question on Tower of Terror & crowds

[disney-super-mom]

I've been to DL and DCA several times, but the last time we were there the Tower of Terror was not open yet. I'm not a huge thrill seeker, but I love smaller thrill rides like Splash Mountain, Indiana Jones, Thunder Mountain Railroad, Space Mountain, etc... Is the Tower of Terror for someone like me or is it geared for the big thrill seekers? How scary is it?

My second question is how crowded will it be at DL and DCA the week before Thanksgiving? Kids will still be in school at that time right?

I'm eagerly waiting for your response. Thanks everyone

 

[iceskatejen]

Personally, I consider the TOT fun, not really scary, though there's a lot of build up to make it seem scary. But I love thrill rides and TOT is the best I've ever been on. It has serious (and I mean serious) airtime. You drop several times. It has the distinction of being the only Disney ride I've ever actually screamed on (though I don't scream anymore). All I can say is that at worst you won't like it and will never ride it again and at best you'll love it and be completely hooked.

Which week are you talking about--Nov 15-19 or Nov 22-24? I'm expecting the 22-24 to be crowded based on the park hours listed on DL's website.

 

[disney-super-mom]

Thanks iceskatejen for the advice on Tower of Terror. We're going to DL and DCA November 14th - November 19th. What do you think the crowds will be like then?

By the way when you say "serious airtime", I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing when it comes to me riding Tower of Terror. I mean, when I was 10-22 years old I used to love thrill rides, but now that I'm 34 and a mom of two, I'm kind of a chicken. Not a huge chicken. I still like a little thrill, or even a medium thrill, but definatley not a "BIG" thrill. In other words, I would NEVER ride Maliboomer at DCA, I would consider riding California Screamin' (it doesn't look "too scary"), and I love the rest of the Disney rides and attractions.

I look forward to your response and thanks again!

 

[dsnylndmom]

Not Iceskatejen, but I'll answer!

I don't do Maliboomer(looong story)but I LOVE Tower of Terror! The ride is just great! And it's never the same ride twice, so that makes it even more fun!

We have gone that weekend before, for my youngest son's 1st birthday and it was great!! The crowds were extremely light, even on the weekend, plus you get the bonus of the decorations being out, soooo pretty!! Where are you staying?

We'll be there Veteran's Day Wknd, 2nd time during this time period, we know it'll be packed, but we got our system down

Have a wonderful trip!!

 

[disney-super-mom]

Hey, thanks dsnylnmom!

It's so great to have someone who lives close by and frequents DL a lot to answer questions because if anyone knows the answer, it would be you!

I'll take your advice and give Tower of Terror a try. All the reviews I've read about it give it high marks, so I've got to try it at least once right?

To answer your question, we're staying at the Disneyland Hotel and we're so excited. We've never stayed there before, (normally we stay at the Hilton Towers or the Howard Johnson), but we wanted to make this trip really magical for our kids. We are pulling out all the stops this trip - going to a character breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen, eating at the Blue Bayou and the Rainforest Cafe, swimming in the Neverland Pool, watching the Electrical Parade (none of which we have done before), and who knows what else we'll do while we're there! All I know is that we have five days (plenty of time) to experience and see everything we want at the Disneyland Resort, and we can't wait!

It will be nice to see the X-mas decorations, and I can't wait to maybe sneak a little peak at the newly-madeover castle.

Thanks for answering. You're awesome!

 

[iceskatejen]

To me, after the TOT, the Maliboomer is boring. Yeah, you still go up pretty high pretty fast and there's wonderful airtime at the top, but it just doesn't have the same "human yo-yo" feeling as the TOT gives.

 

[dsnylndmom]

Sounds like you're going all out! My kind of trip!!

If you haven't already ask for Sierra Tower at DLH. It's the closet to DTD!

We are doing Goofy's & Blue Bayou in Nov also. My youngest, the birthday boy, said the only things he wants for his birthday are "to ride Pirates of the Caribbean, eat at Pirates of the Caribbean restaurant & a PS2 game" LOL So I made ressies at Blue Bayou on his bday with a bday bucket! I can't wait!

We are doing Goofy's on the following Saturday, we have friends that will be there that have kids that also have bdays that week so we are doing a "triple" celebration at Goofy's for the 3 of them! They have no idea!! I'm soo excited for them

You'll love the Electrical Light Parade, it's my all time favorite Disney parade, though I miss it being on Main Street! If you yell for the characters really loud they will come over too you! My kids always like to get the turtle to come over! Sooo pretty!

Your kids will love the Neverland Pool it's really fun. My oldest went down the slide countless time last time we were there! LOL Oh and there is a pool bar if you want to enjoy a frothy fruity drink!

Have a wonderful trip!!

 

[disney-super-mom]

Hey, thanks dsnyldmom! I hope you and your son, the b-day boy, have a great time too!

Just one more question for you - I see you've been to WDW and I want your opinion on it. We were going to go there instead of DL. We even had reservations at Port Orleans French Quarter, but we cancelled and decided to go to DL instead because we thought the plane trip was just too long for our 17 month old (we live in Washington State). The funny thing is that even though DL in a lot closer to us than WDW, the two destinations cost about the same. It costs more for us to fly to WDW than DL, but the rooms at the DL Resort cost more than at WDW, so regardless of which resort we go to, the cost is about the same.

Anyway, what is your opinion of WDW in comparison to DL? How much time do you need to be able to experience the four parks at WDW, and what do you think about the parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM, and Animal Kingdom)?

I would love to go there, and so does my husband, but we want to wait until our youngest is a little older.

For now, we'll stick to the park we know the best, Disneyland! (This will be our 4th trip to DL in the last 3 years - I guess we're hooked!) Love talking to you.

 

[iceskatejen]

I'll go ahead and answer on that one. I went in April for an 8-night stay. I did see all 4 parks and spent a day at DTD, including Disney Quest. I played a round of mini-golf at Fantasia Gardens. I didn't go to either water park, though if I'd been there longer I probably would have. Did I ride everything I wanted?--yes. Did I do it all?--I don't know if that's possible.

My opinion on the parks:
Epcot--my favorite there, second fave to DL. So much to see and do. I spent about 2 1/2 days there and I could have easily spent more.

AK--Next fave after Epcot. I love animals, so I enjoyed it. I consider it a park to take your time in, otherwise you miss all the little nuances. The safari was fun, Festival of the Lion King terrific, the Flights of Wonder show was great, and I loved the 2 walking trails.

MK--5th fave park (I like DCA slightly better--please don't flame me for that opinion). Like DL, yet not. The only ride I truly thought was better here was BTM, otherwise I generally prefer the DL versions, though Splash and HM were about equal. I was fun seeing some different versions of things, though.

Studios--least fave, though 2 of my fave rides are here: the Rock n' Roller Coaster and their TOT (though I like DCA's version just a bit better because of the drop sequence). Otherwise it's a hard park to manuever in. Also it really reminded me of the Hollywood Pictures Backlot at DCA.

 

[dsnylndmom]

There's so much difference between DL & WDW it's hard to answer completely! LOL The biggest difference is the size. When you're a DL addict you're used to being able to walk back and forth between parks and from the parks & hotels, not as possible in WDW! LOL! It was amazing how big WDW, espeically when you're so used to DL!

When we went last year it was in Aug & it was PACKED! Not to mention HUMID! When we go back, hopefully in 2006, we would prefer not go again during that time period!

We went for a 7 night stay and defintely needed more time! I'm sure alot of this had to do with the time period we went, lots and lots of long waits.

We started our stay at the ASMovies, but it was such a bad stay we switched to CBR the 3rd day. We would not stay in a Value again, but we absolutely loved CBR!!

My boys were 4.5 & almost 9 when we went. The did really good on the flight, their first ever! But, we went with the red eye there so I'm sure that helped a bit!

We did E-Ride night which is great! Especially, when it's a busy time for the parks. That was the most fun! We did a TON of rides that night.

We liked MK but all agreed that Pirates, Tiki Room & Space were DEFINTELY better at DL!! We also liked DL's set up of Fantasyland better. And, it made me miss the People Movers & the Country Bears from DL Splash Mountain was great there though & we loved the new extinct Alien Encounter(myself & my oldest)my youngest LOVED Buzz LIghtyear and can't wait for the DL version. Our fave place to eat at MK was Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner, we did alot of counter service! LOL

MGM-We didn't do too much here. My youngest didn't want to do any shows while we were there so we basically did TOT(loved it), RNR(loved it) Walt Disney One Man's Dream(which made me cry )and we ate at Sci-Fi for lunch, which my boys LOVED & Hollywood & Vine for dinner for the Fantasmic! package. Fantasmic! is better at DL but the seating is muchhh better at MGM and the package makes it really nice!

EPCOT-we did alot of walking around here and I enjoyed it, the kids, not so much. But, we all loved Test Track! Soo much fun & we had a blast at the Ice Cream Social I would defintely spend more time at Epcot next time we go back!

AK-I thought this was a beautiful park & wished I had more time there, dang that busy summer season! It's such a beautiful park and my boys really enjoyed all the animals.

We did an entire afternoon at Disney Quest. My oldest LOVED it and would've spent more time there if he could've! LOL We did the POTC & JC virtual rides as a family & we all enjoyed that. It's just a very chaotic place! LOL

We did two nights at DTD and it was fun browsing the shops, it's much different than our DTD. We wanted to do Pleasure Island, but didn't get a chance.

We also spent an late morning/early afternoon starting at Chef Mickey's then exploring the CR & then riding the monorail to check out the other hotels, ending up at the MK. We did the boys's hair cuts on Main Street, big highlight, and hit a few things at MK that we wanted to do again.

We spent each night in the pool at our hotel to unwind & have some fun. The kids lived for these times

We didn't do as much as I had hoped but we went into the trip knowing it was going to be packed and we were prepared for it. We each had our top 3 "had to's" and got those all out of the way. After those, we just took it leisurely.

We came away knowing:

• Enjoy the hotel's ammenities
• make a list of must do's
• have an idea of where you want to eat
• check out the other hotels
• take a towncar service next time
• take advantage of E Ride Night
• take advantage of shipping packages to room

Whew! Didn't think this would be that long!!! LOL Sorry!Invaluable sources for me for our trip(we booked in May so I didn't have that much time to research)were All Ears Net, these boards & mouseplanet. Plus, I had the Unofficial Guide to WDW, which I ended up disagreeing with ALOT! LOL

Tina

 

[disney-super-mom]

Hi dsnylndmom,

Wow, that is a lot of incredible information to know! I really appreciate all the little tips and details you included.

It's always nice to have this kind of info before booking a trip to a place you've never been.

Not to extend this back and forth conversation out any longer, but we were going to stay at Port Orleans French Quarter and was wondering if you have any advice on the WDW hotels (which is the nicest, which is in the best location, which would kids like the most, and which is worth the cost of the rooms).

Thanks again! Sorry if I'm asking too many questions.