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Posted

Had a great day at Disneyland yesterday. Thanks a bunch @mdmost and @CooterBrown. Great advice. Very different vibes vs Orlando. 

Bummed again that we didn't get to see HM even with the overlay but we really liked seeing some of the different versions of the rides and I think we all liked seeing new to us stuff, too, even if it was as silly as the Pinocchio ride. I felt like Peter Pan and Space Mountain were definitely shorter than their counterparts at MK. We liked the DL version of Pirates better, and I felt like it was longer. The queue definitely not as cool but I thought the boats at waist level in the queue and going around the restaurant were cool. Oh and I love LOVED the Nemo submarine. I didn't know they had kept 20000 leagues going in DL. It was really nostalgic for me, I hadn't ridden it in 25 years and it was a favorite of mine when I was a kid. 

Rope drop strategy was great except those of us who headed straight to Space were rejected as it wasn't operational yet for some reason. We hit the Matterhorn and then back to Space which just opened, then there was already a 45 min wait for Indy so we skipped and then did Big Thunder. Forgot to hit pirates and went to Fantasyland and knocked out damn near everything there by 11. Rode some more stuff, got lucky with a LL timeslot for Indy as it was already booking out to 10:30 around 2:30. The boy and I stayed until about 3, the girls wanted to watch the parade and he wanted to go to the gym. Gym and tacos from a random local place and then we meet back up with them around 6.

Holy hell they don't mess around with security at Disneyland. Checkpoints just to get into Downtown Disney (no ticket required) and those guards were checking every pocket of every bag and stroller. I've been to a Superbowl and I've never seen screenings that tight. Anyway after we got through we criss crossed the park with LL reservations until about 9:30 when my son tapped out because the girls wanted to watch the fireworks. We walked back and my daughter was determined to stay until close and my wife was kind enough to oblige since I was whipped.

2 nights prior I got a flat tire running over something on the 405 in the rental so that was fun, and on Saturday we had to drive to San Bernardino to see my crazy BIL. 

Friday we did all the LA tourist stuff which was a blast (other than the flat). Today we drove to Laguna/Newport beaches and then flew back to Phoenix this evening. Back to Detroit on Wednesday. 

Obligatory 'seems like it was just yesterday' (it really does) IMG_20240729_210419.thumb.jpg.c3f7cbd19fcb586811521af43e9dcfbc.jpgIMG_20240729_210428.thumb.jpg.ae6758ae9026994a53bc42059d7f3461.jpg'

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Posted (edited)

Thrilled you guys had a great time. I remembered you were going after I returned from my bike ride Sunday morning. I went to the app around 11am and wondered why Indy was such a long wait and a long Genie+ returned time. Makes sense if Space Mountain went down. People then headed straight to Indy. I believe you are correct that SM is a shorter ride at DLR. It's also not as cool except for the ride loading area with the large spaceship inside. I love the queues of the WDW version, especially the exit queue. Matterhorn and WDW SM are similar rides with the 3 seat cars and two distinct ride tracks. When I looked it feels like you went on about the best day you could for low waits. It really pays to go on those blackout days for passholders. California Adventure appeared to be really crowded which makes sense with the early entry being solely for that park on Sunday.

I do love Haunted Mansion but honestly WDW is the better of the two. I will give the nod to DLR on the proper placement of the Hatbox Ghost and the stretching room actually being an elevator as it takes you to an area that places you underneath the train tracks over to the ride building. HM is my #1 ride in both parks. Pirates is definitely better at DLR. Longer and the boat ride through the restaurant is great.

I hear you on security. We went the week after Uvalde and it really felt nice to go somewhere that we felt was completely safe. We always chuckle as it appears we always pick the wrong line and get the most thorough security person who takes apart our bags. 

The oldest daughter and I always try to stay till close on our final night. We've done it every trip since she was 8. Wife and younger daughter usually watch the night parade or fireworks and then head off to bed. We also once did the after hours Halloween Party at WDW on our final night for the sole purpose of allowing her to beat her previous record of 7 rides on Space Mountain with 8...in a row. I was ready to vomit by about ride 6. Cue Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon. Still man, it's just so amazing to see your ever growing teens turn back into little kids at Disney. People tend to shit on repeat visitors to Disney but it's one of a few places where all 4 of us can go and there's something fun for everyone. It's like Thanksgiving lunch where everyone can get that special something made for them. I wouldn't trade it for the world and I can't wait to take them and their families as they get to that point in the future. 

Edited by mdmost
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Posted

Yeah I can't put my finger on exactly what it is, and I know it's not for everybody, but something about Disney just leaves me feeling good, and I know it is like that for my kids and wife, too. I'm sure it's the propaganda. 😂 But damn if it doesn't work. The customer experience is superb, as well. 

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted (edited)

I saw some on Twitter this morning. Villains Land looks interesting. Cars Land would go behind Big Thunder I guess and yeah it makes no sense. Maybe call it Americana instead of Frontierland. It won't top Cars Land in CA. The new Avengers ride in CA looks good. I'm glad this is all shovel ready stuff and not more blue sky stuff that won't happen. The additions to Animal Kingdom are fine. I'm not a big fan of that park to begin with. I was hoping they'd do something with Tomorrowland in DLR like adding back the People Mover. The Walt Animatronic looks interesting. We're going next June so I wonder if it will be ready by then. I guess we'll make some plans for 2028 when all of the WDW stuff is supposed to be done but who knows if we'll return by then.

There is already a rumor that The Rivers of America, Tom Sawyer Island, and the Liberty Belle Riverboat are all gone with this addition new addition. I hate that simply because it's okay to just have something easy for people to sit down and coast around on like the train vs. more IP. Plus it breaks the lands up and creates a better more natural flow between those lands. I'm glad DLR won't give in to that. It's hilarious to me that a park built with that much space is going to tear down existing parts. Just expand out as much as you can. I thought the whole idea was to not be so landlocked. 

Edited by mdmost
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Posted

Yeah the more they do to WDW, the happier I am with going to just DLR from now on. I'm sure we'll eventually make it over when the Villains part opens but it's all just too much of a beating now.

Posted

Magic kingdom has to compete with universal studios Orlando who’s going hard in the paint.I’ve been to MK each of the last 4 years, haven’t entertained the idea of going on the riverboat or TSI so this doesn’t really effect me. Nostalgia wise I can see people not liking it. Surprised they couldn’t do anything with tomorrow land speedway. Biggest waste of real estate on property

I truly can’t wait to see monsters Inc ride. But hope it doesn’t come without taking out star tours or muppets 3D. Maybe the battle star galactica hotel. That ride is going to be awesome

Posted (edited)

Wife and I watched a video on the new lands and how you remove Rivers of America to add them. Basically, everything that's a "new land" is just tearing down RoA and putting the new land on it. So you're not getting a vast new expansion, you're just getting a replacement. Whereas Universal is building a grand new park from the ground up. Disney is taking the cheaper way out and just tearing down and building on top of old space. So instead of Villains Land being a giant land, it's going to be somewhat compact to keep it under the footprint of the upper half of the RoA which is only about 8-9 acres. New Fantasyland was 12 acres. Now, RoA and Tom Sawyer's Island is a big space but it's all going to feel just crammed together...in a park that was supposed to have tons of space and not feel as compact as Disneyland. Honestly, it makes me just want to reward Universal for innovation when Epic Universe opens. There is available space beyond the Rivers of America. Disney just wants to pay less to develop new IP lands. I get it from a ROI standpoint but it just feels cheap. 

Edited by mdmost
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Posted

I read a tweet yesterday from a some professor explaining how the roa is basically separated from 7 seas lagoon by a lock and the basin of roa is rotting away to the point of it not being worth fixing anymore. Can’t find it anymore

Posted

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/disney-says-man-cant-sue-wifes-death-agreed-disney-terms-service-rcna166594

Quote

 

Disney is trying to have a widower's wrongful death lawsuit dismissed and sent to arbitration because the man had signed up for a Disney+ account several years ago.

Jeffrey J. Piccolo sued Disney Parks and Resorts in February, months after his wife, Dr. Kanokporn Tangsuan, died after she consumed food containing allergens at a restaurant in Disney World.

Piccolo said in his complaint that he, his wife and his mother went to dinner at Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant at the resort in Orlando, Florida, on Oct. 5. They asked several times whether Tangsuan's allergies could be accommodated, according to the complaint. Despite the server’s having assured them, Tangsuan had a severe allergic reaction and died at a local hospital, the complaint said.

Talk about a horribad PR move.

Posted

No, I think they're not going to offer it initially like Universal Hollywood didn't offer Express for Mario Land. You can get in an hour early if you stay onsite. You have to pay for that at Hollywood since they don't have a hotel onsite. 

I would imagine if we go there, it would be in the fall of 2025 on a long DISD Fair Day weekend so we could also take advantage of the Horror Nights at the other park. Just need that stop aligning with Texas OU weekend like it does this year. 

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  • 2 months later...
Posted

Disney Cruise next week. Is there going to be a sports bar on this cruise ship where I can watch the Texas/a&m game?

I guess it really doesn't matter as I can't do anything about it, but I would at least be prepared mentally...and more importantly, my wife will be prepared for my negativity.

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Posted

I believe there's always a bar on the ships but I'm not totally sure. If your room has a TV, I would bring an Apple TV, Roku, or Firestick and use their wifi to stream the game on the ESPN.com app. 

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Posted

Going to DL for the first time in over 40 years. Career has us in Phoenix so we will drive with it being under 6 hours. It will be the 37th anniversary of our first date and with relocating 3 times in the last 4 years our first couple’s vacation in a few years.

Reading mdmost it seems like 3 days of park tickets maybe overkill. But it is what I’ve been thinking being used to WDW.

Restaurants/meals. At WDW we always did a nice TS at lunch after hitting rope drop and mixed QS and TS for dinner. Seems like TS for dinner is the better way at DL.

Likely to stay on property so choosing between the Grand and DL hotel.

Evening light-show/fireworks advice? Dinner package?

Posted
7 minutes ago, ShaggyBevo RIP said:

Going to DL for the first time in over 40 years. Career has us in Phoenix so we will drive with it being under 6 hours. It will be the 37th anniversary of our first date and with relocating 3 times in the last 4 years our first couple’s vacation in a few years.

Reading mdmost it seems like 3 days of park tickets maybe overkill. But it is what I’ve been thinking being used to WDW.

Restaurants/meals. At WDW we always did a nice TS at lunch after hitting rope drop and mixed QS and TS for dinner. Seems like TS for dinner is the better way at DL.

Likely to stay on property so choosing between the Grand and DL hotel.

Evening light-show/fireworks advice? Dinner package?

Grand California has a private entrance right into California Adventure right by the pool.  I've never stayed onsite but if I did, I would stay there.

Posted
5 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

Grand California has a private entrance right into California Adventure right by the pool.  I've never stayed onsite but if I did, I would stay there.

We went in June and stayed at GC.  It’s very convenient, a nice hotel(not mind blowing) but it’s expensive.
 

 I don’t know if it was one off or the new practice but when CA had Magic Hour early park entry they didn’t queue in the park as has happened years gone by.  The line was wrapped all the way into the lobby and they didn’t start admitting till the time the park opened.  The previous day DL queued in the park for Magic Hour  after Main Street like in the past.  

 

Posted
On 11/22/2024 at 2:15 PM, ShaggyBevo RIP said:

Going to DL for the first time in over 40 years. Career has us in Phoenix so we will drive with it being under 6 hours. It will be the 37th anniversary of our first date and with relocating 3 times in the last 4 years our first couple’s vacation in a few years.

Reading mdmost it seems like 3 days of park tickets maybe overkill. But it is what I’ve been thinking being used to WDW.

Restaurants/meals. At WDW we always did a nice TS at lunch after hitting rope drop and mixed QS and TS for dinner. Seems like TS for dinner is the better way at DL.

Likely to stay on property so choosing between the Grand and DL hotel.

Evening light-show/fireworks advice? Dinner package?

I think 3 days is a good minimum unless you're just people who go with the flow. If you plan to hit everything, 3 is good. 2 can feel rushed. I would do DL, California Adventure, and DL again or DL + Dinner offsite. We usually do 1 day of hitting each with plans to go on all the rides we like and then the final day is just to take things easy and enjoy the park. 

TS meaning Trader Sam's? I would do it for dinner because it's pretty out of the way. If you're staying at the DL Hotel, it's right there. If you're coming from the parks, it's about a 10 minute walk. If you stay at DL or Grand CA, I'd imagine you'll get an easier time making reservations. We've never stayed onsite so I don't have much advice on that. Others really like Grand CA. We usually stay across Harbor at the Courtyard Theme Park Entrance since it has 2 queens, 2 bunk beds, and 2 showers for a much cheaper price. You'll get early entrance 30 minutes prior to opening but it's only a certain park on certain days. 

We like to do the Fantasmic dining package so you can have a dedicated place to watch but it's just luck of the draw on where you sit. Blue Bayou is decent. You get a place to go sit after the meal that's usually a great view. I think we did Cafe Orleans where you sit outside and watch after your meal is over. We enjoyed the World of Color dessert party but it's a lot of food but the view is great. 

Posted

Ah. Honestly I don’t find many of them to be can’t miss. We like Carnation Cafe for the outdoor seating. Blue Bayou has the cool interior that is the start of the Pirates ride.  The food is just okay. We do one of those two and then do quick service for the rest. But I would highly recommend Trader Sam’s at least for drinks. They also have decent food but the ambiance inside is great. Nothing really stands out as far as quick service. At CA, we did enjoy the Lamplight Lounge. Carthay Circle is cool to have drinks at. 

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

We booked probably our final Disneyland trip for a long while for August 2025. We had planned a longer trip for June where we'd be flying into Santa Barbara and do the Channel Islands before going to DLR. That had to be shortened due to my older daughter having a paid internship for most of the summer. We're just going to fly in and out of Orange County for 5 days. 

Posted
On 11/22/2024 at 2:24 PM, CooterBrown said:

Grand California has a private entrance right into California Adventure right by the pool.  I've never stayed onsite but if I did, I would stay there.

The Craftsman Grill right there at the pool is a great place to grab a drink and a pizza or something else off the menu.

Posted

We are heading to Disney 1/1-1/8 after having to cancel two years ago.  Bay Lake Tower.  I think we are all set, but still trying to figure out the lightning lane/fast pases, etc.  I thought I had to wait until the morning of each day we are there, but saw somethign else that says I can book 21 days out?  So confusing.  

Posted
We are heading to Disney 1/1-1/8 after having to cancel two years ago.  Bay Lake Tower.  I think we are all set, but still trying to figure out the lightning lane/fast pases, etc.  I thought I had to wait until the morning of each day we are there, but saw somethign else that says I can book 21 days out?  So confusing.  

It’s 7 days out. I haven’t used the new passes so I’m only educated on genie+, but from the gist of it: look at the rides that are separated tier 1 or 2. 1 will be traditional long wait rides. 2 will be shorter not as popular rides. Watch YouTube strategy videos so you have an idea of what’s going on. Check out ear scouts on YouTube, he’s got some updated videos with the new system I believe…he’s my goto since he has on screen graphics and good hints/tips.

From what I gather …make sure one of your early rides is a burner lightning lane. What that means is you hold UP TO 3 LLs on your account at all times. You can’t stack rides anymore, well no more than 3. When you book 7 days out you will reserve 1 tier 1 and 2 tier 2s. And with the burner(tea cup, barnstormer, figment, spaceship earth etc) AKA rides with a 5 min or less wait time right away in the morning, once you scan in and use a pre reserved LL(or your burner), you can add a second tier 1(popular ride) to your LL stash. Or if you’re park hopping you can start adding a ride from Epcot if you tapped into Magic kingdom or whatever
Posted (edited)

also forgot to add, the old genie+ days are what youre thinking about when it comes to getting up at 7am to do youre lightning lane reserving.

 

also i too stayed at Contemporary this past April. the walk from our room  in the Garden Wing to main street  USA took 15 minutes. from bay lake tower itll probably be 10. Including ticket entry and security. The walk path to MK has its own security, and its awesome. You dont get your own private ticket entrance, you still use the public one. Contemporary security also seemed to be more chill than the public security so if you have a stroller with cooler, bags etc...theyre not as keen about searching you. the public one seems like TSA.

we had reservations for Chef Mickeys but didnt find time to squeeze it in, we were trying to cut down on character meals since its $240 a meal. Contempo cafe has some pretty decent food for quick service. And it doesnt cost an arm/leg, for disney standards. I had the Chicago italian beef sub a few times. Also we mobiled ordered on the way back to the room  a couple pizzas to be picked up after park hours and those were clutch, waiting for us to just grab off the shelf and head to the room. 

I'll be honest with you, if you have your own vehicle...dont use the monorail coming back from Epcot when you go for luminous unless youre drunk then use the monorail. Its a shit show, and im not sure if youre familiar with the monorail route. epcot>TTC(get off to board the resort monorail)>polynesian>grand floridian>magic kingdom>contemporary.  shit takes forever(35-45 min).  at hollywood you share buses with wilderness lodge guests after fantasmic. not sure about animal kingdom, we usually drive to AK every time we go

Edited by MNLonghornFUKM
Posted
Chef Mickey's is great for younger kids but man the food is like an IHOP buffet with the addition of Mickey waffles. 

We just did Goofy’s kitchen for dinner the first night it was setup for Christmas and that check went hard with no lube. I mean they had some average prime rib, salmon, etc but that was probably the last time we do that with our kids so it was fun.

Also we did the week before Thanksgiving break which I am now convinced is the best time to do Disneyland.
Posted

We just did Goofy’s kitchen for dinner the first night it was setup for Christmas and that check went hard with no lube. I mean they had some average prime rib, salmon, etc but that was probably the last time we do that with our kids so it was fun.

Also we did the week before Thanksgiving break which I am now convinced is the best time to do Disneyland.

There isn’t one character meal we’ve done…and we’ve done most…that the food blows you away @ $60 per adult and $35 Kraft mac and cheese/chicken strips per kid. I’d rather live off cream cheese pretzels, pizza and chicken strips for 7 days. Maybe some $10 cheeseburger spring rolls lol
  • 2 months later...
Posted

Just wanted to pop in and say that Guardians of the Galaxy @ Epcot exploded my fucking brain. What an incredible ride. Tron is pretty fun but GOTG is an absolute all-timer.

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Posted

Just got back from two days at Disneyland/California Adventure with my 10- and 8-year-old kids. First trip to Disney anything since I was a little kid. Usually I'm a big planning guy for trips, but this kind of came up last minute, and TBH the Disney planning cottage industry is pretty overwhelming. I read through the last couple of pages on this thread for tips and it helped a lot, special thanks to @mdmost in particular. He also linked a website a couple pages back that we used a lot.

Here's a long list of thoughts from a first-time (as an adult) visitor:

  • For kids around mine's ages, I would say the ideal would be 2 days in Disneyland and 1 day in CA. We had 1 and 1. We got to pretty much all the big stuff in DLR, but there was a ton of smaller stuff we didn't get to, and we didn't get to re-ride some bigger stuff we wanted to. We covered pretty much all of CA, although to be fair, the water ride and Guardians of the Galaxy, which are two of the bigger rides, were closed the day we were there.
  • First off, you already know this, but Disney knows how to get in your pockets. Big time. The trade-off is that pretty much everything is first class. For the most part, they're giving you good value for your money. I don't think you can go into it looking to penny pinch. It costs what it costs and you gotta just chalk up all that money to greasing the wheels of your fun vacation.
  • To be more specific, I think the Lightning Lane stuff is worth the money. The general strategy, as espoused by mdmost and the website he posted, seems to be to run to the most popular ride (Space Mountain in DLR, Radiator Springs in CA) as soon as you can and knock it out while simultaneously getting your Lightning Lane working. From there you can just keep working the LL and fill in with shorter lines. If you do it right, you'll pretty much just be going from ride-to-ride for as long as you want.
  • Even if you don't do the LL, the app is essential. It shows all the current wait times for all the rides, you can order food, etc, etc. We were on it all day. I had to bring an external phone charger battery pack.
  • To that point, Disney is very good at keeping the lines moving. They aren't fucking around. 60 minutes of a moving line is way better than 60 minutes standing still. And of course the queues typically have excellent theming and shade.
  • Overall, we preferred Disneyland to CA. My 10-year-old said DLR felt "magical" in a way that CA doesn't. DLR has a fun, 1950's, old-school feel to it. In contrast, CA just feels like another amusement park. Granted, it's a very well done one because it's Disney.
  • My personal opinion is that CA needs a few more rides. Like I said, we knocked it out in a day, no sweat, although Guardians and the water ride were closed. Some of the theming is super well done (Cars and San Fransokyo), but they have to fill all those buildings up with something, and it's just more gift shops and food places. I found myself thinking "instead of a park with 30 gift shops, how about a park with 20 gift shops and a couple more rides?"
  • That said, Incredicoaster is great. One of the better roller coasters I've ridden. Just the right amount of intensity for young kids. The two shooting gallery rides were pretty cool (Web Slingers and the Toy Story one). Radiator Springs is fun, and was obviously the most popular ride, but I felt like the "roller coaster" portion of it was too short.
  • Avengers Land feels like an afterthought compared to the rest of CA. Not much to do over there. I'm not big into that stuff anyway.
  • Don't sleep on the forest playground thing in CA. It's very peaceful over there. Great spot for mom and dad to chill while the kids run around on their own. My kids could have stayed there all day.
  • As for Disneyland, it has all the classics that you remember as a kid. Space Mountain, Matterhorn, Big Thunder Mountain, the submarines, the cars that kids can drive, Pirates, and on and on. It feels very nostalgic if you've been there is a kid, but on the flip side it's all well maintained, not shabby, and good to go. Very, very different vibe from a modern amusement park.
  • As for newer stuff, the Indiana Jones thing is cool and unique. It definitely throws you around quite a bit. Rise of the Resistance is probably the coolest and most unique amusement park ride I've ever been on. They did a great job with that. My wife and I both agreed that it was the highlight of both parks for us.
  • Star Tours (the old school motion simulator that's been there for years) made both me and my wife motion sick as hell. The kids loved it of course. After that, we didn't attempt the Millenium Falcon ride, which I understand is also some sort of motion simulator.
  • I got fucking drenched on Tiana's Bayou (front seat). So much so that I had to run back to the hotel and change clothes so I didn't freeze my ass off after sunset.
  • Overall, the food in both parks is very meh. I don't remember anything memorable. Maybe a dessert or treat somewhere. We found the food outside at Downtown Disney to be a little better, but nothing special.

I'll post some general Southern California-related thoughts in the LA thread.

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Posted (edited)

Glad it worked out for you. Agree on CA. We only spend a day there and we usually accomplish everything we want to do by 2pm so we head back to the hotel for a swim in the pool or just to relax. We then return to the park after 5 to ride other stuff and check it out at night. That's why I really find value in the Lightning Lane stuff. Since we're doing this trip every 3 or 4 years, it's nothing to pay extra to avoid long lines. If we were locals, we wouldn't do it. I think most rides there have Genie+ so it's easy to just go from ride to ride. We buy the LL for Radiator Racers and instead head to Incredicoaster when the park opens and ride it at least 3 times before 8:30 am. CA does have better meal options than DLR. We usually eat at Lamplight Lounge for dinner. You can sit outdoors next to where the Incredicoaster takes off. 

Avengers Campus is pretty dull but you can grab a beer at the restaurant there and watch the show across the way. It should be better when they add the two new rides in a few years. We usually get the park hopper so we can spend half the day at DLR and then book LL for CA rides in the late afternoon or evening like Guardians at night. It's a shame that was closed while you were there because it's pretty fun. I really like Cars Land, especially at night. Really good theming and Radiator Racers is the best ride in that park.

We have our last big trip for a while in early August. We had planned a larger California trip with some days in Santa Barbara and the Channel Islands but the oldest has a paid internship this summer through the last week of July that could help her with college admissions. So we had to just do 5 days in Anaheim before their school starts up in mid-August. Flying into and out of John Wayne Airport which is a lot easier than trying to make it back to LAX. We're going to do a day at Knott's Berry Farm since these two think Six Flags in Arlington is fun (it's not). It will be funny for them to visit a Six Flags like park that actually doesn't suck. 

Since this is our last time at DLR for a long while, we decided to try to a day where we each spend half the day with one kid and switch over in the afternoon. When I take the kids to Six Flags, we usually let one bring a friend and the other spends time with me. The wife never goes to Six Flags. We also have a day where the kids can go off on their own with the Genie+ and LLs while the wife and I just take it slow. We did that last time in 2023 and it was great. I love the vibe at DLR so we'll just do basic things like ride the train or the Main Street vehicles. The cost per ticket really isn't that big once you get past 3 days. 

Edited by mdmost
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Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, mdmost said:

Glad it worked out for you. Agree on CA. We only spend a day there and we usually accomplish everything we want to do by 2pm so we head back to the hotel for a swim in the pool or just to relax. We then return to the park after 5 to ride other stuff and check it out at night. That's why I really find value in the Lightning Lane stuff. Since we're doing this trip every 3 or 4 years, it's nothing to pay extra to avoid long lines. If we were locals, we wouldn't do it. I think most rides there have Genie+ so it's easy to just go from ride to ride. We buy the LL for Radiator Racers and instead head to Incredicoaster when the park opens and ride it at least 3 times before 8:30 am. CA does have better meal options than DLR. We usually eat at Lamplight Lounge for dinner. You can sit outdoors next to where the Incredicoaster takes off. 

Avengers Campus is pretty dull but you can grab a beer at the restaurant there and watch the show across the way. It should be better when they add the two new rides in a few years. We usually get the park hopper so we can spend half the day at DLR and then book LL for CA rides in the late afternoon or evening like Guardians at night. It's a shame that was closed while you were there because it's pretty fun. I really like Cars Land, especially at night. Really good theming and Radiator Racers is the best ride in that park.

We have our last big trip for a while in early August. We had planned a larger California trip with some days in Santa Barbara and the Channel Islands but the oldest has a paid internship this summer through the last week of July that could help her with college admissions. So we had to just do 5 days in Anaheim before their school starts up in mid-August. Flying into and out of John Wayne Airport which is a lot easier than trying to make it back to LAX. We're going to do a day at Knott's Berry Farm since these two think Six Flags in Arlington is fun (it's not). It will be funny for them to visit a Six Flags like park that actually doesn't suck. 

Since this is our last time at DLR for a long while, we decided to try to a day where we each spend half the day with one kid and switch over in the afternoon. When I take the kids to Six Flags, we usually let one bring a friend and the other spends time with me. The wife never goes to Six Flags. We also have a day where the kids can go off on their own with the Genie+ and LLs while the wife and I just take it slow. We did that last time in 2023 and it was great. I love the vibe at DLR so we'll just do basic things like ride the train or the Main Street vehicles. The cost per ticket really isn't that big once you get past 3 days. 

Now that I know what DLR/CA are like, how does Florida compare? To me it just seems like it would be completely overwhelming. And there’s no way the weather could be as good as what we had in California. I told my wife I’d almost rather return to California than do Florida some day. 
 

And thanks again. You’re the MVP of this thread for sure. 

Edited by tokamak
Posted (edited)
11 hours ago, tokamak said:

Now that I know what DLR/CA are like, how does Florida compare? To me it just seems like it would be completely overwhelming. And there’s no way the weather could be as good as what we had in California. I told my wife I’d almost rather return to California than do Florida some day. 
 

And thanks again. You’re the MVP of this thread for sure. 

Florida is more of a bubble for Disney than DLR. You can really only replicate that if you stay at Disneyland Hotel or Grand Californian. Neither really was enough to make us want to spend the extra money to get less hotel room square footage. We stay at the Courtyard Front Entrance where it has 2 queens, a bunk bed, and most importantly with two teens a bathroom with one shower behind a locked door and another tub/shower + vanity. It's a lot less to stay there than one of the Disney hotels and it's under 10 minutes to get to security off Harbor Blvd.

Florida can't really replicate that. Florida definitely has its charm and I would say it's a better overall vacation but it's a lot more work. You're in it for the long haul and it's not something that can be done quickly. There's a lot more prep that goes into that trip. Everything requires transportation unless you're staying at Contemporary but that only helps you with one park. We stayed at The Swan one year and that was great for walking to Epcot and Hollywood Studios or taking a boat back to our hotel. We had to take shuttles to Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. Not the biggest deal but it adds time and stress, especially late at night when you're just trying to get back to your bed.

We actually went to Florida first as that was where I went as a kid. It was a fantastic vacation because we knew what we were getting into and we spent almost a week there. We stayed at a Disney hotel with a food court and scheduled all the advanced dining options we could. Our kids were also the perfect age of 7 and 5. It made us decide to try Disneyland since we had never been before. It was just an entirely different experience that we really enjoyed. We did what you did and spent a day going to Hollywood, Griffith Observatory, and Santa Monica. We took an afternoon and went over to Huntington Beach to get in more time at the ocean. It just fit more what we wanted in a vacation and now we've gone 4 more times to just 1 extra WDW trip. And yes, the weather is so much better outside of when we went in October which was very hot. Still, we just would take a break every day and go for a swim. That's a 10 minute walk versus a 20-30 minute shuttle ride in WDW. Also, I hate Genie+ at WDW compared to DLR. We lucked out in our last trip to WDW because Covid Delta was going on so the parks were pretty empty and there was no Genie+ outside of people with ADA accommodations. Others can speak on Genie+ at WDW but it's used by more people since most are from out of town so there's less good options and things sell out faster. DLR you're not getting as much of that because locals don't see the value in it when they can come back another time.  

We'll find out how August is weather wise but it's nothing like the immediate feeling of sweating at 8am when you first stand in line to rope drop in Orlando. I'm sure there are times of the year that are great weather wise like the holidays or in January but those don't really work with high school schedules and it not be massive amounts of people or the busiest time of the year. Disneyland we found was just more our speed. We keep debating going back to WDW but it's just much more of a cost and time commitment. We also just prefer California to Florida. We're more likely to try out Epic Universe next because the deals you get at Universal hotels are incredible. I don't know if they're doing Universal Express with the new park but it was tremendous the one long weekend we did both parks and stayed at the Royal Pacific resort. We walked on most rides outside of ones that had virtual queues. 

Edited by mdmost
  • Hook 'Em 2
Posted

We are taking the family and the inlaws to WDW in May. The MIL is springing for one of those VIP guide things for a day. Anyone have experience with those? Tips etc?

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