How Disneyland Made a Believer Out of Me.
I never wanted to go to Disneyland. Sure, I’d heard all about how it was “Walt’s park” and how you could walk in Walt’s footsteps, but to be honest, I’m not very sentimental about those things. I love Disney World, all four parks, the dining options, and the resorts. It didn’t seem necessary to go all the way out to the West Coast (where I was raised, incidentally) when I had everything I needed just a few hundred miles from my front door. But circumstances change and an opportunity arose. I went to Disneyland.
Here’s what I found, in a nutshell: Disneyland is both the same and different. Disneyland feels like a “family” park, with a million pass holders for whom it’s like a second home; Disney World is everyone’s park, a destination for people from all over the world. Their castle is “cute,” not grand like “ours,” their quick-service food is better and the table-service food is spotty in places.Their Haunted Mansion has nothing on ours, except during the fall and Christmas, when they do a Nightmare Before Christmas overlay that is not to be missed.