Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Because there are no major rides, it's best to tour Main Street during the middle of the
afternoon, when lines for rides ar e longest, and in the ev ening, when walkways can be
packed with visitors vie wing Disneyland's parades and sho ws. There's always something
happening on M ain S treet; stop in at the information booth to the left of the M
ain
Entrance for a schedule of the day 's events.
ADVENTURELAND
Inspired by the most ex otic regions of Asia, Africa, I ndia,
and the South Pacific, Adventureland is home to several popular rides. Here's where you
can cavort inside
Tarzan's Treehouse,
a climb-around attraction based on the animated
film. Its neighbor is the
Jungle Cruise,
where passengers board a large, authentic-looking
Mississippi River paddleboat and float along an Amaz on-like river; a spear's throw away
is the
Enchanted Tiki Room,
one of the most sedate attractions in A dventureland.
Inside, you can sit down and watch a 20-minute musical comedy featuring electronically
animated tropical birds, flowers, and “Tiki gods.”
The
Indiana Jones Adventure
is Adventureland's star ride. Based on the Steven
Spielberg films, this ride takes adventurers into the Temple of the Forbidden Eye in jolt-
ingly realistic all-terrain v ehicles. Riders follo w Indy and experience the perils of bub-
bling lav a pits, whizzing arr ows, fir e-breathing serpents, collapsing bridges, and the
familiar tumbling boulder (an effect that's very realistic to riders in the fr ont seats).
NEW ORLEANS SQUARE
A large, grassy green dotted with gas lamps, New Orleans
Square evokes the F rench Quarter's timeless charm fr om antebellum mansions to side-
walk cafes and lakefront terraces. Jazz music wafts through the air, and portrait artists line
a cobblestone alley of shops. O ne of D isneyland's most popular rides,
Pirates of the
Caribbean,
is located here; visitors still float on boats through mock underground caves,
but now the plot is Captain J ack Sparrow and his cohor ts from the hit film franchise
doing battle with D avy J ones. The v enerable
Haunted M ansion
looms her e as w ell,
where the dated effects ar e more funny than scar y. Even in the middle of a sw eltering
summer day y ou can dine b y the cool moonlight to the sound of crickets in the
Blue
Bayou
restaurant, the only eater y inside D isneyland that r equires reservations (stop b y
early in the day to make y ours).
CRITTER COUNTRY
An ode to the backwoods, Critter Country is a sort of Frontier-
land without those pesky settlers. O lder kids and gr own-ups head straight for
Splash
Mountain
, one of the largest water flume rides in the world. Loosely based on the
Disney movie
Song of the South,
the ride is lined with about 100 characters that won 't
stop singing “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah.” Be prepared to get wet, especially if someone sizable
is in the front seat of your log-shaped boat. The
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
is a childr en's attraction based on Winnie the Pooh and his friends fr om the Hundred-
Acre Wood—Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet, and the gang. The attraction is of the kindle, gentler
sort, where you board “hunny bee-hiv es” and take a slo w-moving journey thr ough the
Hundred-Acre Wood in endless pursuit of “hunny.” The high-tech gadgetry and illusions
are spellbinding for kids and mildly enter taining for adults. (
Tip:
I t's a v ery popular
attraction, so be sure to arrive early or make use of FASTPASS.) While it may not be the
fastest ride in the par k,
Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes
allow folks to r ow around
Tom Sawyer Island. It's the only ride where you actively control your boat (no underwa-
ter rails!). Hop into replica canoes, grab a paddle, and away y ou go.
FRONTIERLAND
Inspired by 19th-centur y America, F rontierland features a raft to
Pirate's Lair at Tom Sawyer's Island,
a do-it-yourself play area with live pirates, island
caverns, and r ope bridges leading to buried tr easure. You'll also find the
Big Thunder
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