Here is a land of imagination, hopes and dreams. In this timeless land of enchantment the age of chivalry, magic and make-believe are reborn and fairy tales come true. Fantasyland is dedicated to the young and the young at heart, to those who believe that when you wish upon a star your dreams do come true.

Walt Disney ~ July 17, 1955

With those immortal words, Disneyland was dedicated, and a whole new theme park was born.  Gone were the days where your kids would ride the rides and you would wait for them; now, parents and their kids ride them together, and have fun doing so!

Today, in our Lands of Disneyland series, we are turning our attention to Fantasyland, arguably the most important land in any Disney park!  There is so much to discover, I’m sure that I won’t get to it all, but I do plan on touching on all of the things that I liked the best, and hopefully explain why I liked it so much.  So sit back, relax, and please enjoy our walk around Fantasyland at Disneyland Park!

Sleeping Beauty Castle

The attraction that I’m really interested in and thoroughly enjoyed at Disneyland was the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough.  This special attraction takes you on a journey of the book Sleeping Beauty, and guides you through the story by way of corridors inside the castle!  How cool is that!

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride

Ah, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride — what a great attraction.  Why Disney ever decided to close it and put Winnie the Pooh in it’s place at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, I’ll never know.  Sure, go ahead and put in Winnie the Pooh — I see the point in that — but relocate Mr. Toad to a great spot — and seeing as how he has a marker at the Haunted Mansion, I think an attraction over there in Liberty Square — or maybe, tucked back in the UK at Epcot’s World Showcase — would be an ideal spot for the return of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride!

Mickey and the Magical Map

Perhaps the single biggest surprise in our trip to Disneyland was the incredible show Mickey and the Magical Map.  I had read just a little bit about this show, and I wanted to see it, but it wasn’t until I actually saw it that I realized just how incredible the show really is!  It was so cool, in fact, that I wrote this blog post about it!

It’s a Small World

You know, I had heard a lot about “It’s a Small World” and how different it was at Disneyland from it’s counterpart in the Magic Kingdom, so I wasn’t all that surprised by the differences.  You know what, though?  I think the way the attraction is laid out at Disneyland is really great for that setting, and the way it is laid out at Walt Disney World is great for that setting! It was a refreshing change at Disneyland, and I loved some of the special characters inside the ride that you don’t see at the Magic Kingdom.

Casey Jr. Circus Train

You know, one of the things I really like about Disneyland is the way they work such a small scale into an attraction and make it look so realistic!  Case in point: the Casey Jr. Circus Train.  Riding that train, seeing the “far off” buildings that are so small because of the distance you are away from them, crossing over the Storybook Land Canal Boats attraction, and working it all seamlessly, so there isn’t any semblance of anything being out of place — now that’s what really makes Disney Imagineering special, and they prove it every day at Disneyland Park!

Storybook Land Canal Boats

Another great attraction that I really liked — and one that goes hand in hand with the Casey Jr. Circus Train attraction — is the Storybook Land Canal Boats ride, since they often overlap one another, and often share some of the same scenery.  I have come to the conclusion that the Imagineers at Disneyland have to work extra hard to make sure that they can integrate two attractions so closely together, and they have refined their skill perhaps because they don’t have the luxury of space that Walt Disney World does. What do you think?

Matterhorn Bobsleds

A lot of people told me how much they like the Matterhorn Bobsleds, so we rode them.  To be honest, though, I thought it was not a very good attraction.  I thought it was so slow, and it really threw us around, and just wasn’t all that much fun.  Still, it is a part of Fantasyland, so we’re including it here.  To each his own, right?

In addition to all of these attractions, you’ve also got quite a number of them that I haven’t even mentioned!  They include the following (with my recommendation):

• Alice in Wonderland – Worth riding
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant – Worth riding
• Frozen Royal Reception – It’s new to us, we didn’t see it.
• King Arthur Carrousel – Worth riding
• Mad Tea Party – Worth riding
• Merida “Meet and Greet” – Worth seeing
• Peter Pan’s Flight – Must See
• Pinocchio’s Daring Journey – Worth riding
• Pixie Hollow – Worth seeing
• Princess Fantasy Faire – Worth seeing
• Snow White’s Scary Adventures – Worth riding

So, as you can see, there is an incredible amount of fun to be had at Fantasyland in Disneyland Park!  Tell me, what is your favorite attraction at Fantasyland?  Let me know in the comments, and thanks for stopping by!