How much time do you spend at DCA and do you buy any souvies?

[Zoemakes5]

Poll coming, but basically wondering about what percentage of your DLR time do you spend in DCA? Also, do you get any souvies at DCA? If so what?

We were kinda disappointed in DCA. While there were things we enjoyed and that were pretty cool, it was over-all not all that fun for us.
We weren't interested in the logo stuff. We did purchase Disney Mr. Potato Head parts.

 

[hlbtimes2]

As my children get old we tend to spend more time each trip at DCA. Not more time then DL, just a little more time in DCA then the previous trip. My dd (almost 8) loves thrill rides. She would spend the day bouncing between screamin' and TOT. Both kids love GRR, the redwood trail area, and soarin'. We all love the Aladin show. I would say we spent about 25-30% off our time in DCA.

We don't typically do a lot of shopping or eating while in DCA. We've bought a few things, nothing that was really DCA related or themed.

One thing to remember is, DCA is a young park. It has a long way to go before it will be really a great park. There is a lot of trial and error involved in making a great park. From what I've heard, over the next couple years we'll see a lot of little changes in theme, over all feel of the park, maybe a name change. They have already gotten rid of most of the items with the adventure/ bear head logo.

 

[happydisneyfamily]

Last year was our first family trip to DCA and we spent about 26% - 50% of our time there.

 

[blackjackdelta]

We blew it last year and listened to my brother who lived in SoCal until last year. We only spent about 6 hours and should have done at least a day. It reminds me of POP when I was in my teens, and I found it a lot of fun. It is not DL, but it has it's own charm and will grow with time. Look at WDW, most of it isn't Disney(just corp name.)

Jack

 

[disneegrl4eva]

I am so addicted to TOT..they know me by name by the 2nd day Im there I go on it....get off...go back on it....all day long if I could...but my usual trips are 7 times in a row then i will take a break for a bit

 

[Amy&Dan]

My kids 9 and 11 love DCA and so do dh and I. We love TOT, Screamin, Monsters Inc., the Animations Bldg., Electrical Parade, Grizzly River Run and of course Soarin. Then of course there is the Aladdin show which I happen to think is the best live show at either DL or WDW. We also enjoy some of the lesser rides like Golden Zephyr, Maliboomer and Mullholland Madness. And I got to see Turtle Talk with my nieces last month which was really neat and in a much larger setting than the one at Epcot. To me DCA is just the frosting on the cake to the time we spend at the Disneyland Resort. We also enjoy Taste Pilots Grill and the Pacific Wharf area for eating lunch and dinner. I don't think DCA was ever intended to be a destination on its own but rather something to be enjoyed with Disneyland. I feel the same way about MGM Studios at WDW. So my vote was 26-50%, and to be more specific I would say around one third total for a trip, some days its only a couple of hours, some days its much more, especially if DL is crowded.

And we generally buy something while we are there, I know we have dropped some cash at the store attached to Animations and the one as you first go in near Sunshine Plaza. I once bought a beautiful large snowdome at the Animations one as well as some books and DVD's as well as collectibles and we have bought plenty of magnets and other junk (that would be my kids buying that) in the other shop I mentioned. My daughter also loves some of the stuffed animals at the Grizzly River Outfitters.

 

[lulubelle]

I would say we spend about 30% of our time at DCA, too. And I spend lots of $$$ there! I love the store "Off the Page" - have bought a few pricey framed pieces of art. My favorite is a print of Walt walking down by the castle and six character pins are placed throughout the picture. I love the CD selection & books, too. They have other unique items I have not seen in DL. I also have a "Soarin" pilot wing pin with my name on it

 

[darph nader]

When we were there last year we (my wife) went ape-crazy buying suvies for just about everyone. Actually it's a great place to shop,just about anything you could want. The only thing i bought for myself was the Monorail,the only let down was it's a WDW Monorail and it cost (cough,mumble) way too much.

 

[Alice's Mom]

I would say we spend about 25-50% of our time at DCA. I think their are some great rides, love the Mission Tortilla sample, I mean Factory and the Block Party Parade is a blast.

I think some of the best souvenirs come from that park too. We regularly check for new Mr. Potato Head parts at Enginear Toys.

 

[doombuggy]

I purchased the same framed pin set that lulubelle mentioned when I was there in 2002. I loved many of the rides - and that was before TOT and all the other new things. I figure of the time we spend at DLR next month, we will probably spend at least 25-30% of our time in that park.

 

[azgal81]

DCA has excellent thrill rides we usually go there after lunch with DL gets crowded and spend a few hours there each day! I don't really buy things at the parks I did buy some potato head parts there last time though and a mini snow globe at DL that's it!

 

[stampinshauna]

We spend about 30% of our time there. We did buy ponchos in January because it was raining hard.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

I'd say about 25% of the time. Some of the rides we can get in other places closer to home, seem kinda like going to a fair. So we don't go on any of those. DH loves TOT and Screamin. Both DH and DS go on GRR and Soarin. We all loved Monster's Inc. the Muppet and Bug's Life 3D shows. And of course the Electric Parade. Oh and the Crush Turtle Talk show was really cute! Even as adults we enjoyed it.

I usually do buy stuff in the stores close the enterance. They have a lot of cool stuff in there. But then again I like to shop anywhere at Disneyland. hehe

 

[Dukland]

Last time, we also listened to advice that said there wasn't a lot for young kids, and didn't spend much time there at all. This time around, though, I feel I am a lot more educated about both parks, and we plan on spending more time there. We will be spending a lot of our first day there, with Block Party Bash, Ariel's Grotto for dinner, then Electrical Parade. All of these we missed when we were there last year for our first family trip to DL.

And I am sooo planning on buying Potato Head parts while we are there this year. I saw them last year, and thought, "That head will take up too much space" so I didn't buy it. After reading the boards, I've learned, "Duh! Who needs a head?" We have plenty of heads from Target, and they will work fine.

My 5.5 year old seems hell-bent on riding TOT, too. This should definitely be an interesting trip!

 

[simba_one]

I personally LOVE DCA so we spend a good few days there - fair enough we do a lot of the stuff multiple times but the rides over there are good. And we ALWAYS buy something. It's hard for us to go in a store and not buy something. Greetings from California is the best store ever. And the ToT shop is addictive.