poohj80
Got Hunny?
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2001
- Messages
- 6,323
Just returned home from a trip out to Disneyland now that it's open to out of state guests. I grew up on DL, but consider myself a WDW vet since that is my adult home away from home. We have visited DL a few times over the recent years, but have always struggled to find the type of information I was looking for to help us more familiar with WDW plan a trip to the CA parks so I thought I would start a thread in hopes it might help other families in our situation. This list is not meant to say one resort is better than another, just to identify differences for those who are most familiar with WDW parks. Granted, we haven't visited WDW since the mask requirement has been completely lifted so some areas may have been updated since we visited. I know this is long but hope it helps any other families who might be planning a trip soon.
1. As Pete has mentioned many times, the CA Parks are locals parks instead of the vacation destination of WDW. That said, the typical family groups we experienced during the day were much larger than a typical family group at WDW - the largest family group we encountered in a line was 18! This had pros and cons.
PRO: We found that DL guests participated more than WDW guests. For example, when we visit the Enchanted Tiki Room, we like to sing and dance along. At WDW, we are usually the only ones. At DL, the whole room was singing and clapping along...it was wonderful!
CON: Large groups wandering around the narrow pathways at DL really clog up the traffic flow. We've found guests at WDW seem to walk with purpose more so than the casual, local DL guest which made it difficult to get from point A to point B especially when trying to make it to a ROTR boarding group.
CON: Large groups don't always think about how they want to split up to load a ride until they are at the end of the line and only then realize all the kids want to ride with their favorite grandma but the ride vehicle is only a 2 seater. However, this allowed our party of two to be pulled forward in line quite often to fill a vehicle so pay attention for the CMs calling for a party of 2 or 3. This also lead to one of our favorite PROS...
PRO: Single rider lines seemed to rarely be used by guests (except for IncrediCoaster). The large family groups are at the park to spend time together so they don't want to break up their party. We rode Smuggler's Run and Splash Mountain 3-5 times in a row without ever waiting except to board the vehicle. HINT: Splash Mountain's singe rider line is through the exit.
2. Speaking of Boarding Groups, I haven't had an issue getting a ROTR Boarding Group at the Studios since upgrading to an iPhone 12 and following all the usual tips - close all apps, don't use wi-fi, etc. On our first day, I noticed the cell service at the DL Hotel was not great but tried it anyway as the wifi hadn't been wonderful either. 7 am - DENIED! At noon, we were having lunch at Cafe Orleans so tried the cell service from there - DENIED again! This was on a Saturday so thought maybe it was due to larger weekend crowds, but still disappointed that my streak had ended. The next morning, I read up on tips specifically for DL boarding groups and saw many folks who suggested downloading a World Clock app and start refreshing at 6:59:59. I had read that suggestion before but never needed it for WDW, but decided to give it a shot since we REALLY wanted to try Web Slingers. BAM! It worked! In fact, it worked every day for the next 4 days including one day where we got Web Slingers at 7 am and ROTR at noon! I realized my phone clock was about 1.5 seconds behind that world clock and that was enough to miss out. Highly recommend this tip!
3. Rides at DCA were closed a LOT! On our first day with a DCA park reservation, 1/2 the park (and all the good rides including Web Slingers) were down at the same time. We were never given a reason other than maybe it had something to do with the power issue around LA, but we wasted over 2 hours in lines for rides we never got to ride. When the ride closed, we were just told to vacate the line with no consideration for time lost in line. They offered return passes only to guests who were within a certain distance from boarding the ride which doesn't seem fair. With longer lines, we had already been in line 45 mins to an hour and hadn't reached this magical spot yet but our time was worth nothing? When I asked about it nicely and calmly, I was just brushed off and told that was their policy and there was nothing they could do. This was disappointing especially when literally 1/2 the park was down at the same time so the rides that were open had extremely long waits and we couldn't even hop over to DL yet. When we have had similar issues at WDW, they just scan our magic band and gave us a use anywhere fast pass to return later.
4. Our DVC discount was automatically applied to every Mobile Order at the CA parks. This never happens at WDW for quick service.
5. Character interactions at Disneyland specifically were AMAZING and unique, especially while still staying socially distanced. Even though I love Pooh playing with his butterfly net at Epcot, the characters are just more interactive at DL. From Mickey and Minnie dancing down Main Street leading the band in a parade to the Evil Queen and Cruella giving us wardrobe tips and, of course, Finn Ryder's smolder! We also found Peter Pan and Wendy playing hide-n-seek under the supervision of Capt. Hook back by Small World. Kylo Ren was also much more interactive!
6. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutidue is open at DL and it wasn't yet at Magic Kingdom which surprised me since DL has been closed much longer than MK. Also, Oga's Cantina is back to full capacity with guests standing 2 deep all around the bar.
7. Speaking of Oga's, they don't offer many advanced dining reservations. At DL, they work on a virtual 30 min walk-up line through the app. You have to be in Galaxy's Edge and near Oga's to join the virtual line and then you must stay in that area until you receive the notification that it's time to arrive. Once you get that text, it says you have 10 mins to check-in, but you really then get in a line outside Oga's and wait for your name to be called.
8. The hub and Main Street are PACKED for the fireworks. Suggest watching them in front of Small World as the projections are shown there as well and the fireworks are launched above Toon Town. Great spot and much less crowded (and allowed us to get to one last ride afterward)!
That's it off the top of my head, if I think of any more differences I will add to this post. Hope this helps someone!
1. As Pete has mentioned many times, the CA Parks are locals parks instead of the vacation destination of WDW. That said, the typical family groups we experienced during the day were much larger than a typical family group at WDW - the largest family group we encountered in a line was 18! This had pros and cons.
PRO: We found that DL guests participated more than WDW guests. For example, when we visit the Enchanted Tiki Room, we like to sing and dance along. At WDW, we are usually the only ones. At DL, the whole room was singing and clapping along...it was wonderful!
CON: Large groups wandering around the narrow pathways at DL really clog up the traffic flow. We've found guests at WDW seem to walk with purpose more so than the casual, local DL guest which made it difficult to get from point A to point B especially when trying to make it to a ROTR boarding group.
CON: Large groups don't always think about how they want to split up to load a ride until they are at the end of the line and only then realize all the kids want to ride with their favorite grandma but the ride vehicle is only a 2 seater. However, this allowed our party of two to be pulled forward in line quite often to fill a vehicle so pay attention for the CMs calling for a party of 2 or 3. This also lead to one of our favorite PROS...
PRO: Single rider lines seemed to rarely be used by guests (except for IncrediCoaster). The large family groups are at the park to spend time together so they don't want to break up their party. We rode Smuggler's Run and Splash Mountain 3-5 times in a row without ever waiting except to board the vehicle. HINT: Splash Mountain's singe rider line is through the exit.
2. Speaking of Boarding Groups, I haven't had an issue getting a ROTR Boarding Group at the Studios since upgrading to an iPhone 12 and following all the usual tips - close all apps, don't use wi-fi, etc. On our first day, I noticed the cell service at the DL Hotel was not great but tried it anyway as the wifi hadn't been wonderful either. 7 am - DENIED! At noon, we were having lunch at Cafe Orleans so tried the cell service from there - DENIED again! This was on a Saturday so thought maybe it was due to larger weekend crowds, but still disappointed that my streak had ended. The next morning, I read up on tips specifically for DL boarding groups and saw many folks who suggested downloading a World Clock app and start refreshing at 6:59:59. I had read that suggestion before but never needed it for WDW, but decided to give it a shot since we REALLY wanted to try Web Slingers. BAM! It worked! In fact, it worked every day for the next 4 days including one day where we got Web Slingers at 7 am and ROTR at noon! I realized my phone clock was about 1.5 seconds behind that world clock and that was enough to miss out. Highly recommend this tip!
3. Rides at DCA were closed a LOT! On our first day with a DCA park reservation, 1/2 the park (and all the good rides including Web Slingers) were down at the same time. We were never given a reason other than maybe it had something to do with the power issue around LA, but we wasted over 2 hours in lines for rides we never got to ride. When the ride closed, we were just told to vacate the line with no consideration for time lost in line. They offered return passes only to guests who were within a certain distance from boarding the ride which doesn't seem fair. With longer lines, we had already been in line 45 mins to an hour and hadn't reached this magical spot yet but our time was worth nothing? When I asked about it nicely and calmly, I was just brushed off and told that was their policy and there was nothing they could do. This was disappointing especially when literally 1/2 the park was down at the same time so the rides that were open had extremely long waits and we couldn't even hop over to DL yet. When we have had similar issues at WDW, they just scan our magic band and gave us a use anywhere fast pass to return later.
4. Our DVC discount was automatically applied to every Mobile Order at the CA parks. This never happens at WDW for quick service.
5. Character interactions at Disneyland specifically were AMAZING and unique, especially while still staying socially distanced. Even though I love Pooh playing with his butterfly net at Epcot, the characters are just more interactive at DL. From Mickey and Minnie dancing down Main Street leading the band in a parade to the Evil Queen and Cruella giving us wardrobe tips and, of course, Finn Ryder's smolder! We also found Peter Pan and Wendy playing hide-n-seek under the supervision of Capt. Hook back by Small World. Kylo Ren was also much more interactive!
6. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutidue is open at DL and it wasn't yet at Magic Kingdom which surprised me since DL has been closed much longer than MK. Also, Oga's Cantina is back to full capacity with guests standing 2 deep all around the bar.
7. Speaking of Oga's, they don't offer many advanced dining reservations. At DL, they work on a virtual 30 min walk-up line through the app. You have to be in Galaxy's Edge and near Oga's to join the virtual line and then you must stay in that area until you receive the notification that it's time to arrive. Once you get that text, it says you have 10 mins to check-in, but you really then get in a line outside Oga's and wait for your name to be called.
8. The hub and Main Street are PACKED for the fireworks. Suggest watching them in front of Small World as the projections are shown there as well and the fireworks are launched above Toon Town. Great spot and much less crowded (and allowed us to get to one last ride afterward)!
That's it off the top of my head, if I think of any more differences I will add to this post. Hope this helps someone!
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