For those of you who don’t know, Disneyland is one of my favorite places ever! It was the first “theme park” that was created in the world and is the inspiration for so many things that we know and love today, one of the biggest being Walt Disney World. I was fortunate enough to be able visit “The Happiest Place on Earth” last week on a last minute trip to surprise my family for their vacation out there.

This trip was a spur of the moment thing because I didn’t know if I was going to get the time off, but by some miracle, I was able to get the whole week off so I packed my bags and headed to California! One of the greatest things about being a Cast Member is that you get free admission into the Disney Parks, and this is not limited to the one you work in. So for 5 days, I was able to get into both Disneyland Park and Disney’s California Adventure Park for free!

2 Coasts ~ 14 Hours 

I highly urge College Program participants to take advantage of this opportunity, get a couple friends to go in with you to split a hotel room (Disney rooms are 50% off here as well) and take the trip out west because you’ll never be able to score a deal like this again!

I’ll go into more detail about the differences between DL and WDW in another post because there is just too much to cover. But for right now I’ll give you a brief history on the two Californian parks and what it is that makes them so special.

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The Disneyland Resort is made up of 2 theme parks, 3 hotels, and the Downtown Disney district. Since everything is in close proximity to one another nothing is more than a 10-minute walk from one place to the next. Both Disneyland and California Adventure are right across from one another so it’s easy to park hop for the day and guests can choose to walk across easily if they want to jump from one to the other. Disneyland also sits right across the street from all the “good-neighbor hotels” so even if you aren’t staying on property you can still be close to the magic.

Disneyland

Disneyland was opened in 1955 and was the first Disney park to ever be created. Walt Disney created it because he wanted there to be a place where families could have fun together.

To all who come to this happy place; welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past…and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America…with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.

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Unlike Walt Disney World, Disneyland is much much smaller so all the attractions are packed in right by one another. That is one reason why Walt Disney World is so big! When Walt created Disneyland he didn’t know it would be such a success and once the property was bought there was no way to expand and the Imagineers had to work with what they had. So when the Florida project came around, Walt knew he had to expand and make everything much grander, so he bought enough property to hold all his ideas and make sure they had enough room to grow and expand. Over the years Disneyland has grown and expanded to stay current with the times, but it still has the underlining classic feel to it that Walt created when it opened. Many rides that we know and love today originated here and have become classic attractions at the other parks all over the world. Below you will see what it currently looks like

Disney’s California Adventure

Disney’s California Adventure Parks opened in 2001 and celebrates the spirit of California. Unlike Disneyland, however, DCA has gone through a little bit of an identity change. Initially, the park was opened to reflect the ideas and background of the state of California, but now the park is headed in a different direction towards what California has brought to the entertainment industry. You can see this change reflected by the difference in the opening day speech and then the rededication speech in 2012

2001 Opening Day Speech

To all who believe in the power of dreams, welcome. Disney’s California Adventure opens its golden gates to you. Here we pay tribute to the dreamers of the past: the native people, explorers, immigrants, aviators, entrepreneurs and entertainers who built the Golden State. And we salute a new generation of dreamers who are creating the wonders of tomorrow, from the silver screen to the computer screen, from the fertile farmlands to the far reaches of space. Disney’s California Adventure celebrates the richness and the diversity of California… its land, its people, its spirit and, above all, the dreams that it continues to inspire.

2012 Rededication Speech

To all who come to this place of dreams, welcome. Disney California Adventure celebrates the spirit of optimism and the promise of endless opportunities, ignited by the imagination of daring dreamers such as Walt Disney and those like him who forever changed- and were forever changed by- The Golden State. This unique place embraces the richness and diversity of California… Its land, its people, its stories and, above all, the dreamers it continues to inspire.

The major additions that California Adventure has experienced in its life include the creation of Carsland which was the biggest Disneyland project that this resort has ever seen, and though it is not shown on the map, Paradise Pier which is getting a total transformation! In the early Summer of 2018, it will be reimagined as Pixar Pier and will be host to a variety of different Pixar characters, rides, and food options. (map circa 2018)

The difference between the two US-based parks is dramatically different and in the upcoming post, I’ll be compiling a list of things that are very different between Walt Disney World and Disneyland, and which ones are my favorite at each location. Stay tuned