They're kind of washing down all of the concrete there. Yeah making sure it's safe, right?
Well, you start forming the line. They have a little section that you can line up and we did this
Uh on our couples trip
Man, it was awesome. Like we hit all of these attractions. Mr. Toads Peter Pan snow white Pinocchio
(31:35):
in about
15 20 minutes totally awesome because nobody was back there. Yeah after the firework show
So pro tip if you want to do fantasy land do it after the firework show. Yeah
I think one more thing on the nostalgia factor is
for me
Uh, I think disneyland
(31:57):
And I mentioned this before disneyland hotel
They have this like retro 50s 60s vibe
Even disneyland there's some there's sometimes where you feel like it's just like
Man, I can still see this as its original glory
Park right and definitely you see that at the hotel the hotel is all in that
(32:20):
You know 60s 50s deco, you know kind of vibe to it and man, I just
For me personally, I love it. Like I just love that
feel of like because
For whatever reason, I mean, I'm not a kid of the 50s or 60s. I'm not that old yet, but
(32:40):
You know going to grandma's house or going to whatever and seeing that old vibe
It just for whatever reason hits me in the memories of like that nostalgic feeling like
The old wooden
You know tv stand and the yeah, and you know, I think this maybe this is a little cynical
I don't I feel like nostalgia is becoming
(33:03):
Maybe a thing of the past. Yeah
Because you know, we grew up we're products of the 80s
I would say, you know grew up in the 80s early 90s a kind of our formidable youth in
In teenage years, right?
When I mean again our generation we always talk about how life was a little more simple back then right played outside till dark
right no internet like
(33:24):
Didn't have cable television. We had to entertain ourselves and I think when you do that
You you just naturally create
These types of memories, right and maybe that's something that's not happening. I'm asking with my own kids like
You know, they're all connected. You know, and there's nothing wrong with that
You know, I just wonder though if that
nostalgia of
(33:45):
You know creating memories
is becoming
Less and less that could be totally wrong
This might be a part of the podcast that we just added out because it's not making any sense
But we're talking about the nostalgia factor, right and you know, I just I just I guess I guess here's the thing
I hope that
You know when you go like you said when you go to disneyland or disney world
But we're talking about disneyland that you do get a sense of the nostalgia. Yeah that that is there
(34:10):
No, for sure. It reminds me of uh
This is so crazy. It reminds me of uh
Lanfume's christmas vacation where he gets caught up in the attic and he turns on the old like projection
Show of him having this nostalgic christmas moment from 1955
And he's like tearing up that's kind of how I feel at disneyland and at the disneyland hotel is i'm just like
(34:33):
Oh man, this is like old school
You know just family
gatherings and just you know, you always remember the happy
moments of those old christmases you used to have at grandma and grandpa's or you know, whatever
So anyways, that's the nostalgia that I feel for whatever reason
uh, which
(34:53):
There's no
Reason to connect that to disneyland other than for it just hits that button. It just does. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah
All right. Number eight. This is our last one
The magic after dark
So I don't think this is unique to disneyland
But it sure is magical at disneyland and what I mean by that is like you go to magic kingdom
(35:15):
At night and we've talked about this before you're on main street and the lights
And this is the same at disneyland the lights have that like softer
glow to them
And it just becomes
Absolutely magical the trees all have those like soft
pulsating
You know flicker to them like the old time
(35:38):
Old time christmas lights, right? And it's just they almost look like fireflies that are kind of you know going off
It just becomes such a magical
feeling
um
Go ahead. No, you know, you hit the nail in the head. It's like this is not unique to disneyland
But I think it's important to note that
(35:59):
you're you know
Like for example, you're a lover of disney world and you're going to disneyland for the first time like I did a couple years ago
Like you expect that nighttime
to be
Equally magical and you and you 100% get to experience that at disneyland like it's still magical
Like you said the flickering lights the ambiance the music everything that goes on that you that you find the disney world
(36:22):
You're gonna find the disneyland, right? Do you have happily ever after? No
Nobody does that's disney world, right? We're not talking about disneyland
Like fantasmica is fantastic. They do a firework show. I will say during the
When was it the oogie boogie bash? Yeah
Uh, when we were there whenever it was september of 2021 20 anyway, um, I thought the castle show
(36:46):
During the oogie boogie bash was fantastic. Yeah, it was so good
So I think that that's one thing that again is kind of unique to disneyland and this speaks to
You know, whatever our number was number five of it being compact
You know for a nighttime show you kind of get the best of both worlds
(37:07):
So you head over to frontier land and new orleans square you get to see phantasmic there on the river
And then immediately after that is typically when they have the castle show for
You know, whatever it is they're showing that night
I love that now it could be a little not it could be a little crowded
It could be very crowded there and it could make it a little bit harder to navigate your way back over to main street in the castle
(37:32):
But to be able to get two shows for one and it's it's pretty sweet. Yeah, it's sweet
Um, so I love that, you know, one thing is you were talking there that I think we haven't hit on
That I particularly love at night in in disneyland is the weather
So, oh, yeah
You know, here's the thing florida is hot. I mean you can be there in
(37:57):
November december january and it can still be 80 degrees easily and so
Going to california and the weather that they have out there. I mean they call it sunny california for a reason
but I think even more so than that than that
is
When you're there on a cool september night or october night
(38:18):
And you've been in the parks all day and you're like walking around and the sun goes down and the weather just really cools off
You're like, oh, I might need a little jacket here
That's the best like you and I have this little thing we say to each other
You know, whenever the weather is really good here in texas. We're like, oh, it's a disney day, right?
Like that's our little joke between it is
(38:40):
Because there's just something about being at disney
When it's a little bit cool
There's a little bit of a crispness to the air and it just feels like okay
It's gonna be a good day the sun is shining
But it's still cool outside and kind of you know, you're like, um and I might put on a little bit of a long sleeve shirt or something
(39:00):
Like that and just go enjoy this day put some sunglasses on and there's nothing better
Well, because weather plays such a huge part in our lives on a day-to-day basis no matter where you live, right?
but
I think to your point. I think this is what I what I'm hearing is like
Southern California disneyland
You don't really have to factor in the weather into your plans. You're not worried about
(39:23):
Bringing an umbrella or bringing crocs or bringing an extra pair of socks because it's gonna rain or
You know, I'm gonna sweat through my clothing by one o'clock in florida. I might need to bring an extra t-shirt
Like that's just something that's eliminated and you just get to enjoy
Everything else because the weather is taken care of yeah, so yeah, I mean like it's not
(39:44):
Eternal bliss, right? Obviously there's hot days. There's true. It rains, you know that sort of thing but overall I would say
95% of the time it's gonna be just
Perfect like just so perfect and so
For me, that's you know, that kind of wraps up my number eight reason is I just love
(40:05):
Disneyland at night and the crispness of the air
the
You know the glow of the lights. It's just man. It's just a fun place to be
At night time. So I think the whole point of the show today has been
Go to disneyland if you've never been again. I I am speaking from personal experience
(40:26):
I I was the naysayer. I was the doubter for such a long time and I went and
I would say it's it was it was not only was it a great decision, but I've gone back twice
I've I've not done three trips to disneyland
since
2021 2022 and we will continue to go because it is
(40:47):
That great of a park. You think you'll take your girls 100%? Yeah. Yeah, we want to because it like I mean
There's so many differences between the two parks. Yeah, like
100% I mean
Yeah, and we didn't even talk about california. We'll we'll do an episode about california adventure, but
Yeah, I just think
(41:08):
You know, definitely want to get the girls out there and have them experience
Like this again, like I don't want to get emotional like this is waltz park. Yeah, you know
Like this is the park that he built. This is the park that he he walked down the streets. He
Sat up in his apartment and would overlook the people coming in totally like that's that's special, you know
(41:29):
No, I agree and I think you know, I think
A testament to it is everybody compares like in what I'm saying is
In the amusement park world, I think everybody holds disneyland as the standard, right? Oh, they are like
Yeah, yeah, I mean, uh, I think that that's the standard by which everybody says, okay
(41:52):
How do we measure up to this right and so
To me again just to kind of maybe bring everything full circle. I think that's what really
Sets the standard is is disneyland saying, okay, this is how we're doing our park. We're clean. We're
organized we're you know
(42:13):
Walkable it's all these things all these different things we talked about that I think the entertainment amusement park world says, okay
How do we make our park?
Maybe we don't want to be a carbon copy of disneyland, but we want to figure out how to be
As enjoyable as what disneyland offers to a lot of people. Yeah and other parks are still trying to catch up for sure for sure
(42:36):
so
Well, hey man, this was a fun episode. Yeah, you know, it's uh, it's always fun to talk about disney
So hey guys, thanks for listening today. Uh, listen, we are on social media find us at
at escape to the magic
Facebook tick tock instagram
Instagram, um looking forward to coming back next week with a brand new episode. Absolutely. Thanks everyone later
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