Disney Trip (June 22 through June 25)

[Mousekateer55]

Over the next four days, I will write my Disneyland Trip Report. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza.

June 22

Upon entering town from the east at around 4 pm, the first thing we see is California Screamin'. Soon after we can see the Sun Wheel, Maliboomer and Grizzly Peak. Then the Disneyland Mountain Range comes into view.

Downtown Disney
Left hotel for shuttle at around 6 pm. Went through the World of Disney store and the LEGO store. The World of Disney store has everything Disney possible. We also saw a giant hat near the Disneyland Hotel that looked like the one being built in Florida.

 

[Mousekateer55]

June 23

Disney's California Adventure
Upon getting to the park at 8:15 am, we bought our two-day passes to the parks. Then we waited in line for the parks to open up. After about two minutes (about 8:30 am), they opened up the gates. The first thing we went towards was the ride Soarin' over California. After less than a five-minute wait, we were able to get on the ride with front row seats. The ride is very innovative (I'd say one of Disney's best rides). The only negative thing about the ride was that the purfumes of pine did not leave the theater very fast. After getting off the ride (it is about 8:55 am), we went over towards Grizzly River Run where they told us that only Soarin' was open. The rest of the park opened at 9:00 am and we were able to get fastpass for the river raft ride. We went to Paradise Pier next where there were no lines. We rode Mulholland Madness (a very jerky mad mouse roller coaster), Jumpin Jellyfish (a mild parachute drop ride) and Orange Stinger (a swing ride). We also did the Sun Wheel and the California Screamin and went back to Grizzly River Run.

 

[Mousekateer55]

Sorry about leaving you guys hanging. I will finish my opinion of the DCA park later but I would like to compare DCA to the other and upcoming Disney parks:

Magic Kingdoms--Many lands and some carnival rides. Also the Superstar Limo would somewhat fit into the Magic Kingdom. There is a caroussel, too.

EPCOT--Lots of shows. Areas of one part of the park are divided into "ghettos." There is also a major bay.

Disney Studios--The Hollywood area of the park especially the Disney Animation and Muppet Vision 3D. Also California Screamin is similar to Rock'n'Rollercoaster.

Animal Kingdom--It's Tough to Be a Bug and a river rapids ride. Also the camp area.

DisneySea--The Jumpin Jellyfish ride and the nautical setting of the Paradise Pier section.

 

[Mousekateer55]

Grizzly River Run was a lot better than Kali River Rapids (e.g. not about protecting trees) and had theming similar to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. At lunch time, we made our way over to Hollywood & Dine. I did not eat (I had a big breakfast plus some granola bars) and went on the Superstar Limo ride by myself. The ride is real corny, yet at the same time it was somewhat interesting. Then I rode it again with my family. This time there was a line of about five minutes (instead of 0 minutes) and we got really annoyed by the fake Joan Rivers. Next we went to Muppet Vision 3D (no need for fastpasses even though we used them)--nothing new. Then we went to the show in the Hyperion Theater. Disney spent a lot of money on nothing. By the way, the Millionaire attraction was pratically built while we were there. Next we went to the Disney Animation place. I spent an hour there. It is very nicely done. If you have a favorite Disney character it is there. Then we went to It's Tough to Be a Bug (once again fastpass is not needed, but we used it). Nothing new here.

 

[Mousekateer55]

Anybody still reading this?

We then checked out the winery (I had some grape JELL-O) and did the two tours. After going through Paradise Pier for a second time (by the way, the Golden Zephyr was closed for most of the day due to "high winds"), my older brother and my Mom went back to the hotel. Then my Dad, my younger sister, and I explored the Bay Area/Pacific Wharf. We went on some more rides before catching the show Golden Dreams. After that we went on Superstar Limo (once again no wait) and waited for the rest of the family to show up. By this time, the rapids ride had been closed down for most of the day and had just started up and Soarin over California was out of fastpasses. The family then explored Paradise Pier for a fourth time, ate dinner, and caught a last ride at Soarin.

 

[roypar]

hey mouskateer55,

loved reading your posts. I just got back from WDW, and I wanted to check out the millionaire
game over there in Dis/MGM, but the rest of my family didn't want to go. I got even more
bummed when a cm told me you could win pins, t-shirts, buttons, and if you reach a million
points you could win a trip to New York to see the show. Anyways, I noticed you said the
millionaire game was practically built while you were there. Is it the same one as they have in
WDW. I live 40 minutes away from Disneyland, and I was going to buy an AP for both parks,
and if they do build one there at CaliAdventure, then I might practically be there everyday
until I win that trip to New York! I'm hoping they build ToT there too. That was my favorite
ride at WDW.

 

[Mousekateer55]

It is going to be about as similar as it can be. It appears that the one in DCA is very large (I don't know how big the one is in the Studios, but I know it holds 600). This one will probably be able to hold as many people if not more. For prizes, I don't know what Disney is planning to do.

 

[Mousekateer55]

June 24

Disneyland
After arriving to the park a few minutes after opening time (the shuttle was real slow), we entered through the gates. I took the tickets to get Fastpass tickets for Indy while the rest of my family went to Big Thunder Mountain. The fastpass machine was not working at Indy so I got 5 single rider tickets (Just ask for them there. You can ride anytime, you enter through the exit) and then went to get fastpass for Pirates of the Carribbean. The whole left side of the park was deserted (everybody goes to Toontown, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland upon entering). After catching up with my family, we rode BTMRR without any line. We then ran over to the Haunted Mansion (I don't remember it being that scary) which had no wait either. We then used our fastpass tickets on Pirates (very nicely done) and were able to get right on a boat. We then rode Indiana Jones Adventure which is like Dinosaur but far superior. After exiting we got some more single rider coupons to use at a later time.

 

[Mousekateer55]

Then we caught the train over to Tommorowland. My Mom and my brother went back to New Orleans Square for lunch, while my sister and I ate at the Red Rocket's Pizza Port. Then we got fastpass tickets for Autopia, went on Honey I Shrunk the Audience. We then finished Tommorowland rides up with the rest of my family including rides on Star Tours and Spaceship Mountain. We then moved over to Fantasyland before leaving the park to go to church.

 

[DonnaS]

We're just back ourselves. I agree with you 100% about Grizzly River Run and Mulholland Madness (I think I still have bruises from it )but can not believe that someone road SuperStar Limo three times LOL.

We loved Soarin' and didn't have a problem with any of the scents. Our absolute favorite was California Screamin' which you barely mentioned. It is such a smooth ride.

 

[Marla Hellwig]

We will be doing DL and DCA in mid August - can't wait. Thanks for posting!