Our Favorite Disneyland Memories
Our Disneyland Memories start with our hotel, the Grand Californian, an incredible place to stay!
Hello everyone! Welcome back to My Dreams of Disney, the Disney fan site that brings you interesting perspectives on our favorite place to stay on vacation! Today we continue our “Favorite Disney Memories” series by taking a look at the incredible memories that we experienced last year when we went to Disneyland for our first trip there! There was so much to experience in this trip that this post is going to be a hefty one, full of plenty of photos and memories that I hope you enjoy reading about. Have you ever been to Disneyland? If so, you may enjoy seeing these pictures as a reminder of your own memories from your trip! If you haven’t been, then perhaps these photos will a) give you a small taste of what the experience is like, and b) get you interested in seeing what it would take for you to take a trip to Disneyland yourself! Please let me know if I can help you with that. I’d be happy to do so!
Our home resort for our DVC Membership is actually the Grand Californian, so we were able to reserve our room 11 months out — in July of 2012, if my memory serves me right. The hotel is absolutely incredible, and I urge you to take a more in-depth look at it by checking out my post on the Grand Californian.
Disneyland Memories
Of course, when I say Disneyland, I’m actually referring to both Disneyland Park and Disney’s California Adventure Park, so I guess my post should have been titled Disneyland Resort Memories to be technically correct, but I think you know what I mean. This first picture is of one of the most relaxing things we did at Disneyland — taking a ride on the Sailing Ship Columbia.
The Sailing Ship Columbia is a relaxing, incredible trip back in time to the era of that type of ship.
This next picture is of the location of my wife’s favorite part of the parks — Mickey’s Toontown. This land is an incredible place, with all sorts of things to fascinate young and old alike!
Toontown is an incredible resource, and one that I recommend you enjoy every trip to Disneyland!
As we continue our look at the memories, I have to look at one of the best memories we have — meeting my friend Sheila, her husband Randy, and their daughter, Miss J. J and Sophie hit it off so well that we’re getting together again this summer, only this time we’ll stick to the east coast for our Disney adventures!
Sophie and Miss J enjoy Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree!
Sophie and Miss J over on Buena Vista Street talking with one of the nice ladies!
In addition to meeting Sheila and her family, I also got to meet one of my good blogging friends Jessica and her boyfriend Shaun. That was a lot of fun, and Sophie loved meeting them and riding the Tower of Terror with them!
Meeting Jessica and Shaun was great fun!
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. The first time we rode it, Sophie hated it — it was too noisy for her. Put in her earplugs, ride it again, and viola! ~ a new fan! We even have the movie!
Mr. Toad and Sophie posing for a picture!
If you haven’t seen Mickey and the Magical Map yet and are going to Disneyland — go see it! It is an incredible show, and well worth stopping to see it.
Mickey and the Magical Map — what an incredible show!
The next two attractions are ones that took me and made me feel like even more of a little kid than I already did. The Casey Jr. Circus Train and the Storybook Land Canal Boats attractions are a lot of fun for me, and they are two of my favorite memories!
Casey Jr. Circus Train goes around the perimeter of the Canal Boat ride.
Storybook Land Canal Boats takes you right into the mouth of Monstro the Whale!
One thing that we did at Disneyland that we can’t do anymore at Walt Disney World was ride in the front of the Monorail. It was a lot of fun, and brought back old times of when we did do this at Walt Disney World…
Riding in the front of the Monorail is really cool!
Of course I’ve got to talk about Cars Land — that incredible land over at California Adventure Park. To be honest, though, while I really enjoyed the Radiator Springs Racers ride, I enjoyed just walking around Radiator Springs even more — especially at night!
Radiator Springs Racers is so popular there’s a 15 minute wait just to get a FastPass!
Flo’s V8 Cafe is a great place to get some tasty food!
These next two attractions are favorites because they are located in the same land — New Orleans Square — and when you couple them with the incredible dining we had at the Blue Bayou, they make the perfect Disney Trifecta of favorite Disneyland Memories!
The Haunted Mansion is a great attraction, and one you shouldn’t miss!
Pirates of the Caribbean is, without a doubt, one of the coolest rides at Disneyland!
When it comes to stage shows, Disney’s Aladdin — A Musical Spectacular — is a show that, in this writer’s opinion, rivals shows such as Finding Nemo – The Musical and the Festival of the Lion King over at Walt Disney World!
Disney’s Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular is a great show to see!
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln — I love it because it reminds me of some of the Walt Disney World history attractions, such as the Hall of Presidents and the American Adventure show. However, this has it’s own history, and great pieces that show how Disneyland was conceived in the mind of Walt Disney, and this is just a great attraction. Go check it out!
This model of the United States Capital is made from the same stone as the actual Capital!
One of the best parts of California Adventure is Paradise Pier, and it’s not surprising to me that three of the best memories we had are to be found there. Starting us off is Mickey’s Fun Wheel, a great ride that is a lot of fun! After that, I’m sharing a picture of my shot on California Screamin’ when we were upside down — still the best Disney rollercoaster in my opinion! And lastly, I’m sharing a picture I took during the World of Color — the quintessential show at California Adventure — and the best one on any Disney park, in my opinion!
Mickey’s Fun Wheel was a great deal of fun!
We loved California Screamin’!
Ariel in the World of Color — a great show that is second to none!
The memories that we created at Disneyland and California Adventure during our trip there last year are some of our absolute favorites. We had such a wonderful time that we know we’ll be back at some point — when, who knows, but we will get back there…it is that cool.
Thank you for stopping by, and for staying through until the very end of this long post! I hope you enjoyed it! Tell us in the comments what your favorite memories are of Disneyland, California Adventure, or any of the other Disney Parks, and thanks!
