The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2022

The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2022

The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2022

The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2022

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Overview

Honest and Outspoken Advice from the Unofficial Experts, The latest information on how COVID-19 has impacted the Disneyland Resort, Comprehensive in-depth critical assessments of every attraction, including the new WEB SLINGERS and reimagined Snow White rides, Up-to-date information on visiting Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, including how to use virtual boarding passes to ride Rise of the Resistance, Profiles and ratings for more than 30 Disneyland Resort and Anaheim hotels, including the luxurious new JW Marriott at GardenWalk, Updated tips for visiting Universal Studios Hollywood, with reviews of the new Jurassic World and Secret Life of Pets rides, Check out The Disneyland Story: The Unofficial Guide to the Evolution of Walt Disney's Dream. It's the perfect companion to this guide. Supplement your valuable guidebook with tips, news, and deals by visiting our website, theunofficialguides.com.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781628091274
Publisher: Unofficial Guides
Publication date: 12/07/2021
Series: Unofficial Guides Series
Pages: 400
Sales rank: 1,068,119
Product dimensions: 5.10(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

About The Author
Seth Kubersky is nationally recognized as an authority on theme parks and amusement attractions. He has worked for more than 20 years as a theatrical artist, culture critic, and travel journalist. In addition to writing The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando and coauthoring The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland, Seth also contributes to the Unofficial Guides to Walt Disney World and Las Vegas. A resident of Orlando since 1996, Seth is a former employee of Universal Orlando’s entertainment department. Named Best Arts Writer in The Daily City’s 2013 readers’ poll, Seth covers arts and attractions for the Orlando Weekly newspaper, Attractions Magazine, AAA’s Via magazine, and other publications.

Bob Sehlinger, a Lowell Thomas Award–winning journalist, is best known as the creator and producer of The Unofficial Guide series.

A contributor to several top-selling guidebooks, Len Testa leads the team at TouringPlans.com, a research arm of The Unofficial Guides.

Guy Selga Jr. is a passionate Disney fan, a blogger, and a researcher at TouringPlans.com.

Read an Excerpt

Part 3: Disneyland with Kids – Disney Characters

Meeting characters

For years the costumed, walking versions of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and others have been a colorful supporting cast at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Known unpretentiously as the Disney characters, these large and friendly figures help provide a link between Disney animated films and the Disney theme parks.

Audiences, it has been observed, cry during the sad parts of Disney animated films and cheer when the villain is vanquished. To the emotionally invested, the characters in these features are as real as next-door neighbors; never mind that they are simply cartoons. In recent years, the theme park personifications of Disney characters have likewise become real to us. For thousands of visitors, it is not just some person in a mouse costume they see—it is really Mickey. Similarly, running into Goofy or Snow White in Fantasyland is a memory to be treasured, an encounter with a real celebrity.

About 250 of the Disney animated-film characters have been brought to life in costume. Of these, a relatively small number (about 50) are greeters (the Disney term for characters who mix with the patrons). The remaining characters are relegated exclusively to performing in shows, usually in holiday parades or Disney anniversary celebrations.

Character encounters

Character watching has developed into a pastime. Where families were once content to stumble across a character occasionally, they now pursue them armed with autograph books and cameras. For those who pay attention, some characters are more frequently encountered than others. Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy, for example, are seemingly everywhere, while Thumper rarely appears. Other characters are seen regularly but limit themselves to a specific location. The fact that some characters are seldom seen has turned character watching into character collecting. Mickey Mouse may be the best known and most-loved character, but from a collector’s perspective, he is also the most common. To get an autograph from Mickey is no big deal, but Daisy Duck’s signature is a real coup. Commercially tapping into the character-collecting movement, Disney sells autograph books throughout the parks. One Unofficial Guide reader offers this suggestion regarding character autographs:

Young children learn very quickly! If they see another child get an autograph, then they will want an autograph book as well. I recommend buying an autograph book right away. My 4-year-old daughter saw a child get Goofy’s autograph, and right away she wanted to join the fun.

Preparing your children to meet the characters

Because most small children are not expecting Minnie Mouse to be the size of a forklift, it’s best to discuss the characters with your kids before you go. Almost all of the characters are quite large, and several, such as Br’er Bear, are huge! All of them can be extremely intimidating to a preschooler.

On first encounter, it is important not to thrust your child upon the character. Allow the little one to come to terms with this big thing from whatever distance the child feels safe. If two adults are present, one should stay close to the youngster while the other approaches the character and demonstrates that the character is safe and friendly. Some kids warm to the characters immediately, while some never do. Most take a little time and often require several different encounters.

Part 5 – Disneyland Park

Star Tours—The Adventures Continue

DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS

When Disney’s first modern flight simulator ride debuted in 1987, guests lined up for hours for their hyperspace voyage into a galaxy far, far away. But time and technology march on, and Star Tours received a top-to-bottom overhaul in 2011 with cutting-edge-digital 3D screens (the sharpest and clearest that we’ve ever seen) and in-cabin-Audio-Animatronic figures of C3P0, your golden droid pilot. During your inevitably turbulent travels, you’ll bump, twist, and dive into a who’s who of Star Wars icons, with heroes Master Yoda and Admiral “It’s A Trap!” Akbar on your side, and villains Darth Vader and Boba Fett on your back. Jedi junkies will want to know that the ride takes place between episodes III and IV, so you’ll be visiting planets from both the classic trilogy—such as icy Hoth and arid Tatooine—and the not-so-classic prequels, including Geonosis (home of the dreaded Death Star) and Naboo (home of the equally dreaded Jar Jar Binks).

The big twist is that the six possible cosmic destinations and five celebrity cameos are randomly combined into 54 different story variations, giving the attraction unprecedented re-ridability (though you may see all 11 potential ride elements in as few as three voyages). Fans of the former ride will be thrilled to find a wealth of references (along with hidden Disney characters and Star Wars inside jokes) inside the detailed queue, and those made uncomfortable by the old ride’s jerkiness will be surprised at how smooth and well-synchronized the reprogrammed experience now is.

Table of Contents

List of Maps

Acknowledgments

Introduction

PART ONE: Planning Before You Leave Home

PART TWO: Essentials

PART THREE: Disneyland with Kids

PART FOUR: Dining and Shopping in and around Disneyland

PART FIVE: Disneyland Park

PART SIX: Disney California Adventure

PART SEVEN: Universal Studios Hollywood

Appendix

List of Maps

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