The only problem was, this isn’t what Disney wanted. They didn’t want a “stop-by” park, a half-day p

You'd have to make pretty frequent visits to Disneyland before you fail to encounter something new or different. While I've always wondered what the experience is like for season pass holders adventure travel vacation package making monthly visits, we don't get to the resort nearly enough to even approach a sensation adventure travel vacation package of a visit being just like last time. Still, with this being our seventh visit in less than six years, we've gotten to know the place rather well. But what we were looking at this time around was a whole new ballgame.
Without a doubt, the biggest difference was an entirely new dynamic for the resort, thanks entirely to a great revamped and expanded California Adventure park. For most of its ten years, this second gate was maligned, and rightfully so, as an inferior complement to the sacred ground that is Walt Disney's personally realized dream. Granted, any park would have found hard footing to attempt to be Disneyland's equal, but there was little question California Adventure adventure travel vacation package was an especially poor effort.
The lack of custom rides, weak and cheesy thematic elements, no signature adventure travel vacation package nighttime entertainment, and little charm left the park completely devoid of character. Being a peripheral park in Florida adventure travel vacation package or Paris might go unnoticed, but when you're across an esplanade from the only Disney park Walk himself walked in, all shortcomings are under a microscope.
I never personally had any overwhelming vehemence towards the park, though my first visits were after it had been open for five years. What may have been a sore spot for some was still a novelty to me. I certainly wasn't blown away during my early visits, but between Soarin', Tower of Terror, and California Screamin', it was always worth a hop for a couple hours in the afternoon.
The only problem was, this isn't what Disney wanted. They didn't want a "stop-by" park, a half-day park, or a supplementary park to take on some of the crowds when Disneyland got packed. The forces that be wanted a true complement, and even those painting the rosiest picture of California Adventure knew there was a ways to go.
Fortunately for them, they started down this road some four years ago, and have used that time and an absurd amount of money to revitalize the park. Now your average park will throw in rides left and right to help fill the void, but the Imagineers did that one better here. Sure, adding Toy Story Mania, World of Color, and Little Mermaid went a long way in beefing up the attraction lineup, but a much more understated transformation all over the park added the depth and character that was just as sorely lacking as activities were.
Getting rid of some cringe-worthy ride treatments (e.g., Orange Stinger, Mullholland Madness) and some off-the shelf rides (Maliboomer) helped lessen some of the Southern California tourist vibe, and Victorian adventure travel vacation package theming added to Paradise Pier as well as two nicer counter service restaurants went a long way in classing the place up.
The most drastic adventure travel vacation package changes were entirely new to us since our last visit over 18 months ago. The biggest alteration and addition were mere construction zones when we scouted them out last from Mickey's Fun Wheel. adventure travel vacation package The front of the park was being wiped clean, and gone was the tacky postcard-esque theme. In its place would be Buena Vista Street, a vision of Walt's adventure travel vacation package California - Los Angeles in the 1920s. And of course, the headliner, a brand new land themed after the Pixar Cars movies, adventure travel vacation package with its very own E-ticket attraction, Radiator Springs adventure travel vacation package Racers.
So even though we had seen a good chunk of the reinvestment first-hand over the years, these capstones were drawing us like this park never had. All these prior changes had gone a long way in making this a park you wanted to be in, and the Imagineers seemed to have saved the best for last. A park that was once considered at best a disappointment and at worst an embarrassment had a whole new thing going, and we were eager to see it firsthand.
Of course we'd want to wait until the summer madness, adventure travel vacation package which was compounded by unveiling madness, died down. You're wise to avoid Halloween, so outside of immediately post-Labor Day, you're looking at November, before Thanksgiving. I'd recommend more before Thanksgiving than we picked, but I'll get to that. We settled on the weekend immediately adventure travel vacation package prior, thanks adventure travel vacation package in large part to coordinating another visit with our friends David and Katie.
Additionally along for the ride was another adventure travel vacation package good friend, Steve. While David and Katie would be traveling and enjoying the resort with their family, Steve was stuck with us and would be dragged through the Disneyland wringer. As a native Californian, he certainly wasn't adventure travel vacation package a first-timer and had even been to the resort just a handful of years ago. He just hasn't done Disney the way we do (not many people do, after all), and was in for three intense adventure travel vacation package days. Fortunately, he seemed quite eager to soak up the resort with more appreciation, and was glad to take advantage of our little tricks considering the expected crowds.
Despite our usual accommodations ratcheting up the rates in observance the holiday adventure travel vacation package week, we still weren't dissuaded from the exact same itinerary we've gone with for years. We'd fly from the Bay Area to Orange County in the evening after work, give ourselves three full days in the park while staying across the street adventure travel vacation package at the Fairfield Inn Anaheim, and fly home early the following morning to salvage a half day of work.
We were flying separately from Steve, but we coordinated well enough to share our airport transfers. Our respective flights adventure travel vacation package each encountered modest delays, but there was an empty queue at the taxi stand and an uninterrupted adventure travel vacation package cab ride from the airport in Santa Ana to the hotel, arriving a bit after 11pm.
Before turning in, I dragged Steve up to the top floor and we gazed on still active parks. It's become a tradition to point out the landmarks across the two parks, from the spires of Space Mountain directly in front of us, to the flash of Splash Mountain and flickering candlelight of the Haunted Mansion. California Adventure adventure travel vacation package was aglow as well, with Soarin's adventure travel vacation package hangar, Mickey's Wheel, and California Screamin's lift easily visible. Of course Tower of Terror sits in the corner bathed in spooky purple light. But there was one new landmark, the peak of the Carthay Circle Theater, reminding us that we'd an entirely new game plan to see this resort adventure travel vacation package efficiently.
We'd be fighting the crowds all weekend, but time was definitely on our side-- park time, that is. The hours of operation ebb and flow to match the busy season, and we'd be looking at a series of long days, with mornings starting around 8am and nights ending around midnight. Add on to that a bonus Magic Morning hour to boot with our three-day park-hopper passes, and we had some 49 hours to divvy up among two parks. Surely we wouldn't be in the parks for every possible second, but we definitely wanted to make the most of the time.
To do that, we'd want to plan our mornings wisely. The number one key to any park visit is to be there at or before opening, and we wouldn't waste that opportunity. The real question was how to use that extra hour. Looking at the options, it looked adventure travel vacation package like Disneyland had theirs Saturday, and California Adventure had it Sunday and Monday. Seemed like an easy call to use it Sunday, and start the morning on even footing tomorrow at California Adventure.
Unfortunately, I hadn't read the fine print. I hadn't read closely enough to pick up on the distinction between Magic Mornings, which was what we had, and was only good at Disneyland and only good a few days a week - and Extra Magic Hour, which was also good at California Adventure on the days Disneyland wasn't open early for Magic Mornings, and was only available to resort guests. This would be instance number one of the game being changed, and it wasn't for the better-- adventure travel vacation package for us, anyway.
So as it worked out, our only chance to use the extra hour would be our first morning. Typically, it would be an easy call to use, but with the crowds and the popularity of Cars Land, there was an opportunity cost to everything we did. Basically every minute that went by when we weren't in line for California Adventure, Cars Land, or a Radiator Springs Racers Fastpass, adventure travel vacation package the crowd was mounting ahead of us.
Still, it seemed silly to blow the whole hour just to vie for positioning, and a good chunk of Disneyland is doable from 7am-8am, so that's where we would head first. Of course we'd be making the hop sooner than any hop to California Adventure we've ever made, but that was the new world we lived in. For now, it was time to turn in, and as Steve stayed up finishing work, I was glad to have the sleeping pill kicking in with full force.
The wake up call came barely six hours later, and we were up and out not too long after 6:30am. We've been lucky to have 7am extra hours before, adventure travel vacation package and we knew that there wouldn't be much of a crowd to contend adventure travel vacation package with. Still, the walk down Harbor to the pedestrian entrance adventure travel vacation package was far from empty, and we had plenty adventure travel vacation package of company as we went through the bag check. The queues outside the gates were still shy of the Monorail track, but if anything I was more wary about the handful of groups waiting outside California Adventure.
But we were here to enjoy the parks, so there wasn't adventure travel vacation package a second thought and just a couple minutes after the countdown at the top of the hour, we were in the park and the fun could begin. First, though, we had to swap our printed paper tickets for official tickets and sign them, and with that we were square and in the entry with the railroad station looming above.
Never quite getting a clear sense, or perhaps being confused by inconsistencies between Disney World and Disneyland, I wasn't sure if we could get some Fastpasses for Space Mountain right out of the gate. I was happy to go ahead and check, and the plan was to meet back at Peter Pan, successful adventure travel vacation package or not. I grabbed everyone's tickets and went ahead, on my own for that wonderfully surreal first trip up Main Street. The sun