Thanks guys so much!! I am so excited!!
I did both parks in one day, its a LONG and busy day, there is a lot to see. I would recommend a couple things.
1) Develop some kind of plan, figure out what you want to see/do and consider using RideMax to help schedule it out. Ridemax uses historical wait time info to create a plan of when to ride what to maximize your time.
2) Get there at rope-drop, this lets you have the shortest waits and make the most of the time.
You can always just take your time and wander, but you won't see as much or fit as much in.
You can always focus on what is not in other parks or different (in a good way) from other parks. My list of "not miss" would be...
Disneyland
-Peter Pan (no different really, just that good)
-Pinocchio
-Mr. Toad
-Alice in Wonderland
-Matterhorn (could be down for rehab depending on how soon you are going)
-Space Mountain (better at DL in my opinion)
-Buzz Lightyear (better at DL in my opinion)
-Captain EO (if you haven't seen it yet)
-Star Tours 2 (if you haven't seen it yet)
-Indiana Jones (so great)
-Pirates (DL version is the best in my opinion)
-Haunted Mansion (classic)
-Big Thunder (just really like the ride)
-Jungle Cruise (Only cause its one of my all time favorites)
Consider Splash (if its warm and you like the ride, WDW has a leg up in my mind on their version), Finding Nemo (unique ride but can be really long lines), Small World (not too different from my memory), and Roger Rabbit (again, as its unique to the park), and Storybook Land Canal Boats (long waits potentially, but cool history and very old-school)
California Adventure
-Toy Story Midway Mania
-Soarin
-California Screamin
-Little Mermaid
-Monsters Inc (Unique to the park)
-Aladdin Show (if you have time, its really good)
-World of Color, its pretty awesome
Consider doing Silly Symphony Swings and Goofys Sky School (nothing too crazy but definitely unique), Other unique attractions are Mickeys Fun Wheel, Grizzly River Run and the rides in Bugs Land. Take a look at the list on wikipedia and see what strikes your interest.
DCA List:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_Disney_California_Adventure_attractions
DL List:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Disneyland_attractions
Itll be busy but if you make the most of the time and have a plan, you can really see a lot in one day. Good luck, have fun. Sorry if I missed any of the winners, I haven't been in a while, looking forward to going back and seeing the new (and hopefully improved) DCA.
