Disneyland Trip Report (June 22-June 25)

[Mousekateer55]

Over the next four days, I will write my Disneyland Trip Report. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza.

June 22

Upon entering town from the east at around 4 pm, the first thing we see is California Screamin'. Soon after we can see the Sun Wheel, Maliboomer and Grizzly Peak. Then the Disneyland Mountain Range comes into view.

Downtown Disney
Left hotel for shuttle at around 6 pm. Went through the World of Disney store and the LEGO store. The World of Disney store has everything Disney possible. We also saw a giant hat near the Disneyland Hotel that looked like the one being built in Florida.

 

[PigSoldier]

Nice report, I'd love to go to Disneyland .
I'm looking forward to the rest.
Did you have a good time? Where did you stay?

- Suzi

PS - How long until Survivor's back?

 

[Mousekateer55]

(Read the second sentence of the first paragraph)

 

[PigSoldier]

Oops.

I'll read things more carefully in future

 

[Mousekateer55]

June 23

Disney's California Adventure
Upon getting to the park at 8:15 am, we bought our two-day passes to the parks. Then we waited in line for the parks to open up. After about two minutes (about 8:30 am), they opened up the gates. The first thing we went towards was the ride Soarin' over California. After less than a five-minute wait, we were able to get on the ride with front row seats. The ride is very innovative (I'd say one of Disney's best rides). The only negative thing about the ride was that the purfumes of pine did not leave the theater very fast. After getting off the ride (it is about 8:55 am), we went over towards Grizzly River Run where they told us that only Soarin' was open. The rest of the park opened at 9:00 am and we were able to get fastpass for the river raft ride. We went to Paradise Pier next where there were no lines. We rode Mulholland Madness (a very jerky mad mouse roller coaster), Jumpin Jellyfish (a mild parachute drop ride) and Orange Stinger (a swing ride). We also did the Sun Wheel and the California Screamin and went back to Grizzly River Run.

 

[Mousekateer55]

If you have any specific questions about either of the two parks (specifically California Adventure) I'll be happy to answer them.

 

[Mousekateer55]

Sorry about leaving you guys hanging. I will finish my opinion of the DCA park later but I would like to compare DCA to the other and upcoming Disney parks:

Magic Kingdoms--Many lands and some carnival rides. Also the Superstar Limo would somewhat fit into the Magic Kingdom. There is a caroussel, too.

EPCOT--Lots of shows. Areas of one part of the park are divided into "ghettos." There is also a major bay.

Disney Studios--The Hollywood area of the park especially the Disney Animation and Muppet Vision 3D. Also California Screamin is similar to Rock'n'Rollercoaster.

Animal Kingdom--It's Tough to Be a Bug and a river rapids ride. Also the camp area.

DisneySea--The Jumpin Jellyfish ride and the nautical setting of the Paradise Pier section.

 

[Mousekateer55]

Grizzly River Run was a lot better than Kali River Rapids (e.g. not about protecting trees) and had theming similar to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. At lunch time, we made our way over to Hollywood & Dine. I did not eat (I had a big breakfast plus some granola bars) and went on the Superstar Limo ride by myself. The ride is real corny, yet at the same time it was somewhat interesting. Then I rode it again with my family. This time there was a line of about five minutes (instead of 0 minutes) and we got really annoyed by the fake Joan Rivers. Next we went to Muppet Vision 3D (no need for fastpasses even though we used them)--nothing new. Then we went to the show in the Hyperion Theater. Disney spent a lot of money on nothing. By the way, the Millionaire attraction was pratically built while we were there. Next we went to the Disney Animation place. I spent an hour there. It is very nicely done. If you have a favorite Disney character it is there. Then we went to It's Tough to Be a Bug (once again fastpass is not needed, but we used it). Nothing new here.

 

[Mousekateer55]

Anybody still reading this?

We then checked out the winery (I had some grape JELL-O) and did the two tours. After going through Paradise Pier for a second time (by the way, the Golden Zephyr was closed for most of the day due to "high winds"), my older brother and my Mom went back to the hotel. Then my Dad, my younger sister, and I explored the Bay Area/Pacific Wharf. We went on some more rides before catching the show Golden Dreams. After that we went on Superstar Limo (once again no wait) and waited for the rest of the family to show up. By this time, the rapids ride had been closed down for most of the day and had just started up and Soarin over California was out of fastpasses. The family then explored Paradise Pier for a fourth time, ate dinner, and caught a last ride at Soarin.

 

[WDWfanatic288]

Im reading!!!
we are going to DL in December and I am dying to learn about DCA..we went last year in December so I know a lot about the other park.

 

[Mousekateer55]

I really would like to answer any questions. I also have some pretty good tips too.

 

[AFgirl325]

Sounds like you had a pretty good time (then again, at Disney, who wouldn't?) Obviously it seems you've been at WDW before, and this year I'm going to DL/DCA instead of WDW- so which one did you like better? how does WDW rate to DL/DCA? I'm not very excited about going to DL/DCA but maybe you'll make me feel better about it!

 

[nsyncraider17]

I was sort of wondering about that too. Is it worth it to go to DL/DCA, or are you better off just going to WDW?

 

[Mousekateer55]

Disneyland is a lot different than California Adventure. When I went to Disneyland, the major attractions did not seem quite as good as the ones in Florida. Also some of the signature Disneyland rides were down when I went there (Matterhorn Bobsleds, The Walt Disney Story, and Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin). Which park did I like better? I liked DCA better, but maybe I would have liked Disneyland better if I would have got to ride the Matterhorn (it has been closed all three times I have been there). I also liked Animal Kingdom the best out of the WDW parks. Is it worth going to Disneyland? You must be talking about the whole resort and not just the park. Yes, I would say 4 of Disney's 10 most innovative rides are built at the Disneyland resort (three in California Adventure).

 

[samster]

rodger rabbit has been closed for a while. A little kid got killed on it a few months ago.

 

[WDWfanatic288]

ok im posting to explain....semi-briefly between MK and DL(havent been to DCA...so I cant compare ya know?)
Im gonna try to help AFgirl to become excited about go to DL/DCA!!! lol
well for starters lets start of with the rides that are at DL and not at WDW-
Matterhorn-its a good ride
Indiana Jones-best ride at DL
Alice in Wonderland-cute ride...they need it in Florida
Pinocchio Daring Journey-another cute one!! they need it too!!(on both of these think fanatsyland rides at WDW)
StoryBook Canal Boats-this is awesome(it was one of walts favorite rides) what it is is you go thru the setting of calssic fairy tales(think a mini village of where gepphetto worked and the white rabbit cottage)
Autopia-think tomorrowland grand prix but cuter and better and longer
Tarzan Treehouse-its better than swiss family!
The Story of Mr.Lincoln-interesting think HoP and American Adventure combined.
Walt Disney Story-its in the lobby of Mr.Lincoln..just pics and videos and his offices(but one went to WDW)
SLeeping Beauty story-not really an attraction but its cool..in the castle you see different scenes of sleeping beauty like made with dolls..its interesting
Critter Country-to me...a waste of a land...all that is there is Splash Mtn. and Country Bear Jamboree(its closing in september though)
there are more-i cant think of them all now...
ok now about comparing the rides that are there-
better are DL-
Spave-it goes about 5 mph faster but it feels a lot faster...and if they have the music working its supposed to be awesome!!
PotC-never understood the ride until I went DL...b/c at wdw they chopped off the beginning..which explains the story a bit more...and the first like 1 minute of the ride is tons better than the one at WDW!!
FantasyLand-a lot better..more rides!
Toontown-its really a whole town....its interesting..Barnstormer is better than the Gadget one
now what is worse-
Splash-a lot shorter and the story isnt near as detailed
BTMRR-the same except they dont have those drops like after the 2nd lift at wdw
Peter Pan-the london scene isnt nearly as good..but its still a cute ride
Snow White-ok..she is only showed at the beginning and at the end of the ride..lol
Fantasmic!-you sit on the ground...eww!! and also they dont have my 2 favorite scenes!
size-its just a smaller park with my attarctions..you dont walk far between each attarction
CASTLE-seriously..first time me and my family saw it we died laughing...its just small..not what we are used to at all
i know there are more but that is what i thought of off the top of my head

ok ill talk a bit more(sorry its long..I have a lot to say!!)
One reason I love this park is the fact that walt disney(who is my idol)actually walked in the park...WALKED....its weird to think of it that way.
Also I took the walk in walt footsteps...I learned soooo much about DL trivia its not even funny!!! it is recommended that 1st time vistors dont take it(i didnt listen..lol)but i think it informed me a lot about walt himself.
umm...I think you will have fun there...one thing that happened to me...is I felt like I was at WDW..until I saw the castle then it hit me i wasnt but I like that feeling of magic...does WDW still have my heart? of course...I would choose WDW over DL(more to do..havent been since june 2000) but I think DL is awesome!!!
If you have any questions about like why else I love DL email or PM me..thats all I can think of.
Rodger Rabbit is reopening in July though...but since that teen got his foot stuck in the Alice ride(he stuck it out and it got caught on something) all attarctions like Alice,Snow White and peter Pan were supposed to have to have doors on them..dunno if they followed though.
ok im done now..I hope I helped AFgirl wanna go to DL...reading a planning book usually puts me in the mood to go...they make everything sound soo good!!
SORRY SO LONG!!!

 

[Mousekateer55]

June 24

Disneyland
After arriving to the park a few minutes after opening time (the shuttle was real slow), we entered through the gates. I took the tickets to get Fastpass tickets for Indy while the rest of my family went to Big Thunder Mountain. The fastpass machine was not working at Indy so I got 5 single rider tickets (Just ask for them there. You can ride anytime, you enter through the exit) and then went to get fastpass for Pirates of the Carribbean. The whole left side of the park was deserted (everybody goes to Toontown, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland upon entering). After catching up with my family, we rode BTMRR without any line. We then ran over to the Haunted Mansion (I don't remember it being that scary) which had no wait either. We then used our fastpass tickets on Pirates (very nicely done) and were able to get right on a boat. We then rode Indiana Jones Adventure which is like Dinosaur but far superior. After exiting we got some more single rider coupons to use at a later time.

 

[dancergirl]

Sounds like you had a great time!! Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

 

[Mousekateer55]

I'm not done yet (I still have a full day left).

 

[WDWfanatic288]

awesome!!! yeah i noticed ppl dont go over to the left.

what was so scary about HM that time??