One of the challenges of living overseas is that time with my daughters requires a little more planning than simply hopping in the car and driving across town. Whenever I make it back to the United States, spending time with them is always at the top of my priority list. On my most recent trip home, I decided we should do something a little more exciting than our usual activities, so we packed our bags and headed to Southern California for a trip to Disneyland.

I’ve been fortunate enough to visit Disney parks all over the world, but there’s something about returning to the original Disneyland that never gets old. Of course, the biggest attraction this time wasn’t any particular ride or experience. It was simply getting to spend a few uninterrupted days having fun with my girls, making memories, and enjoying being a dad without the Pacific Ocean separating us.

And, as an added bonus, apparently walking approximately 30,000 steps a day.

The Happiest Place on Earth Is Exhausting

I don’t think people fully appreciate just how physically demanding a Disney vacation can be until they’re in the middle of one. You wake up early, spend the entire day walking from one end of the park to the other, stand in lines, weave through crowds, and somehow convince yourself that walking across the park one more time is a perfectly reasonable idea because the wait for Space Mountain just dropped by fifteen minutes.

By the time we finished each day, my phone was reporting somewhere around 30,000 steps. That’s roughly 13 to 15 miles of walking, depending on your stride. Do that for multiple days, throw in several hours of standing around, and suddenly a Disney vacation starts looking suspiciously like an endurance event.

I’ve been working pretty hard on improving my fitness this year, and I was genuinely grateful for that progress during this trip. Carrying around significantly less weight certainly makes spending an entire day on your feet more manageable. That said, no amount of conditioning completely prepares your feet for the combination of concrete, crowds, and the determination to squeeze in just one more ride before leaving.

By the end of the day, even sitting down on the tram felt like a luxury experience.

The girls, of course, seemed to have considerably more energy than I did. Funny how that works.

Disney Food Has Come a Long Way

One of the biggest surprises during this visit was just how much better the food at Disneyland has become.

When I was younger, theme park food was something you tolerated rather than anticipated. Burgers, chicken tenders, pizza, and the occasional churro were about the extent of the culinary experience. You ate because you were hungry, not because you expected anything particularly memorable.

That’s changed dramatically.

Disneyland has really stepped up its food game over the years, and there are now plenty of options that I’d happily eat even if I weren’t trapped inside a theme park. From the restaurants around New Orleans Square to the increasingly creative quick-service menus and seasonal offerings, the variety and quality are genuinely impressive. The snacks have also become an attraction in their own right, with enough interesting options that you could spend an entire day eating your way around the park without ever getting on a ride.

I also appreciate that Disney has moved beyond the idea that every meal needs to be some combination of fried food and French fries. There are more interesting choices, better ingredients, and enough variety to keep things from becoming repetitive over several days.

And yes, the churros are still excellent.

Has Disneyland Somehow Become Reasonably Priced?

Here’s something I never expected to say: once you’re actually inside Disneyland, the prices don’t seem quite as outrageous as they used to.

Don’t get me wrong. Disneyland is still expensive, and Disney is certainly not operating a charitable organization. But after spending most of my recent years living overseas, returning to the United States has been a bit of a shock in terms of everyday prices. Restaurants, groceries, hotels, and just about everything else seem to have become dramatically more expensive.

A casual restaurant meal that would have seemed absurdly expensive a decade ago now barely raises an eyebrow. Fast food for a family can easily cost what I remember paying for a decent sit-down dinner. Against that backdrop, spending fifteen or twenty dollars on a meal inside Disneyland doesn’t feel nearly as unreasonable as it once did.

In fact, some of the food prices are surprisingly competitive with what you’d pay at an ordinary restaurant outside the park, particularly considering the location and the captive audience.

Admission, however, is another story entirely.

The price of getting through the gates is absolutely criminal.

Between increasingly expensive tickets, park-hopping options, and the additional cost of services designed to reduce the amount of time you spend standing in line, the cost of a Disney vacation can get out of hand remarkably quickly. And that’s before you factor in hotels, transportation, food, and the inevitable merchandise purchases. 3 days for 4 people runs you nearly $1600 on admission fees alone.

I understand that Disney is a business and that demand for its parks remains incredibly strong. But it’s hard not to look at the cost of taking a family to Disneyland and wonder how the average American family is supposed to afford it. It is much more affordable in their overseas parks to the point where you could probably fly to Japan and do Disney there for the same cost as going to the parks in the U.S.

Once you’re inside, though, I actually think the value proposition improves considerably. The attractions are excellent, the entertainment is fantastic, the food is better than ever, and you can easily spend twelve or fourteen hours enjoying everything the park has to offer.

It’s just getting through the front gate without taking out a second mortgage that’s the problem.

I’ve Been to Almost Every Disney Park in the World

One of the perks of spending so much of my adult life traveling and living overseas is that I’ve had the opportunity to visit Disney parks around the world. At this point, I’ve visited every Disney resort outside of Shanghai, including Walt Disney World in Florida, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney Resort, and Hong Kong Disneyland.

Each has its own personality, and there are things I absolutely love about all of them.

Tokyo Disney Resort is spectacular. The attention to detail, cleanliness, cast members, and overall guest experience are on another level. Tokyo DisneySea, in particular, is one of the most visually impressive theme parks I’ve ever visited, and it’s easy to understand why so many Disney enthusiasts consider it among the best in the world.

Walt Disney World is an entirely different experience. Its sheer scale is difficult to comprehend until you’ve visited. Four theme parks, enormous resorts, transportation systems, and enough attractions to fill an entire vacation make it a destination unto itself. It’s less a theme park and more a small city dedicated to entertainment.

Disneyland Paris has one of the most beautiful versions of Sleeping Beauty Castle, along with some wonderfully designed attractions. Hong Kong Disneyland, meanwhile, is smaller and more manageable, with some genuinely excellent newer additions and a relaxed atmosphere that makes it a pleasure to visit.

And yet, after all those visits, the original Disneyland in Anaheim remains my favorite.

There’s Just Something About the Original

I think part of what makes Disneyland special is its size. Unlike Walt Disney World, where getting from one park to another can involve buses, boats, monorails, and a surprising amount of logistical planning, Disneyland feels wonderfully compact.

You can walk between Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure in minutes. Downtown Disney is right there, and much of the surrounding area is accessible on foot. There’s no need to spend half your vacation figuring out transportation or navigating an enormous resort complex.

That compactness also means Disneyland packs an incredible number of attractions into a relatively small footprint. You can experience an enormous amount in a single day, particularly if you’re willing to put in those 30,000 steps.

But I think there’s something else that keeps bringing me back.

Disneyland has a sense of history that the other parks can’t quite replicate. This is the park Walt Disney actually walked through. It’s the original, the place where the entire concept of the modern Disney theme park began. Despite decades of expansion, renovations, and technological improvements, much of that original charm remains.

Walking down Main Street, seeing Sleeping Beauty Castle, riding Pirates of the Caribbean or the Haunted Mansion, and hearing the familiar music throughout the park still brings back memories of visiting when I was younger.

There’s a nostalgia to Disneyland that I don’t experience quite the same way anywhere else.

And now, getting to share that experience with my daughters makes it even better.

The Best Part Wasn’t the Rides

As much as I enjoy Disney parks, this trip was really about spending time together.

Living overseas has given me some extraordinary professional and personal opportunities, but it also comes with sacrifices. Missing everyday moments with my daughters is easily one of the hardest parts. Video calls are wonderful, and technology makes staying connected easier than it would have been a generation ago, but there’s no substitute for actually being there.

That’s why trips like this mean so much to me.

We got to spend our days exploring the parks, debating which rides to go on next, eating entirely too many snacks, and laughing about whatever ridiculous thing happened along the way.

For all its crowds, outrageous ticket prices, and the physical punishment of walking fifteen miles a day, Disneyland remains my favorite Disney park in the world.

And getting to experience it with my girls makes it that much better.

Although next time, I might invest in some better walking shoes. -Nick