Sights in Disneyland & Anaheim
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Main-Street USA
Upon entering the park, you're funneled onto Main Street USA. Fashioned after Walt's hometown of Marceline, Missouri, it resembles a classic turn-of-the-20th-century all-American town, before the advent of the mall. Everything here is designed to celebrate an idealized vision of the USA. The music playing in the background is from American musicals and there's a flag-retreat ceremony every afternoon.
Have your picture taken with Mickey or Minnie or any of the other oversized characters prancing around. You can also catch the Disneyland Railroad, a steam train that loops the park and stops at four different stations along the way. Pay attention to the wonderful optical il…
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Hollywood Pictures Backlot
Designed to look like the backlot of a Hollywood studio, this attraction includes a mishmash of building styles, with everything from a Frank Lloyd Wright knock-off to a Pantages-style theater. If you're early, you'll have an unobstructed view of the forced-perspective mural at the end of the street, a sky-and-land backdrop that looks, at least in photographs, like the street keeps going.
In the air-conditioned Animation Building you can put your voice into a Disney film and find out which Disney character you're most like - perfect for little ones. Across the street you can see Kermit at Muppet Vision 3D. The big attraction, though, is the 183ft-tall Twilight Zone Tower …
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C
New Orleans Square
Adjacent to Adventureland, New Orleans Square is a refrain of that city's French Quarter, minus the marauding drunks. Pirates of the Caribbean, the longest ride in Disneyland (17 minutes), opened in 1967 and was the first addition to the original park. You'll float through the subterranean haunts of tawdry pirates, where buccaneers' skeletons perch atop their mounds of booty. This is the only ride in the park that addresses sex ('Buy a Bride') - blame it on the '60s.
At the Haunted Mansion, '999 happy haunts' - spirits and goblins, shades and ghosts - evanesce while you ride in a cocoon-like car through web-covered graveyards of dancing skeletons. The Disneyland Railroad …
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Golden State
Broken into sections that recognize California's cultural achievements, the Golden State has several distinct areas. Condor Flats, a nod to the state's aerospace industry, features Soarin' Over California, a virtual hang gliding ride using IMAX technology. Keep your nostrils open for the smell of the sea, orange groves and pine forests. Grizzly River Run takes you 'rafting' down a faux Sierra Nevada river; you will get wet so try it when it's warm.
Raise a glass to the Napa Valley at the Golden Vine Winery. At the Palace of Fine Arts in 'San Francisco,' check out Golden Dreams, where an eerie embodiment of Whoopi Goldberg takes you on a 22-minute film journey through Cali…
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Disney's California Adventure
The entrance to DCA sits directly opposite the entrance to Disneyland and was designed to look like an old-fashioned painted-collage postcard. As you pass through the turnstiles, note the gorgeous mosaics on either side of the entrance. One represents Northern California, the other Southern California.
After passing under the Golden Gate Bridge, you'll arrive at Sunshine Plaza, where a 50ft-tall sun made of gold titanium 'shines' all the time because heliostats direct the rays of the real sun onto the Disney sun. Close your eyes and stand in the plaza, and you'll hear the simulated sound of the surf as produced by the plaza's fountain, a neat trick.
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Tomorrowland
The future looks different now than it did in 1955 when this exhibit opened, so in 1998 this 'land' was revamped to honor three 'timeless' futurists: Jules Verne, HG Wells and Leonardo da Vinci. Don't miss Space Mountain, one of the park's signature attractions and one of the best roller coasters in America. It takes your head off as you hurtle into complete darkness at frightening speed.
A 2005 revamp means new visual effects, but the biggest improvement is the new sound system, so it seems like Deep Space is penetrating your eardrums.
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Fantasyland
At the core of the park, behind Sleeping Beauty Castle, Fantasyland is filled with the characters of classic children's stories, such as Dumbo the Elephant and Peter Pan. Kids love whirling around the Mad Tea Party ride. Peter Pan's Flight, one of the park's original attractions, takes you floating through the air in a galleon.
If you only see one attraction in Fantasyland, visit It's a Small World, a boat ride past hundreds of animatronic children (representing many of the world's cultures) all singing the song of the same name.
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Paradise Pier
Paradise Pier is an amalgam of California's beachside amusement piers, like the ones in Santa Monica and Newport Beach. The California Screamin' roller coaster occupies 10 acres and resembles an old wooden coaster, but it's got a state-of-the-art, smooth-as-silk steel track; the beginning of the ride feels like you're being shot out of a cannon. Awesome.
For more bird's-eye views of the park, head to the Sun Wheel, a giant Ferris wheel where each gondola pitches and yaws as it makes its grand circuit.
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A Bug's Land
Here the attractions, designed in conjunction with Pixar Studios after its film A Bug's Life, attempt to see the world from the insect's point of view. Kids can splash around the 'irrigation systems' at Bountiful Valley Farm, but the best attraction is the 3D It's Tough to Be a Bug. Hilarious and oddly touching, it packs some unexpected tactile surprises. Other good rides include Heimlich's Chew Chew Train and the Drive 'em Buggies bumper cars.
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Critter Country
Tucked behind the Haunted Mansion, Critter Country is home to both Winnie the Pooh and Splash Mountain, a flume ride through the story of Brer Rabbit and Brer Bear, based on the controversial film Song of the South. Stuffed-animal characters sing and dance as you float by. Right at the big descent, a camera snaps your picture. Some visitors to the park lift their shirts, earning the ride the nickname 'Flash Mountain.'
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Adventureland
Dedicated to exploration and adventure, Adventureland is very loosely based on Southeast Asia and Africa. The hands-down highlight is the jungle-themed Indiana Jones Adventure. Enormous Humvee-type vehicles lurch and jerk as they re-create stunts from the famous film trilogy. (Look closely at Indie during the ride: is he real or animatronic?) Nearby, little ones love climbing the stairways of Tarzan's Treehouse.
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Frontierland
Frontierland gives a Disney nod to the Old West. This is a low-key area of the park, and even small children will emerge unshaken after a ride on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster. Rivers of America pays tribute to 19th-century river culture, with Tom Sawyer's Island in the middle of the water. Take Tom Sawyer's Raft to the island, where kids can play in the woods.
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Mickey's Toontown
At the northern end of the park, beyond Fantasyland, Mickey's Toontown is the province of the elementary-school set. This is where Mickey and Minnie make their home (separately, of course; this is Disneyland), Donald keeps his boat and Goofy has a Bounce House.
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