Disneyland Musts?

[rebelzrule]

Reposting from other forum

"I've been following these forums for a while, but am a first time poster.

I have been to DisneyWorld 5 times. The last 2 trips were the past two years, during the week after Thanksgiving. I have a 3 year old and 5 year old. We love that week so much and are going back again this year. I feel like a have a pretty good handle on what to do at DisneyWorld and when.

Now, due to another trip that has come up, we will be in the Los Angeles area, the last week of August. We decided to spend one day ( a Tuesday) at DisneyLand, which we have never been to. Cars Land is obviously the main thing we want to see, since that is not at DisneyWorld. What are the other must do's? Basically, since we will be back at DisneyWorld in a couple of months, I just want to make sure we prioritze the things that are unique to DisneyLand.

Things I saw are Cars Land, Nemo Submarine Voyage, Golden Zephyr, Mickey and Minnie's houses (since no longer at Disney World)... Am I missing any other big ones?

Also, would you think we could accomplish these, and hopefully more in one day? I realize they are in 2 separate parks.

Thanks! "

 

[BensDaddy]

We are going to Disneyland the week after Thanksgiving, so we were pleased to hear about your good experience that time of year. I can't offer much to your thread, but i'll certainly be watching it closely!

 

[Rx774]

We are going to Disneyland on the 20th, and would very much like to know what not to miss. I have a 10, 6, and 2 year old.

PS. The 10 year old is going on 16!

 

[jsebsirois]

Here are some attractions that you won't find at Disney World and that I think you should not miss :

At Disneyland :
Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin
Alice in Wonderland
Pinocchio's Daring Journey
Mr Toad's Wild Ride
Indiana Jones Adventure
Disneyland Railroad (of course, there is one at Disney World but it doesn't compare at all!!!)

At California Adventure :
Monsters Inc Mike and Sulley to the rescue
The entire Bug's Land area, especialy with young kids

Both CarsLand and Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage have long lines but if you use Fastpass correctly, you should be fine but I really think you should separate both parks on two different days...

 

[CamoMama]

The Submarine Voyage is okay, but not worth the wait, in my opinion, it always has very long lines.

Absolutely do not miss Pirates of the Caribbean at DLR. It's different than at WDW, and in my opinion much better (in addition to being about 7 minutes longer).

Story Book Land Canal Boats is my favorite attraction at DLR, and has been since I was 3. WDW doesn't have it, and it's just a nice quiet boat trip through the belly of Monstro the whale and into the miniature Disney villages. Casey Jr Circus Train is pretty much the same ride, but on land, and is worth doing if you have time.

Ride the train in a complete loop around the park at least once.

Go to the Tiki Room and get a Dole Whip at the cart (usually the line inside the waiting area is shorter) and enjoy your treat during the show (it's slightly different than at WDW). I was shocked that food and drink were not allowed inside the Tiki Room at WDW and that the Dole Whip stand was so far away.

Indiana Jones. The equivalent ride at WDW is Dinosaur, and it pales in comparison to the awesomeness that is Indy. (not sure how tall your 3 year old is, may need to baby swap for this one)

Tarzan's Treehouse walk through. At the top there is a mirror, have your little ones touch all 3 brass pieces right in front of you (at the same time) and the mirror will come to life with scenes from the movie.

It's A Small World. I know. But it's so much better at DLR, just standing outside watching the clock is lovely.

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. It's no longer at WDW, and is awesome.

If you stand in line for Peter Pan, have the kids look up into the window above Snow White across the way, the evil queen will look out every now and then (also outside of Snow White have one of the kids touch the bronze apple).

Silly Symphony Swings at DCA. It's short, but so great.

 

[BayGirl22]

No one has mentioned the Matterhorn. Unique to DL, no?

 

[BensDaddy]

No one has mentioned the Matterhorn. Unique to DL, no?

Matterhorn is my little guy's favorite ride -- and it was just renovated!!

 

[CamoMama]

Matterhorn is my little guy's favorite ride -- and it was just renovated!!

It was just renovated, and no longer worth the lines, in my opinion. My daughter and I went on the Matterhorn first thing in the morning on our last trip and spent the rest of the day kid of deflated because it wasn't as good as it used to be. Although with a 3 and 5 year old, that may be better, it's slower and less thrilling now than it was.

 

[BensDaddy]

what is wrong with it?

 

[CamoMama]

It's slower and less thrilling.

 

[rebelzrule]

Thanks for all the input. Unfortunately, one day is all we will have. It is a last minute trip and we are just sqeezing DL into it. Not ideal, but it's all we have. We plan on making a longer trip back to DL when the kids get older and can ride more rides. Our goal is basically to do Cars Land while they are still young and will really get the most enjoyment out of it. Anything else we can get to will sort of be bonus. We will go back in a few years and spend 3 days or so doing a more "complete" trip.

 

[BensDaddy]

I am actually dreading Cars land a little bit. I know we will do it -- that's one of the reason we're going there this year instead of Disney World... but I am dreading standing in line for hours. I am also a little bit dreading standing around waiting for Worlds of Color to start.

We did Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey last year in Orlando. We were among the first into the park and rode it with only about a 10 minute wait but the wait was so long the rest of the day that we didn't ride it again.

 

[rebelzrule]

So, I realize that to really experience Disneyland it would probably take 3-4 days. When we go to WDW, we usually have 5-6 days in the park to really enjoy everything.

That being said, what should I be expecting for wait times in Cars Land. There are only 3 real rides, right? If we got there at 9am and went straight to Cars Land (which I know everyone probably does), can I expect to be done with it by 1:00is? Or is it going to pretty much take the whole day by itself? I guess factoring into that is that we will be going on a weekday, which hopefully helps. Also, when do California schools start? Will kids be in school the last week of August?

I'm really just hoping in a perfect world that I could do a "quick" Cars Land trip till about 1:00, hit a few select rides until about 3:00, then go to DisneyLand park and do as much as we can in 7 hours.

In my mind, we could get a lot of the "different than WDW stuff" done. In reality, I'm sure thats probably not so true.