Returned from first family trip to DL - a few observations

[dtauer]

Having gone to WDW many times over the past few years, this spring we decided to try DL. Things were pretty much as expected, but there were also a few things unexpected.

For us last week, traffic was heavy pretty much anytime we were on an interstate. I knew traffic was going to be heavy, but it was more than expected. We arrived at LAX at around 11:00 and headed to San Diego for our first couple of days thinking we would have most of the day available. The 120 or so miles was stop and go most of the way. This is amazing to me considering a lot of the freeway was six lanes each direction. With a meal stop it took almost 5 hours to go from LAX to San Diego. This was the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, not sure if that made a difference or not. The trip from San Diego to Anaheim took about 2 1/2 hours but it is somewhat closer than LAX.

We all know Disney food is expensive but Downtown Disney seemed worse to me than WDW. An average meal at Rainforest Cafe or ESPN Zone was around $70 for our family of 4 which includes one teen and a child. This didn't include any alcohol or desserts. Eating at the restaurants on Katella or Harbor was better, but I still thought very expensive for the quality and quantity of food.

Gas prices were about what we expected, high. The key seems to be to check around a little. We filled on our way back to drop off the car at 2.33/gallon. Two blocks further was 2.69, and another two blocks was back down to 2.35. It was 183 last night when we filled at home in Minnesota.

Disney stuff closes early. Except for the weekends, the gift shops at the Disneyland hotel close at 9:00. The water slide closes at 8:00 and the pool closes at 10:00. This seemed unusual since we are used to going to the parks at WDW and being able to come back and swim, shop and eat until midnight. Also, the evenings cool of dramatically in early June and with a breeze it was almost too cool to swim in the evenings.

Walking from the Disneyland hotel to the parks was an easy walk through Downtown Disney. However, many of the hotels on Harbor Blvd are just as close, at half the price. Obviously these hotels don't have the water fantasy show, the Disney cast members, the underground waterfalls or the theming that the Disneyland Hotel does. I think next time we'll more seriously consider staying off-site. Even at our great rate at the Disneyland Hotel of $129/weeknights and $169/weekends, it was still double properties such as the Howard Johnsons and Fairfield Inn.

The removal from real life wasn't there like at WDW. Staying on site at WDW makes use feel isolated in a fantasy land. The on-site Disney properties at Disneyland just didn't have the same feel for us.

Some rides were much better at Disneyland and some are much better at WDW.

Any other questions? Let me know and I'll try to answer.

 

[Firefly777]

The removal from real life wasn't there like at WDW. Staying on site at WDW makes use feel isolated in a fantasy land. The on-site Disney properties at Disneyland just didn't have the same feel for us.

For the most part, I feel the same way. That's why I usually just save my money and stay offsite, like you mentioned above.

Although, Staying at the Grand Californian with a Downtown Disney or Theme Park view. I wouldn't even know there's anything outside of the resort. But that can get expensive.

 

[maci]

Thanks for review!!
You are so diplomatic, it is hard to tell....did you have a good time?

Also, how were crowds? What were the wait time on rides?

Hope it was fun! That traffic is unreal though! WOW!~

 

[ARF]

We were at DL back in January 04 and to tell you I was not so impressed. IMO DL is just to small for me, I like the open space of WDW. I am glad that we went so that I could at least see the parks and experience DL but WDW is my home and I will be going back home in November. WOW two trips in one year.

 

[dtauer]

You are so diplomatic, it is hard to tell....did you have a good time?

Yes, we had a very good time. My kids really enjoyed comparing the rides and shows between WDW and DL. The problem is that I started totaling receipts last night, and this trip cost as much or more than WDW, and to me the experience isn't nearly the same, we like WDW much better.

Also, how were crowds? What were the wait time on rides?

California Adventure was generally really quiet in the morning. We were really worried about ToT because it is a new ride, but we were able to walk right on at about 9:00. We then went over and rode Soarin (great ride BTW) twice in a row with almost no wait. The longest we ever waited was for California Screamin which was a 40 minute wait. This was because we decided we wanted to go on it one more time and the fastpasses were turned off for the day.

At the Disneyland park, we grabbed a fastpass for Indiana Jones, waited in line for Splash Mountain (about 30 minutes) and then returned later for Indiana Jones. I did see the wait for Splash Mountain get as high as 120 minutes in the early afternoon.

As a side note, any time you are tempted to complain about wait times at Disney, head over to Knotts Berry Farm. The wait for Jaguar was about an hour and I don't consider it a very good roller coaster. The wait for Ghostrider was between 90 and 120 minutes. We waited in line until we saw the queuing, which is a back and forth maze on 2 separate levels, and decided it wasn't worth it.

 

[maci]

I understand! Adding up receipts is always a scary thing !

Glad you had a good time all in all! The waits dont sound TOO bad! Hope that continues next week!

 

[iceskatejen]

I waited over 3 hours the first time I rode Ghostrider and it was totally worth it--it's the best coaster I've ever been on. But I agree about Jaguar--I won't go on it even if it's a walk on.

 

[SKFamily]

Knott's Berry Farm wait lines are that long? Why didn't I consider that, I wonder, when I bought the tickets?

Is it always like that? I'm going to have one or two very disappointed kids if that's the case.

 

[MamaKate]

Originally posted by SKFamily
Knott's Berry Farm wait lines are that long? Why didn't I consider that, I wonder, when I bought the tickets?

Is it always like that? I'm going to have one or two very disappointed kids if that's the case.

I hate going to Knott's on the Weekends or the Summer! It is always packed & the ride loaders aren't as efficient as they are at Disney. And I hate they don't offer a system like Fastpass or Express passes, because there is alot of neat things you could do or look at while you waited for your time.

I would suggest getting there at opening and hitting the major coasters first, before the masses hit. And just so you know, they don't open the ticket lines til the actual opening time.

I love Knott's during the slow times, because it's fun to wonder around with the park near empty, but since they run such great ticket offers for So. Cal residents, it's always packed in the Summer and on Saturdays.

Hope you still have a good time!
,
Katie

 

[dtauer]

That's the conclusion we came up with when we saw the line at Ghostrider. You have to hit it early in the day or you'll have a significant wait. The ride I really wanted to do, Xcelerator, was closed for the day, so that may have contributed to the other lines as well.

I agree, they don't move lines very well like they do at Disney. Another thing that amazed me was that on the Dinosaur ride (don't remember the name) they had an employee ride with every train that went through the ride. We didn't know why until we got about half way through. They stop the ride and you wait in the ride while the other train is loading with people. The employee then gets out of the train and tells you that this is normal and we would be going again in a few minutes. The ride was kind of neat, but I can't believe they can't find a way to keep the first train moving through the ride while the second train loads.

One other thing to remember is that Knotts is owned by Cedar Fair. So because we have season passes to our local Cedar Fair park (Valleyfair), the passes work at Knotts as well.

 

[SKFamily]

Goody. We got shuttle transfers to go there, so what time we get there depends on that. Doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun, really. We were thinking we were better off to do Disneyland Wed, Thur, Fri and avoid it on the weekend, so I don't know when we'll get to Knott's. Might have to do it on the Monday, I guess. We fly out on the Tuesday morning, though so either Disneyland or Knott's is going to need to be done on a really busy day. Blah. Sounds like we could end up going to California for 7 days, and spend 3 of them bumming around the hotel to avoid insane crowds.

 

[Firefly777]

The ride was kind of neat, but I can't believe they can't find a way to keep the first train moving through the ride while the second train loads.

It actually used to be a continuous loading type of ride a la Haunted Mansion or Spaceship Earth, but they stopped doing that for some reason. It was a lot better like that.

 

[iceskatejen]

Knott's used to open the ticket lines before park opening because I've bought tickets 20-30 minutes before opening lots of times and been one of the first through the gates and on either Ghostrider or Xcellerater.

 

[jin diesel]

Originally posted by dtauer
Yes, we had a very good time. My kids really enjoyed comparing the rides and shows between WDW and DL. The problem is that I started totaling receipts last night, and this trip cost as much or more than WDW, and to me the experience isn't nearly the same, we like WDW much better.

Of course you spent more at DL than WDW!!!!Unfortunately, everything in CA is outrageously priced compared to the East coast. (That's the only drawback.) I think only NYC compares to us in terms of the high cost of living. But by contast, wages here are much higher than on the East Coast so we don't notice it as much.

There are ways around the expensive things. We always stay off property and have never paid more than $89/night. That's the best way to save. I do recommend that to you in the futrure. The Disneyland Hotel is actually A LOT further from the main gates to DL than the hotels across the street. Also, all the restaurants are cheaper to eat in for lunch than for dinner. We usually do a big lunch and then something light (park food) for dinner. Redd Rocket's Pizza Port in Tommorow Land is a major bargain. There is pasta, pizza and salad. And the servings are huge.

I hope you will not be discouraged from coming back!

jindy

 

[MamaKate]

Originally posted by iceskatejen
Knott's used to open the ticket lines before park opening because I've bought tickets 20-30 minutes before opening lots of times and been one of the first through the gates and on either Ghostrider or Xcellerater.

I was actually talking about they don't let you through the turnstile (where they take your ticket) until exactly opening time. Unlike Disney Parks that let you in a 1/2 hour or so before opening.

Also, just for everyone's information Xcellerator is closed for quite awhile. The manufacture who made this roller coaster & also a few at other parks have to redesign the harnesses because someone on a simular ride at a different park fell out & died. They were not designed for larger riders and the person who died was top heavy & came out.

Hope this helps!
,
Katie

 

[dtauer]

I hope you will not be discouraged from coming back!

No, I'm sure we'll be back. I didn't intend to sound negative, just pointing out a few things that surprised us. The biggest surprise was the cost of everything. At WDW you can leave the parks and find some real bargains on meals. Leaving the parks at DL does save some, but it's still expensive as you know.

Also, the CA reputation for heavy traffic definately seems to be accurate.

One thing that was fabulous was the weather. Every morning started out kind of hazy, but by about 9:00 it cleared up and was sunny all day. Highs in the upper 70s with a slight breeze is fantastic for touring parks. As I mentioned in my original post we missed the swimming in the evenings, but overall the first week of June for us was almost perfect for weather.

When we got our 5 day park hoppers for $129, I thought everything else would be somewhat less as well. I see now that this was incorrect, next time I'll budget higher and probably not pay the significant extra amount for the DisneyLand hotel.

 

[jin diesel]

Originally posted by dtauer
When we got our 5 day park hoppers for $129, I thought everything else would be somewhat less as well. I see now that this was incorrect, next time I'll budget higher and probably not pay the significant extra amount for the DisneyLand hotel.

It's funny you should mention that!!! With WDW, the "park hoppers" (whatever they're called there) are SO expensive!!! Yet everything else is relatively cheaper. I really have no desire to go there (WDW), but I'd love to go to Island of Adventure. Have you been there?

And yes, the traffic in So Cal is nasty. Especially since you were there on a holiday weekend. I can't even begin to imagine!!!

 

[Alice28]

Yes, it's funny how much cheaper the hoppers are at DL. I guess because there are only two parks to spread the money between instead of 4? I was laughing to myself pricing out my DL trip plans with my two boys this summer- $100 for a 5 day hopper (DH's military discount if he buys them at base), $80 for my son, little DS will just be turning 3 so I don't have to buy a ticket for him this time; I'm hoping to get a rate of $149 a night at the DL hotel, but if I can't get it down that low I will stay the HoJo or the Hilton.

But, yes, many of your points were true. While DL is my home park, and I love it so, WDW is more "magical" as a whole because it is set way apart from the "real" world. And things ARE more expensive in CA- take it from a CA native! Gas prices are abhorrent here on the west coast these days. I don't think of it much when I am down there, cause I'm used to it, and because I have not eaten off-site at Disney World, so I am unaware of the deals to be had in greater Orlando. I honestly don't think there is much of a difference though in say, a cheeseburger meal on both coasts. I think sales tax is a smidge higher in So. Cal than Orlando so that would add a few cents onto meals, but I really doubt that even the Rainforest Cafe's prices are that different. I have eaten at both Anaheim's and Orlando's and they both struck me as rather spendy!!! Since I will be having two trips to each coast within 70 days of each other, I will keep track of my receipts and post any differences after I get back from WDW in October.