Disneyland First-Timer Just Back

[Christine]

Hey everyone, I'm just back from my first ever trip to DLR (long history with WDW). I probably will sound negative in my report and I don't want to so take it for what it's worth that I was VERY tired on this trip having previously helped my son with an apartment move in San Diego and just, in general, being jet lagged I think my trip from the east coast. I hesitated to even write this up because I know negatitivy doesn't go over well, but I guess I'll chance it! Travelers were me (mom), DD (30), and DS (27).

The first 5 days of my trip were spent in San Diego helping my son move, seeing some sights, taking his dog to the various beaches. Lots of shopping and dining out. I had some good meals there, most notably the "Pop Pie" restaurant where I got great chicken pot pie with a side kale salad and some delicious Key Lime pie for dessert. Some great fish and shrimp tacos at La Vecindad (much better than The Taco Stand in La Jolla), and a nice breakfast at Snooze!. Can't say enough about the pot pie place--wish we had something like this in the D.C. area. Oh and some great cupcakes to be had from Babycakes.

On Sunday morning, we left San Diego at about 7AM and arrived at the DLR at 9:30. Our room was not ready but we were given our key cards so we could access the E-Ticket Lounge. Great little breakfast set up there. We used the E-Ticket Lounge often on those two days and I'm not sure I can ever go back to Disney without getting club level. But, buying it for a 2-day stay is quite different than buying it on a 1-week stay.

Once we were revived and had ensured all our bags were with the bellhop, we headed into DCA. It was probably around 10:30 at this point and the rides had okay waits. We booked a Guardians LL while we rode Grizzly and Incredicoaster. Probably should have done the queue for Soarin' but ended up booking a later LL for that.

So this is where my "newbie" issues kicked in. I just felt like I couldn't get my bearings. Again, I was really tired and felt out of sorts in the park. We all got hungry and as we scrolled through the quick service menus we couldn't really find anything we wanted without going back across the park. It was getting late, kids were getting HANGRY, and we ended up mobiling ordering hot dogs from Award Weiners. They were fine. What's to be said? My DD really wanted to do the Carthay Circle lounge later for dinner to try the small plates but we couldn't get anything and couldn't get anything on the walk up. Radiator Springs was down (so bummed) and DD and I weren't interested in Web Slingers. My DS was but he just didn't feel like trying for single rider. Again we were kind of grumpy that day. After finishing our rides (which weren't many honestly), we left the park, went back to the hotel to get our room and some more snacks. Tried to use the pool but it was incredibly crowded. I mean just so crowded that you really could do nothing more than find a spot in the water and stand there, so the pool was out. After a bit, my son and I decided to go to DL just to try a few things and scope it out. So walked back to that park. Immediately got LL for It's a Small World (just trying to do the "different" rides). It was later and not much to choose from for LL so we walked around a bit and then decided to do Splash Mountain/LL. So, that ride is a bit different than WDW. I definitely prefer the WDW version--there didn't seem to be much going on inside the mountain. Anyway, as you all know the log ride is single seats and as we were boarding, I noticed many people were VERY wet. I mean, I've been on WDW Splash about a 1,000 times it's seems and occasionally I'll get one of those rides where my left side might get wet, or my whole right arm and chest gets wait, but for the most part, it's not been a wet ride for me. I noticed all the SOAKED riders here and told my son that I probably was going to back out. He convinced me to stay. I had on denim shorts, my Brooks Ghost shoes that I have to wear post foot surgery, as well as my custom orthotics and socks. Needless to say, this ride did not go well for us. We were in the front and inside the mountain there are two drops. The first one soaked my son and got me tolerably wet. The second drop caused a wave/cascade of water to crest of over me and soaked me from head to tiptoes. Through and through. I swear the water went up my nose and down my mouth. Just at that time, the sun really went down, the breeze picked up, and we hoofed it back to the resort with the night cut short.

Got back to the room, changed into something warm and hit the lounge again. Came back but were still hungry and hadn't had any luck getting anything reserved anywhere. Tangeroa Terrace wasn't doing mobile orders so we just showed up and hoped for the best. They were doing walk ups and so my son got the Poke bowl and I got the chicken thigh meal. Both very good and it was relaxing to sit and eat quietly.

Our 2nd and last day, was better. We got to DL by rope drop and the first 2 hours were GREAT. We booked our RoTR for later in the morning and then went to ride a few other things we've never ridden before with short waits. It's probably still the jet lag but I honestly am struggling to remember what they were: Alice in Wonderland stands out as one of them. We then did RoTR, and then got a new LL for Indiana Jones. The kids also spent a lot of time going around the park getting the snacks they had heard about (beignets, churros, Coco Puff cold brew, cream cheese pretzel). We made lunch reservations at The Hungry Bear and son and I got the Fried Green Tomato Sandwich, while DD got the Impossible Hamburger. Onion rings were pretty good here. The tomato sandwich was decent.

We walked around a lot and explored, did the Indy and Haunted Mansion, and decided to leave because, YAY, we got a reservation at the Carthay Circle lounge which my DD had her heart set on. Got over to DCA at 5PM for that. Great place, good food, nice place to unwind. We had the Morrocan Meatballs, Bao Buns, and Roasted Brussel Sprouts. All excellent. Kids had some mixed drinks, I think one of them had an Old Fashioned which was very good. Radiator Springs Racers were open so grabbed an ILL for that. Once we tapped in, we were able to get a LL for Toy Story Mania (one of my favorite rides in WDW).

I'm sure I left a lot of details out that will come to me later but my overall impression:

Please don't hate me but I definitely preferred WDW to DL. Some points:

Pro: We all loved the walkability/accessiblility to the parks from any hotel. Schlepping in and out of WDW is long and tiring and sometimes just more than you want to do, right? This aspect was fantastic--to just be able to come and go as you please.

Con: So what I didn't mention above were the crowds, especially in DL on both Sunday evening and Monday (especially Monday). I have been to WDW at Easter, in June, in July--basically peak times. I don't think I ever felt as crammed at WDW as I did at DL. Why is that? I don't know. Tighter more compressed walkways? Maybe. There were many times that I just actually coudn't even get through the crowds, it was that heavy and oppressive at times. I've never seen anything like it. I imagine that WDW is like that at Christmas. Sure, at Animal Kingdom on their narrow paths I've hit a glut of people traffic at times, but I can always find space. There was one time I was trying to cross over to get to Haunted Mansion and I just couldn't.

Con: Not really a con at all, but a factor for me. Dining options aren't as plentiful so that if you can't get what you want there's not much to fall back on. I've been shut out of dining at Disney before, but I'm always able to come up with a good #2 or #3 and I thought this was lacking, but it's a smaller resort so not unexpected. I really should have studied the quick-service options better so that I had that in my mind.

Con: In DL, I felt like I had a hard time finding restrooms (yeah, I was drinking a lot of water). And when I did, the lines were very long outside into the walkways. Not that it doesn't occasionally happen to me at the World, but I find bathrooms plentiful there and there's always one around the corner that's less crowded. In general, DCA was better designed in that regard and had no issues there.

Pro: Loved the CarsLand area. Radiator Springs was my favorite ride of the trip. Loved it and thought it was better than Test Track.

Rides: I was very interested in the comparisions of some rides between WDW and DL which the emphasis on me reading often that "XX ride is better at DisneyLand." Over the years, I've read comments about how great Indy is and, more recently, Guardians of Galaxay. I had high expectations. I do love Dinosaur and I heavily "like" ToT. Indy wad definitely more "bumpy" than Dinosaur, but I think the Dinosaur theming/effects are better than the Indy stuff which seemed very dated to me. I had really high hopes for Guardians and I did like the upbeat vibe of it; however, not much going on in there. Maybe we got a less fun ride (it was the Gantry elevator playing Pat Benatar). Lots more drops than ToT so I did enjoy that! Wanted to try it again but never could.

Not WDW or DL related, but I wasn't wowed by RoTR. Sorry I said it. Technologically, it is a wonderful ride, but it's just didn't do anything for me. I don't think the cast members were much into their role playing. Apparently, after reading about it later, that aspect can be very good, but I didn't see anything going on with that at all.

Beignets: The ones I had at Port Orleans/WDW were hands down better than the ones at DisneyLand. We got plain and banana beignets at DL and really didn't like the banana ones at all. Very fake flavor, but my son said he liked it well enough and finished them off.

Churros: I've always heard that the churros at DL were far superior to WDW. I had a WDW churro in 2019 from a cart at Epcot. It was plain and it wasn't very wonderful. Got a plain churro at DL from a cart. It tasted exactly the same as the WDW one. We did get a smores churro also and that was better.

Resorts: We really liked our room at the DL Hotel. It was large and I enjoyed the bathroom having a door as well as a door to the separate toilet area. With 3 adults in a room that's important. Resort had similar theming/feel as the Contemporary did many years ago. Mash that up with little touches from the Poly and I'm transported back a little to those resorts. I felt the pools were smallish for the size of the resorts and it showed midday. The only description that fits is "completely overrun with people." But if I had small children I'd make do with it. Visited the lobby of the Grand Californian which reminded me a lot of the Wilderness Lodge. Not sure how those rooms are there; lovely, I'm sure. I didn't see the pools but this resort has more of a feel of most of the deluxes at WDW but on a smaller scale.

So, I know this review sounds really incredibly negative but I actually had a wonderful time, but I was really tired and still recovering 6 weeks off of COVID so maybe my outlook wasn't great (plus being really tired), but I went there expecting to be converted to a DL person, and I was disappointed in some ways. But I really think what dampened it for me was the excessive crowding. I don't think I can convey just how crowded DL felt to me. I was pretty shocked by it, honestly.

 

[pharmama]

FWIW- I think your review sounds very balanced-not incredibly negative- and you were clearly cognizant of outside factors that may have also influenced your experience (but could also be a factor for other guests so good for people to keep in mind!).

DLR can definitely feel more crowded due to the smaller size and narrower walkways and there are several choke points/bottlenecks that can be really brutal (especially the Adventureland and NOS areas). I think regulars forget that we know the places to avoid and strategies to get around the crowds and even then there's just some spots and times that are rough.

ETA- thanks for the Pop Pie tip. We are doing a week in SD later this summer and I'll have to check that out!

 

[LeiaOfAlderaan]

While you listed a lot of cons, overall your review seems very fair! Your experience is your experience, and if you had a lot of negatives you shouldn’t feel like you can’t be honest.

Crowding at DL can be a real issue and pre pandemic was my #1 problem with the parks, so I totally understand your frustration. I just expect insane crowds every time and am pleasantly surprised if it’s not crazy busy.

I am glad you still managed to have a good time overall!

 

[evilmommie]

I kept waiting for the super negative part…I think you gave a very fair account of your experience, including your own outside factors they may have contributed to your feelings regarding positive or negative outcomes.

Sounds like you all had some great moments together and found a way to make things work. Loved that you took advantage of your CL time. Isn’t that the best way to stay at Disney?

 

[disney-inspired]

Please don't hate me but I definitely preferred WDW to DL. Some points:

Rides: I was very interested in the comparisions of some rides between WDW and DL which the emphasis on me reading often that "XX ride is better at DisneyLand." Over the years, I've read comments about how great Indy is and, more recently, Guardians of Galaxay. I had high expectations. I do love Dinosaur and I heavily "like" ToT. Indy wad definitely more "bumpy" than Dinosaur, but I think the Dinosaur theming/effects are better than the Indy stuff which seemed very dated to me. I had really high hopes for Guardians and I did like the upbeat vibe of it; however, not much going on in there. Maybe we got a less fun ride (it was the Gantry elevator playing Pat Benatar). Lots more drops than ToT so I did enjoy that! Wanted to try it again but never could.

My only issue with the comparison between Indy and Dinosaur is that 90% of the dinosaur ride is in the dark so I'm not really sure how you can compare theming/effects. I felt way more tossed around in Dinosaur, too.

 

[DLgal]

You committed the cardinal sin of going to Disneyland on a Monday. I'm sorry for that.

I've had trips like you described, but at WDW. I was tired, out of sorts, and just never settled into "vacation mode" and it really does affect your overall impression.

I'd say you did yourselves a disservice of doing this trip over the 2 busiest days of the week, traditionally (Sunday and Monday) and you were already worn out before you even arrived. Next time, arrive on a Monday and make Tuesday your first park day. You'll be glad you did.

I'd encourage you to try again, with a longer, more leisurely visit. The magic of Disneyland is in the details and you miss all of that when you are running around without ever slowing down to get your bearings.

I am a frequent bathroom user, so I know where they ALL are and have never thought there weren't enough, but several ARE tucked away and kind of hidden, so I don't blame you for feeling like there weren't enough around.

 

[mdmost]

I'm fine with your entire post as others said above that Disneyland can be a bear as far as crowding. I do take exception to your Indiana Jones opinion. Dinosaur is in no way a better ride and the only thing that redeems it is the queue. It's too dark, the preshow is cheesy, and Indiana Jones is just a lot more awesome. The soundtrack to Indy makes that ride so much more epic. I was bored when we finally rode Dinosaur this past September. I'm just thankful the wait was low. I would love if they rethemed that ride as the same Indiana Jones ride with enhanced effects and made the whole area an archeology land.

 

[ktlm]

You were there Sunday and Monday the 12th and 13th? Mondays are always awful and starting the 15th the Imagine Key passholders are blocked out until almost the end of August and the Enchant Key passholders blocked out until the middle of August. We have been there the last few weekdays before the annual passes are blocked for the summer and the crowds are typically awful those days. I think you had some bad luck in the timing. It was packed on our trip last October (which was also pre Genie + so there was no FP at all) and it was pretty miserable. It can be much more fun when the crowds aren't quite as bad.

 

[Kit Jackson]

@Christine I don't think your review is over the line or totally negative. There were things you liked and things you didn't like. That sounds pretty fair and normal to me. When you are feeling better and less tired, I would suggest returning to Disneyland and giving it another chance.

 

[Christine]

Thanks everyone for being kind! I did try to tone down a lot of what I wrote so it didn't come off as too negative--I've seen some responses over the years on trip reports where people didn't like something and then the people who did like it tried to argue with them about it. It's an opinion and if someone likes or dislikes something, they're not wrong. Just didn't want to get a lot of that I guess.

Anyway, as for the days I went, we didn't have much choice. I was actually going to spend my entire 8 days in San Diego only. After everything (flights, hotels, etc) were booked, my son suggested we take the days after his move at the end of the trip and try out Disney. This forced me into a Sun/Mon/Tuesday departure. And my flight left on Tuesday and no way to change anything easily at that point. Glad to know I wasn't imagining the bottlenecks in traffic flow.

 

[Christine]

You were there Sunday and Monday the 12th and 13th? Mondays are always awful and starting the 15th the Imagine Key passholders are blocked out until almost the end of August and the Enchant Key passholders blocked out until the middle of August. We have been there the last few weekdays before the annual passes are blocked for the summer and the crowds are typically awful those days. I think you had some bad luck in the timing. It was packed on our trip last October (which was also pre Genie + so there was no FP at all) and it was pretty miserable. It can be much more fun when the crowds aren't quite as bad.

Yes, 12/13th and checked out on Tuesday the 14th. I had no choice on the dates unfortunately. I'm only so happy it didn't coincide with a grad nite. One of the CM services at the lounge told me that he took his son to grad nite and it was insane.

 

[Christine]

My only issue with the comparison between Indy and Dinosaur is that 90% of the dinosaur ride is in the dark so I'm not really sure how you can compare theming/effects. I felt way more tossed around in Dinosaur, too.

Hmmm...true but there was a spot in Indy where we were in the dark a lot and apparently, there were several special effects not working according to my son. I felt jostled in Indy and more whipped around in Dinosaur. I also like how the dinosaurs are moving and the one comes right down and roars at you. I had thought the big snake/cobra in Indy would do that but it was stationery.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Thank you for doing a report of your impressions for us. It's always interesting to read what first-timers have experienced, and I'm sure there are a few of us here that would have loved to show you Disneyland as we know it. I think your report was fair, and that you took our feelings into consideration while writing it. That was a nice thing to do since locals can feel protective about 'our' park (same for the WDW locals). I think if everything was working as it should on both Indiana Jones and Rise of the Resistance you'd be blown away by both. They are really good attractions.

 

[Christine]

So I've just been reading a Disneyland group on Facebook and apparently it is not my imagination--the last week or so up and including today has been super busy and crowded. These are seasoned DL vets posting that they have never seen anything like it (someone said maybe they saw it that 5 years ago). So something is up with this particular week.

Oh well, lucky me that those were my days to go!!

 

[DLgal]

So I've just been reading a Disneyland group on Facebook and apparently it is not my imagination--the last week or so up and including today has been super busy and crowded. These are seasoned DL vets posting that they have never seen anything like it (someone said maybe they saw it that 5 years ago). So something is up with this particular week.

Oh well, lucky me that those were my days to go!!

Yeah, I mean, I'm a Dream Key holder and literally go every week, usually on Saturdays, Sundays or Thursdays. Crowds ebb and flow, but the last 2 Saturdays have ONLY been crowded due to grad nite, otherwise not bad at all. Mondays are an absolute "no go" in our household. It's just always a miserable experience. If you HAVE TO go on a Monday, go to DCA first. That seems to work well.

 

[Acousticpharm]

The good news is that no matter what you do at DLR you can have a great time.

That being said it didn't sound to me like you had the best plans for your trip. If you go again feel free to PM me and I'll give you my thoughts on where to find the best magic in the parks

 

[shaycamp21]

Rides: I was very interested in the comparisions of some rides between WDW and DL which the emphasis on me reading often that "XX ride is better at DisneyLand." Over the years, I've read comments about how great Indy is and, more recently, Guardians of Galaxay. I had high expectations. I do love Dinosaur and I heavily "like" ToT. Indy wad definitely more "bumpy" than Dinosaur, but I think the Dinosaur theming/effects are better than the Indy stuff which seemed very dated to me. I had really high hopes for Guardians and I did like the upbeat vibe of it; however, not much going on in there. Maybe we got a less fun ride (it was the Gantry elevator playing Pat Benatar). Lots more drops than ToT so I did enjoy that! Wanted to try it again but never could.

I know I am in the minority here but I also prefer Dinosaur over Indy-- it was one ride that didn't live up to the hype for me, I like the darkness and suspense of Dinosaur. I grew up going to Disneyland and I agree that many of the classics like Pirates and SM are better, but not Indy IMHO. In my adult years I have enjoyed more trips to WDW than DL with my own kids, two of which are now adults and look forward to comparing TOT (one of my favs) to Guardians on our trip this August with our youngest DD who's never been to DLR.

 

[Pluto468]

I didn't think your post was very negative at all. We've all had those incredibly busy days and it can make it harder to relax and enjoy yourself when you feel like a sardine. I know what you mean about club level~ We stayed in May and I don't know if I can ever go without the E-ticket Lounge again!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts

 

[Aspencreek]

Thanks for the report. Have been debating whether to do a July/Aug trip or maybe wait until Sept/Oct so we can also try Oogie bash. The recent crowd levels you and others have been reporting is making me think it might be best to forgo a summer visit. We went last July and lucked out bigtime - mask and distancing mandates were gone at the time, crowd levels were not bad at all, and the weather was perfect (highs around 80-82). Really afraid to go back and have the opposite experience with heavy crowds and super hot weather. Especially since you can't easily pick which days to go or skip now with the reservation system.

Couple questions - Why are Mondays so bad as mentioned above by a few people? And do you all think Sept or maybe early Oct would be much likely to have way lower crowds? Thanks!

Oh, and I had to laugh (not at you) for the Splash ride report. That's the exact reason I've been to the DL at least a dozen or more times over the years and have NEVER ridden Splash. Seen way too many soaked people coming off the ride. When it is really hot and I wouldn't mind being wet the lines are crazy long, when lines are short it is late or cold out.

 

[GoingSince1990]

I would consider that a GREAT trip for a 2-day visit. And how about a bit of praise for Grizzly, which absolutely blows away the very lame by comparison Kali River Rapids?