Just back from Disneyland Resort, California - any questions?

[#1MMFan]

Had a brilliant holiday in California staying at Disneyland Hotel. Good deal through WDTC.
If you have any questions, ask away.

By the way, I would go back in a heartbeat.

John

 

[WDWfan uk]

Welcome back John

I'd love to hear more details- what you thought of the new park ( I was talking to an American friend who felt that Californian Adventure didn't have that Disney feel.... what did you think?
Which attractions did you like at the Disneyland Park?
Which resort hotel did you stay in - did you have the great service we get in Florida?

 

[#1MMFan]

Hi Shirley

We stayed for a week at the Disneyland Hotel (the original one). The room was exceptionally comfortable, with two queen beds and goose feather pillows, a refrigerator and large tv in a cabinet, a day bed/sofa, small round table and chair, and a writing desk with chair. There was an enclosed wardrobe and the bathroom had the basin enclosed in a vanity unit with a shelf for your toilet bags etc. There was subtle Disney wallpaper in the bathroom and the lamps had hidden mickey heads. The border of the room was pixie dust and it glowed in the dark! We had a seventh floor room view of the pool and gardens which were very pretty, and the French windows opened out to a 1-2 foot deep balcony of sorts. We had a good view of the Fantasy Waters show and could also see the Matterhorn and GC hotel.

The room was amply sized with loads of room; my sister says it almost felt like a suite.

You are just a hop, skip and a 5 minute jump from the themeparks; we walked mostly through Downtown Disney.

The whole Disneyland Resort has a different feel to that in WDW. OK, it's not just the size, but it definitely has a more intimate, cosy feel. It is incredibly easy to park hop; it takes seconds to exit the one and get into the other. We had an 8 for the price of 6 day park hopper included in our travel package through WDTC (with DC discount!).

I think I'll be running out of room (or characters here) so I'll post again with my thoughts on the theme parks shortly.

John

 

[Penny12]

Glow in the dark Pixie Dust...I'm sorry...but just how COOL is that!?!?!?!? (I've always been a sucker for the little details, hehehe)

 

[paulc]

I'm thinking of trying to go "West Side" next year. Any details of who you booked thorugh and the discount you got would be greatly appreciated.
Regards
paulc

 

[#1MMFan]

Hi Paul

I booked through the walt disney travel company (american number) with my disney club card. They have a number to phone for reservations with your club card. We got about 15% off so we upgraded to a higher level pool view room.

As for the parks, we thought both were brilliant. Disneyland Park is a more intimate detailed version of MK and the castle is small but very cute! The paths here are windier and so a bit more magical. Adventureland has Jungle Cruise (which we didn't have time for LOL!) and Indiana Jones which is AWESOME. As you probably know, it is the same ride system as used in Countdown to Extinction (Dinosaur) but the ride is not as much in the dark. The effects are fantastic and very atmospheric and there are noticeable variations in the ride from one to the next. It makes adventureland a hit with me (which it's not in MK). Pirates of the carribbean outstrips the MK by a long way. It is far more atmospheric and longer, less of the yoho and more scary. That's in New Orleans Square. Also there is the Haunted Mansion. Awesome. We were in time for Jack Skellington's Haunted Mansion Holiday. They did the mansion up with pumpkins and holly/ mistletoe and santa hats on the pumpkins. They have "scarols" singing and the lyrics are all displayed in large type on the mansion. The whole ride is redone with a Christmas/Halloween combined celebration and all the music is changed. It's essentially The Nightmare before Christmas. It really is awesome, so there's no point trying to go any further explaining it.
Thunder Mt is tamer than MKs but it does have a short portion in the dark halfway thru which is cool. Also, the queue system is BELOW the train! Splash Mt is single seats as opposed to twos and altho' less detailed than MKs it seems to go faster. Space Mt is a completely different ride. It is rows of two seats and more substantial rockets. You seem to go faster but there are less drops and more g-force turns. It's wild and darker than MKs. Also, the queueing area is more themed than in MK and the exterior is very cool with bronze and it looks fantastic at night.
Star tours is the same as MGM. Fantasyland is better than MK by a long chalk. Tea party is not covered (it doesn't need to be - they've only had 4 inches of rain the whole year here); Alice In Wonderland ride is really good and fun, and pinocchio is good too. Didn't have time to do all the rides here. Unfortunately, Matterhorn was down for rehab, so we'll have to do that next time.

As for DCA, it was completely different. It doesn't feel that small, and some parts of it are reminiscent of USF (san francisco area). There is a bug's land to keep kiddies amused (and it seems to go down well) and Grizzly River Rapids is amazing and wet! Very well themed! Soarin is totally unique and amazing and has a fantastic Epcot like music score. California Screamin is a high speed coaster linear induction with a cool soundtrack and a loop in mickey's head. It is very smooth and my mum did it several times in a row (with us). It is in my opinion better than Rocknroller. The whole of Paradise Pier is very much like an old fashioned boardwalk. Picture the movie Big and that's it. Everything is fun to go on. Mulholland Madness is a mad mouse coaster with a lot of sharp turns and a couple of mad drops! It's cool and pretty much always busy. Didn't really see the Hollywood backlot, but it's similar to MGM and Tower of Terror is going well (being built) in the background (steel construction at the moment only but it has that distinctive shape!)

I'll continue in a minute
John

 

[Janice]

Wow - this sounds awesome! Thanks John and welcome home

 

[TracyK]

Thanks so much for all the brilliant info John. We're going for the first time next Easter and your posts have been really useful.
Thanks again
Tracy

 

[#1MMFan]

You're welcome, Tracy

Another thing I forgot to mention was how good Downtown Disney is. You walk through it to get to the theme parks, so there is never that "should we or shouldn't we go Downtown" feeling like you get in Fl. You know the feeling that you can't quite be bothered to go a bus ride downtown and then lug everything back to the hotel! No, no, - you can just step out of the park, get something in World of Disney and then enter either park again. Easy. You can have packages shipped to the hotel, but we didn't tend to bother - we rented a large locker (good the whole day and coded, not a key) and this was good enough. The Downtown district seems more attractive than Florida's and more manageable. There is a cool Department 56 store which has miniature villages and LOTS of really cool things for Halloween and Christmas - we bought quite a few things here. There is also a build-a-bear workshop like a big version of the one in Florda Mall. They have a huge ESPN Zone (like the ESPN club only there is a large games area up the stairs) - we didn't do the games altho' we had vouchers - just not enough time. We did have a nice meal there tho' and I got the most expensive entree on the menu - filet mignon. Mmm. There is an AMC cinema.
There is a Compass Book store and Cafe which looked nice - always meant to wander in. They also have a Liquid Planet selling your Quiksilver etc gear and a Soliton selling sunglasses. They don't yet have a Team Mickey or a Disney at Home - I wonder if they'll add these. Overall, I preferred Downtown here to Florida's - although Westside has a lot to offer in Cirque and DQuest.

Main thing is not to make the mistake that there is not much to do here. We felt that we got more rides because there are more ride attractions in a smaller area (yes, I really mean that) so you are really kept occupied. Basically I think there are more E-ticket attractions, and with the addition of ToT in the future it will be a sure bet to draw people. We are now in the dilemma of which place to go for our next vacation.... Florida or California and I mean that seriously. There are loads of things to do in S. California. We also went to San Diego Zoo which we all thoroughly enjoyed and we did a combo tour of Hollywood which took in the Chinese Theater (Harrison Ford was arriving at it the same day and they were also filming at the crossroads next to the theater!!!) We also saw from the bus Rodeo Drive and the actual shop that Julia Roberts gets turned away from in Pretty Woman. We got a quick glimpse of Beverly Hills and also saw the Hollywood sign in the hills. Also saw the Pacific - awesome. We went to Universal Studios Hollywood which is in my opinion better than the same park in Florida (haven't done IOA yet tho'). The Studio tour is worth the admission alone and it shows you real sets (not the same as USF) including the sets of the Scorpion King, the Grinch, Site B from Jurassic Park the Lost World (yes the actual one) a bit from where Apollo 13 was filmed, the Bourne Identity and the actual city hall used in Back to the Future. We have photos next to Mummy props including the car and also saw up-close the books of the living and dead! We also have a photo next to the mini used in the Bourne Identity! They turned the Frontlot Europe street into Paris for that!

US Hollywood is built on the hollywood hills so there is a quarter mile of escalators to take you down to the Backlot. While we were there we were shown the stages where they're filming the Hulk (coming in Summer 2003) and a film with Charlize Theron, and another with Mike Myers. The one with Charlize Theron involves a set that is going to be flooded and we saw that being constructed.

Anyway I've ranted on too long. I should add that you can take an (expensive) day trip to the Grand Canyon but we didn't have the time. Maybe next time - that would be awesome.
We are also considering going back in Easter time approx. Will have to see what holidays I can get. One week just wasn't enough.

John

 

[TracyK]

Thanks again John. I've printed out your information to help with my planning. We had intended doing USH, it looks better than the Florida version. My DS will be delighted with the film sets. We are buying the 1 day US ticket combined with a trip to see the stars homes and entrance to some other attractions. Is 1 day enough? We could manage an extra day. Would you recommend this? Apparently Easter is a busy time so the crowds may be big.
We are spending 5 days at the Westcoast Anaheim Hotel (walking distance to Disney). We are buying a 3 day pass for Disney and are also having a day at Knott's Berry Farm. We then move on to Las Vegas for 4 days then return to spend the last 4 days in downtown LA.
Your descriptions have really helped to bring it alive for me
Tracy

 

[daywalker]

Originally posted by #1MMFan
You're welcome, Tracy

We also have a photo next to the mini used in the Bourne Identity! They turned the Frontlot Europe street into Paris for that!


John

One of us has been put away here 1mmfan, we have just returned from Florida & we too have a pictures of us stood by the 'actual' mini used in the bourne identity in Universal Studious Florida! I guess it is us who have the fake or is both of us?

 

[daywalker]

duplicate post

 

[#1MMFan]

Probably used more than one, but I know they filmed part of it in USH cos they talked about dressing up the little Europe street to make it like Paris (obviously not the whole thing tho').

John

I'm having a nightmare trying to find my second compact flash card for my digital camera. Seems to be missing - it has about 80 photos on it. I'm despairing here, and I'm working the entire weekend so no relaxation.

 

[WDWfan uk]

Thank you for all the wonderful detail - I'm getting that yearning feeling again I had this when I read Rob's California trip report - I just have to get to Disneyland Ca one day!

 

[paulc]

Thanks for the info
paulc

 

[#1MMFan]

One thing I would have to add, although it may be provocative (that's why I'm keeping it on the UK boards only!) is that the Californian people were very very different to the Floridians. You feel they are very image conscious and dare I say they can be quite rude. Even in Disney. We encountered probably some of the nicest and some of the rudest CMs on our trip. A few were amazingly sociable; I even remember one, who wasn't particularly sociable - we had asked for three sodas (Americanism!!) and three coffees as well as a sticky bun - she only gave us one coffee and when she realised her mistake she just poured another two and gave us them free! Same happened with packets of potato chips (sounds more American than crisps doesn't it!) - they gave us two free. Very un-disney I thought, as we all know they are in to make a profit, and I haven't experienced that in FL. Anyway, as for the rude CM - it was mostly that they didn't say you're welcome and sometimes I waited a while at a register with CM ignoring me. Outside, the people can be a nightmare... at LAX we waited 25mins to check in with one person in front of us. There were plenty of people around to serve us, but they just totally ignored us. Then the girl who did check us hardly said anything to us, but maintained having an animated conversation with her baggage helper. She didn't even hardly look at us, and certainly didn't ask us any security questions at all! Anyway, I feel like writing to American Airlines about that, but can't quite manage to get the energy.
The folks over there also drive a bit more wrecklessly I feel. Maybe it's the massive freeways that are daunting, but you feel people are weaving about with signalling and we are lucky to still be in one piece!

As for trips, CoachUSA is the company that organised the trips... they have them all on their website, which I think is www.coachusa.com (funnily enough!).

Hope this info is useful and does not spark a mad row!

John

 

[#1MMFan]

I meant to add this which I hope will be a useful warning if you are planning on going to California and using the airport transfers.

We purchased a Super Shuttle return (I believe it was $28 each) and it seemed a bit disorganised. When we eventually got a super shuttle at LAX, it drove around ALL the terminals about three times before finally pulling away and taking us to the hotel. It took longer driving around the airport than it did actually getting to the hotel from the airport.

The return however is something to be wary of. I phoned Super Shuttle to confirm our reservations and was told we'd be picked up at 8.35am on our travel date. We stood outside on time, and right on cue a bus saying Airport drove in at 8.35am and began loading luggage. We asked the driver which airport and he said LAX and that this was the right coach. Then the coach proceeded to drive round several other hotels and finally about 1 hour later an official from the bus company got on to collect tickets/vouchers. Turned out we had been misled and our vouchers were not valid as this was the Airport Bus and was not run by Super Shuttle. We were given the option of getting off and phoning super shuttle (but were at an unknown location and had very little time left before the flight) but we ended up staying on and paying $16 each for the ride to the airport. It was unfortunate that the bus turned up exactly at the right time, but I do think the driver should have checked our tickets as they do on other coach transfers prior to boarding. I felt sorry for the people who would have gone to our hotel and ended up waiting for us when we had already gone.

Just saying, be careful and double-check.

John