doclegler
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2009
- Messages
- 757
We successfully pulled off a surprise 10th birthday for our son at DL, even though we had to deal with a blizzard on our way from home to the airport. Luckily California was perfect on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday!
We started our first evening at Goofy's Kitchen and had a reservation for 6:50, but we had to wait until almost 7:30 to get seated. LONG wait even though it wasn't packed. Our poor waiter was yelled at by the table next to us due to the slowness.
I have no idea what the problem was that night. Food was decent, but expensive. The treasure chest bday cake was just OK, but our son LOVED it, so it really didn't matter!
CA wasn't as bad as I had heard. Kids loved the rides since their is something for everyone. Screamin' was a blast. The lines weren't long at all on Sunday.
DL on Monday was also quite nice. The lines still weren't too long until later in the day. Really, the only rides we waited for were in Fantasyland. The Matterhorn was interesting...not quite as fun as I was hoping. We did enjoy the Aladdin show though, and the Tigger Tails and Dole Whips were fantastic as usual.
Our only real problem was driving to/from LAX. I had great maps, and we still got lost both ways!! We made a flight out of LAX by a matter of seconds because we got lost leaving Anaheim somewhere towards Pasadena!!
Oh well, memories right?! 
The other issue was parking, as has been mentioned (so I was warned!) On Sunday we parked at a lot across Harbor, which wasn't too bad. But Monday, that lot was closed so we had to go to the parking ramps. NOT impressed with all that. Lots of wasted time there! Live and learn I guess. We stayed at the Comfort Inn in a double with bunk beds in a separate room, which was perfect for us. The room was decent, but the breakfast was lacking. Kids loved the waffles though.
Overall is was a lot of fun. DL itself has so much when compraing it to MK in Florida. I did wish that the other parks were closer though (like Legoland) since we only had a few days. It would be impossible to get to most of them in a long weekend.
I think we all enjoyed the rushed trip. A little more time to explore would've been nice though! I haven't been converted to a DL veteran YET, but I'm sure we'll be making many more trips over the next few years.
We started our first evening at Goofy's Kitchen and had a reservation for 6:50, but we had to wait until almost 7:30 to get seated. LONG wait even though it wasn't packed. Our poor waiter was yelled at by the table next to us due to the slowness.
I have no idea what the problem was that night. Food was decent, but expensive. The treasure chest bday cake was just OK, but our son LOVED it, so it really didn't matter! CA wasn't as bad as I had heard. Kids loved the rides since their is something for everyone. Screamin' was a blast. The lines weren't long at all on Sunday.
DL on Monday was also quite nice. The lines still weren't too long until later in the day. Really, the only rides we waited for were in Fantasyland. The Matterhorn was interesting...not quite as fun as I was hoping. We did enjoy the Aladdin show though, and the Tigger Tails and Dole Whips were fantastic as usual.
Our only real problem was driving to/from LAX. I had great maps, and we still got lost both ways!! We made a flight out of LAX by a matter of seconds because we got lost leaving Anaheim somewhere towards Pasadena!!
Oh well, memories right?! The other issue was parking, as has been mentioned (so I was warned!) On Sunday we parked at a lot across Harbor, which wasn't too bad. But Monday, that lot was closed so we had to go to the parking ramps. NOT impressed with all that. Lots of wasted time there! Live and learn I guess. We stayed at the Comfort Inn in a double with bunk beds in a separate room, which was perfect for us. The room was decent, but the breakfast was lacking. Kids loved the waffles though.
Overall is was a lot of fun. DL itself has so much when compraing it to MK in Florida. I did wish that the other parks were closer though (like Legoland) since we only had a few days. It would be impossible to get to most of them in a long weekend.
I think we all enjoyed the rushed trip. A little more time to explore would've been nice though! I haven't been converted to a DL veteran YET, but I'm sure we'll be making many more trips over the next few years.
Yes, DCA gets a bad rap. Some of the DL die hards in California have very high standards. WDW vets usually see DCA as a park at the DHS or AK level and are fine with it. Nevertheless, DCA attendance is well below DHS and AK and below Disney projections when the built it. So it does have room for improvement - hence all the refurbs.
