Disneyland 'to do' for 1 evening for a WDW vet?

[Luisfba]

I have a business trip to the LA area which will give me the opportunity to visit Disneyland Wednesday evening (probably from about 6:30 to closing).

As a WDW vet.. what do you folks recommend? I'm thinking I need to hit the things unique to Disneyland or significantly different from WDW first. California Adventure closes first so maybe do that first and head to Disneyland Park when DCA closes (after world of color?) - or maybe do some DLP first, then DCA.. see World of color, then back to DLP?. I'm thinking my list is: California Screamin (more than once), Radiator Springs Racers, ??. Then on DCA Indiana Jones, Matterhorn, ?? I will have the benefit of single rider.

 

[sharonabe]

I would hit DCA first and then head to DP. World of Color may be a problem. We didn't know FPs were a must for this, so had to wait til our next day when we could get one. When we walked up to the viewing area that first night, there was nowhere to go. As a single, you might have better luck, though.

Definitely use single rider for RSR! We rode at least 3 times in a row in less than an hour.

 

[disneymom0104]

Definitely Pirates! So much better at DL. Yes to Matterhorn and Indiana Jones (a MUST- also has single rider). Space Mountain is also different enough to ride if you are able. If you have extra time, Mr. Toad is always fun.

 

[OneThree]

+1 for POTC being better at DL than WDW!

 

[Ndusmama]

At DCA screamin and grizzly river are unique. RSR is essentially test track but better (imo). Skip tower cause WDW is better.
Dl you have to do Matterhorn, poc, space mountain, mr toad.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

If you can be in Cars Land by sunset (Google the time for that day), watch the neon lighting on Route 66. So fun, just like in the movie! RSR is absolutely beautiful at night. The detail on that ride is amazing.

 

[bigskip]

Sunset in Radiator Springs - May 2016

 

[maltdizzy]

I wouldn't try and do both parks, it's still peak attendance which slows progress down, but if you do I would skip WOC, which would be a HUGE time commitment to sit and wait for (and as noted, it requires a FP, which may be all gone), and enjoy Disneyland Forever at DL instead.

Hit California Screaming first, WOC will make it harder to do anything in the Pier area. On the plus side, it';s the furthest form the park entrance, so you can do Screaming and then work your way back to the entrance as others are working their way back to WOC. People lining up for WOC might give you a chance at Radiator Springs Racers.

Indy is a wildcard, it goes down often. Best to check early.

You should definitely do Pirates at DL, it has a whole first act that is missing at WDW.

Mr Toads, Alice. You may not get anything out of Casey Jr, Pinocchio, or the Storybook Boats, but they are there. If your a Small World fan, the DL version is noticeably better than WDW.

Things to plan around

• Parade routes (Paint the Night) go between Small World to Main Street Town Square, they can make it very hard to get over the the Matterhorn and Tomorrowland or get back from them, same with Small World/Toon Town
• Fireworks shut down most of Fantasyland because of their launch location, it'll reopen, but that also cuts off access between parts of the park

 

[Becca1007]

Definitely start with Screamin and work your way back to the front of the park then over to Disneyland. For best utilization of time, make sure to take full advantage of the single rider lines.

In DCA Single Rider is available on;
- Screamin
- Goofy's Sky School
- Grizzly River Run
- RSR
- Soarin [currently not available but may come back eventually]

In DL
- Matterhorn
- Indiana Jones
- Splash Mountain

If you want to see WOC, you may have a shot by making friendly conversation with the cast member at the rope for one of the sections (avoid the dessert party section and the premium dining section). Just mention that you are here for one night only and a single and got into the park too late to grab a fastpass and ask where you might find a section to watch standby... since you are solo you might get a friendly cast member who wants to make your night by letting you into the section. [For the record, this has worked for me before but your mileage may vary].

If you don't do WOC, a great DL experience is timing your ride on BTMRR to be during the fireworks show.

 

[Luisfba]

Thanks for all the tips. Here's my report.

After fighting 2 hours of traffic (yuck!) I got there around 6:30. Got the parkhopper. Went to DCA first. Beautiful park!

First went to California Screamin. That's when I realized just how crowded it was. The regular line was up to 85 minutes, the single rider was about 40. I got lucky and a family of 4 had a FP ticket for 4.. but the mother did not feel like riding so she grabbed me out of the single rider line and I rode with her kids (thank you!). It was still 15-20 minutes from the FP line. Got double lucky when as we were boarding they announced the ride would be shutting down in a few minutes to prep for WOC. Great coaster. I'm a big coaster fan and I like having a good old plain coaster (no theming, no dark ride, etc).

Headed to Radiator Springs Racers. Single rider line was probably 30 minutes or so. Loved it! Much more fun than Test Track (and I love test track).

Went back to pier and caught WOC. As you guys mentioned, chatted it up with a CM and he let me in the back of the FP area. It really is a fantastic show.

Headed to Disneyland Park. The parade was going on and it was just CROWDED. People walking in were being herded on a bypass from main street, ended up in tomorrowland. It was still a huge mass of people moving together. Not sure what the crowd levels were that day (8/3), but it must have been up there. Fireworks were cancelled that day (found out when 9:30 rolled around and no fireworks - asked a CM and it was something about the wind and the highway being so close), so it's good I stuck at DCA long enough for WOC. Did Matterhorn (pretty much walked on - single rider). If was a pretty wild ride. Then I actually did Small World.. it was a 2 minute wait.. figured it would be cool to check out one of the originals and it was nice to sit down in air conditioning for a few minutes.

Made my way to Indiana Jones but couldn't find the darn thing. Walked by it twice. Finally found it and got lucky again.. it had been shut down and literally as I walked by they dropped the rope to let people in. So I pretty much walked on. Absolutely loved the ride. I've never done Dinosaur (I understand it's the same ride just themed differently?) but am going to need to do it.. at least with the Indy theme it was awesome.

At this point it's about 11pm.. 2am for me given I'm still on East Coast time, and I'm fighting a cold.. so I was absolutely beat and decided to head back to LA (was staying at LAX area). Got some gifts for the kids and headed out.

So - great park. It was beautiful, the rides were great, the CM's I talked to were wonderful also. Got a lot done in just about 4 hours of park time (California Screamin, Radiator Racers, World of Color, Matterhorn, Small World, Indiana Jones.. and some glances at Paint the Night). Had a lot of fun, but felt a bit guilty going without the children. (

Thanks for all the help.

 

[Indiana Scott]

Glad it worked out well for you!

 

[grnflash]

Glad it worked out well for you!

Ditto! Sounds like you had a great evening!

 

[Frozen2014]

Sounds awesome. Amazing you got so much done in just a few hours (and at a busy time)

 

[maltdizzy]

Five popular rides plus WOC in 4 hours.

Ya did good!

(But...Pirates was just around the corner from Indy)