Back from 1st trip a few weeks back...

[graciedad]

First of all, thanks to everyone on this site for all their help. I don’t post that much, but I read these forums everyday for about 9 months. Our trip was 4/17-4/23. I am a WDW vet, so I’m used to making all reservations so far out, so it was strange to come to Disneyland without that much planning. Anyhow, it all worked out great. We stayed at Homewood Suites(convention center). It was great. We needed 3 beds, so a suite was a must. It was a 20 minute walk. No issue in the morning, but it was a long walk at the end of the night. Maxpass is incredible. It was as easy to use as everyone said. We had a five day park hopper. We accomplished in 3 days what would take us 8-10 in Florida. We rode every ride as many times as we wanted. It was fun seeing the differences between rides that are in California and Florida. Pirates is so great. Carsland is incredible. I was shocked at how much I loved Mission Breakout. ToT at DHS is one of my all time favs, and I don’t really care that much about Guardians of the Galaxy, but it was so much fun. Being able to walk from Disneyland to California Adventure is just amazing. I can’t believe it’s really that easy and that close. It was kind of a bummer not being able to see the castle, but we got over it pretty quickly. I had only one disappointment and this may surprise some, but I was really disappointed in the CMs. All I’ve ever heard on the dis forums and the many podcasts that I listen to everyday is that Disneyland’s CMs are the gold standard and that WDW is lagging behind. Well, we couldn’t disagree more. It was 5 straight days of eye rolling, and unfriendliness. I was really shocked about it. For the record, most of this wasn’t directed at us. A lot of times, we were just in line behind someone that was experiencing their attitudes. I will admit that I had extremely high expectations about the CMs because of what I’ve heard in the past, and unfortunately I had got our family excited about that, but it just wasn’t what we expected. I feel my many many experiences at WDW were much better with the CMs. That being said, it would not stop me from coming back and I have nothing but great memories about our trip. To me, I would say there is more value going to Disneyland than Disney World just because of what you can accomplish in such a short time. Also, Disneyland’s counter service food is so much better than WDW. My god, those corn dogs! Once again, thanks for all of your help!

 

[StarSpeckledSky]

It's refreshing to see someone else who loves both parks on both coasts! Glad you had a great time!

 

[alvernon90]

To me, I would say there is more value going to Disneyland than Disney World just because of what you can accomplish in such a short time.

I made this exact same point on the WDW board after a trip to Orlando, and they pretty much crucified me. But it's true! With parkhoppers DL and DCA become the world's biggest and most awesome theme park, and no one park at WDW can hold a candle to them.

But boy, oh boy, the people on the WDW board sure do HATE to hear that!

 

[disneyland_is_magic]

Great to hear! Thanks for letting us know.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

So glad that you had a great trip! Don't hesitate to send in a comment to Disney about your CM observations and experiences. Use the "contact us" link at the bottom of the DLR webpage. We're in the season of new summer hires and a gap because the "best and brightest" got culled for SWGE, so it is really important for management to know what's going on and where some judicious re-training might be helpful, especially before the summer crowds hit the parks.
When you're ready to plan your next DLR trip, come on back! We'll be here ready to help.

 

[hootey]

Happy you enjoyed it. Most of the WDW regulars hate DL and like to tell us everything that is wrong with it. Your review was a nice change. As for the CMs being rude, report them!. If you don't recall their name, try to remember the day, time, and ride/attraction you were at, what the CM looked like/, as well as what they did that was rude.

 

[GatorChris]

Totally agree with the CMs. I always laugh when someone tells me SoCal CMs are better than the CMs who come from all over the world to work at WDW. Just in theory, WDW will be better. And the theory bears true. From my first big trip in 2006 until now, the CMs have never measured up to my 7 trips to WDW 2002-2012. At DL, they just seem to care about how soon they're going home or going on break. At WDW, I never once saw anything but a CM wanting to make my day awesome.

And I agree with everything else you said. The closeness of the parks, the ability to do so much in so little time, great CS dining, the awesomeness of MaxPass over FP+....DL definitely has WDW beat there.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Totally agree with the CMs. I always laugh when someone tells me SoCal CMs are better than the CMs who come from all over the world to work at WDW. Just in theory, WDW will be better. And the theory bears true. From my first big trip in 2006 until now, the CMs have never measured up to my 7 trips to WDW 2002-2012. At DL, they just seem to care about how soon they're going home or going on break. At WDW, I never once saw anything but a CM wanting to make my day awesome...

Everyone's experience is different, but we usually have good-to-great CM interactions at DLR. Last time we visited, we had CMs coming up to us to say that they hadn't seen us for a bit and to ask how we were doing. That's not uncommon at all. They wanted to know if we had managed to get SWGE reservations and how that went. (And they really were interested.) CMs on rides will throw some pixie dust our way pretty regularly. Hospitality CMs are great at helping us out and recognizing us on following visits. We've not had that sort of "relationship" with CMs at WDW -- it's a whole 'nother resort with a whole 'nother feel. "Have a magical day!" is nice, but for me, I'd rather have a CM recognize me and ask how my day is going -- and mean it!

 

[BrianL]

I have mentioned the CM thing before. For the most part they are great a DLR, but I have noticed more interactions that are less than stellar than I do at WDW. This is particularly true of crowd control CMs during nightly events, though I understand the pressure. DL gets so crowded! They are just a bit more casual in general too, though that's not necessarily a problem, though "the show" can suffer a little. It's not like I've never had a bad encounter with a CM at WDW either, but I feel like there are fewer.