Viewpoints on the Magic Kingdom

Disneyland rules when it comes down to spending a day with friends. Although the adrenaline pumping experiences of Magic Mountain's Viper push you to the wall of excitement, give the rich tradition of Disneyland a try.

For Your Information

Go to the best attractions early or late.

With less people in the park, the wait times go down.

Rain rules!

Most people don't visit the park when it rains. Disneyland stays open though because they care about the people who traveled long distances and have one day to visit. Be sure to arrive sometime in the morning when it rains. The park has been known to close early when wet.

Designate a place to regroup

If you get lost and need to find each other, you can go to City Hall and leave an entry in the logbook on where and when you'll be waiting. Although its easier to designate a meeting place before you get separated.

Selective Perception

For an interesting change of pace, go explore Tom Sawyer's Island. Located in the center of the River's of America, TSI allows you to row a canoe, explore caves, and cross a real cool bridge.
Tired of seeing cast members so cheerful & perky? Go visit the Haunted Mansion.
Searching for Mickey Mouse? Go visit his home in ToonTown. Visit often and you may see him in more than one setting.

Places to go & People to see

Fantasmic: Mickey -the ultra hip- Mouse sets fire to his imagination in this spectacular show. Set on the Rivers of America, this event happens on moderate to heavy attendance days. To get an idea of when this or any other event takes place, jump over to www.disneyland.com and explore Disneyland information.
Fantasmic rules! The best shows are the second or third. Walk into the area about 20 minutes after the previous showtime. Do your best to get a seat close to the center lighting cluster located near the Pirates of the Carribean. Also, hidden inside the Disney Galleria, the galleria balcony offers a great view.
Videopolis: At night, the Videopolis stage show comes alive. Be sure to visit in the evening so you can see the subtle lighting effects.
Fireworks in the Sky: Be sure you're somewhere around the Disneyland hub if you'd like to see Tinkerbell's descent from the Matterhorn mountaintop. From ToonTown, the fireworks feel like they're exploding right on top of you. You may also want to view this event from the Rivers of America. You can see Fantasmic and see the fireworks reflecting off the water.

Double Take

Splash Mountain

Sit in the front for the best chance to get soaked.

Space Mountain

Close your eyes and enjoy the soundtrack.

Rocket Rods

Get in the front seat!

Thunder Mountain

Look backwards.
Follow the mountain goat with your head while going around the bend.

Disney Magic

Walter Elias Disney (December 5, 1901-December 15,1966) enjoyed taking his two daughters out to different forms of entertainment. Yet he was never satisfied with amusement parks which had so much unrealized potential. He wanted a place where he could interact with his children and enjoy activities together.
Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955. At a cost of approximately 17 million dollars, its inspiration came from Walt's vision of a safe, clean, and exciting amusement park environment.

Forced Perspective

Take an extra long look at Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Notice how it seems to reach for the skies. Forced perspective works by adjusting the dimensions of a building so that it seems larger or smaller. The base of the castle would be full sized while the next floor would be the same dimensions but on a smaller scale. Keep going up and the scale gets even smaller.
Another example of this occurs when walking into the park from Main Street USA. The street seems quite long. Going the opposite direction, it seems to be quite short. Buildings from the Town Square seem larger while buildings from the Hub were designed to seem smaller by adjusting the scale of area above the first floor. The illusion works because we assume all the buildings have the same scale.

Scent

Enhancing the experience through scent. Walk by the candy store on Main Street or any outdoor vending popcorn location and experience it for yourself.

Hidden Mickeys

Searching for hidden Mickey's can be an interesting way to notice all the detail that goes into the park. For more information on this, go to Yahoo! and type hidden mickey into the search field.

Romantic Stuff

Nothing beats the romantic side of the Magic Kingdom. My favorite places are the Blue Bayou, Pirates of the Carribean, and the moat in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

The Blue Bayou offers a great selection of Cajun Food. Think hot and spicy. Remember to ask for a table by the water for the best experience.
The Pirates of the Carribean boats load rapidly, so you can visit anytime with very little wait. The vessel starts by floating around the side of the Blue Bayou and offers a quick view of this great restaurant.
The waterway in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle rules! Relax here while watching the swans go by. This place can be found on my must see list. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

There's an area in the Disneyland Hotel that has the most incredible waterfalls. When exiting the monorail, walk towards the center of the hotel. When you get there, hang a left and walk toward the sound of rushing water.

The summers I worked at Disneyland made a real difference in me. I hope that some of the ideas I discovered make your trip there more worthwhile. There's so many aspects of Disneyland that I didn't cover. Just keep exploring and you'll see more than the tip of the iceburg.

Click on the shades