Help! First trip to Disneyland ever! Need Advice!

[wdwfreak]

My wife and i are taking our first trip ever to Disneyland. We will be arriving at about noon on 6/14 and be leaving around 4:00pm on 6/18. We are staying at the Disneyland Hotel. We are very excited, but also nervous, because we have NEVER been there and we want to make the most of our almost 5 days. We've been to WDW many times, but never DL. Any tips, tricks, not-to-be-missed attractions, any advice will be greatly appreciated from all you DL veterans out there.

Thanks!

 

[hookedup]

Well here is MY opinion of the things that make DL special:
Matterhorn (no FP there so ride it early)
Indiana Jones
New Orleans Square - love the DL Pirates & Haunted House
In Fantasyland the Storybook Canal ride is special and I love to ride it after dark (it closes an hour before the PM parade but opens back up afterwards and the line is short then) and Casey Jr Circus train are great for young ones or the young at heart.
Mr. Toad
Roger Rabbbit (Toon Town is worth walking around in but RR is probably the only ride that adults do there)
It's A Small World
The train with the dinosaurs & Grand Canyon
The ORIGINAL Tiki Room!

At DCA there is a lot of stuff that may seem even more interesting to you since you are not from California.
Soarin' Over CA is a not miss and a definately Fast Pass Worthy!
Aladdin show is really good and fast pass worthy too.

Eating:
If you like character meals I recommend the Plaza Inn for breakfast (but if you dont want to sacrafice park ride time in the morning then Goofy's Kitchen at the DL hotel is good too. Also in DCA is Ariels Grotto - the food is nothing super spectacular but it is decent and a very fun experience.
I had never had a character meal before I had been to WDW a couple of years ago. That is where I discovered how fun they can be. DL does not have as many or as varied as WDW, so unless this is a huge deal to you then WDW is probably a better place for character meals.
If you need a character meal to make your park experience complete I prefer the Plaza Inn on Main St - the only bummer is that they only do breakfast and no PS's! If you go first thing after opening it is very uncrowded and the food is fresh- but you have to give up hitting rides first thing. Just something to consider.

As Grog mentions below thumbs up to the Blue Bayou (I prefer it for a late lunch)

Like WDW make use of the FP esp for the attractions that have long waits like Indy and Splash Mtn.

Okay I am sure that others will have more to add with their great expertise...

 

[Grog]

One important thing for a WDW vet going to DL for the first time....
Try not to be disappointed by the castle. It's smaller than the one at MK, but it has a charm all it's own. It helps to remember that Walt designed it that way as he didn't want it to distract from the rest of the park.

To add to hookedup's list... The Indiana Jones ride is a do not miss in DL, and Grizzly River Run in DCA is really good ( you WILL get wet). In DCA, Soarin' and GRR are close to each other and when I was there GRR wasn't hooked up to the FP network so it was possible to have FPs for both rides at once.

Also try to have lunch at least once at Blue Bayou in New Orleans Square. It looks out over the beginning to POTC as the boats begin their journey. The feeling is that of eating at a nice restaurant on the bayou. I agree that POTC at DL is far superior to the MK version.

 

[ilovemky]

Peter Pan in Fantasyland--always the longest line but worth it for young and old (trust me, i'm old!)
toontown is really fun to walk around--push all the buttons, pull all the doors, etc. and look for the talking manhole cover by the toy store and the talking water fountains by the garage!

Taste Pilots Grill in DCA has very good food--have had breakfast and lunch there.

Breakfast at the river belle terrace in adventureland is always fun as you can sit on the patio and look out over the rivers of america and watch the mark twain go by.

ALSO REMEMBER--DL and DCA are just mere steps from each other with DowntownDisney in the middl--so there is not a lot of travel time between parks and your hotel. you can hop the monorail in the mornings from the DL Hotel which drops you off in tommorrowland right by the matterhorn (DON'T MISS THIS--YOU WON'T FIND THIS ANYWHERE ELSE!)

Another thought--go to the Mark Twain cast member at the entrance and ask if you can ride with the captain! I think you can take a maximum of 4 people but it is great fun--you get to blow the whistle, and "steer the boat"--you also sign the log and get a steamboat pilots license! THIS IS a must do!

But most of all, take some time to sit on Main Street and just watch people and think about how Walt used to walk those same streets every morning in his bathrobe. You will feel his spirit there--it is a very special park!

Also, be sure to dip your hat as you go by Walt's Apartment over the fire house--they always have a light in the window in his honor.

Anymore questions, feel free to PM me--I practically live there!

 

[wdwfreak]

I made PS for Blue Bayou for dinner on 6/14. It's my wife's birthday. Any other birthday ideas?

 

[daannzzz]

Here is a link to a view from the air. Don't be disappointed by the setting. It is not like at WDW where there is greenery and forests all around. It is in the middle of the suburbs.
http://www.beachcalifornia.com/dlmp.html

The other posts have covered most everything. Since you have time I would suggest not missing anything. Even the less spectacular rides that are at both Disneyland and WDW have subtle differences and it is fun to compare them. Peter Pan is a shorter version than at WDW. The flying boats stop completely for you to load and then are dispatched. The interior has a similar story but, I think it is much better than at WDW. Splash Mountain on the other hand is not as good at Disneyland until you get to the big hill. Give everything a try.
I don't know what sort of level of room you have booked at the Disneyland hotel but request a room in the Sierra Tower with a day bed. The room is large and has a nice bathroom.

 

[DawnCt]

I took my son, niece and nephew last April to Southern California and you will be surprised what you can fit in in a short time. First of all, we loved Disneyland. While the castle is smaller, the theming and the buildings of all the attractions have a greater attention to detail. You can't "peak" around corners and see a warehouse looking like building. They also have Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (or at least they did last April), which we greatly miss at the Magic Kingdom in Florida. One of the best buffet meals that we have had anywhere was at Goofy's Kitchen. Much better than Chef Mickey's or the Cape May Clam bake in Florida. They were so booked that we couldn't get ressies so we just showed up at opening and were seated by 5:30pm. Less than a 30 minute wait. We went to DL and DCA on the day of arrival and spent the entire following day there, bouncing between the two parks. On the third day we went to Universal Studios. Very much a working studio. We loved it. On the forth day we headed down to San Diego, stopping at Wild Animal park on the way. We spent two nights at the Del, visited Sea World, Balboa Park, the San Diego Zoo, Old Towne, Pacific Beach and we managed to include a surfing lesson. On the 8th day we headed back to Anaheim up Route 1. Spent the afternoon at Downtown Disney and flew home.