First time Disneyland Resort thoughts from WDW Veteran.

[gerilyne]

I'd love DL to get Magic Bands but not FP+.

Agreed. I liked the convenience of scanning to get into the park, into my room, for charging, etc. I don't mind FP+ at WDW but I would prefer to keep Maxpass at DLR.

 

[BillFraser29]

There is really no reason they cannot link ticket/Maxpass/hotel information to a Magic Band. Even AP's can link their account to a Magic Band and use the same band for as long as they want.

 

[Summer2018]

I liked DLR more than I expected to.

I can honestly say that the only disappointment about Disneyland was the castle being covered. I really wish that we got to see it, especially because Sleeping Beauty is my daughter's favorite princess and this was probably our one and only trip.

We loved the Disneyland Hotel. We loved the Disney design and decor. It reminded us a little of the Contemporary in WDW. We loved all of the Polynesian themed parts like Trader Sam's and Tangaroa Terrace. Our room was spacious and beautiful. The only negative was that the walls were paper thin. Otherwise, we loved our room in the Fantasy tower. Steakhouse 55 was great. Goofy's Kitchen was good food with awesome character interactions. Both times we were there (breakfast and dinner), we were seated near well-behaved older families. It wasn't chaotic like Chef Mickey's in WDW.

Being just steps away from Downtown Disney was spectacular. It was so convenient, and we ate and shopped there daily. The monorail was also steps away and brought us right into the middle of Disneyland. We loved Disneyland. We enjoyed riding rides that are no longer in WDW. The Haunted Mansion is way nicer in DL than WDW.

I did miss Magic Bands.

If we lived closer to California, we would go to DLR often.

 

[cinnaminny]

Ok, I will respond in order to your comments for simplicity sake:

1. It used to be a lot worse at the Grand Californian, but now that they require you to show your room key to enter from the street, it cut back a fair amount of this. Many of the people who are sleeping in the lobby are now people waiting for their rooms to be ready because Disney can't get their act together and get everyone's room ready by check in time. The Napa Rose breakfast is definitely not worth the price, I wouldn't even have suggested trying it, it is beyond CRT in price and you get even less bang for your buck. Best bang for your buck for character breakfasts is at Plaza Inn at Main Street.
2. Many of us locals have actually liked California Adventure, even from the beginning, yes it needed work back then, which is has received, but really many of us liked the different feel of the park. I know there were also a lot that didn't, but the work that has been done has been nothing short of spectacular.
3. While yes, wider walkways would be nice, we like the fact that our two parks combined have at least as many attractions (many times it is more) as all four parks at Disney World combined and given the substantially smaller amount of land to work with, that does indeed mean the attractions have to be closer together. CMs also tend to be a bit nicer at DL than WDW in my experience. As for the Matterhorn, it is quite literally the exact same track layout as Space Mountain at WDW, just the sides are flipped. Magicbands actually would be illegal in California, as they would violate state privacy laws due to the amount of tracking that they can do. It doesn't matter if they actually do track, but the ability is there and California would not permit that, especially since credit cards, etc. can be linked to them. But they do not need Magicbands to switch to a fingerprint system, remember WDW had a fingerprint system long before Magicbands. Also, due to the location of the parks, they can't eliminate the turnstiles, as the homeless population and locals without tickets would overrun the entry gates in seconds.
4. I love the fact that I don't have to plan my FP around things, I simply get it when I decide I want to go on the attraction, there are very few attractions that run out of FPs at any point in the day, sometimes Gaurdians, Racers and very rarely Star Tours or Space.

As I said above, I tend to find the CMs much nicer and friendlier at Disneyland, but I do wish they would go back to the days where costumes couldn't leave Disney property, I don't like driving in and seeing CMs in costumes waiting for a bus, etc.

But you are right, Disneyland is indeed more of a day park for locals than a vacation destination for tourists and Disney needs to wise up to that fact and stop eliminating entertainment and other elements that keep the locals returning.

I did not realize that about the Magic Bands in California.

I also did not realize that about the Space Mountain/Matterhorn. I actually preferred Space Mountain in WDW and it makes sense that it is based on the Matterhorn track (that I love) and not the DL version of Space Mountain that hurts my neck! lol What a trip!

I also agree that people who frequent Disneyland love that there are so many attractions in two parks. We had our first Disney World trip last year and quite honestly, while I loved HS and (not so much) AK those are not full parks. I knew HS was getting more rides and going through a transition, but I didn't get AK at all. Its very spread out and I enjoyed a total of two rides there. Oh wait, three Everest, FOP and safari. I called it the Disney distraction park. It felt like it existed to help manage crowds in the other parks.

 

[DLgal]

I did not realize that about the Magic Bands in California.

I also did not realize that about the Space Mountain/Matterhorn. I actually preferred Space Mountain in WDW and it makes sense that it is based on the Matterhorn track (that I love) and not the DL version of Space Mountain that hurts my neck! lol What a trip!

I also agree that people who frequent Disneyland love that there are so many attractions in two parks. We had our first Disney World trip last year and quite honestly, while I loved HS and (not so much) AK those are not full parks. I knew HS was getting more rides and going through a transition, but I didn't get AK at all. Its very spread out and I enjoyed a total of two rides there. Oh wait, three Everest, FOP and safari. I called it the Disney distraction park. It felt like it existed to help manage crowds in the other parks.

Yeah, I don't think the Space Mtn/Matterhorn comparison is accurate at all. I just rode both rides within a week of each other and they are nothing alike in terms of track layout.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Can anyone give a source for the 80% locals, 20% tourists statistic?

The numbers I hear tossed out most often (even by people at TDA) is around 60% APs (so assumed locals) and 40% day tickets (so assumed non-locals). I think the numbers you are quoting are a possible mix up of the standard Christmas Week stats (also used by TDA) of 80% day tickets and 20% APs (because the overwhelming majority of passholders are blocked out that week).

And add us to the list of local APs who spend $$$ in the parks. And add many, many of our friends! When you add up the money spent on TS meals at least once a week (dance night + date night) in the parks, DTD, or one of the hotels, character meals for groups, merchandise (personal, gifts, collectibles, etc.), hotels, APs for us and tickets for friends/relatives (and there is no AP discount on tickets), parking each visit for APs without that perk, hard ticket events, etc., the total per year is in the tens of thousands, minimum, per family. Most of us aren't wealthy. As other posters have said, DLR is where we choose to spend our disposable income.

 

[cruisehopeful]

Thank you for your review of your trip. I have only been to WDW once. I keep thinking I'd like to go back, but I live on the west coast and I don't like to leave my timezone. I've had dozens of visits to DL. I think you made a fair and reasonable assessment of what it is like. I've been enough to have had everything from the best possible day to the worst possible day there. Although, I do believe that like you, I'd always prefer my regular park, which is DL.

 

[ninergrl6]

I wonder if they would consider separate lines for returning guests vs first time entry? Of course it would have to be clearly marked and maybe need some CM assistance to make sure people were in the correct line.

I've been hoping for this! Or separate line(s) for pass holders who don't need to do the picture thing. I think it would be a great improvement.

 

[smartlabelprint]

You did it wrong, then. I had an out of state friend come visit last August and we spent 3 days in the parks and never waited more than 20 min in a standby line, and did all the major rides several times. You need to stack the Maxpasses by getting the next one with the earliest time and just go from one fastpass entrance to the next, to the next. When you want to do a headliner, you grab it and then find the rides with the lowest waits and do those for 90 minutes. It's not hard. You also have to know about and use single rider lines to your advantage. There are several at DL and DCA (way more than WDW has).

We used at least 10-15 maxpasses each day, easy. At WDW 2 weeks ago, even using refresh and the 4th FP, we never did more than about 6 FP rides. The issue with the revolving 4th and having to wait until you ride that one to get another was a hindrence when the only return times were late at night.

That’s the hard thing about Disneyland—you learn the ebbs and flows of ride waits. The occasional visitor will probably never experience how good it is and just not want to come back like OP haha! Like, I know to never get in line for pirates when it’s out the door; if I wait another 10 minutes the line will go down. I know when to get a fp for big thunder. I know which rides I don’t like and will never go on. Etc etc. I only go once a year but that experience adds up.

I also wasn’t too good with maxpass until the 2nd trip I used it.
——-

 

[smartlabelprint]

We're coming from states away for the first time this year and are staying 5 days. It's definitely a vacation destination for us! We also chose DLR over WDW due to cost, convenience and walkability, and I am nowhere near ready to figure out FastPass+, lol. I guess we are lucky that our son us up by 6:00 am every day, so rope drop won't be an issue; though he also goes to bed early and we will miss all of the evening shows as a result. Ces't la vie.

One idea... one parent stays in the park for some big kid rides. Haha! At least that’s what we do.

 

[smartlabelprint]

I liked DLR more than I expected to.

I can honestly say that the only disappointment about Disneyland was the castle being covered. I really wish that we got to see it, especially because Sleeping Beauty is my daughter's favorite princess and this was probably our one and only trip.

We loved the Disneyland Hotel. We loved the Disney design and decor. It reminded us a little of the Contemporary in WDW. We loved all of the Polynesian themed parts like Trader Sam's and Tangaroa Terrace. Our room was spacious and beautiful. The only negative was that the walls were paper thin. Otherwise, we loved our room in the Fantasy tower. Steakhouse 55 was great. Goofy's Kitchen was good food with awesome character interactions. Both times we were there (breakfast and dinner), we were seated near well-behaved older families. It wasn't chaotic like Chef Mickey's in WDW.

Being just steps away from Downtown Disney was spectacular. It was so convenient, and we ate and shopped there daily. The monorail was also steps away and brought us right into the middle of Disneyland. We loved Disneyland. We enjoyed riding rides that are no longer in WDW. The Haunted Mansion is way nicer in DL than WDW.

I did miss Magic Bands.

If we lived closer to California, we would go to DLR often.

I’m sad to hear the walls are paper thin. We’re staying there on our trip this winter.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I've been hoping for this! Or separate line(s) for pass holders who don't need to do the picture thing. I think it would be a great improvement.

We've had AP Only lines in the past -- Fail! People cannot deal with the concept that AP Only really means ONLY passholders and not all their family and friends who want to tag along into a faster moving line.

 

[VandVsmama]

I’m sad to hear the walls are paper thin. We’re staying there on our trip this winter.

That's easily remedied by using a white noise app on your smart phone.

 

[cinnaminny]

That's easily remedied by using a white noise app on your smart phone.

I need to get this.

 

[DLgal]

I’m sad to hear the walls are paper thin. We’re staying there on our trip this winter.

I haven't ever thought that about the DLH. Stayed there 3 times. Never heard a thing from a neighboring room.

 

[dieumeye]

I haven't ever though that about the DLH. Stayed there 3 times. Never heard a thing from a neighboring room.

Also have stayed many times, most recently Fantasy Tower this past March, and I have never experienced any noise/thin wall issues either.

 

[smartlabelprint]

That's easily remedied by using a white noise app on your smart phone.

I already have one downloaded. Didn’t think to use it. It’s “for the kids”. Lol

 

[DizMe]

Also have stayed many times, most recently Fantasy Tower this past March, and I have never experienced any noise/thin wall issues either.

Another who has never experienced this. I've stayed in all 3 towers multiple times and never had noise issues. I mean, you hear a little sometimes, but nothing like what I get in the motels across the street.