HydroGuy
A Pirate's Life For Me
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2005
- Messages
- 18,415
We spent 3 1/2 days at DLR this past week... Monday evening and all day Tue-Thurs. There are some things which I knew before but got sharp reminders of, plus a few new thoughts...
1. Aladdin at DCA is really, really good. I have not seen it for two years and almost forgot how good it is.
2. DCA is a good park and does not deserve many of the negative things said about it by the local SoCal AP holders - but it does have its flaws. On Wednesday we were joined by my sister, her three kids (she and her kids all life long California residents), and my parents who have lived in SoCal most of their lives. My DNi16 has been to DCA a couple times with friends, but for everyone else it was their first trip as they always do day trips to DL. They had a blast. Seeing DCA through their eyes was revealing. They loved Soarin Over CA (like me), California Screamin, Tower of Terror (rode three times), and Turtle Talk With Crush. Everyone was amazed by Aladdin.
3. DCA is more than a "half day" park which some people claim. See #2 above for the group description. We got in line at DCA at 9:25AM and rode Soarin, and then stayed until almost 8PM and did a lot that day without a break. But we never got to Sun Wheel, Maliboomer, BPB or DEP. DCA is truly a whole day park, and if you really want to do everything there it will take you more than a day. At least on summer weekdays.
4. POTC is an amazingly detailed ride and still my favorite. We rode it 4-5 times. I have been riding POTC for 40 years and noticed many things I have never seen before (pointed out by my kids). There is just so much to see.
5. Indiana Jones Adventure is way cool.
6. Fantasmic at DL is way better at DL than at WDW. The use of the ships and scope of the Rivers of America setting makes for a much better show
7. The Remember Dreams Come True fireworks/special effects show is the best. Just awesome
8. The Jedi Training Academy is just great. Never saw it before and we went and got DS11 selected to be in the training. He had an experience he will always remember. I hope DL is paying the Jedi Master enough money because he did an outstanding job.
9. Matterhorn still delivers
10. Space Mtn is so much better at DL than at MK I can barely think of riding the MK version any more
11. Fantasyland at DL is well done and much better than MK
12. The New Orleans Square area is wonderful
13. The Nemo Subs are fun but not all that great and the excitement will die down sooner rather than later
14. Pirate's Lair is fun and DL did a good job reviving this dying area of DL.
15. The weather at DLR in the summer is wonderful. All week long the temperatures were perfect, IMO. Day time was 80-82 degrees, and evenings it was 70-75 degrees. It was a little hot mid-day especially when standing in the sun, but that was fine by me. We never got close to needing a sweatshirt or long sleeves. Shorts and tee-shirts worked perfectly for us from 6AM until midnight all week. I just love the summer weather at DLR. It beats WDW by a long, long shot.
On another note, I became a victim of my own success this week and a victim of the age of my kids, LOL. My DW decided she was "Disneyed out" and spent the week with a close friend in San Diego who had a baby last year. So at DLR it was me, DS15, DS14, DS12 and DS11.
I was so successful on getting us on rides at DL and DCA on Tue/Wed that by Thursday they were more interested in sleeping than the parks. My DS15 in particular spent only a couple hours with us Thursday, and DS15, DS14 and DS12 all slept until 11AM on Thursday. DS14 and DS12 are taking a lot of cues from DS15, but thank goodness for DS11 who is still way into DLR. When I was ready to leave each night he wanted to stay longer and pushed me to stay - which was fun. So DS11 and I toured late Wed evening at DL and most of Thursday by ourselves.
The three older ones all told me they had concluded on their own the thing about me being so good at getting them on rides that they felt they did not even need the final day so decided to sleep late. Oh well. I hope I do not have full scale rebellion on my hands when we go to WDW next year. And I hope DS11 does not get corrupted by his "evil" older brothers LOL.
I think at their age that WDW will be a better match overall, in fact. We have done DLR every couple years for awhile now, and because of its smaller scope (than WDW) I think they know it so well that they lose interest more quickly. With the greater scope of parks and activities at WDW, plus the fact that we have only been there once, I am guessing we will keep the older boys more engaged at WDW next year. We'll see.
1. Aladdin at DCA is really, really good. I have not seen it for two years and almost forgot how good it is.
2. DCA is a good park and does not deserve many of the negative things said about it by the local SoCal AP holders - but it does have its flaws. On Wednesday we were joined by my sister, her three kids (she and her kids all life long California residents), and my parents who have lived in SoCal most of their lives. My DNi16 has been to DCA a couple times with friends, but for everyone else it was their first trip as they always do day trips to DL. They had a blast. Seeing DCA through their eyes was revealing. They loved Soarin Over CA (like me), California Screamin, Tower of Terror (rode three times), and Turtle Talk With Crush. Everyone was amazed by Aladdin.
3. DCA is more than a "half day" park which some people claim. See #2 above for the group description. We got in line at DCA at 9:25AM and rode Soarin, and then stayed until almost 8PM and did a lot that day without a break. But we never got to Sun Wheel, Maliboomer, BPB or DEP. DCA is truly a whole day park, and if you really want to do everything there it will take you more than a day. At least on summer weekdays.
4. POTC is an amazingly detailed ride and still my favorite. We rode it 4-5 times. I have been riding POTC for 40 years and noticed many things I have never seen before (pointed out by my kids). There is just so much to see.
5. Indiana Jones Adventure is way cool.
6. Fantasmic at DL is way better at DL than at WDW. The use of the ships and scope of the Rivers of America setting makes for a much better show
7. The Remember Dreams Come True fireworks/special effects show is the best. Just awesome
8. The Jedi Training Academy is just great. Never saw it before and we went and got DS11 selected to be in the training. He had an experience he will always remember. I hope DL is paying the Jedi Master enough money because he did an outstanding job.
9. Matterhorn still delivers
10. Space Mtn is so much better at DL than at MK I can barely think of riding the MK version any more
11. Fantasyland at DL is well done and much better than MK
12. The New Orleans Square area is wonderful
13. The Nemo Subs are fun but not all that great and the excitement will die down sooner rather than later
14. Pirate's Lair is fun and DL did a good job reviving this dying area of DL.
15. The weather at DLR in the summer is wonderful. All week long the temperatures were perfect, IMO. Day time was 80-82 degrees, and evenings it was 70-75 degrees. It was a little hot mid-day especially when standing in the sun, but that was fine by me. We never got close to needing a sweatshirt or long sleeves. Shorts and tee-shirts worked perfectly for us from 6AM until midnight all week. I just love the summer weather at DLR. It beats WDW by a long, long shot.
On another note, I became a victim of my own success this week and a victim of the age of my kids, LOL. My DW decided she was "Disneyed out" and spent the week with a close friend in San Diego who had a baby last year. So at DLR it was me, DS15, DS14, DS12 and DS11.
I was so successful on getting us on rides at DL and DCA on Tue/Wed that by Thursday they were more interested in sleeping than the parks. My DS15 in particular spent only a couple hours with us Thursday, and DS15, DS14 and DS12 all slept until 11AM on Thursday. DS14 and DS12 are taking a lot of cues from DS15, but thank goodness for DS11 who is still way into DLR. When I was ready to leave each night he wanted to stay longer and pushed me to stay - which was fun. So DS11 and I toured late Wed evening at DL and most of Thursday by ourselves.
The three older ones all told me they had concluded on their own the thing about me being so good at getting them on rides that they felt they did not even need the final day so decided to sleep late. Oh well. I hope I do not have full scale rebellion on my hands when we go to WDW next year. And I hope DS11 does not get corrupted by his "evil" older brothers LOL.
I think at their age that WDW will be a better match overall, in fact. We have done DLR every couple years for awhile now, and because of its smaller scope (than WDW) I think they know it so well that they lose interest more quickly. With the greater scope of parks and activities at WDW, plus the fact that we have only been there once, I am guessing we will keep the older boys more engaged at WDW next year. We'll see.
It sends shutters down my $pine....
?? 
)
