I'm full of questions today. For those of you that are familiar with DL, how many days does it really take to hit the high points? We will have the evening of the Anniversary party and at least two more full days...trying to decide on the third day. Not sure if we want to explore other possibilities or stick to the DL parks.
Absolutely! I spent two days last summer (rope drop to close on Thursday, and then rope drop until about 6 p.m. on a Friday) and I was able to do everything in both parks at least once, with the exception of the Aladdin show, and I seriously rode RSR about 12 times. Also, the reasons I didn't see the Aladdin show was 1. it required a pretty serious time investment both in lining up AND the show is long, and 2. it has a LOT of the same elements as the actual Broadway production I had just seen in NYC a few months before.
So, anyway. Here are my thoughts!
I'd never been to DLR before that trip, and I was going solo, so I wanted to have a pretty good structure in mind for how I was going to hit everything BUT I wanted the flexibility to wander around more and mix things up since I was traveling solo and didn't have to cater to anyone's whims but my own. The month before my trip, I did a 30-day subscription to RideMax and IT. WAS. AWESOME. You pick what rides you want to ride, how many times you want to go on it and it spits you out a schedule down to the minute - including when to go get FPs. Did I follow any of the schedules? Heck, no. But at least I had an idea when FPs would run out and what return time to expect during the day.
Also - park-hopping is key. You can hold FPs in BOTH parks at the same time. Criss-crossing between parks will take you less than 10 minutes. You only go through bag check once when you enter the Esplanade before reaching the park gates - unlike WDW where you have to do bag check at every park.
With the Anniversary Party only being at 55% right now, I'm hoping for a small turnout. Leading up to the party (4-9 p.m.), I would do as much as I could in Tomorrowland and Fantasyland (Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Star Tours, Nemo Subs) and Fantasyland (Mr. Toad, Alice, Snow White, Peter Pan, Storybook Canals, Pinocchio). If you accomplish all of that - which, might be possible, but you'll probably miss out on a few Fantasyland things - then start working on the rides in New Orleans Square (Haunted Mansion, Pirates), Frontierland/Critter Country (Big Thunder, Splash, Poo) and Adventureland (Indiana Jones, Jungle Cruise). Your priorities during the party should definitely be riding Indy Jones as many times as you want. This ride will have a HUGE line during the day AND goes down for periods of time frequently. If I were force-ranking rides to prioritize during Anniversary Party time, it would be like this: 1. Indiana Jones, 2. Pirates, 3. Big Thunder, 4. Splash, 5. Haunted, 6. Jungle Cruise.
On your next two days, I guess it just depends on how early you plan on getting in to the park and what is more important to you. If it's Peter Pan and the Fantasyland rides, then you need to make that Priority 1 for rope drop on a morning where Disneyland does not have MM/EMH.
Personally, I greatly preferred DCA to Fantasyland. Radiator Springs Racers, Soarin', California Screamin', Toy Story and Tower of Terror can all likely be done at least once (maybe twice) in your first hour at DCA if you go at rope drop. The grab fast passes for the rides you liked for later in the day, and then head over to DL to ride whatever you missed during Anniversary party or what you want to ride again.
The awesome thing about the Anniversary party is that you'll get to see Paint the Night, so you won't have to worry about missing the new DL night stuff. If I had to decide between the two other night shows - Fantasmic! and World of Color - I would go with World of Color. There are a couple of slight differences to Fantasmic! between here and the version at Studios (namely, it's not in a real theatre - you sit on the ground and it all happens on the Rivers of America; the characters also appear on the riverboats you can ride on the water during the day), but not nearly enough for me to pick it over World of Color. Also, for World of Color, over on the DL board they INSIST that getting early to get a great spot is a deal-breaker for WoC. Trust me, it's not. It's a HUGE show. Like - when you see the big lagoon at DCA/Paradise Pier - the show takes up that entire space. The projections are done on both the left AND the right side of Mickey's Fun Wheel, so you can see anything from everywhere. Sure, standing dead center with nobody in front of you would be perfect, but I'm not going to give up 90-120 minutes sitting on the group when I could be riding RSR in the single-rider line about 15 times instead.
Anyway, off the top of my head, that's my advice (and kinda what I'm planning on for Anniversary Party/Park Friday).
And now I have a question! Has anyone used Super Shuttle round-trip to/from Disneyland from LAX? Good? Bad? Just so-so? I've used Super Shuttle from other airports before and am familiar with how it works, so I know I'd be sharing a van with others (the website said 9 people per van) and would have to wait until the shuttle is full to leave, would make other stops, etc.
It's a wee bit cheaper than the DLR Express and I'm guessing I wouldn't have to wait around as long...
Most people on the DL board tend to prefer Super Shuttle to DLR Express, even though you may have to drive around picking up other riders. Also, we all know how airplanes and baggage terminals work. It would suck to just miss the DLR Express and have to wait an hour for another one. I know I'd be doing SS if I were coming in from LAX.
@Keels you had some beach recommendations for me...we are now getting the rental car for the afternoon and also using it to get to Anaheim. So we are open to any nearby beaches. We were planning on Santa Monica but we def want to get the best experience. Beach and food of course.
YAY! So, as far as food goes, I'm more familiar with Santa Monica. Right there on the pier is a little shack called Rusty's Surf Ranch that does seafood, burgers, tacos, etc. They have some decent craft beers, but you'll have to go into the Promenade.
If you're feeling generous and want to let your hubby knock some uniques off his Untapped list, I would recommend:
Barney's Beanery:
http://barneysbeanery.com/locations/santa-monica/
It's more of a funky sports-bar type place, but it's really laid back and they have good food and about 1mm different beers.
If you're looking for a lighter lunch (and possibly a celebrity sighting), I would pick:
Ivy on the Shore:
http://ivyattheshore.org/
It's the Santa Monica outpost of the famed Ivy in Hollywood
For a nicer, all-around awesome meal with good beer and craft cocktails, I would go to:
The Misfit:
http://www.themisfitbar.com/
It's in an old hotel that's been redone and is just awesome. It gives me a Tower of Terror vibe!
All of those ^^^ are in Santa Monica - either on the pier or on the 3rd Avenue Promenade.
As far as beaches closer to Anaheim, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach are going to be your two best bets (in my opinion). They're roughly 30 minutes or so away. Santa Monica is about an hour from Disneyland.
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