MNDisneyMommy
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2015
We were at Disneyland Tue-Thurs last week. It was our first trip to Disneyland, and we're WDW vets. Trip was me, husband, our two kids (5 and 7) and my MIL (who was a real trooper!). Plan going in was Tue DLR Tomorrowland & west side of park, with Galaxy's Edge at night. Wed CA. Thurs DLR Fantasyland/Toontown, and re-rides in either park. I wanted to share some thoughts we had in case it helps any other WDWers prep better. 
*Feeling. Two big areas here - the Bubble and Compression. We missed the WDW Bubble feeling - you put that Magic Band on at the airport, and from there you're free of real life and we're in a different world. At DLR, on our morning walk a block to the parks, the panhandlers while we waited for the light to turn at Harbor, the cast members in their clearly identifiable ride uniforms eating their breakfast sandwich or lunch walking next to us, etc. - it all is real life there right in your face. And then the feeling of Compression. DLR overall was a shorter trip, in a smaller area. Nice for walking distance, not so nice when its a low crowd day and you can barely walk around the park in the evening due to crowds. The queues are compressed (very small, very snug). Things are much closer, but that also means people are closer, walls are closer, everything is more snug feeling.
*Food. Quick Service at Disneyland was SO much better than at WDW. We were very glad we didn't book any ADRs for table service, since we had some really fantastic meals that would have been TS level at WDW. Since we were there for a shorter time, we were happy not to spend 1.5 hours eating as well. It felt weird not to book TS, but we were happy we did for DLR. Also, those Churros are just as good as everyone says they are, and Mobile Order is your friend.
*Parks. California Adventure - we really loved the entire place. The rides were great, the lands were great, just overall - definitely our favorite. We could have spent a lot more time there re-riding our favorites. My thrill-ride loving husband and daughter loved the Incredicoaster. Both kids loved the Pixar Pier area. I really liked the lands, it was a great park, and I wish I had planned more time for us there. Disneyland. I was most excited for Disneyland before we arrived. This was Walt's original vision! But once we got in, the history didn't really come through for us. Maybe we should have done a tour. While we liked New Orleans Square, Indiana Jones, and especially the Haunted Mansion overlay a TON, the rest of what was different just felt...different. I was initially really excited about all the new-to-us Fantasyland rides, but honestly, most were just weird (I'm looking at you, Mr Toad and Snow White) and the kids didn't want to re-ride any of them. I liked a few things, didn't like others - it was a mixed bag. I think we couldn't help but compare DLR rides to their WDW equivalents whereas at CA everything got to stand on it's own. Also, we were prepared that the castle was smaller...but... I mean, it's really small. The pink castle part (above the "stone" foundation) is probably shorter than my 3-level house. That was rough, even with the expectation in advance I just didn't think it was really THAT small.
*Weather at DLR wins hands down. If it was 95 degrees at WDW we'd be utterly miserable, sticky, yucky. At DLR it was 95 but so dry we were out walking around, we even ate meals outside in the shade because in the shade it was pretty decent! And when the sun went down it cooled off right away, it was so pleasant. When the kids school schedules mean we have to go in August, we're totally going DLR.
*Hoppers. We didn't need park hoppers. We got them because the parks were so close we figured on day 3 we would be hopping. Well, with the halloween party we only used the hopper once. Not worth the premium for this trip.
*Maxpass vs WDW Fastpass. Definitely pros and cons both ways here. We really benefited that Maxpass allows stacked FPs - at one point when we got back in the evening we did: RSR, Big Thunder, Splash, Haunted Mansion, Indiana, then Space - all in a row, no downtime, all with FPs. You'd never be able to do that at WDW!! Also, the lack of magic bands helped - my husband (who was the only one who wanted to do Guardians and Incredicoaster) easily used FP booked for others. However - we had several gripes with it, mostly that it didn't seem to provide as much of a benefit in terms of front of the line type access (line to scan in, then FP lines merge with standby a lot earleir it seemed, so we often waited a good 10 minutes to ride even with FP). Also, even though I studied quite a lot, it was still pretty complicated to make decisions on the fly all day and keep track of return times and rebooking times especially once we starting splitting into smaller groups. Also, we take afternoon breaks, so there were time periods I was booking and then re-booking to try to make sure I hit the right time window or not booking something at all because none of the return times were late enough. I'd definitely recommend any WDW folks do their homework on Maxpass and FP rules at DLR! Husband prefers the WDW way of getting the planning done in advance. I'm OK with either, but it was complexity during the day of, that's for sure.
*Photopass. We got so few pictures. It was a bummer. The very few photographers that were around always had huge lines (like at least 5-7 families deep). At WDW we only stop when we see someone open, and we end up with tons of pics. Also for ride pics you have to enter the code - and its a long one - we missed getting one due to timing before we realized that was why everyone was taking a picture of the picture (to enter the code later).
*Characters. Roaming characters doing things was fun to watch. But, my kids didn't understand why Cinderella only walked with that one girl, or why they couldn't get their picture with Chewie. We should have helped set expectations for them a little better on this front.
*Epcot/AK. We missed Epcot and AK more than I think we expected to. Hollywood studios felt "covered" by Guardians and RNR, but the others were not. We missed the Land/Seas at Epcot, and the entire AK thing (we love animals...)
*Galaxy's Edge. This was also our first Galaxy's Edge experience. Theming was great, the Falcon ride was cool, but there just wasn't much to DO there. I got a survey after our second day at Disneyland, where we clearly re-rode a bunch of other rides using FP, but we didn't go back up there... it was basically asking WHY we didn't go back. Once we saw the ships, watched Chewie try to fix one, shopped, did the ride, shopped again, did Oga's, and got our pic in front of a ship...it just didn't feel like there was anything else worth going back for to see again. If we had a FP for Falcon maybe we'd have gone back up...but wasn't going to wait another 35-40 minutes for it. I mean, I have a bunch of Porgs, we own all the movies in multiple editions, and my husband's favorite IP is Star Wars. We should be the folks who want to be there for hours. But we were there for less than two, and we wanted to go to New Orleans Square again more than Galaxy's Edge. I'm hoping on our next WDW trip that the second ride makes the difference, but it just wasn't everything we hoped for. We rode Star Tours FIVE times on this trip. MF once.
Overall, we are glad we went. We think we'll get there maybe once every 3-5 years. Next time we'll try to use our DVC points to stay at the Grand Cal (maybe help some of the bubble feeling), and plan for more time at CA. And less time seeing other sights in LA, since we did a day and a half of other things and besides the La Brea Tar Pits the kids would have rather just been in the pool.
*Feeling. Two big areas here - the Bubble and Compression. We missed the WDW Bubble feeling - you put that Magic Band on at the airport, and from there you're free of real life and we're in a different world. At DLR, on our morning walk a block to the parks, the panhandlers while we waited for the light to turn at Harbor, the cast members in their clearly identifiable ride uniforms eating their breakfast sandwich or lunch walking next to us, etc. - it all is real life there right in your face. And then the feeling of Compression. DLR overall was a shorter trip, in a smaller area. Nice for walking distance, not so nice when its a low crowd day and you can barely walk around the park in the evening due to crowds. The queues are compressed (very small, very snug). Things are much closer, but that also means people are closer, walls are closer, everything is more snug feeling.
*Food. Quick Service at Disneyland was SO much better than at WDW. We were very glad we didn't book any ADRs for table service, since we had some really fantastic meals that would have been TS level at WDW. Since we were there for a shorter time, we were happy not to spend 1.5 hours eating as well. It felt weird not to book TS, but we were happy we did for DLR. Also, those Churros are just as good as everyone says they are, and Mobile Order is your friend.
*Parks. California Adventure - we really loved the entire place. The rides were great, the lands were great, just overall - definitely our favorite. We could have spent a lot more time there re-riding our favorites. My thrill-ride loving husband and daughter loved the Incredicoaster. Both kids loved the Pixar Pier area. I really liked the lands, it was a great park, and I wish I had planned more time for us there. Disneyland. I was most excited for Disneyland before we arrived. This was Walt's original vision! But once we got in, the history didn't really come through for us. Maybe we should have done a tour. While we liked New Orleans Square, Indiana Jones, and especially the Haunted Mansion overlay a TON, the rest of what was different just felt...different. I was initially really excited about all the new-to-us Fantasyland rides, but honestly, most were just weird (I'm looking at you, Mr Toad and Snow White) and the kids didn't want to re-ride any of them. I liked a few things, didn't like others - it was a mixed bag. I think we couldn't help but compare DLR rides to their WDW equivalents whereas at CA everything got to stand on it's own. Also, we were prepared that the castle was smaller...but... I mean, it's really small. The pink castle part (above the "stone" foundation) is probably shorter than my 3-level house. That was rough, even with the expectation in advance I just didn't think it was really THAT small.
*Weather at DLR wins hands down. If it was 95 degrees at WDW we'd be utterly miserable, sticky, yucky. At DLR it was 95 but so dry we were out walking around, we even ate meals outside in the shade because in the shade it was pretty decent! And when the sun went down it cooled off right away, it was so pleasant. When the kids school schedules mean we have to go in August, we're totally going DLR.
*Hoppers. We didn't need park hoppers. We got them because the parks were so close we figured on day 3 we would be hopping. Well, with the halloween party we only used the hopper once. Not worth the premium for this trip.
*Maxpass vs WDW Fastpass. Definitely pros and cons both ways here. We really benefited that Maxpass allows stacked FPs - at one point when we got back in the evening we did: RSR, Big Thunder, Splash, Haunted Mansion, Indiana, then Space - all in a row, no downtime, all with FPs. You'd never be able to do that at WDW!! Also, the lack of magic bands helped - my husband (who was the only one who wanted to do Guardians and Incredicoaster) easily used FP booked for others. However - we had several gripes with it, mostly that it didn't seem to provide as much of a benefit in terms of front of the line type access (line to scan in, then FP lines merge with standby a lot earleir it seemed, so we often waited a good 10 minutes to ride even with FP). Also, even though I studied quite a lot, it was still pretty complicated to make decisions on the fly all day and keep track of return times and rebooking times especially once we starting splitting into smaller groups. Also, we take afternoon breaks, so there were time periods I was booking and then re-booking to try to make sure I hit the right time window or not booking something at all because none of the return times were late enough. I'd definitely recommend any WDW folks do their homework on Maxpass and FP rules at DLR! Husband prefers the WDW way of getting the planning done in advance. I'm OK with either, but it was complexity during the day of, that's for sure.
*Photopass. We got so few pictures. It was a bummer. The very few photographers that were around always had huge lines (like at least 5-7 families deep). At WDW we only stop when we see someone open, and we end up with tons of pics. Also for ride pics you have to enter the code - and its a long one - we missed getting one due to timing before we realized that was why everyone was taking a picture of the picture (to enter the code later).
*Characters. Roaming characters doing things was fun to watch. But, my kids didn't understand why Cinderella only walked with that one girl, or why they couldn't get their picture with Chewie. We should have helped set expectations for them a little better on this front.
*Epcot/AK. We missed Epcot and AK more than I think we expected to. Hollywood studios felt "covered" by Guardians and RNR, but the others were not. We missed the Land/Seas at Epcot, and the entire AK thing (we love animals...)
*Galaxy's Edge. This was also our first Galaxy's Edge experience. Theming was great, the Falcon ride was cool, but there just wasn't much to DO there. I got a survey after our second day at Disneyland, where we clearly re-rode a bunch of other rides using FP, but we didn't go back up there... it was basically asking WHY we didn't go back. Once we saw the ships, watched Chewie try to fix one, shopped, did the ride, shopped again, did Oga's, and got our pic in front of a ship...it just didn't feel like there was anything else worth going back for to see again. If we had a FP for Falcon maybe we'd have gone back up...but wasn't going to wait another 35-40 minutes for it. I mean, I have a bunch of Porgs, we own all the movies in multiple editions, and my husband's favorite IP is Star Wars. We should be the folks who want to be there for hours. But we were there for less than two, and we wanted to go to New Orleans Square again more than Galaxy's Edge. I'm hoping on our next WDW trip that the second ride makes the difference, but it just wasn't everything we hoped for. We rode Star Tours FIVE times on this trip. MF once.
Overall, we are glad we went. We think we'll get there maybe once every 3-5 years. Next time we'll try to use our DVC points to stay at the Grand Cal (maybe help some of the bubble feeling), and plan for more time at CA. And less time seeing other sights in LA, since we did a day and a half of other things and besides the La Brea Tar Pits the kids would have rather just been in the pool.
