Disneyland & California Adventure Questions

[Terk-1]

Been over 11 years since I've been to Disneyland and have some questions.

General:
Am going the 3rd week of April for 2 days (1 at CA & 1 at DL). How crowded will the parks be? How safe is the area surrounding DL, CA & DTD? How does the monorail work? Where does it stop? What are the hours of operation? How far is the monorail station from the GC?

Disneyland:
Does DL have an early entry program, like WDW, for guests staying on property? I noticed that the park does not open until 10am and it just seemed like a late opening for a theme park. What attractions have Fast Pass? Is Fantasmic shown nightly, like at MGM? How different is this version from the one in WDW? Is it in a stadium, such as the one at WDW? What about fireworks? Do they offer e-nights like at the Magic Kingdom @ WDW? Is there a website that you can print out a map of the park? The official one is not very good, since it shows the parks, then dots where the attractions are. Is the afternoon parade worth watching? What is the fastest way to get to DL from the GC (walk or monorail)? How safe is it at night getting from DL to the GC at night? We'll have a couple of birthdays while we are there. Anything special we can do here for them? Do they have birthday buttons, like at WDW?

California Adventure:
The official site shows this park closing at 6pm. Isn't that pretty early to close a park in April? When is the Electrical Parade shown? Is Grizzly the same as Kali River Rapids? Does it have big drops or just small ones? How many drops are there? How fast does it go? Not big "thrill/rollercoaster" riders, so we'll be skipping Paradise Pier. Can you see most of the other portions of this park in a day? What are the not to be missed attractions in the remaining portions of CA?

DTD:
What are the hours for the stores, like World of Disney? What is the sales tax in Anaheim? Can you ship from here to home?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Firefly777]

Okay, I'll try to answer some of these.

The monorail stops in Downtown Disney by the Disneyland Hotel and at Disneyland park in Tomorrowland. The monorail isn't too far from the GC. It's definitely walkable.

Currently there is no early entry program at DL. What dates are you going to DLR? I checked the website and it says that DL opens at 8am the whole third week. Fantasmic looks like it's running every night that week also. The shows are different and many say that they like the DL version better. It says on the website that the Believe fireworks are going all week as well.

The fastest way to get to DL from the GCH is definitely walking. It is about a 4 minute walk from the hotel. You are basically going the opposite direction of the parks to get to the monorail station. It is very safe inside the Disneyland Resort area, so you shouldn't be worried about that.

Yes they have birthday stickers that you can get at City Hall.

I checked the site and it says DCA is open until 10pm the whole third week.

Grizzly River is a little longer than Kali River and it has two drops instead of one. One is a spinning drop.

I would definitely say that you can do DCA in a day if you don't go to Paradise Pier. Definitely ride Soarin' Over California and see the Aladdin show.

I hope that I helped you at least a little. Have a good trip!

 

[Disneyland_emily]

General:
How crowded will the parks be? Itll be a bit crowded as its prime spring break time
How safe is the area surrounding DL, CA & DTD? Pretty Safe- Ive walked to and from my Katella hotel multiple times and felt safe-
How does the monorail work? pretty good most days-
Where does it stop? At DTD and Tomorrowland
What are the hours of operation? Usually park hours unless its having issues-
How far is the monorail station from the GC? Depends what part of the GC- Id say a 10 min walk from most of the hotel

Disneyland:
Does DL have an early entry program, like WDW, for guests staying on property? Nope

I noticed that the park does not open until 10am and it just seemed like a late opening for a theme park. It is

What attractions have Fast Pass? Indy, Mansion*, Pirates* ,Splash, Pooh,Thunder,Roger Rabbit*, Autopia (when available) Star Tours* (the * ones are not connected currently so you can have both a * pass and a connected one)

Is Fantasmic shown nightly, like at MGM? Usually but as it brings the West Side down to a crawl it doesnt show all the time

How different is this version from the one in WDW? SOO much better- it puts the WDW to shame

Is it in a stadium, such as the one at WDW? Nope- it is shown around the Rivers of America

What about fireworks? The fireworks are amazing!

Do they offer e-nights like at the Magic Kingdom @ WDW? Nope

Is there a website that you can print out a map of the park? Not that I know of-

Is the afternoon parade worth watching? If you have time then yes- but its not as amazing as WDWs
What is the fastest way to get to DL from the GC (walk or monorail)? Walk
How safe is it at night getting from DL to the GC at night? Youll be just fine- Downtown is open lots later so there will be people present
We'll have a couple of birthdays while we are there. Anything special we can do here for them? Yup- There is a locked thread at the top of the main DL topic page- read that
Do they have birthday buttons, like at WDW? YUp

California Adventure:
The official site shows this park closing at 6pm. Isn't that pretty early to close a park in April? Not really- its typical for DCA

When is the Electrical Parade shown? Usually right near park closing- but with a 6 close I dont know if itll run

Is Grizzly the same as Kali River Rapids? Its better
Does it have big drops or just small ones? dont remember
How many drops are there? Atleast 1
How fast does it go? dunno
Not big "thrill/rollercoaster" riders, so we'll be skipping Paradise Pier. I wouldnt skip it completely- its worth a stroll through and the Sun Wheel is not a high thrill ride-
Can you see most of the other portions of this park in a day? Yup- If you plan right-

What are the not to be missed attractions in the remaining portions of CA? I think most of the park is not to be missed- The Redwoods area is gorgeous to see, Soarin is a must, Aladdin is great, Bug is fun, Bugs Land is fun eye candy for adults and decent rides for kids-

DTD:
What are the hours for the stores, like World of Disney? Usually until 2 hours from DL park close (ie 11ish)
What is the sales tax in Anaheim? Like 7% if I remember right Can you ship from here to home? Yes for a fee

Thanks in advance for your help! Not a problem!

The park guides at Laughingplace.com are prett helpful- LP is as wonderful for DL information as DIS is for WDW-