I’m back from out west! We had an amazing trip despite our flight to LAX getting cancelled while we were driving to the airport at 4:30am and, after much angst, finally getting a later flight to San Diego instead. Fortunately, we were able to switch our rental car, and the first 2 days of our trip were just for visiting family near Laguna Beach so we didn’t miss much. We also spent a whole day touring LA, including the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Dolby Theater, handprints by the Chinese Theater, eating at the In & Out Burger (I’ll stick with Shake Shack!), visiting Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive (and Sprinkles ATM!), Griffin Observatory and the Hollywood sign, Venice Beach, and Santa Monica Pier (the word “rest” is not in our vacation vocabulary! LOL) We had beautiful weather the entire trip.
DCA (5/27) – We were in the very front of a HUGE line at the rope before rope drop so we changed our plan to get a FP for RSR and decided to go straight to the attraction. We were among the first few people to walk right onto it. Wow. Loved it! Just entering CarsLand to get to the ride was such a thrill. So wonderfully themed and immersive. Great way to start our day.
Because we are Park commandos, we got to do sooo much in one day including RSR, Luigi’s Flying Tires, ToT, Monster’s Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue, Soarin’, Mickey’s Fun Wheel, Swinging (just my husband and son – they loved it), King Triton’s Carousel (just my daughter and I – loved the unique “horses”), California Screamin’ (all but chicken me), Mater’s Junkyard Whip, saw Aladdin (what an incredible show – can’t imagine that the Broadway version is much better, just longer), and Goofy’s Sky School (all but chicken me). At this point, my husband and son left to go see a Dodgers Game (go LA!) while my daughter and I stayed in the Park until closing. We met Minnie Mouse, rode Golden Zephyr, Jellyfish Jumpers (just her), played at the Red Creek Challenge, rode Soarin’ again, rode Toy Story Mania (was it just us, or are the launchers easier to use at DL than at WDW?), went on the Bakery Tour, rode RSR again on the Single Riders line (20 minute wait), and finally saw World of Color (again, wow!).
Throughout the course of the day, various members of our family got delicious churros at Cozy Cone Motel, amazing corndogs at Corn Dog Castle, burger and fries at Taste Pilot Grill (nothing special), and broccoli & cheese soup in a bread bowl from Pacific Wharf (my daughter and I nearly ate the plates, it was so delicious!).
Overall, we really enjoyed this Park. Touring Plans had listed it as a crowd level of 8 that day, but I thought it was more of a 5. We only needed 1 FP all day (to ride Soarin’ a second time).
DL (5/28) – Conversely, Touring Plans listed this Park as a 4 this day, but it felt more like an 8 with the Grad Nite crowds. Touring Plans was really off on their predictions. We used FPs all throughout the day. Once again we were off and running from opening til closing. We wanted to focus mostly on attractions we couldn’t experience on the east coast. We were able to do Matterhorn Bobsleds (rather jerky, we thought), Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Star Tours, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride (I was particularly interested in trying this after all the hoopla about bringing this classic back to WDW, and I certainly did enjoy it, but I’m not sure I get all the hoopla), and Gadget Go Run (kids only). We wanted to do Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin but it was down. Next we rode Pirates of the Caribbean (this was by far my FAVORITE attraction of the trip – it BLOWS AWAY the WDW version!!!! Also, I thought the seating at Blue Bayou looked really cool although we didn’t eat there - no time for table-service meals on this trip), Haunted Mansion, had lunch and saw the Laughing Stock Company at the Golden Horseshoe, rode Indiana Jones Adventure when it finally came back on line after being down awhile (thank goodness! It was really great), rode Big Thunder Mountain RR (also much better than the WDW version), Splash Mountain (we did the single rider line because there was a 70 minute wait and we had a pending FP already, but the single rider line turned out to have a 50 minute wait in the end which kind of stunk), Davey Crockett Canoes (we all thought this was really unique and fun), did some souvenir shopping and heard the Dapper Dans perform, did the walkthrough of Sleeping Beauty’s castle (although I couldn’t find the damn wishing well – where was it?!), Pinocchio’s Daring Journey (cute), and Autopia. There was so much to do that no one cared that Space Mtn was closed for refurbishment.
We got Dole Whips midday (worth the 20 minute wait on line as always!), popcorn, and we ate dinner at River Belle Terrace, grabbing a table outside to watch Fantasmic! at 9pm, but our seats had an awful view, so we left after 10 minutes to get a decent view for the fireworks. The fireworks were absolutely wonderful but unfortunately got cut short after 10 minutes “due to high winds” (that none of us could feel??).
In sum, we really enjoyed DCA and DL. I think that I’m still a WDW girl at heart, but I’m so glad
I got to experience the “original,” brief though our visit was. My favorite parts were PotC, RSR, Aladdin show, Indiana Jones, and World of Color. Again, a huge thanks to everyone on this forum for helping me with the planning.
Two final notes to those who may be interested:
Hotel – The Best Western Park Place Inn was so convenient and comfortable that I would recommend it in a heartbeat. So glad we stayed here.
Way.com – Got my tix in advance from here saving about $30, and there was no problem whatsoever turning them into park passes at the turnstyle.
DCA (5/27) – We were in the very front of a HUGE line at the rope before rope drop so we changed our plan to get a FP for RSR and decided to go straight to the attraction. We were among the first few people to walk right onto it. Wow. Loved it! Just entering CarsLand to get to the ride was such a thrill. So wonderfully themed and immersive. Great way to start our day.
Because we are Park commandos, we got to do sooo much in one day including RSR, Luigi’s Flying Tires, ToT, Monster’s Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue, Soarin’, Mickey’s Fun Wheel, Swinging (just my husband and son – they loved it), King Triton’s Carousel (just my daughter and I – loved the unique “horses”), California Screamin’ (all but chicken me), Mater’s Junkyard Whip, saw Aladdin (what an incredible show – can’t imagine that the Broadway version is much better, just longer), and Goofy’s Sky School (all but chicken me). At this point, my husband and son left to go see a Dodgers Game (go LA!) while my daughter and I stayed in the Park until closing. We met Minnie Mouse, rode Golden Zephyr, Jellyfish Jumpers (just her), played at the Red Creek Challenge, rode Soarin’ again, rode Toy Story Mania (was it just us, or are the launchers easier to use at DL than at WDW?), went on the Bakery Tour, rode RSR again on the Single Riders line (20 minute wait), and finally saw World of Color (again, wow!).
Throughout the course of the day, various members of our family got delicious churros at Cozy Cone Motel, amazing corndogs at Corn Dog Castle, burger and fries at Taste Pilot Grill (nothing special), and broccoli & cheese soup in a bread bowl from Pacific Wharf (my daughter and I nearly ate the plates, it was so delicious!).
Overall, we really enjoyed this Park. Touring Plans had listed it as a crowd level of 8 that day, but I thought it was more of a 5. We only needed 1 FP all day (to ride Soarin’ a second time).
DL (5/28) – Conversely, Touring Plans listed this Park as a 4 this day, but it felt more like an 8 with the Grad Nite crowds. Touring Plans was really off on their predictions. We used FPs all throughout the day. Once again we were off and running from opening til closing. We wanted to focus mostly on attractions we couldn’t experience on the east coast. We were able to do Matterhorn Bobsleds (rather jerky, we thought), Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Star Tours, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride (I was particularly interested in trying this after all the hoopla about bringing this classic back to WDW, and I certainly did enjoy it, but I’m not sure I get all the hoopla), and Gadget Go Run (kids only). We wanted to do Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin but it was down. Next we rode Pirates of the Caribbean (this was by far my FAVORITE attraction of the trip – it BLOWS AWAY the WDW version!!!! Also, I thought the seating at Blue Bayou looked really cool although we didn’t eat there - no time for table-service meals on this trip), Haunted Mansion, had lunch and saw the Laughing Stock Company at the Golden Horseshoe, rode Indiana Jones Adventure when it finally came back on line after being down awhile (thank goodness! It was really great), rode Big Thunder Mountain RR (also much better than the WDW version), Splash Mountain (we did the single rider line because there was a 70 minute wait and we had a pending FP already, but the single rider line turned out to have a 50 minute wait in the end which kind of stunk), Davey Crockett Canoes (we all thought this was really unique and fun), did some souvenir shopping and heard the Dapper Dans perform, did the walkthrough of Sleeping Beauty’s castle (although I couldn’t find the damn wishing well – where was it?!), Pinocchio’s Daring Journey (cute), and Autopia. There was so much to do that no one cared that Space Mtn was closed for refurbishment.
We got Dole Whips midday (worth the 20 minute wait on line as always!), popcorn, and we ate dinner at River Belle Terrace, grabbing a table outside to watch Fantasmic! at 9pm, but our seats had an awful view, so we left after 10 minutes to get a decent view for the fireworks. The fireworks were absolutely wonderful but unfortunately got cut short after 10 minutes “due to high winds” (that none of us could feel??).
In sum, we really enjoyed DCA and DL. I think that I’m still a WDW girl at heart, but I’m so glad
I got to experience the “original,” brief though our visit was. My favorite parts were PotC, RSR, Aladdin show, Indiana Jones, and World of Color. Again, a huge thanks to everyone on this forum for helping me with the planning.
Two final notes to those who may be interested:
Hotel – The Best Western Park Place Inn was so convenient and comfortable that I would recommend it in a heartbeat. So glad we stayed here.
Way.com – Got my tix in advance from here saving about $30, and there was no problem whatsoever turning them into park passes at the turnstyle.
