As a surprise to absolutely no one, I truly adored Disneyland Resort. Whilst we had a rocky first day, by lunchtime on day two I was totally enamoured with the original Magic Kingdom. But then I expected that. This is a resort I've watched countless videos about, read the books, and learned the history. I really didn't think there would be much to surprise me, but how wrong I was! Mostly these were pleasant surprises but there were a few not-so-great ones in there too. Let's start with the only real negative I'm going to talk about and thus potentially the most controversial...
The Merch
Disneyland was pretty much the final stop on our trip, with just one final day left to explore LA remaining once we stepped out of those park gates. Knowing what I'm like around theme park merch - especially Disney park merch - I kept purchases throughout the trip to a minimum. A pin here, a t-shirt there, nothing too bulky. I needed the suitcase space for all of my Disneyland merch. But what did I come home with? A wooden Frog Dog (from Batuu), a plush of a ride that wasn't even at DLR and a pin that I realised was damaged when I unpacked it back in the UK.
This plush Ratatouille ride vehicle tho (of course I squished them to find the theme park related plush).
To be fair, a large chunk of this is self-control. I have a personal rule not to buy any Disney merchandise at a theme park that I can buy on ShopDisney UK. Nor should I go too hard on any one thing. For instance, I could have come away with a lot more souvenirs from Galaxy's Edge, in particular those gorgeous plush that are designed to look handmade, but I felt my Frog Dog was enough of a souvenir of my first visit to the planet of Batuu. What I really wanted was some fun, attraction-related merch. Especially shirts. I have quite a stash of Disney parks shirts I've scooped up second-hand (reduce, reuse, recycle!) but I really wanted at least one that I could wear in the knowledge that I'd bought it at The Disneyland. Alas, I just could not find anything I wanted. Admittedly, I didn't scour every store (we were only there for three days) but in multiple visits to all of the key shops in both parks and Downtown Disney, we came away empty handed. I was also surprised to see Disneyland suffering from the same 'generic merch' issue that plagues Disneyland Paris, with the same merch rolled out into seemingly every shop regardless of theme. I'm almost certain that someone who frequents DLR is going to read this and come at me for missing the shops where all the good stuff is, but damn. I can't believe neither the Emporium nor World of Disney had anything I wanted.
The Armadillo
The year was 2019. I was at Disneyland Paris, keen to make some pin trades. After scouring the pinboard presented to me by the cast member, one pin took my eye - a small purple armadillo. I had no idea which Disney property this armadillo had come from, but it was adorable and that was enough for me.
After some later research, I discovered that this armadillo was featured in Toy Story Midway Mania as one of the available prizes, having originated in Woody's Roundup. How amazing is it that a pin of such a minor parks-related thing exists?!
Flash forward to 2022. I'm at Disney's California Adventure riding the west coast Midway Mania for the first time and there he is, my little armadillo in the prize line-up, ready and waiting to be won (alas, I did not win him!)
With Midway Mania complete, we thought we'd get the full boardwalk experience by trying our hand at some of the real-life midway games. At $5 a go, they weren't super cheap but hey, we were at Disneyland. Ignoring everything else, I ran straight over to Heimlich's Candy Corn Toss. This game looked hard, but the potential pay-off was huge - they had Francis and Flik plushes! A Bug's Life is an underrated masterpiece and I'm devastated I never got to experience A Bug's Land, so even just the potential to win some merchandise is a sure way to get me to drop those dollars. I'd give anything to hear the Bug's Life Suite in a theme park... anyway.
Look, there's bumblebee Heimlich and theatrical Heimlich... I can't. I just can't. We had to try.
Obviously, we completely failed. Those caterpillars are a long way off, and their mouths are small. But I didn't mourn for long, as next door lay Bullseye Stallion Stampede. Bullseye's midway game was, as you might expect, a traditional derby game in which you essentially play skee-ball to move your horse (Bullseye) faster than the other players to win the race. But far more important than the game itself were the prizes on offer because there on the prize board sat a very familiar figure. The armadillo. Never before have I been so determined to win at one of these games. I slammed my token down on the counter (read: politely placed and asked to join the next round), took a seat and geared up for battle. Next to me, parents sat themselves down ready to win their kids a toy. But win a toy they did not. I skee'd those balls with every last skee in me, not even glancing up once to check my Bullseye's progress. So I could not believe my ears when I was announced as the victor, given my pick of the prizes and - of course - walked away with my very own plush armadillo.
So, what I'm trying to say is how incredibly awesome it is that Disney took Midway Mania, built the midway games and then let you win the same prizes as in the ride. That my friends is the sort of thing the raging theme park geek inside of me lives for. This glorious, mass produced niche plush. Sorry kids.
Matterhorn Bobsleds
'I hope you've got a chiropractor ready!'
'Prepare to get your spine rearranged!'
These were the only kind of reviews I've ever really heard about the Matterhorn Bobsleds. Had it been a regular coaster in an amusement park, I probably would have considered those comments sufficient grounds to avoid the ride, but this wasn't just any old ride. Matterhorn is the first ever Disney parks coaster, and far beyond that, it's the first ever tubular steel coaster. PLUS it's in a damn snow-capped mountain! There was absolutely no way I was leaving the park without experiencing a ride so integral to the history of the things I love most. With a 40 minute posted wait, we hopped in the single-rider line and within minutes were anxiously boarding our bobsleds. Knowing what I did about the potentially horrific experience I was about to endure, I braced myself as much as possible, with a firm grip on the handrails and my back pushed into the seat. Now, I don't know if it was this positioning or maybe I had a good seat, or maybe the repairs are starting to make a difference, but whatever it was I honestly had the time of my life. Between a fun and thrilling (though I think the thrill may have been 90% due to my fear of spinal rearrangement) coaster, some top-tier story elements (the yeti!!!!) and that final splash down, this attraction more than earns its place amongst the Disney Mountains in my book - and my spine is just as semi-functional as it was before riding!
The Proximity of the Two Parks
What do you mean, I absolutely could have done my research beforehand and realised how ridiculously close the two parks are?
So, before I booked my park tickets for Disneyland I asked my twitter friends whether or not I should bother paying out the extra 60 dollars each for Park Hopper. The answer was a unanimous yes, based mostly on how convenient the hopping is from one park to the other. In my mind, it was a super-convenient Disneyland Paris-esque set-up and that had me sold.
However, I was completely unprepared for just how close the two parks are. I don't have measurements so maybe they are an equivalent distance to Parc Disneyland and WDSP, but having both entrances on either side of the square just makes everything feel closer. Park hopping genuinely could not have been any easier. Although inevitably with the current park hopping restrictions (only permitted from 1 pm) the queue to enter both parks did surge around that time, but we still made our 12:50 - 13:20 Soarin' Lightning Lane (booked during a morning in Disneyland Park) with ease.
The Intricacy of Batuu
Before I can talk about Batuu as a land, I first just need to say that I'm still not convinced it belongs within Disneyland and its disruption to the classic layout continues to frustrate me. Is that a spicy take? Does that make me a stick in the mud? I'm not sure and it really doesn't matter as the land is here to stay. Anyway, despite my thoughts on its presence within the park, the entrance points into Galaxy's Edge are so well designed that it didn't feel out of place when I was actually there which is the main thing. But that's not what I'm here to talk about, at least not entirely. What truly took me aback about Batuu was the level of detail and opportunity for exploration. Whilst some may argue that the jaw-dropping replica of the Millennium Falcon is the centrepiece of the land, for me, it was undoubtedly the marketplace. Each little shop had its own theme and an extraordinary level of detailing with a seemingly endless selection of unusual merch.
Wandering around the rest of the land, it seemed like there were nooks everywhere and it took me a few circuits to feel confident that I had seen everything.
One complaint I've heard a lot about Galaxy's Edge is that it is lifeless, suffering from a lack of characters, but I didn't really find this to be the case on my visit. Each and every time I was in the land, there was at least one character walking around on the tops of the buildings whilst chatting to guests. Between these character interactions and the many animatronic droids and creatures present throughout the land, I never felt like I was wandering an abandoned desert outpost as many people seemed to suggest. After all the controversy within the parks community, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge turned out to be one of my favourite theme park lands out of all the lands I've so far had the joy to experience. Till the Spire!
Okay, I know I said five but there is no way I can wrap up this post without mentioning a completely unexpected entry into my favourite ever theme park attractions. That is, of course, the one and only Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters.
Before my visit, from only seeing photos I'd assumed this ride was essentially the same as Cars Quatre Roues Rallye at Walt Disney Studios Park. Wrong. Just so, so wrong.
Whilst I love Roues Rallye, it cannot hold a candle to a ride where the cars DANCE WITH EACH OTHER. Roadsters sees you board a car and sit back as it performs an elaborate dance routine with all the other cars and it's nothing short of a masterpiece - an absolutely delightful surprise!
Speak again soon,
Claire
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