DCA, what's it like?

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Can anyone tell me or send me towards an indepth report on DCA? I've seen the park map for it, but would really like to hear some specific reports on it.

Thanks! (hope the weather is better out on the West Coast than it is here in the Northern East Coast!

 

[Mattsmom]

O.K. as nobody else has replied I'll give it a try. I have only been once but my initial impression is a park that is a cross between a beach amusement park and one of the smaller WDW parks. It has a few Disney type of rides and attractions but alot are just blah. I have found some info at www.mouseplanet.com and at www.laughingplace.com Hope this helps.

 

[scroot]

I liked it. DW and I just spent three days between the two parks and we spent more time in DCA than Disneyland. Everyone that I have talked to that said, "there isn't enough to do" seems to have missed a lot of what I enjoyed there or they haven't been themselves and are judging on hearsay.

I was hesitant to go especially to the "carnival area" (Paradis Pier) but the place is really quite nice. (Try the Malaboomer!)

I had a lot eaiser time finding things to do there for a whole day then say at AK. The only thing that I thought was really bad was superstar limo but I understand that children like it. I even liked the imfamous tortila factory tour!

Steps in Time is a good show and the parade was very nice. Soarin' over California is a classic attraction, California Screamin' is a great coaster, Golden Dream was quite touching for me. The animation tour is much more interactive and hands than the one at MGM it also alows you to go at your own pace. Tough to be a Bug and Muppets are the same as WDW but worth a look.

My advice is go now before it gets real crowded. We all know that within the next few years they will kick it up a few notches and then the crowds will be a bad as they are at Disneyland. Really it was wonderful to leave Disneyland in the middle of the day and enjoy the beauty and quite of the new park. Paradise Pier at night is the thing of beuaty.

 

[nickglover]

The Spring issue of Disney Magic magazine (I think that's the name) has a great set of articles on DCA, including construction, an overview, and a separate article on each of the three main sections. It sounds great. e are going in Sept. and staying at GC on points. We picked up a copy of DM in the room at OKW - there was not one in the Inn room at VB.

 

[Dodie]

Here's the DCA portion of my trip report from March. Hope it helps!

DCA Trip Report

 

[ceejay13]

Our perceptions were like the previous posters. There has been a lot of bad press but we really enjoyed both of our visits. We were just there 2 weeks ago and enjoyed it as much as we did in January. It is small and does not have as many attractions, but we felt they did a wonderful job on the ones they have. I saw a recent interview with Michael Eisner and he pointed out that all of the new resorts have started out with controversy and with fewer attractions. They intend to add more over the years. We, too, loved Soarin Over California. We rode it 4 times in the 4 days we visited. California Screamin' is the big roller coaster and it was great, also. We finally rode Grizzly River Rapids on the last day. It is a water raft ride and everyone gets wet. We stayed at the GC so we could exit the ride and go directly to our room to change. That was great also. There is an entrance from DCA directly into the GC. They have 2 very nice restaurants and many different fast food choices, which makes the food available different from DL. I got a lot of my information from the Laughing Place site, the issue of the Disney Magazine previously discussed, and from Birnbaum's Official Guide to Disneyland. They all had very accurate information to start to plan your trip from.