Just returned from trip

[jbland]

Here are my thoughts and reviews from our trip.

We just returned from celebrating out boys' 5th birthday and we had a great time.

Stayed at DLH: perfect way to surprise the boys. 1st time and really did not know where we were until Goofy said hello as we checked in. Bed was comfy, room was clean... BUT where was my Disney soap everyone talked about? We had adjoining rooms with my parents, I had internet no problem but my parents did not.

2 days in DL... perfect as expected. We ate dinner at Big Thunder BBQ and it was FANTASTIC!! Jedi Training was SO CUTE. My boys were picked.

1 day in DCA... first time ever in that park. It was okay, I was shocked at how much there is not much to do there. We covered everything in half day. Wine Country restaurant was really good and WOC was amazing.

Character Breakfast: Surf's Up and was WONDERFUL. The characters were great and food was good too.

I used MouseWait and it was right on and very helpful. Fastpasses were great.

My boys rode every ride except California Screamin and they barely missed it.

It was a good trip. Now back to reality.
Jenn

 

[Kristina4109]

Sounds like you had a fantastic trip! So happy! One of my favorite things about the Disneyland Hotel is that Goofy is right there in the lobby. My stayed there for my last birthday (the number was significantly higher than your boys') and my husband was waiting in line to check in with my Dad. (My husband had surprised me with an in-room birthday decoration package and wanted to make sure it was ready.)

My daughter, my Mom and I were waiting in comfy seats watching the Disney cartoons they show on the little TV's in the lobby. Another woman was sitting there with her luggage when Goofy sat down right next to her. And she didn't notice. He was there for a full minute and she was just clueless. Finally we couldn't help but laugh, and she looked up, and she burst out laughing to see Goofy sitting there, just watching cartoons. It was hysterical.

 

[Californiacicle]

Wow, your boys are tall! We are going in July for my son's 5th birthday and at this point he's still 1.5 inches too short for Indy and obviously too short for CS.

Glad to hear BT BBQ and Surf's up are great. Those are our choices for birthday breakfast and dinner.

 

[ButterflyKisses77]

Great report! Glad you had a good time! I know what you mean about CA - I was surprised the first time I went too. Still fun for what it is though. That's why I think it's better to have a park hopper so u can just go back and forth throughout the day & mix it up. I've never eaten at Big Thunder bbq but I'm for sure going to try it now - so many people have said good things about it! I guess I just don't think to eat bbq at Disneyland but next time for sure!

 

[Jairy]

That's funny about CA. Our family preferred it over DL. Maybe because my kids are older?? They loved Soaring, rode GRR and RSR many times. We had a blast on Mickey's Fun Wheel, TOT and Screaming.
The only thing we couldn't figure out was the love for Toy Story Mania. We just thought it was ok.
Did you catch the Aladdin show?

 

[BLKKROW]

That's funny about CA. Our family preferred it over DL. Maybe because my kids are older?? They loved Soaring, rode GRR and RSR many times. We had a blast on Mickey's Fun Wheel, TOT and Screaming.
The only thing we couldn't figure out was the love for Toy Story Mania. We just thought it was ok.
Did you catch the Aladdin show?

My wife and I love Toy Story Mania because we compete against each other. We ride it once to warm up then a few more times trying to out do each other.

 

[momof4fans]

That's funny about CA. Our family preferred it over DL. Maybe because my kids are older?? They loved Soaring, rode GRR and RSR many times. We had a blast on Mickey's Fun Wheel, TOT and Screaming.
The only thing we couldn't figure out was the love for Toy Story Mania. We just thought it was ok.
Did you catch the Aladdin show?

I agree! Our family loves it! It's not as crowded. It feels more open. I'm always surprised when people say there's not much to do in CA. My kids really love the Redwood Trail area. We spent a lot of time there. TSMM is fun, but I wouldn't wait 45 minutes to ride it. There's a lot great food there too. And we love the Aladdin show! And the Animation Academy. I guess everybody's different.

 

[whoever]

1 day in DCA... first time ever in that park. It was okay, I was shocked at how much there is not much to do there. We covered everything in half day.

DCA is only 21 attractions vs 36 at DLR, but its still a full-day park. Pretty good to knock out the entire park in half a day.

 

[VandVsmama]

Here are my thoughts and reviews from our trip.

We just returned from celebrating out boys' 5th birthday and we had a great time.

Stayed at DLH: perfect way to surprise the boys. 1st time and really did not know where we were until Goofy said hello as we checked in. Bed was comfy, room was clean... BUT where was my Disney soap everyone talked about? We had adjoining rooms with my parents, I had internet no problem but my parents did not.

1 day in DCA... first time ever in that park. It was okay, I was shocked at how much there is not much to do there. We covered everything in half day. Wine Country restaurant was really good and WOC was amazing.

I kind of agree about DCA. We are not thrill ride people, so we stay away from ToT, California Screamin', Mickey's Wheel of Torture, and the Silly Symphony Swings that will make my stomach lurch. We did try Goofy's Sky School and my DH and kids hated it with a passion. So we bypassed most of the Paradise Pier rides. Toy Story was a favorite, as was Ariel's and King Triton's Carousel, though.

 

[HydroGuy]

1 day in DCA... first time ever in that park. It was okay, I was shocked at how much there is not much to do there. We covered everything in half day. Wine Country restaurant was really good and WOC was amazing.

With anyone who says they did DCA in a half day I have to ask how they liked Aladdin, World of Color and the Disney Animation building? And where did you dine?

For us DCA takes a day and half to fit these in along with the other rides and a couple good meals. And we still usually do not have any time or much time to visit the Mad Tea Party.

 

[Malcon10t]

With anyone who says they did DCA in a half day I have to ask how they liked Aladdin, World of Color and the Disney Animation building? And where did you dine?

For us DCA takes a day and half to fit these in along with the other rides and a couple good meals. And we still usually do not have any time or much time to visit the Mad Tea Party.

I will have to agree. It does have only 2/3s the rides of DL, but it has a lot of entertainment. Animation Academy - Heck, I can spend quite a bit of time there. The kids love the drawing with an animator. We can spend a lot of time in Belle's Library and Ursela's. I love the video of my BIL doing a scene with my nephew! We usually do at least 1 Crush visit each trip.

Aladdin is great. I try and see it at least once a trip.

Did the OP go to DIsney Jr? My granddaughter, nieces and nephews have loved that.

Did you see the Maleficent preview. THAT WAS AWESOME.

What did you think of the Pixar parade? Most younger kids love it. Heck, I love the Toy Story segment.

 

[Sorsha]

DISCLAIMER: I haven't been to DCA since before the refurb. But I am going in one month!!

We found DCA to be a half day park too. We didn't ride ANY of the Paradise Pier rides - they just don't appeal. I am at Disney to do DISNEY rides, not the same sort of rides I can do at any-old-amusement-park. I also stayed away from the kiddie rides - all the little spinner and trains - things like that are at my county fair every year. So "Bugs Land" was something we completely felt we could skip too. (Except for "It's Tough To Be A Bug" which is mildly entertaining.) In Grizzly Peak, we thought Redwood Creek Challenge trail was dumb, and unless it is REALLY warm, you get TOO wet on Grizzly River Run, and then slog around and freeze afterwards.

I can see us taking the time for the attractions in Cars Land, Little Mermaid, Monsters Inc, Crush, Soarin', Muppets, Toy Story, Tower of Terror, ITTBAB, and Aladdin. If we have time, we'll fill in with some of the "midway style" rides. We'll have a meal and maybe see WOC. The jury is still out on that one, depends on crowds and how long we have to stand. No one is actually that excited about it.

All of the above were just our opinion though. But I can see how the OP would be disenchanted with DCA, we were too.

 

[kangamama]

DISCLAIMER: I haven't been to DCA since before the refurb. But I am going in one month!! We found DCA to be a half day park too. We didn't ride ANY of the Paradise Pier rides - they just don't appeal. I am at Disney to do DISNEY rides, not the same sort of rides I can do at any-old-amusement-park. I also stayed away from the kiddie rides - all the little spinner and trains - things like that are at my county fair every year. So "Bugs Land" was something we completely felt we could skip too. (Except for "It's Tough To Be A Bug" which is mildly entertaining.) In Grizzly Peak, we thought Redwood Creek Challenge trail was dumb, and unless it is REALLY warm, you get TOO wet on Grizzly River Run, and then slog around and freeze afterwards. I can see us taking the time for the attractions in Cars Land, Little Mermaid, Monsters Inc, Crush, Soarin', Muppets, Toy Story, Tower of Terror, ITTBAB, and Aladdin. If we have time, we'll fill in with some of the "midway style" rides. We'll have a meal and maybe see WOC. The jury is still out on that one, depends on crowds and how long we have to stand. No one is actually that excited about it. All of the above were just our opinion though. But I can see how the OP would be disenchanted with DCA, we were too.

I think you are going to be pleasantly surprised. I'll leave it at that.

 

[HydroGuy]

DISCLAIMER: I haven't been to DCA since before the refurb. But I am going in one month!!

We found DCA to be a half day park too. We didn't ride ANY of the Paradise Pier rides - they just don't appeal. I am at Disney to do DISNEY rides, not the same sort of rides I can do at any-old-amusement-park. I also stayed away from the kiddie rides - all the little spinner and trains - things like that are at my county fair every year. So "Bugs Land" was something we completely felt we could skip too. (Except for "It's Tough To Be A Bug" which is mildly entertaining.) In Grizzly Peak, we thought Redwood Creek Challenge trail was dumb, and unless it is REALLY warm, you get TOO wet on Grizzly River Run, and then slog around and freeze afterwards.

I can see us taking the time for the attractions in Cars Land, Little Mermaid, Monsters Inc, Crush, Soarin', Muppets, Toy Story, Tower of Terror, ITTBAB, and Aladdin. If we have time, we'll fill in with some of the "midway style" rides. We'll have a meal and maybe see WOC. The jury is still out on that one, depends on crowds and how long we have to stand. No one is actually that excited about it.

All of the above were just our opinion though. But I can see how the OP would be disenchanted with DCA, we were too.

I think the post-refurb DCA is a whole different ballgame than before. Will be curious what you think after you visit next month.

Anyways, before WOC came out I had mixed feelings about DCA. Soarin Over CA has always hit me at a deep level and has drawn me to Conder Flats (I worked in the CA aerospace industry for 5 years and feel a connection to it). But Disney has done a lot of good things with DCA and made the best of PP (I tend to agree with you about PP but I think it is better now).

But half a day. I read the same thing about DHS at WDW and cannot understand it. DHS and DCA are only half day parks if you skip 50-75% of the parks.