Brett Wyman
Legacy Guest
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2018
First let me say we had a wonderful time. We stayed for 4 nights 5 days at a studio villas in GC. My thoughts are based on direct comparisons to a place Ive been 20-30 times in the last 40 year. I don't mean them as negatives, they're just observations based on "what Im use to". Im sure DL veterans feel the exact same way(in reverse) when visiting WDW. They are also nothing anyone hasn't said before. Also let me say I live for the WDW Bubble. I don't even like to go to Disney Springs when staying a WDW resort as it pulls me out of the bubble : ). My childhood memories of WDW, memories I believe crafted my core character, are of a place that existed in a world of its own. Im sure you see where this is going.
1. Grand Californian is beautiful but is a little crowded on weekends with "non-guests". Much worse than any WDW resort Ive ever seen. People(i.e. non guests) were sleeping on the couches mid day. Thats pretty rude behavior when the place is PACKED. Im sure it happens at WDW resorts too but they have the lobby space to absorb it. The GC lobby, like everything at DL, is smaller than what we are use to. Restaurants were as good as anything at WDW. My daughter partook in the new Disney Princess Adventure at Napa Rose. This is basically Disneylands CRT and you pay for it like it was. We sent my daughter with just one adult to keep costs down and it was $265 after tip! We also did Story Tellers Cafe character buffet. Story Tellers was very good for the cost. Food was great and the characters saw us twice in an hour even with a full restaurant. Interaction was very good. Pools were just okay but I had already been warned about this and we knew if we wanted pools to stay at DLH. They really need to add zero entry and a splash pad for the little ones and it would be perfect. Quick entry to DCA was helpful during anytime except the morning rush.
2. Disney California Adventure. Man we loved this park. Maybe it was due to reduced expectations based on the parks history or maybe its some of the updates they've added. But we found at the end of the day this is the park we preferred to be in. And thats odd to say as Eisners cheap ways are still evident all throughout Pixar pier. But the re-theming really seems to have helped that area out(I say this based on no previous personal experience). We had a blast on the swinging Pal-a-Round and Incredicoaster and the littles loved the rides focused on their age group on Pixar Pier. Kudos to whoever designed loading on the Incredicoaster. They move people through that thing at a lighting pace. And WOW Carsland was amazing as expected. Theming was top notched and Radiator Racers may be one of my top 5 Disney rides ever. We rode it 4 times. The two kiddie rides here aren't super impressive but they are well themed and the kids loved them. We took advantage of EMH and road these when there were no waits. Later in the day the waits for 30-40 minutes for these 2 quickie rides, which is just silly. Watching a full size Mater and Lightening McQueen drive down the rode was definitely very cool. We loved the Grizzy Peak area as well. The kids play area was a great place to burn off the extra sugar and Soarin' while the same as in Epcot was just much better themed all around. We also enjoyed the Monsters Inc ride and Disney Jr Dance Party(identical to WDW one). Another highlight was of course Mission Breakout. I have ZERO issues with this re-theming, it seems like it fits in to Hollywood as well as any other attraction there. We rode this during EMH as well(since Maxpasses for this are gone after the first few park hours). Loved DCA. Great Park.
3. Disneyland. Ah Disneyland. Get ready to get your pitchforks. First let me say yes riding the longer Pirates and the much better Space Mountain was great. And riding the Matterhorn once was nice just to see it(not a thrilling ride though). Also the Indian jones ride is SOOO much better than Dinosaur. BUT man this park is too small(no matter where you were everything just feels squished), sorely needs wider paths(even 4-5/10 days feel crowded), needs Magicbands, their mobile food ordering is always "an hour out", and they REALLY need to add FP/MP to rides like PP, Nemo, and Autopia. For me the magic just wasn't there. The cramped areas was probably the biggest turn of to me. But the requirement for standby for so many rides didn't help either. Alice was 40 minutes on a Wednesday with no EMH for example. They also have a serious entry turnstyle problem. DL ADD MAGIC BANDS. It takes FOREVER for DL guests to enter the park. We waited 45 minutes on a non-EMH day at opening. Thats crazy. I wont linger here. I said my peace. To me MK is just much more magical. (They also need the vanilla swirl option in their Dolewhip).
4. Maxpass. I know people love the spontaneity Maxpass allows but I cant stand the fact that if you walk in at 9am and want to get a FP/MP for a popular ride(like RR or MB) you have to grab it right then, blocking you from booking any other FP/MPs for approximately 90 minutes. Thats its glaring flaw to me. You then have to either get in standby lines for something else or just kill time. Other than that its nice to stack them as the 90 minutes pass. But Id much prefer to pre book my 3 at 60 days, use them by 11am and then do the 4th FP for the rest of the day.
Other observations. The Bubble. We knows theres no bubble at Disneyland but hearing ambulances on the streets while waiting to board Small Word definitely sucks. It makes it feel much more like a day park than a vacation destination(which I guess is the truth). Cast Members. OH GOD THE CMs HERE. Ive heard that they aren't the same as WDW CMs, but man thats an understatement. From hearing CMs chat casually about their daily lives while operating a ride, to seeing fully dressed CMs walking to the bus in Downtown Disney, to multiple CMs just not knowing the answer to anything, they just are cut from a different cloth in WDW. Downtown Disney was very nice. i think the compact nature is actually a benefit here. We had several good meals here. We toured DLH which looks like another great option though nowhere near as grand as GC. Pacific Pier looked like a dump!
Overall a great great trip. As a Disney fan so glad we saw it. Would I fly from the east coast just for it again? Nope. But if we are in Socal again Id drop in just for DCA.
1. Grand Californian is beautiful but is a little crowded on weekends with "non-guests". Much worse than any WDW resort Ive ever seen. People(i.e. non guests) were sleeping on the couches mid day. Thats pretty rude behavior when the place is PACKED. Im sure it happens at WDW resorts too but they have the lobby space to absorb it. The GC lobby, like everything at DL, is smaller than what we are use to. Restaurants were as good as anything at WDW. My daughter partook in the new Disney Princess Adventure at Napa Rose. This is basically Disneylands CRT and you pay for it like it was. We sent my daughter with just one adult to keep costs down and it was $265 after tip! We also did Story Tellers Cafe character buffet. Story Tellers was very good for the cost. Food was great and the characters saw us twice in an hour even with a full restaurant. Interaction was very good. Pools were just okay but I had already been warned about this and we knew if we wanted pools to stay at DLH. They really need to add zero entry and a splash pad for the little ones and it would be perfect. Quick entry to DCA was helpful during anytime except the morning rush.
2. Disney California Adventure. Man we loved this park. Maybe it was due to reduced expectations based on the parks history or maybe its some of the updates they've added. But we found at the end of the day this is the park we preferred to be in. And thats odd to say as Eisners cheap ways are still evident all throughout Pixar pier. But the re-theming really seems to have helped that area out(I say this based on no previous personal experience). We had a blast on the swinging Pal-a-Round and Incredicoaster and the littles loved the rides focused on their age group on Pixar Pier. Kudos to whoever designed loading on the Incredicoaster. They move people through that thing at a lighting pace. And WOW Carsland was amazing as expected. Theming was top notched and Radiator Racers may be one of my top 5 Disney rides ever. We rode it 4 times. The two kiddie rides here aren't super impressive but they are well themed and the kids loved them. We took advantage of EMH and road these when there were no waits. Later in the day the waits for 30-40 minutes for these 2 quickie rides, which is just silly. Watching a full size Mater and Lightening McQueen drive down the rode was definitely very cool. We loved the Grizzy Peak area as well. The kids play area was a great place to burn off the extra sugar and Soarin' while the same as in Epcot was just much better themed all around. We also enjoyed the Monsters Inc ride and Disney Jr Dance Party(identical to WDW one). Another highlight was of course Mission Breakout. I have ZERO issues with this re-theming, it seems like it fits in to Hollywood as well as any other attraction there. We rode this during EMH as well(since Maxpasses for this are gone after the first few park hours). Loved DCA. Great Park.
3. Disneyland. Ah Disneyland. Get ready to get your pitchforks. First let me say yes riding the longer Pirates and the much better Space Mountain was great. And riding the Matterhorn once was nice just to see it(not a thrilling ride though). Also the Indian jones ride is SOOO much better than Dinosaur. BUT man this park is too small(no matter where you were everything just feels squished), sorely needs wider paths(even 4-5/10 days feel crowded), needs Magicbands, their mobile food ordering is always "an hour out", and they REALLY need to add FP/MP to rides like PP, Nemo, and Autopia. For me the magic just wasn't there. The cramped areas was probably the biggest turn of to me. But the requirement for standby for so many rides didn't help either. Alice was 40 minutes on a Wednesday with no EMH for example. They also have a serious entry turnstyle problem. DL ADD MAGIC BANDS. It takes FOREVER for DL guests to enter the park. We waited 45 minutes on a non-EMH day at opening. Thats crazy. I wont linger here. I said my peace. To me MK is just much more magical. (They also need the vanilla swirl option in their Dolewhip).
4. Maxpass. I know people love the spontaneity Maxpass allows but I cant stand the fact that if you walk in at 9am and want to get a FP/MP for a popular ride(like RR or MB) you have to grab it right then, blocking you from booking any other FP/MPs for approximately 90 minutes. Thats its glaring flaw to me. You then have to either get in standby lines for something else or just kill time. Other than that its nice to stack them as the 90 minutes pass. But Id much prefer to pre book my 3 at 60 days, use them by 11am and then do the 4th FP for the rest of the day.
Other observations. The Bubble. We knows theres no bubble at Disneyland but hearing ambulances on the streets while waiting to board Small Word definitely sucks. It makes it feel much more like a day park than a vacation destination(which I guess is the truth). Cast Members. OH GOD THE CMs HERE. Ive heard that they aren't the same as WDW CMs, but man thats an understatement. From hearing CMs chat casually about their daily lives while operating a ride, to seeing fully dressed CMs walking to the bus in Downtown Disney, to multiple CMs just not knowing the answer to anything, they just are cut from a different cloth in WDW. Downtown Disney was very nice. i think the compact nature is actually a benefit here. We had several good meals here. We toured DLH which looks like another great option though nowhere near as grand as GC. Pacific Pier looked like a dump!
Overall a great great trip. As a Disney fan so glad we saw it. Would I fly from the east coast just for it again? Nope. But if we are in Socal again Id drop in just for DCA.
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