My recent west coast Mickey trip Wrapped up 6/3

After a one day trip to Disneyland in 2000 (during a stay in Anaheim for a conference) I began to go to WDW in 2009 and have made a number of trips there. I tried to head to DLR a few years ago but it did not work out. However with some SW credits burning a hole in my Rapid Rewards account I decided to make the trip west. I just wanted to post a few things from the trip, so not a full TR but a few high and low lights of the trip.


Over all, I had a great trip. I have some very clear memories of that one day trip and then I have a lot of stuff that's a blur of trying to cram a childhood of Disney fondness in what I thought would be a one time chance to visit the mouse.

There were some things I loved, some I didn't and I had some good experiences and a few bad.

So I'm just going to put in a few basics and post a couple pictures because I didn't end up taking many.

Thanks




This was a short trip. I flew out very early on a Sunday and returned (or at least tried to) on Wed. I had a three day one park/per day ticket.

I am a WDW vet but only had the one day trip to DL in 2000. However I have since become a big fan of Disney as vacation Destination.





My mom came along. She's 71. She loves all things Mickey considering she grew up with the original Mickey Mouse Club. She doesn't do a ton of rides but she liked the magic and the atmosphere. She did however conquer Mickey's Terror/Fun Wheel, though she would only ride the stationary car.




but we were very happy to be at Disney

AIRFARE/AIRPORTS/GROUND TRANSPORTATION-

I live further away from DLR than WDW but it is was cheaper to fly to the west coast than the east coast. So a definite PLUS to the west coast there.

I planned this for a short trip. I had the early dawn flight out of OKC at 6:45 am with a short layover in Phoenix than on to SNA. At the time I booked my flight was actually only $106.60 (minus two $30.00 credits). My flight back was Wed morning at 9:45 with a connection in Phoenix and ran $163.00. I also did EBC as both flights had connections mid day and those tend to be more crowded flights.

We arrived at SNA around 9:20am. I did not pre-book transportation as this board said that walk up transportation was easy to arrange. I’m not sure what company as it was basically a plain white van but I think it was executive express or something like that. It was $11 bucks each and already mostly full so not much of a wait. Tipped a few dollars to our driver, so $25 for the two of us and a few bags.

I did book in advance for the trip back to the airport as we had to be at the airport early and wanted to make sure we weren’t scrambling the morning of or the day before. Pre-booked Super Shuttle, $11 each + a few bucks tip.

Both rides were fine, in that we arrived safe to our destination but with traffic and taxi driver bravado we had a few moments of imaginary braking from the passengers.

The flights out were fine (well except for a really bumping landing at SNA) but the flights back were pretty bad. We had tornados on the ground arriving back home and were diverted, ended up spending the night in Tulsa (90 minutes from home), sat in Tulsa for 4 hours before they decided to cancel the flights, we’re rebooked on a crazy roundabout trip at 5am in the morning and since driving home was going to be right through the storms we ended up booking a room and spending the night. We decided not to take the rebooked flight in the morning as it was Tulsa to Dallas then Dallas to OKC and five more airport hours made the cost of the hotel and a rental car so attractive. We did a one day rental (actually less than 3 hours) and drove to the OKC airport to pick up our car, which was still closed to flights due to flooding so all those people who took the morning flight were still sitting in Dallas. It was crazy but hey, they refunded my EBC and gave me a $100 voucher. I can live with that.

So West coast WINS on less expensive flights, but East coast gets the WIN on ground transportation. Better options as it's close and an easy drive if you rent a car (I drove the LA/Anaheim/San Diego roads back in 2000 and while not awful it was a pain so really didn't want to drive this trip), or if onsite there is the free DME.

I just really like this picture with the valley, the cloud base and then the mountains, this was over Arizona but I don't remember exactly where.

HOTEL

As you might be able to tell from the prior post I did stay offsite. I am a big fan on onsite but DLR was three times the price of offsite and I didn’t really see much of an advantage. Since we would just be there two mornings I just didn’t see the benefit of EMH vs $300 a night at onsite resorts.

We booked at the Best Western Park Place Inn. For location it gets a 10. I could make the walk in about 5 minutes. In fact one night I took leftovers back to the room from Cathay Circle and then made it back to my mom in just over 10 minutes.

Service was great, I found the employees polite, helpful and very eager to anticipate your needs.

I did not have a car but a cousin drove in to have lunch with us on Sunday so I bought a one day pass for $10. Very worth it, and easy to get her car approved and parked.

The rooms were very clean, the linens were not old or ratty, and the bed was very comfortable. I paid just over $100 (plus the fees/taxes which brought it to $124.00 per night) but still for three nights the price was very reasonable ($375.94 + $10 parking fee for one night).

Fridge/Microwave/coffee maker in a King room with fold out sofa. The coffee was dismal. Beyond bad, I had brought my own stuff (Ice coffee drinker), but my mom does plain black coffee, hot. She can drink anything, even she said it was pretty bad.

Water pressure was low in the sink but strong in the toilet. They don’t have an explanation of the toilet flushing. It’s an eco flush so two settings. I recognized it, but my mom didn’t.

Housekeeping was great. Again I give it high marks for the quality of the room and good employees.

We were in room 153. First floor about mid way down on the far side of the hotel. We actually took this room because it was ready early rather than wait for our assigned room. We ended up right next to the housekeeping laundry. Very loud clumping noises until 9 or 10 at night and activity all day long. It didn’t keep my mom up (yes she goes to bed early) or drive me totally nuts in the morning or if we came back, but it was annoying. I did not complain because I choose to take the room, but just FYI. Avoid this room.

The pool is tiny and luckily I am not a pool person, because you couldn’t have paid me to get in it or the hot tub. There were lots of kids jumping between the two and more than one baby in a non swim type diaper sitting in the water. However I was very near the pool and never heard any noise though there were plenty of people enjoying themselves. I think the most I saw was 3 or 4 families and that was about the limit of seating and space to move in the pool. The hot tub was shoulder to shoulder.

I've read mixed reviews on this breakfast but I thought for the level of stay and the price it was a very nice buffett. There were cereals, whole fruit, bagels and bread, muffins/pastries/donuts, a hot line with waffels, bacon/ham, egg patties, roasted potatoes and one hot cereal, along with a cooler of yogurt and the usual lowfat milk/coffee/oj.

I found the breakfast to be very limited for me (multiple allergies), but my mom was happy with the offerings. Her only complaint were soft waffles (stuck them in the toaster the next day and that worked great) and the egg patties were bland. I was prepared and had brought items to supplement my breakfast so it was all good. I ended up with whole fruit, breakfast meat (sausage one day, ham the others), potatoes, and orange juice (I brought WF bread and Almond milk). My mom tried waffles, fruit and made a breakfast sandwich (toast,egg,meat) both days, she drank lowfat milk, and coffee. I think she tried the pastries one day, but she didn’t care for them, but they were pretty basic Danish/muffin selections. She also had yogurt. The coffee in the breakfast was much better than the in room stuff. They had two types of oatmeal (from a packet), and three drycereal selections. I might have been okay with one of the cereals (frosted flakes as I’m not gluten free but wheat and oatmeal free, but I didn’t really see any safe choices if you were Gluten Free).

I found the food to be at the right temperatures, it tasted good and there were employees on hand to keep the area cleaned up and stocked.

Except for the few minor things above I found this to be a great option. I’d stay here again or the Park Vue next door (although it seemed to run about $20 more a night) if I wanted to try something else. East coast wins for the ability to have a value stay onsite, but BWPPI WINS over DLR resorts for affordability.

Just an FYI for those who may have limited milk options but have fou fou coffee tastes, I am an iced coffee drinker in the summer and I found this to be really convenient. It does have splenda in it but as such I only had to mix up a couple of squirts of this in ice water then add my almond milk (shelf stable ind. packs that travel in checked bags) and it was the perfect iced coffee. I had this in a disposable cup on my walk to DLR in the mornings. This is on my travel list from now on.



Found at Walmart for about $3.60. I got about 8 servings out of it. It does not need refrigeration. It also comes in Caramel and Vanilla

We stayed at the Park Place Inn on our last trip and that walk back is THE BEST!

Great picture out the airplane window.

BWPPI wins as my favorite off site hotel too, just for the short walk! We have also stayed at the Tropicana for the same reason.

FOOD

I have allergies and and at home I tend to stick to a minimal exposure diet. That's harder to do on vacation but I do try my best. I bring breakfast/safe alternative foods and a few snacks with me. But being on vacation I usually try to mix staying on track with a few treats here and there. I do not have life threatening allergies so sometimes you just go with the flow and pay the price later. However I still try to stick as close as possible to my restrictions.

We did one ADR on this trip. I had a WOC reservation at Carthay Circle. I have mixed feelings about this meal.

Since I knew I had had several small exposures already I tried to keep this meal as allergy free as possible.

I made the reservation and I noted my allergies (dairy, egg, wheat, buckwheat, oatmeal, rye, strawberries and pineapple).

I arrived and they had no alternative menu, I saw no chef, and honestly I felt completely unsure even about my waiter’s ability to communicate my needs or understand them. We didn’t see a lot of him and had to ask for basics like s&p or the GF bread that had not shown up. I saw a runner more than him.

He basically asked what I was thinking about. Since my mom (no allergies) was getting a steak I asked about the salad, chicken and pretty much just asked what they had available for dessert as there was not one thing on the menu that I could eat as listed. (the WOC menu is a more limited menu than the regular menu).

I was given GF bread. (I can tolerate small amounts of egg in baked goods so GF is usually safe as long as it’s not buckwheat, rye or oatmeal based). This sad to say was pretty much the best part of the meal for me. It was really good white bread, that had a good texture and taste, they brushed it with a high quality oil (it was very light and tasted nice) and it was slightly grilled. My mom tried it and preferred it to the regular loaf served to her. It appeared to be a small loaf or oversized sub roll shape.

The salad was a basic mixed green salad, with goat cheese (which I tolerate better than cow’s dairy so I was happy for that), but even though I assured him that I was not allergic to any nuts he brought both my mom’s and my salad without any sunflower seeds. Small annoyance. The only dressings I was offered were plain oil and vinegar or their Cherry Vinaigrette. I went with the cherry since I don’t like plain oil/vinegar on salads, and it was subpar, heavy, not seasoned well and honestly didn’t even taste like cherries.

The chicken sounded great on the menu but I was informed that there was not one sauce in the entire kitchen that was safe. I could only have a plain piece of chicken, I don’t eat any fish and wanted something other than the steak. Don’t get me wrong it was well cooked and seasoned with s&p appropriately, but it was a plain piece of chicken. The side was not allergy safe, so I asked for potatoes, plain rice or broccoli and was told that none of those were available (though I knew all those things were offered on the regular menu) and that they MIGHT be able to do green beans instead. I was done at that point and just said that was fine. He then came out and said oh yeah they had potatoes and broccoli. Again they were executed well but were pretty mediocre and boring.

Free-Range Chicken Breast Glazed
with Adobo Sauce and Ancient Grains







Weird picture and I'd given my mom a few potatoes and half the broccoli but this was my plate not even a random leafy garnish.

Dessert was a fail as far as an experience. I’m not a big dessert eater but as it came with the meal I was interested in trying. I was told flat out that it would be a bowl of blackberries and raspberries. There were no accommodations available. I like blackberries, but again just boring, it was some washed berries in a white bowl.

Mom had iced tea and I think I had a coke

For $60+ and advance notification I wasn’t expecting miracles but I was expecting at least some effort. There was none. It was a mediocre meal that I could have bought at any chain style restaurant or fixed myself. There wasn’t even an attempt to make it look interesting. That is not what I have come to expect from Disney, and maybe I’m spoiled because WDW has been so good about having accommodations (even when I was offered a basic fruit for dessert or a piece of grilled chicken, the chef at least presented it prettily on a plate with some kind of flair or some kind of flavor profile).

My mom was satisfied with her meal, but like me she was underwhelmed by the experience.

Her salad came with ranch and besides the missing seeds it was fine.

She was not overly fond of the bread but I told her about the fried biscuits and we ordered them as a side and she really liked them.

Her steak was okay, not a great cut of meat but considering she likes WELL DONE, it was not shoe leather and that is again an ability of the chef to execute well.

It came with black bean chili, and a mango salsa which she did not like. I’m not sure about those combinations because they don’t seem to go together at all, but anyway, I shared my sides with her. We ended up taking about half her steak and half the fried biscuits back to the room, which we had for lunch on Tuesday along with some items we had brought from home like WF bread, chips, and GF cookies.

Her dessert was a chocolate crème brule tart. It’s not a classic presentation but she said it did taste good but was very rich. She ate about half of the very small piece and that was more than enough.

So for $142 + tax this was a meal that was way overpriced and a disappointment…..however the package ended up being well worth it.

There was one WoC show. We had a FP. By the time that came about it was cold she was tired and she was about at the end of her endurance. She was not sure she’d be able to last another 1 ½ hours to stay and see the show. I decided to go off to try the swinging gondolas on the wheel and she stayed in the general area to go to the FP Area, a wonderful CM let her sit on the benches after they cleared them and then allowed her to go on down to the FP area for our package (above the big Handicapped area) and they had sectioned off two benches for those with needs. They gave her a paintbrush card and allowed her to sit there on the bench instead of standing around in line. When I came back (after stopping off to buy hot chocolate since I knew she was cold) they let me go down and sit with her (I did stand up when they opened up the lines) and the CM was really good about shooing people off the benches and saving them for those with a medical need. Eventually I did end up sitting next to her as there was room and it was a great viewing location.

So despite a bad meal experience the WoC FP (and a couple of great CM’s) made it possible for my mom to see the show, so in the end I don’t regret the WoC package, but I will probably not eat at Carthay Circle again.

Mom and I really tend to be the type to share meals or have multiple snacks. So here's a list of what we ate. It's totally random and you'll see that I had a few small exposures to allergens. Sorry I actually didn't take any pictures of these which is weird because I tend to do the food porn posts on social media but it escaped me this trip as I did almost no sit down meals.

DISNEYLAND PARK

CocaCola Refreshment Corner

Hot Dog Basket

Featuring a Premium Hot Dog

Includes sliced apples or small bag of chips

Chili Cheese Hot Dog - $7.49

Mom and I split this Sunday Night (actually I was in the parks and heading back and saw this

place on my way out and bought it and took it back to the hotel)

I obviously did not eat the bun but she did and I had just the hotdog with chili on it (small

exposure as commercial chili often does have oatmeal as a filler).

I ate the chips (she had chips in the room)

And I had bought a diet coke for her and I had water.

Really good hot dog, and splitting it was a perfect lite meal at the end of the evening. I thought of Casey's Corner in MK as soon as I saw this place (home of the corn dog nugget) and I would eat here again as it was again a REALLY good hot dog. I didn't ask if they had GF buns (since mom was going to be the one eating the bun).

Tropical Imports

This was a small snack location in Adventure land right at the corner of The Jungle Cruise. We were by this mid morning and decided to get a snack.

I got a pickle (yum, but very mild, I like sour but still very tasty)

Mom a watermelon slice (firm, not too sweet and juicy)

As we were about to leave and go over to tomorrow land we decided to purchase some additional

grapes and ended up eating them on the train as we rode around DL.

Great fruit and hit the spot for a mid morning snack. We shared all three items. Pickles and watermelon, I know, but like I said pretty random food choices here.

Snack cart in front of the castle (I don't think it had a name and I was actually off running to pick up a package when she bought this so I didn't see)

Mom bought a churro. It was a little soft and not very cinnamon-y. She didn’t see the appeal. I

didn’t eat it as it was wheat and I don’t like cinnamon anyway. LOL

California Adventure

Corn Dog Castle Paradise Pier by the kids rides

Original Corn Dog

Comes with with Sliced Apples or a small Bag o' Chips

$7.69

Mom and I split this and the chips and she got a diet coke, which I had a few sips (I'm not a diet coke fan). (small exposure for me as most corn dog batters have some

AP flour and egg in them)

Good corn dog. The batter was exceptional. It was the perfect crisp on the outside while soft and creamy on the inside. Nice hot dog inside as well.

Random Ice Cream cart in Hollywood Land

Mom had a Mickey Head Ice Cream

I had a Frozen Lemonade (safe)

Cozy Cones

Cheddar Bacon Popcorn (wanted Dill Pickle boo) totally off the safe food list but still, yummy.

Coffee booth Paradise Pier (I couldn't find name but it's beside the lake in between the wheel and the FP seating for WoC)

Bought a couple of Hot Chocolates (Dairy exposure)

DTD

Earl of Sandwich

I adored EoS in WDW and ate there a lot before the allergy diagnosis. However I was on my own Tuesday night and mom didn't want to go out to eat and I knew she loved the soup here, so I just ran over (which is a relative term considering it's on the way far end of DTD from my hotel) and picked up a lite dinner to go.

It was great but it was a dairy and probably a wheat exposure for me.

Cheddar Broccoli soup with grilled sandwich bread on the side (I did not eat the bread but did have a small soup)

One Coke and one Diet Coke

And just for the fun of it

IHOP

My hotel was next to the IHOP on Harbor and that’s where we ate lunch with my cousin.

Cousin had breakfast, mom had a burger, and I had the Grilled Chicken Pecan Salad. It was actually very tasty and service was great. We sat around for a while but the waitress never made us feel like we should move on (for that she got a double tip). The restaurant was clean and was a typical IHOP, with the added kids bonus of a guy making balloon animals and such. He was very popular.

This was so close and it was actually a back up plan incase the hotel breakfast was disgusting. But we only ate the one lunch there.

My mom's 80 something year old cousin drove up from San Diego and we spent a couple of hours catching up and looking at old photos and teaching the ladies to selfie LOL



As you can see it was both sweet and amusing.

Food is hard with allergies. I thought Disney was getting better.

Nice trip report. I love that your mom can still enjoy Disneyland. My 70 year old mother just doesn't have the endurance.

WDW is really hard for mom as its huge. Really she manages a few hours at any time and then has to stop and rest for a while.

At WDW I usually left first thing in the morning, met up with her mid morning, do an hour or two have lunch go back and rest then head out for a dinner or event at night then she'd go in early and I might hit late hours or go back with her.

We did much the same at DLR except that she could manage the walking much better at DLR as the parks are so small.

She did pretty well but the Fun Wheel was the closest she came to a thrill ride. However she walked a lot with me and kept up pretty well.

PARKS

What I really liked about DLR.

Production Value

I thought overall the theme and production value of the landscape/sets were superior to the Magic Kingdom or really any of the parks. I do find WDW a little plastic at times, but I love it anyway, I think a lot more care and detail went into the original park. The outsides of the rides are much more detailed and as much as the experience as the ride it self.

Like Haunted Mansion. The house/landscaping is so much better and much more 'realistic' than HM at WDW. The ride itself was pretty similar except that I thought the forest/overhanging tree scene was particularly creepy at DL. Overall I thought it was a darker ride and had a little more atmosphere than its WDW counterpart.

RIDES

POC- blows WDW out of the water (pun intended). I never rode POC in DL when I was there before, and I now know why as it’s hidden under the bridge. I had a map in hand and still managed to miss it twice on this trip before I figured out where it was. It is so much better. The ‘bayou’ is great and it just really feels a little more in the mood than the WDW ride. Again production value.

Splash Mountain- parts of it were better than WDW but I didn't like the ride itself better.

I did like the ride vehicles better, and it was a little faster and more of a ‘ride’. Being SR I was put in the back and it was much easier to 'hide' behind the person in front and minimize your soaking. LOL I was hamming up the photo but like 1 sec later I ducked down behind the dude in front of me. Only thing wet were my feet.

California Screamin- I loved this coaster. Very smooth and a great thrill without being overwhelming. I know some people have compared it to RnR at WDW. I like RnR better, but I really don't see these as 'comparable' rides other than the fact that they both invert at one point. But this was probably my favorite Thrill ride at DLR.

Mickey’s Fun Wheel- Not that a Ferris wheel is a great ride but I do like Ferris Wheels, and I loved that you could go in the swinging gondolas which made a pretty mundane Ferris Wheel a little more exciting.

Aladdin was a really good show. Very funny and entertaining. I think it's better than some of the WDW shows but not all of them. (we choose the orchestra seating, as my mom can’t do stairs but you do miss part of the aerial effects/performance if you choose this route). The genie was what sold this show and I enjoyed it very much.

I liked that DLR had some unique rides. Mr. Toad, Pinocchio, Snow White which is no longer at WDW, the Paradise Pier rides. I actually did not get to do some of these unique rides (Alice, Roger Rabbit or Storybook Canals, Grizzly Rapids and Monsters, Inc). I plan on visiting again and those will be high on the list of attractions to hit.

Radiator Springs Racers. I hit this one up early on my CA day. I thought this was a fun ride. I'm not sure about the mania for it as it was a fun but not spectacular, but I really did not see anything that made me think I'd ever stand in a mega line for this. For me if I missed this one on another trip I probably wouldn't be too bummed. What made it a like for me was that it had a SR. I love SR and that fact that it seems to work well here made it a better experience for me. I did ride this as a single rider and it was a walk on (pixie dust on this actually as it was before general public hours and I was just standing there waiting for 10:00, but the CM said to go ahead as there was NO ONE waiting). I did get a FP for this but I'll get to that in another post.

Indiana Jones. I liked this ride and honestly I do see why there are huge lines for it. I'm not the biggest fan of Dinosaur (the WDW equivalent as far as type of ride and ride vehicle) but it's okay. I liked IJ much better. Great 'story', fun pop outs and unexpected twists in the ride made this a favorite for me. I did try for a second ride on this but timing wise it didn't work out. This is one I'd want to do every single trip.

I loved the Paradise Pier section of CA. Not that Car's land wasn't great but I really think PP was my favorite area.



The size of the parks. Later I've got a dislike that makes this like sound kind of weird, but I love how small the parks were. It was great for my mom who couldn't do a ton of walking.

What I did not like about DLR

Fast Pass Legacy

I like FP+, I know it’s impossible for some to see that, but I like the system better.

I’m one of the people who much prefer to plan out three in advance then work around rope drop/SB/extra FP over the constant run get a paper fast pass, keep up with the paper fast pass, crap now that I’ve gone over here I should have got a fast pass for this instead. FP+/MB and the MDE App are a much more convenient system for me and my style of touring. I really disliked having to go back to FP-.

The line for a FP for RSRacers was flat out stupid. I did do a quick run over to it as soon as I entered and rode it SR, then went back to get in line for a FP so that as soon as my mother got there so I could get us a fastpass. This was at about 9:50 so 10 minutes before the rides opened to all guests.

I never bought into the thought that some ride was so popular that I needed to devote a huge chunk of my time to standing in line for it. The line to just get a FP is even more annoying for me. I almost walked away from this ride because a line that goes out of one land and wraps around to another is not worth the lost park time for me, but I thought my mom would really like this ride. So I was willing to do my time in line for the FP.

However when we went back to use our FP the ride actually broke down while we were on it.


A view from our stopped racer.

We were evacuated (luckily even though we were in the handicapped car my mom could walk out on her own so we didn’t have to wait for the EMS). In fact we took a selfie because how often do you get to stand next to the waterfall on RSR.


However the breakdown was not the reason this made my didn't like list.

They gave us two anytime FP but my mom wouldn’t ride after that and I never got to go over and use them, nor did I get a chance to give them away. With a digital FP I could have either signed up for them in advance or when it became obvious that my mom was too freaked out to ride I could have used them on something she enjoyed more (at WDW you get a new digital FP good at the broken down ride or at one of 3/4 other rides in the same area). My paper FP was for RSR only.

I’m just saying that I love the ability to pre schedule FP, to change them on the fly on the MDE App, and the fact that if you have a ride breakdown that they put a FP on your band that could be used at a choice of rides not just the one you left.

Bag Lines

OMG the bag lines, the even if you don’t have a bag we’re going to make you wait in the crazy long bag lines, and god forbid you go to DTD buy something and then go back to your hotel (at least offsite) because there’s a CRAZY LONG BAG LINE just to walk between the gates to get to Harbor Blvd. ARGH! Bag lines. I was probably bagless 50% of the time and still had to wait. It's not hard to have a bag free line. Expecially if you're going to have attractions that share a common entry area.

Crowd Control

WDW, even MK alone sees more guests per day than DLR, yet I’ve never felt so crowded as I did walking around adventure land in Disneyland. Lines for attractions weaving though out the walkways of the lands, and Entrances/Exits/Vendors/FP machines for multiple rides are right on top of each other. I felt like most of my day was spent wading though salmon swimming upstream.

I know that DisneyLand was built with no expectations of the crowds but holy cow, the East Coast wins crowd control and the ability to move thousands and thousands of people through the gates and around the park effectively.

The one ride that I will probably never ride again.

The Finding Nemo Submarines-



It took me awhile to get on this because every time I went by the line was so long. I figured it for something great, it was mediocre, but that’s not why I didn’t like it. The seats were atrocious. They were these little fold down seats and they took as many people as they had seats, but as soon as one person got on that was plus size the seats got weird because you had to go to your seat, and by the time it got to the middle when anyone sat down even a small person they were already hanging over to your seat. I am plus sized and by the time I went in I only had about half of ‘my’ seat which was sure as heck not going to fit, so then I really hung over the next persons. Just not a good system. Even the tightest ride at WDW still have an allowance for the plus sized. Plus it was a really slow boring ride that I had to talk myself into because I’m claustrophobic anyway. LOL By the time I got off I decided this was a one and done ride for me.

The lack of Resort Tiers-

I love the Disney Bubble. I have stayed Value to Deluxe at WDW, depending on the type of trip. The perks you get are great and make paying the inflated prices for a onsite stay more than worth it. The perks for DLR (the one hour early entry and the ability to skip the BAG LINES when shopping at DTD) are not worth the necessity of paying a Deluxe price (and honestly more than Disney deluxe price as I could stay at a Deluxe at WDW and still would not have paid as much as the DLR choices for this trip). I could not see paying so much for so little, Disney Bubble or not. If DLR offered a moderate or value priced resort I’d be much more willing to stay onsite, or even offered a better choice of special rates occasionally, but as it is, it’s just not going to happen, and that makes me sad.

Okay and this is really just a minor rant.

My mom has some mobility/stamina problems. Not one that is so bad that it needs a wheel chair (and has in fact been discouraged by her doctor from using one), but bad enough that she needs to rest occasionally, walk around in small doses to prevent cramps, and avoid stairs as that particular activity stresses a condition with her kneecap. We do not get a DAS as it is not meant for that problem. We have occasionally rented a wheel chair. But mostly we just need to avoid stairs and she's not really stable on moving walkways. We adjust and we have done WDW just fine with only minor adaptations from the CM's.

While waiting for our FP for Indiana Jones we decided to ride Jungle Cruise. The posted wait on the line that wound through the traffic areas was 20 minutes once you got to the entrance. There were obvious stairs, so I went to the wheel chair entrance to ask the CM (she was the only one around) how I would bypass the stairs for my mom (expecting either a return time or some easy go around like ‘tell the cm at the stairs and she’ll take her through the alternative entrance once you get there’ just like we had at any other ride with stairs) she told my mom to wait by the fence where the wheel chairs went though and that I would walk the line and then she could join me once I went on the stairs. There was no waiting are or seating. My mom was supposed to stand there and look for me to get to an area near the gate but after the stairs, then enter the line and join me. She couldn’t walk away because she had to stand there and wait for me to show but she couldn’t sit either. OKAY. So I get in the line and my mom stands there. As I approach the entrance maybe 5-7 minutes later a CM comes out and changes the 20 minutes from this point sign to 45 minutes. Yeah that wasn’t happening. I leave the line and go tell my mom that it’s now 45 minutes and since neither one of us really cared we should just skip it. The CM rushes over and tells me I should have gone to GS and requested an assistance card called a DAS, which she couldn’t guarantee my mom would get one but they would know how to adjust for her inability to do stairs. OKAY. Request a DAS, for a mobility issue. I didn’t even feel like telling her I knew what a DAS was and that if I went to GS for that not only would I not get one but they’d tell me to come talk to her about bypassing the stupid stairs. Every other ride (including our next ride Indiana Jones) was great, they’d either direct us to the wheel chair bypass ramp or they had a CM to help people take a bypass or elevator around the stairs once you walked through the line. I know it was just one misinformed CM but after all the hoopla about the GAC/DAS switchover, if I hadn’t known better I would have walked to the GS for nothing and been truly peeved. I thought in all other cases DLR did great with someone who has a particular adaptation, but does not qualify for a DAS.

COMPARING THE TWO COASTS



I don’t really think you can really compare the two Coasts. They really are two different experiences and they both had pros and cons.

In the end I think I will probably still see WDW as my go to park, but after spending a few days at DLR I'm already thinking of when I can plan another trip.

There is one area that DLR makes a case for being the park of choice for me.

DLR is truly a one park per day theme park for me. I did not get park hoppers and I did not miss park hoppers. I arrived midmorning Sunday and flew out first thing Wed morning. So I had two full park days and one partial (after my cousin had left). I only paid for a third day because Haunted Mansion was closing on Monday and I really wanted to be able to ride it, plus it was the only night Fantasmic was showing so if I wanted to go to that I would need a ticket (I’d been up since 3 am Central time and I did not make Fantasmic LOL). I could do a quick trip of two park days in the future and still feel like I had seen enough of both parks. I did not do everything at either park nor see everything but in no way felt like I did too little.


Two days of tickets, three nights of hotel and cheaper airfare make this a great short getaway for me. West coast gets the PLUS for affordable (well relatively affordable for Disney) quick trip.

The Jungle Cruise line is crazy! The CM's need to all have a uniform answer and know how to properly help you. The size of the DLR is much nicer for a person with mobility issues. The bag lines drive me nuts because I try to go sans bags myself.

One more......


SOUVINIERS




Ended up being the trip of the YAH Starbucks Mug. I kid you not I came home with 10.

2 from Arizona/Phoenix

1 Disneyland

1 California Adventure

6 from various cities in CA/NV that we found at the DTD Starbucks and the SNA airport.

I only buy the mugs from cities I have actually been to/traveled through but I was in most of those cities before I began buying the mugs so I caught up on some.

One Disneyland Magnet for my desk at work

Three pins

One DLR, one Star Wars (there on the 4th of may) and one SE Cinco De Mayo.

A Duffy mini TsumTsum

And my mom bought my stepdad two tshirts at the PoC gift shop.

All in all I really enjoyed my trip. It was short, a little less expensive then my normal Disney trip and I only had a small allergic reaction. I’m already thinking that I would like to go back maybe in 2017, to do another short trip. Just kind of depends on 2016’s schedule of events.

And while I liked DLR and want to go back, it did make me miss WDW. So much that a maybe/maybe not trip in October is now a definite. I got my flights and reservation at POP Century set for late October.

LOL time to make a new ticker.

Thanks for reading.