We love DisneyWorld, but since we live closer to Anaheim than Orlando, we enjoy spending a few days at Disneyland and California Adventure too. Interestingly when we lived just 30 minutes away from Anaheim in Torrance, California from 1993-2001, we didn't go to Disneyland as often as you would think. But we had to work for a living, and getting into Disneyland wasn't cheap. The best time to go was in the winter in the middle of the week and we did take a day off work once in a while to go - and we always went when our kids visited us from the midwest.
Our traditional favorites in the Magic Kingdom were: Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, the Matterhorn and the very, very best ride was Indiana Jones - just love that one!
Our last visit was in November 2003. We lived in a suburb of Las Vegas then, so drove to Anaheim, about a 4 1/2 hour trip. We stayed at the California Adventure hotel, a great place, like all Disney luxury hotels. Our room was spacious with a nice bathroom and the balcony overlooked California Adventure, which was beautiful at night with all the colors.
We like the Magic Kingdom, but found California Adventure to be a lot of fun too. There weren't many people around California Adventure the day we were there, which made it seem kind of strange since Disney properties are usually too crowded.
We also liked Downtown Disney here. In fact, I think we liked this Downtown Disney better than the one in Orlando. We spent quite a lot of time enjoying the cuisine, especially the beignets. I got sick after dinner at the Cajun restaurant and I still don't know if it was because there was cilantro in my shrimp dish (I asked them to check and made sure there wasn't since I'm allergic and they assured me there wasn't) or if I ate too many beignets, ha! Anyway, it put a big damper on the rest of our stay - I was in the bathroom for 3-4 hours that night and felt like a wet noodle the entire next day.
But I still love Mickey and the gang and would go back in a minute - I'd just eat fewer beignets and skip the cajun food next time.