Page 57 - 2014 Travel Guide to California

Disneyland
If the lovable (and life-sized) Mickey Mouse
and friends don’t pique your interest and
attention at California’s most famous
theme park, surely the rides will. The park,
which opened in 1955, features rides for all
ages, including some of the most bally-
hooed roller coasters anywhere in the state
(one favorite is Space Mountain, which
speeds along almost entirely in the dark).
Overall, Disneyland is divided into eight
themed areas, or “lands.” Some of these areas
focus on actual history: Frontierland recre-
ates the setting of the American frontier,
while Main Street U.S.A. is patterned after a
small Midwestern town (many believe Walt
Disney got his inspiration from his own boy-
hood town of Marceline, Missouri).
The park opened with one hotel, but
since the 1990s, it has grown exponen-
tially, adding a new theme park (Disney’s
California Adventure), a shopping district
(Downtown Disney) and two additional
hotels. The newest attraction, Cars Land,
was inspired by the Cars movies, and
opened in June 2012.
GILROY MUSHROOM
swing in Gilroy Gardens,
above; steamboat on the
river at Disneyland, right;
Shrek, below, is a prime
attraction at Universal
Studios, Hollywood, bottom.
Universal Studios Hollywood
This film-themed park got its formal start
in the 1960s when walk-throughs of Uni-
versal Studios soundstages and sets were
expanded to include peeks at actual pro-
duction. Over the years, the studio added a
tram to shuttle visitors through the back
lot; today, this tram remains the best way
to experience stunt demonstrations and
staged events (such as an encounter with
the shark from Jaws).
The rest of the park is divided into two
areas connected by escalator: the Upper
and Lower lots. On the Upper Lot, The
Simpsons Ride is popular among kids,
while grown-ups love Universal’s House of
Horrors, a year-round haunted house.
Transformers: The Ride 3-D opened on the
Lower Lot in the spring of 2012.
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