A WDW vet back from her first trip to Disneyland

[helenk]

First of all I would like to thank everyone on these boards for all the great advice. I copied all the info from Hydroguy and the other stickys, and I was well armed for my first trip to Disneyland.
I flew from PHL to LAX, and I used Super Shuttle to the hotel and back to the airport. I did not wait long at the airport for the shuttle and I was pciked up on time for the trip back.
My first night I stayed at the Fairfield Inn on Harbor Blvd. The hotel was close to the parks and was clean, the beds were so comfy and the people at the front desk were friendly and helpful. The next day I took a cab over to the Disneyland hotel for the remainder of my stay. I loved the resort, the grounds were beautiful, it was nice to walk around and go over to the Koi Pond and the water falls. The pool was nice too, I spent and afternoon there reading and enjoying a quick dip. I stayed on the third floor of the Dreams tower, over looking the pool. This was a nice location since you were close to the stores and the coffee shop. My room was huge and clean, housekeeping was great and again the front desk CMs were friendly and very helpful.
I was able to take this trip because of developer points I got from buying into the AKV and I had enough rapid rewards for a free flight. I figured I go and enjoy the Disneyland park and check out California Adventure, but I never dreamed I would just out in out fall in love with all of it
I was afraid that since the parks were smaller than WDW I would be "underwhelmed" but in fact it was quite the opposite. I loved that you could walk everywhere! I loved Fantasyland, will all the attractions and with everything so close by it made it easy to navigate.
The fireworks were awesome, better than WDW, and I loved how Tinkerbell flew around. To me, Space Mountain, Its a Small World, Winne the Pooh, Peter Pan, and the Pirates are much better in DL. The railroad trip was even better. I really wish that WDW had Indinana Jones, I rode on it 3 times during my stay. Over in DCA the Tower of Tower was really great, the Aladdin Show was awesome.
I really enjoyed the themeing of the different areas of the park. My favorite area was the Golden State section . The Grizzley river run was much better than Kali Rapids in the AK, it certainly was a longer ride. The sour dough bread at the Boudin Bakery tour was wonderful. I had a turkey sandwich on the sour dough roll later it was yummy.
I took the Welcome to Disneyland tour, it really helped me to get my bearings.
The tour started at 10:00 and ended around 12:30. We met in Disneyland but started the tour in DCA. We toured each park, and in DCA we went into the Sorcerers Workshop and went in to see Its Tough to be a Bug, over in DL, we rode on the train and rode on the Pirates. When the tour was over we were given a fast pass for Soarin and 2 Attraction Readmission Passes. These passes were good for up to 6 guests and were good for any attraction except for Toy Store Mania. You also got a choice of priority seating for any of the shows at either park. I chose the Pixar Parade and the other couple in the tour chose Aladdin.
One thing that was enjoyable in Disneyland were the different bands, I got to watch Mickey and Minnie dancing while the Main Street band played, there was a band playing over in New Orleans Square and also in Tomorrowland. There were also several areas in DTD where some bands were playing, this made the walk from the parks back to the hotel very enjoyable.
I am so glad that I got the opportunity to finally go to Disneyland and I can not wait to go back. My plan is to wait for 2 years, as my grand daughter will be 3 years old, and better suited for the long flight.

 

[bethy]

Thanks for the lovely review!

 

[Hound 109]

Excellent report.

Thanks for sharing. Did you visit solo? How many days did you stay at the DLH?

I'm glad your visit to Walt's Park was a fun one.

 

[helenk]

Excellent report.

Thanks for sharing. Did you visit solo? How many days did you stay at the DLH?

I'm glad your visit to Walt's Park was a fun one.

I did go solo, I've gone by myself to WDW numerous times but I was nervous about going by myself to DL, but I was fine. I really enjoyed myself. I stayed in the DLH for 5 nights.

 

[fairykin]

You sound like me! We used to take our children to WDW each year.
Now they are grown, we take our grandchildren to Disneyland.
We LOVE Disneyland!
For all the reasons you listed and more.

I am so glad You had a great trip! May You have many more happy returns.

I loved the Walk In Walt's Footsteps Tour... you have a nice boxed lunch at the end.. and are given a really pretty pin.

We want to try the christmas tour when we go in dec. And my mom and i are thinking about doing the halloween tour in oct.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

Hooray for you!! I'm soooo glad to know you had such a fun trip! Like you, we LOVE our trips to DW, but DL is so enjoyable as well. The DLH is wonderful and isn't it great to be able to walk everywhere and not have to even think about any type of transportation? That's the one thing I really like about visiting DL.

We were at DW in November and leaving in two weeks for DL -- after reading your trip report, I am now even more excited to be going for all the reasons you mentioned!!

Thanks for sharing!!

 

[jenjersnap]

You nailed why my WDW family fell hard for DL on our first visit last summer! Thanks for sharing the mini report!

 

[KCmike]

Glad to hear you had a good time.

We fell in love with DL. Now we don't even think about going back to WDW. It's crazy I know. We asked our kids where they would like to go this year and we offered them WDW and they all said "No", we want to go back to California and Disneyland. Our family loves it there so much. It has all the special touches, the rides are all so close to each other, and it has so much Walt nostalgia. I love when the fireworks and parades pipe in Walt's speech....goosebumps for me.

 

[DVC Mike]

I was able to take this trip because of developer points I got from buying into the AKV and I had enough rapid rewards for a free flight. I figured I go and enjoy the Disneyland park and check out California Adventure, but I never dreamed I would just out in out fall in love with all of it

Maybe you should consider buying a few VGC points?

 

[helenk]

Maybe you should consider buying a few VGC points?

I have to tell you I am seriously considering it.

 

[Disney Princess]

It sounds like a great trip! We too are WDW vets and are heading to DLR for the first time (in a LONG time and the first time together). We are really looking forward to the differences and exploring a "new" place. I am so excited to go in two weeks!

 

[JeannieNM]

Thank you for your review. I so agree with you!!!
We are headed to WDW in May for 4 days and I just can not get excited about it. Too much, too far apart. We are going to DL for 5 nights in July and I can not stop thinking and planning for that trip. Thanks

 

[nzdisneymom]

Great report! We're heading to DL in June and are staying at the DLH (on DVC points). We'll be there for eight nights but have tix for five days in the Disney parks.

I'd like to hear a bit more about the Welcome to Disneyland Tour. Did you have to sign up in advance? How much did it cost? Would it be of interest (in your opinion) to a 13 and 11 1/2 y.o. who are WDW experts?

Thanks.

 

[helenk]

Great report! We're heading to DL in June and are staying at the DLH (on DVC points). We'll be there for eight nights but have tix for five days in the Disney parks.

I'd like to hear a bit more about the Welcome to Disneyland Tour. Did you have to sign up in advance? How much did it cost? Would it be of interest (in your opinion) to a 13 and 11 1/2 y.o. who are WDW experts?

Thanks.

I called and signed up in advance, but there is a kiosk right on Main street as you enter the park to the left, near town hall where you can sign up as well.
The cost is $25, but I got a $5 discount for having a AAA membership. There were other discounts available but I can not recall them.
In my opinion, the tour would be good for a 13 and 11 1/2 year old. Its not too long of a tour, you are seeing things you've never seen before and you get to ride on some of the attractions so that keeps it interesting as well.
I had a 5 day ticket as well, but upgraded to a 6 day ticket. I had planned on going to the San Diego Zoo one day, but I caught a cold during my stay and I just did not want to spend a full day that far away from Anaheim when I was feeling lousy. But the 5 day ticket would have been fine, I just used my last day riding on everything a second or even third time and just enjoying the ambiance of the parks.

 

[helenk]

Oh and another thing I loved...the wake up call in the hotel was Mickey!! It was so nice to hear the original wake up call...I hate having the Stitch wake up call in WDW.
Another thing I noticed was that the characters walked around the parks much more than in WDW. Goofy was in the lobby of the DLH. I had my back to him getting something out of my purse and he tapped me on the shoulder. It startled the heck out of me, and he seemed to think that it was quite funny.

 

[nancy drew]

You nailed why I fell hard for Disneyland last year. I can't really think about going to WDW because I will miss DLR too much.

 

[squitty]

Thank you for the lovely report.

After many trips to WDW my DH & I are taking our first trip to DL in September this year. I am hoping that we feel the same as yourself.

 

[nzdisneymom]

I called and signed up in advance, but there is a kiosk right on Main street as you enter the park to the left, near town hall where you can sign up as well.
The cost is $25, but I got a $5 discount for having a AAA membership. There were other discounts available but I can not recall them.
In my opinion, the tour would be good for a 13 and 11 1/2 year old. Its not too long of a tour, you are seeing things you've never seen before and you get to ride on some of the attractions so that keeps it interesting as well.
I had a 5 day ticket as well, but upgraded to a 6 day ticket. I had planned on going to the San Diego Zoo one day, but I caught a cold during my stay and I just did not want to spend a full day that far away from Anaheim when I was feeling lousy. But the 5 day ticket would have been fine, I just used my last day riding on everything a second or even third time and just enjoying the ambiance of the parks.

Thanks so much for the feedback. We have AAA so that would help. I've added this to our list!

 

[puggymom]

You sound just like I did in 2005, my first trip was actually as a kid in 1976, but I returned in 2005 as a solo adult. And just like you fell completely in love. I'm returning in 5 days and staying at DLH on DVC points as well (5 nights just like you).

Glad to hear it is still as magical.

Thanks for the review.

 

[disney4metoo]

Thank you for your review. I so agree with you!!!
We are headed to WDW in May for 4 days and I just can not get excited about it. Too much, too far apart. We are going to DL for 5 nights in July and I can not stop thinking and planning for that trip. Thanks

We have always been to DL but have never been to WDW.
Is WDW, just too much walking? We have our first WDW trip planned June 2010. Half of our points are at AKV and the other half VGC. I hope I wil not regret buying WDW, since we are so use to DL!