Ten Surprises for Magic Kingdom Regulars Visiting Disneyland Park for the First Time

1. There are a Lot More Rides, but Many are Not Included on Disney Genie+

The queues in Disneyland are much more narrow and do not offer a second entrance. We found most of these classic rides, including Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride and Alice in Wonderland, to hover around a 30-minute wait. Peter Pan’s Flight, like in Orlando, had the longest wait of all the classic rides. 

2. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Sleeping Beauty Castle are Located in the Same Park

It’s a weird feeling to not have to get on a bus to move between the Mad Hatter’s Teacups and the Millennium Falcon. It does make a one-stop shop Disney park for families with young children who may not be as into Star Wars as the adults in their party.

3. The Canoe Ride is a Lot of Work

We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into (literally- we couldn’t see what the “ride” was) when we queued up for Davey Crockett’s Canoe ride. We were thrown into an actual canoe with 13 other park guests and asked to row all the way around Tom Sawyer island, roughly a 20-minute excursion. Understandably this attraction doesn’t exist in Florida, where the potential exists for run-ins with reptiles.

4. Fireworks Are More Likely to be Canceled

While a seasonal thunderstorm often postpones the fireworks in Orlando, the fire risk to Californians mean that moderate amounts of wind can cause cancellations. An announcement 10 minutes before the ______________ show was about to start warned us that winds were an issue, and the ___________ was confirmed at 10:15pm. The consolation was a projection show with snow along Main Street. 

5. Indiana Jones has the Most Popular Ride

The Indiana Jones Adventure was the most notable addition in Adventureland compared to Magic Kingdom. The mechanics of the ride are similar to Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom. The wait hovered around 1 1/2 hours most of the day and the Lightning Lane was the first to become unavailable. We chose to get one for early evening when we had a four-hour midday break from the park.

6. Character Meet & Greets are More Impromptu

The Disneyland App lists the locations and times of many characters, but guests often aren’t allowed to queue up to meet them.

7. The Disneyland Train goes through It’s a Small World.

While we enjoy the narration of the train in Disney World Railroad, we often use it more to cut down on walking between the Frontierland and Storybook Circus. We took the Disneyland Train between Mickey’s Toontown and Tomorrowland, and loved that it went through the exterior area of It’s a Small World, giving us an excellent view of the holiday lights displays.

8. Sleeping Beauty Castle (77ft) is MUCH shorter than Cinderella Castle (189ft)

We didn’t realize that there is an over 100 foot difference between the castles, so Sleeping Beauty Castle was shockingly small to us. However, unlike Cinderella’s Castle that requires a dining reservation to see the interior, Sleeping Beauty Castle is an attraction open to all guests, where a series of rooms tell the story from the animated movie.

9. The Monorail Requires a Ticket to Disneyland Park

There are two ways to enter Disneyland Park: via the Main Entrance or the Monorail. We stayed at Disneyland Hotel, so we were a very short walk to the Security entrance in Downtown Disney with the Monorail Entrance just beyond. It likely didn’t save us time, but it did save us steps, and we were able to book Lightning Lanes for later in the morning as soon as we entered the monorail queue during the 1/2 hour early entry for resort guests. The monorail stop inside the park is in the center of Tomorrowland, so it was easy to go directly to many of the attractions without having to walk through Main Street.

10. Autopia > Tomorrowland Speedway

While Tomorrowland Speedway in Magic Kingdom is more interesting now with views of Tron, Autopia in Disneyland winds through more varied scenery. Honda now sponsors the California version of the ride, so the robot ASIMO makes appearances throughout the ride.