Is Blue Bayou overrated?

[Mugglemama]

Yes, I think my friend mentioned missing In-n-Out when she first went there, and she also missed Nordstrom's and The Body Shop (bath and body products)! But once they began to make friends and get settled and figure out where everything was, they began to like it. And they moved their parents and such to Idaho! Another friend of mine just moved from L.A. way up to the hinterlands of upstate New York and is trying to get acclimated, but it is tough being so far away from L.A. I am one of the lone Los Angeles holdouts! I have lived here my whole life and I can't imagine ever living elsewhere, but I know the time will come eventually. The economy is too bad and the cost of living is too high out here, not to mention the next big earthquake (and I hate quakes!) will send me screaming to another state, I am sure! I could never imagine living far away from Disneyland or Catalina Island - my two favorite SoCal places - but I know the day will come....

As for DLR - you know, when I was younger, I did not really care for the food at Disneyland too much, because, quite frankly, their food was not great at all. Blue Bayou didn't impress me, as previously stated. We only ate because we had to. However, as soon as we discovered Goofy's Kitchen and places like the old Monorail Cafe in the DLH, we discovered that DLR could offer some great food in certain places. Then I discovered little things like the chicken skewers in Bengal BBQ and other items at random places, and over time, the food improved at DLR. It got noticeably better, I thought, over the years. So now, almost everywhere we eat has good food (we like it, anyway) - albeit, expensive, but all of DLR is expensive, and we don't do as many rides as we used to. Then again, I don't have kids so I approach it from a different place than you and your family and DizMe's family. If I had kids, it would be all about rides and eating where they wanted to eat. So, while I DO enjoy Goofy's and most of the food (at the table service places, anyway) in DLR, I DO NOT really go out of my way to see any shows or parades. If we stumble upon a parade, then we may stop and look for a bit, but we don't seek them out. And I saw Fantasmic back in the '90s. That was enough for me. I am not a big show person, I guess. That type of thing doesn't interest me. But some DLR guests LOVE that stuff!

my relatives are all holdouts, too, lol. however, even the most stubborn are now considering moves out of state. we're from ventura, born and raised, and i miss my little seaside town like nobody's business. nowhere else will ever be "home".

as for disneyland, i think as DH and i get older and begin to go without kids, we will take more time to do the other things that DL has to offer. i mean, we've gone especially for the christmas parade and things like that before, and my kids have actually seen all of the parades (except the pixar one, which we're actually going to try to make time for this time), we just don't schedule them into our plan, usually. they've sampled most of the food there as well, but we typically don't plan our trip around our meals. often, we're just trying to grab something to keep from starving before running off to the next ride! i am seriously considering trying to get my little boys into the jedi show this time around, though. my 3 year old son is an absolute FANATIC.

 

[Sherry E]

my relatives are all holdouts, too, lol. however, even the most stubborn are now considering moves out of state. we're from ventura, born and raised, and i miss my little seaside town like nobody's business. nowhere else will ever be "home".

as for disneyland, i think as DH and i get older and begin to go without kids, we will take more time to do the other things that DL has to offer. i mean, we've gone especially for the christmas parade and things like that before, and my kids have actually seen all of the parades (except the pixar one, which we're actually going to try to make time for this time), we just don't schedule them into our plan, usually. they've sampled most of the food there as well, but we typically don't plan our trip around our meals. often, we're just trying to grab something to keep from starving before running off to the next ride! i am seriously considering trying to get my little boys into the jedi show this time around, though. my 3 year old son is an absolute FANATIC.

I love little seaside towns! I love to look out over the ocean and spot dolphins or random sea lions!

Yes, if I had kids, a trip to DLR would be a whole different ballgame. In fact, I ifnd it interesting how people who loved DLR prior to having kids now have to adjust what they do there and often skip what they love doing because they have to make it all about the kids. I would have to make sure my kids had the best time possible, even if it meant doing something I was not interested in. One friend of mine (not the Idaho or New York friend, but yet another Los Angeles escapee) was out here in July and took her 4-year-old son there for the first time, after being a DL visitor her whole life. It was interesting listening to her explain what they did because she was trying to accommodate him and still do stuff that she really liked, and she skipped some things entirely (like ToonTown) that he would have liked because she wanted to hit all of her favorites. I think she realized afterwards that going to DLR or WDW from now on will be different than it was in the past for her because she has a little one who will pretty much dictate what they do! She really enjoys seeing how he experiences the rides, but she wasn't ready to gve in yet and go everywhere he would enjoy because she is still a Disneyland lover herself and has to get her fix! I know I would be a conflicted parent in that way if I had kids - do I do everything Junior either wants to do or would love, or do I do what Junior wants AND what I want, and have a nice compromise?

 

[Mugglemama]

I love little seaside towns! I love to look out over the ocean and spot dolphins or random sea lions!

Yes, if I had kids, a trip to DLR would be a whole different ballgame. In fact, I ifnd it interesting how people who loved DLR prior to having kids now have to adjust what they do there and often skip what they love doing because they have to make it all about the kids. I would have to make sure my kids had the best time possible, even if it meant doing something I was not interested in. One friend of mine (not the Idaho or New York friend, but yet another Los Angeles escapee) was out here in July and took her 4-year-old son there for the first time, after being a DL visitor her whole life. It was interesting listening to her explain what they did because she was trying to accommodate him and still do stuff that she really liked, and she skipped some things entirely (like ToonTown) that he would have liked because she wanted to hit all of her favorites. I think she realized afterwards that going to DLR or WDW from now on will be different than it was in the past for her because she has a little one who will pretty much dictate what they do! She really enjoys seeing how he experiences the rides, but she wasn't ready to gve in yet and go everywhere he would enjoy because she is still a Disneyland lover herself and has to get her fix! I know I would be a conflicted parent in that way if I had kis - do I do everything Junior either wants to do or would love, or do I do what Junior wants AND what I want, and have a nice compromise?

we've had it a little differently, because we did not really go to DL much as kids. i think DH went more than i did. lol, my dad went soon after DL opened in '55, and he had long hair, so the TURNED HIM AWAY! can you believe it? wouldn't even let him in! so, because of that, he vowed to boycott the place for life...which means i didn't get to go until his sister dragged him there for my sake, lol.

but since we didn't start really going to DL together until our oldest was 4 (she is 16 now), we have always just done the kid things. (although i'll admit, that i secretly hate toontown - e-gads, did i just say that out loud?!!), so i avoid it too, except for the coaster and the roger rabbit's cartoon spin.)

we have 4 kids now, so our kids have grown up having to hit DL as a group, rather than us just doing whatever they wanted. we have found that we all have the same favorites! POTC and PP are our all time favorite rides in the park. POTC is always our first ride, and PP is always our last for the night.

i think it's going to be VERY weird for DH and i the first time we go to DL alone without kids. kind of like forgetting to put your pants on before walking out the front door, LOL!!!

maybe that's when we'll go to BB!!

 

[Gisele]

I enjoy not having any children, so when I visit Disneyland, it is a matter of doing what I feel like, when I feel like it, and I love it! I would not trade that in for anything!

 

[Sherry E]

we've had it a little differently, because we did not really go to DL much as kids. i think DH went more than i did. lol, my dad went soon after DL opened in '55, and he had long hair, so the TURNED HIM AWAY! can you believe it? wouldn't even let him in! so, because of that, he vowed to boycott the place for life...which means i didn't get to go until his sister dragged him there for my sake, lol.

but since we didn't start really going to DL together until our oldest was 4 (she is 16 now), we have always just done the kid things. (although i'll admit, that i secretly hate toontown - e-gads, did i just say that out loud?!!), so i avoid it too, except for the coaster and the roger rabbit's cartoon spin.)

we have 4 kids now, so our kids have grown up having to hit DL as a group, rather than us just doing whatever they wanted. we have found that we all have the same favorites! POTC and PP are our all time favorite rides in the park. POTC is always our first ride, and PP is always our last for the night.

i think it's going to be VERY weird for DH and i the first time we go to DL alone without kids. kind of like forgetting to put your pants on before walking out the front door, LOL!!!

maybe that's when we'll go to BB!!

Wow, that is so funny to hear your dad was sent away because of his hair. Times have changed, that's for sure! We were chuckling last year at the wide assortment of folks who are visit DLR - really, you could sit on Main Street and watch people who would never be in the same place at the same time any other day of the week...happy young couples, unhappy couples, people from India in full Indian regalia, Goth rockers, country and western cowboy types, California surfers, Japanese tourists, elderly folks - I mean, it really is a melting pot of people.

I must admit, I love Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. I think it is a great ride for kids and adults. It used to have ridiculous lines, but now, and I wonder if many people don't discover it now because they just sort of pass it off as yet another kid ride llike PP and Mr. Toad and all those...or it could be because ToonTown is tucked away in a far corner of the park and it seems so out of the way. I like ToonTown well enough (actually, I love the Gag Factory shop) just because of the whimsical nature of the design and all that, BUT my main problem with it is that it tends to be too crowded. It is hard to see much of anything because there are so many people concentrated in the interesting areas, so sometimes it is more tedious to deal with than I have patience for. It depends on the trip or the day!

Yes, I think it will be a different experience for you and your husband when you start going to DLR without kids. You probably will begin to do things or notice things you hadn't before. I think that even happens to those of us who don't have kids. Your trips to DLR start out one way, with a certain set of priorites and interests, and they sort of evolve and change over time and you start noticing all kinds of other little details and touches that were not obvious before. And you may end up loving BB, but I think your plan to do it when you have more days in your trip is a good one!

I enjoy not having any children, so when I visit Disneyland, it is a matter of doing what I feel like, when I feel like it, and I love it! I would not trade that in for anything!

Yeah, I wonder how I would handle it if I had kids at DLR. I love kids and I think in many ways, it could be an even better and more rewarding trip to see things with my child, through their eyes, but it would be a different trip. I don't know if I would have the patience and I know I would have to give up doing a lot of what I personally wanted to do in order for my child to get to experience all those fun things at DLR that I did when I was a kid.