[cinderly2065]

Hello all, I am taking a long over due trip to Disneyland and the new California Adventure parks. I am not familiar with anything they have added since 1996. Any and all information that would make our vacation more enjoyable would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all very much.

[cinderbella]

I unfortunatly am not well versed in the ways of Dinseyland...but I wanted to say hello and welcome you to DC...also if you want you should PM dznygrl--she used to work at DL so she, and a lot of others, are well informed on the ways of DL and CA

[dznygrl]

Hi cinderly! I see cinderbella has already recommended me...hehe...I'm flattered.

I don't even know where to begin, but I would LOVE to help give you any information about Downtown Disney, California Adventure, etc. (I used to work at DCA, so I'm very familiar with it! ) Any questions you may have, feel free to ask away! You can always PM me if you'd like to as well.

There are a lot of wonderful new things to explore at the Disneyland Resort! It has changed in MANY ways since you were last there... I bet you're excited to get to go again!!!

[disneyaddict]

You are going to love it! The place just keeps getting better and better!

[Experiment6-2-6]

The park has vastly improved since '96. California Adventure is where the parking lot used to reside, and now they have Downtown Disney inbetween the two parks. Their website at www.disneyland.com has the maps, with a brief description for each and every restaurant and ride.

And, of course, you have all the experiences and suggestions by those at Disney Central.

You might be saddened, too, as they removed the rocket rides, and Swiss Family Treehouse, and the Country Bears.

But depending on how long you stay and how much you want to do while you are there, to try and accomplish all comes close to five days. Others might disagree, but my girlfriend at the time went up for two days at a time, which made it worthwhile, but we lived in San Diego at the time. I would suggest five days to a week if you can afford it.

[Disneywife]

Originally Posted by Experiment6-2-6

The park has vastly improved since '96. California Adventure is where the parking lot used to reside, and now they have Downtown Disney inbetween the two parks. Their website at www.disneyland.com has the maps, with a brief description for each and every restaurant and ride.

And, of course, you have all the experiences and suggestions by those at Disney Central.

You might be saddened, too, as they removed the rocket rides, and Swiss Family Treehouse, and the Country Bears.

But depending on how long you stay and how much you want to do while you are there, to try and accomplish all comes close to five days. Others might disagree, but my girlfriend at the time went up for two days at a time, which made it worthwhile, but we lived in San Diego at the time. I would suggest five days to a week if you can afford it.

The rocket ride was just moved and renamed to Astro Orbiters. It's no longer on top of that big thing where the People Mover was - it's now on the ground just at the entrance to Tomorrowland...you can't miss it.

The Swiss Family Treehouse is still there, it's just called Tarzan's Treehouse now. They didn't change much else besides the name.

Country Bear Jamboree is gone and the Pooh ride is there now, but the Country Bear Restaurant next door is still there.

Downtown Disney and the Grand Californian hotel isn't really in between the two parks - it's more to the side in formerly unused parking space - generally, where all the buses used to line up and acres of dead space that had no use. Looking at Disneyland's main gate, it's to the left all the way up to Disneyland Drive (formerly called West Street until Disney bought the street from the city of Anaheim). Right across the street is the Disneyland hotel and the Paradise Pier hotel, from where you can walk right into Downtown Disney. California Adventure is more where the main parking lot used to be - they only left a small corner by the intersection of Katella and Harbor - now the Timon parking lot. (Hint, if you can, park in Timon rather than in the parking structure - the parking structure is one of the largest in the world, which is a real bummer if you park on the far end of it! It's a lot simpler to get to the main gate from Timon - to accomplish this, enter Disneyland from the HARBOR entrance, not the Disneyland Drive entrance where the signs will direct you to. Exit the 5 at Disney Way and ignore all the "theme park parking" signs - take Disney Way straight, which will cross Harbor, and take you right into the Harbor gate and the Timon parking lot).

[dznygrl]

Originally Posted by Disneywife

The Swiss Family Treehouse is still there, it's just called Tarzan's Treehouse now. They didn't change much else besides the name.

And the entire feel/concept!

[Experiment6-2-6]

By the way, there is a large space between the entrances to Disneyland and California Adventure, where you can, for a small fee, buy a brick that can be customized with your names.