Hot be damned. I'm done licking my sunburn/windburn wounds. Let's go back!

[sweetpee_1993]

Kelly, I find it interesting that you @sweetpee_1993 and Darolyn @derelicte19 enjoyed DCA more than DL. After my visit there a year or so ago I said the same thing, to the degree that I thought DCA may be the best Disney park I've been in.
The open spaces, Carsland, the old Hollywood feel, Soarin', WOC and great eateries makes it a must do park for any Disney fan. Glad to see you are going back to cross off what you missed! Looking forward to the report ( and pics )!

Hi Chris! Waiting on the Photopass CD & get the video snippets situated then I'll be starting the report. 'Specially now that we aren't moving this month. WooHOO!

I think both @derelicte19 and I were both surprised that we liked DCA better. I know I thought I'd draw more to DL. The points you made I absolutely agree with. Completely. Additionally, if you look at the list of attraction closures during our visit the list for DL was far more significant than DCA. It wasn't just a bummer factor. With those attractions closed when you'd get multiple other things go down at the same time it made what was open have much longer lines. Walkways were really congested. Fantasyland between the back of the castle and Dumbo was a total cluster because the lines extended well beyond the regular queues so it was like a mass of humanity all jumbled up. When BTMRR would go down (a few times a day, it seemed) that area right in front of the queue and FP distribution was another cluster of bodies. DCA felt more spacious. You could really take in what was there. Yes, there's less there than DL but it lends well and isn't a negative. We really enjoyed the various themed areas. The theming is executed so well!

 

[Nicole220]

Halloween isn't my favorite holiday either but the Disneyland Resort really puts together a great Halloween season! The two ride overlays are awesome, too. I hope the heat won't be around for your next trip, just to give you a break from this trip lol

I tend to prefer DCA too. I like to hang out there more and wander and relax. Although part of that might be because I worked on that side. But I always find myself in DCA more than DL. You're definitely right, the wider walkways make such a difference! DL has too many bottleneck points. And I've always been told DCA CMs are more relaxed than DL. That could be a factor, too. Not to offend any DL CMs....it's just what Guests have told me lol

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Halloween isn't my favorite holiday either but the Disneyland Resort really puts together a great Halloween season! The two ride overlays are awesome, too. I hope the heat won't be around for your next trip, just to give you a break from this trip lol

I tend to prefer DCA too. I like to hang out there more and wander and relax. Although part of that might be because I worked on that side. But I always find myself in DCA more than DL. You're definitely right, the wider walkways make such a difference! DL has too many bottleneck points. And I've always been told DCA CMs are more relaxed than DL. That could be a factor, too. Not to offend any DL CMs....it's just what Guests have told me lol

I'm hoping for at least average temps next go around.

I think I'd have to agree at least a little about CMs at DCA vs. DL. But then, DL seems to be a bit more intense just by how much busier it seems so it makes sense that CMs there might have a bit more on their plates. Either way, we found the friendliness and caring of the CMs out west so much more apparent than we recall from Florida. I wouldn't say they're DCL level but they're pretty darned awesome overall!

 

[flynnibus]

congestion in DL is a very real and common problem. Notably in Adventureland and in Tomorrowland under the peoplemover track in front of Buzz. The limited space from the original park designs are just overrun in these areas when it's busy. It's not just perception.. it's totally F'd

Much like applying lessons learned when they built WDW's walkways bigger.. they too designed DCA for a much higher capacity and larger walkways than the original DL next door. Ironically this lead to part of the problem for DCA v1.0 - too big and barren.. and when combined with the lack of crowds, really made the place seem deserted.

The recent reworking of the park addressed a lot of the 'barren' part, and of course the new demand is helping fill in it.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

congestion in DL is a very real and common problem. Notably in Adventureland and in Tomorrowland under the peoplemover track in front of Buzz. The limited space from the original park designs are just overrun in these areas when it's busy. It's not just perception.. it's totally F'd

Much like applying lessons learned when they built WDW's walkways bigger.. they too designed DCA for a much higher capacity and larger walkways than the original DL next door. Ironically this lead to part of the problem for DCA v1.0 - too big and barren.. and when combined with the lack of crowds, really made the place seem deserted.

The recent reworking of the park addressed a lot of the 'barren' part, and of course the new demand is helping fill in it.

I absolutely despised Tomorrowland! There was nothing tomorrow-ish about it and yoou are right about the congestion near Buzz / Star Tours. It was a mess there! I didn't find Adventureland to be too bad, probably because Indy was closed but Fantasyland as @sweetpee_1993 mentioned was a cluster! None of those rides were down for refurb so I think everyone was gravitating there. And with the Frozen M&G there, there was a lot of people in that area.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Kelly, I find it interesting that you @sweetpee_1993 and Darolyn @derelicte19 enjoyed DCA more than DL. After my visit there a year or so ago I said the same thing, to the degree that I thought DCA may be the best Disney park I've been in.
The open spaces, Carsland, the old Hollywood feel, Soarin', WOC and great eateries makes it a must do park for any Disney fan. Glad to see you are going back to cross off what you missed! Looking forward to the report ( and pics )!

Yes, DL was what I thought I would like more because MK is my favorite park so I thought, naturally, I would love that park. So yes, I was surprised myself when I liked DCA more. While the park seemed VERY spread out, I think that might be why the crowds didn't seem so bad. We definitely spent quite a bit of time checking out Carsland but as far as the other portions of the park, I feel we divided our time pretty equally. I think the park seemed so spread out because I was not familiar with it. once I get my bearings and know where everything is I think it'll be better. I know we got lost a couple times trying to get back to the front of the park. I kept forgetting the walkway beside Grizzly River Run doesn't take you down past Carthay but instead takes you down by Sorain. I got that right by the end of the trip! lol

 

[Figments Friend]

Oh cool! You're going in the fall, too? Wow! Great minds!

The AP totally makes sense to do especially if you're wanting to be in the parks more than 5 days. The cost of a 5 day + 1 day ticket aren't much less than the deluxe AP. ((We got ours thru way.com which saved some $$)) The discounts with the food & merchandise more than closes that gap. THEN there's the hotel discounts if you're going to stay on-site. Right?!

We've been "disconnected" from WDW for a couple years now. We got into the cruises for a bit then curiosity drew us out west. Transitioning back to the parks was another hurdle in the recent trip. But we got it. It's all good. I see us exploring the west coast parks a few more times but there's also a lot of stuff in California we want to get to. I did notice a LOT of people in the parks sporting their first visit buttons. I didn't because my teenagers gave me the disapproving "Really, Mom? You're going to wear that?" Guess not.

Yes, i usually visit a Property in September and i chose DL again for this year.
Buying an AP made sense to me this time around as i knew i would be back. The motivation was primarily the money saved not having to buy another $280 Park Hopper in the autumn...and we all already know the ticket prices are said to be going up again this Summer.
So i went for it and i am glad i did.

I never stay 'on property' at DL so the hotel discounts were not really a motivator for me.
The food and merch discounts are only 10% with the Deluxe Pass, which was also not a big motivator but i guess every little bit saved counts.
It was really just all about saving some cash on day tickets next visit and the AP takes care of that for a year.
It may well motivate me to return again early next year before it expires.

 

[stillgoofy]

Sooooooo, tonight I pulled a tiny trigger and booked flights while the prices were good to return 9/27-10/4. If we end up needing to reschedule the flights we can. But for right now in this moment...I just got home from Disneyland and I'm going back for round 2. Am I glutton for punishment??? Or infected by the west coast pixie dust??? There was enough dirt flying around in the air last week...maybe some pixie dust got mixed in!

So glad to hear you're going back. I loved your trip report, helped me learn a lot for our first DL trip. We'll miss you by a couple weeks. We'll be there 9/8-9/15. Too bad, would have been nice to meet up with some WDWMagic friends. I'm sure you'll get to experience so much more on this second trip.