Disneyland Half Marathon Trip

[ryan1]

The missus and I are completing our Coast to Coast challenge next week and making our first trip to Disneyland (her first ever, my first in 17 years). I've been reading all about the parks and game planning how to see as much as possible during our 2 days in the parks (hoping to see everything depending on crowd levels).

Do any of you folks whose home park is DL have any tricks or suggestions for seeing as much as possible and what to avoid?

 

[Californian Elitist]

The missus and I are completing our Coast to Coast challenge next week and making our first trip to Disneyland (her first ever, my first in 17 years). I've been reading all about the parks and game planning how to see as much as possible during our 2 days in the parks (hoping to see everything depending on crowd levels).

Do any of you folks whose home park is DL have any tricks or suggestions for seeing as much as possible and what to avoid?

First thing's first, it's a good thing you're not expecting to do everything in two days.

Secondly, do you have park hoppers or one park tickets?

 

[ryan1]

We are going to have park hoppers but plan on focusing staying in one park each day. Thursday at Cali Adventure and Friday at Disneyland. We've done everything we wanted to at the Disney World Parks in a day before so I don't think it is out of the question to see just about everything depending on the crowd levels.

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

Be at DCA 30 minutes before opening on Thursday and head straight for Cars Land. You can either get Fastpasses for Radiator Springs Racers and then hit the standby line for a double whammy, or just try one or the other. After you hit RSR, the other most popular rides in DCA are Midway Mania, Tower of Terror, Soarin' and Screamin', so hit any of those you're looking to do next. Pick up Fastpasses for World of Color next to Grizzly River Run (a great ride). You can do all of DCA in a day if you start early, and if you run out of stuff to do, head to Disneyland. Some lesser known stuff in DCA that's really fun includes the Sorcerer's Workshop inside Disney Animation, and the free chocolate and sourdough bread at Ghirardelli and Boudin Bakery Tour in Pacific Wharf.

On your Disneyland day, you'll either want to head to Indy/Splash in the morning or Space. If you get there at opening, I like to hit Space twice - go to Fastpass and pick up FPs, then get in the standby line. Your return time should be right after you get off, so you can two rides very quickly and then head to another big ride like Indy. Mansion and Big Thunder are closed, so that leaves Matterhorn, Roger Rabbit, small world, Peter Pan, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Splash, Indy, Star Tours, Buzz and Space as the biggies. Starting early in the day is the key, and you should be fine. The Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage is pretty lame in comparison to Epcot's Nemo ride except for the excitement of being in a submarine. If the line's too long, don't feel bad skipping it (the cool effect of the Nemo fish in the water, as seen in the Epcot ride's finale, is inexplicably not used here).

If you like parades, Soundsational at DL is great, Pixar at DCA less so. I don't like the Aladdin show, but many love it. I prefer Mickey and the Magical Map at DL. Fantasmic (see the second show) and World of Color are absolute must-sees, Magical is a great fireworks show and should be viewed from the Hub to get the special effects and incredible flying. Mad T Party at DCA is a great way to spend part of your evening - strong drinks, fantastic band and some amazing aerialists that perform at :40 each hour except 9:40.

As for dining, Blue Bayou is a bit overpriced and the food is just okay - you go for the awesome atmosphere. Carthay Circle is a waste of time and money; do Napa Rose if you want to spend that much, it's far superior. Cafe Orleans is a great choice at DL. For counter service, French Market, Plaza Inn, Flo's V8 and Paradise Garden Grill are my favorites. Snacks - the Boysen Apple Freeze at Fantasy Faire in DL is amazing, and Bengal BBQ in Adventureland is a great place to get a reasonable and healthy snack.

Hope that helps!

 

[Californian Elitist]

We are going to have park hoppers but plan on focusing staying in one park each day. Thursday at Cali Adventure and Friday at Disneyland. We've done everything we wanted to at the Disney World Parks in a day before so I don't think it is out of the question to see just about everything depending on the crowd levels.

As a DLR vet, I'm telling you, the chances of you doing everything in a single day are slim to none. There are more rides in Disneyland and California Adventure than all four parks in WDW. You may be able to do everything in DCA. Maybe.

Doing everything you want to do, and doing everything are two different things. Are you planning on doing EVERYTHING, or do you have a list of specific things you want to do?

 

[a2grafix]

Hey @ryan1 hope to see you and the missus sometime in the parks, or definitely at the WDW Magic meet-up at the Sorcerer's Hat at the Disneyland Resort morning of the half marathon. Safe travels.

 

[ryan1]

Yeah the plan is to be at the parks at 8:30 for rope drop both days.

DCA we're for sure going straight for Cars Land with one of our group making a pit stop for a fast pass to Soarin'. Then hit up Midway Mania or ride RSR again. Then just see how the lines are and go from there. Grizzly Rapids later in the day and then end with World of Color as the park closes. Then off to Trade Sam's for drinks to cap the night.

DL I haven't decided where to head first. I'm leaning toward Indy since it is unique to California, again picking up a different fast pass along the way to the ride. Then probably wing it from there. We aren't parade or show people so we are sticking to just rides, with a possible few exceptions (maybe Lincoln or Country Bears and Tiki Room).

We are going to make sure we hit all the California only rides since we don't get out to this coast very often. I know there are a few more rides at DL than WDW but we've been able to do every ride at each park per day and have almost done all four parks in one day on a different occasion. We don't plan on doing any sit down restaurants in order to save time and I'm leaning toward French Market, Plaza Inn, and Flo's V8 for meals and then we've looked up snacks we want to try.

@a2grafix , we are going to be wearing old school disney shirts at the parks. Stuff that we've had since we were kids, throwback thursday. I'm even bringing my pack from the '93. We made shirts to run in on Sunday, the missus and I have white shirts with 3 small mickeys on the back with our names and then a large mickey on the front with Coast to Coast on it since we are doing the coast to coast challenge.

Thanks for the suggestions everybody!

 

[melflip8]

The missus and I are completing our Coast to Coast challenge next week and making our first trip to Disneyland (her first ever, my first in 17 years). I've been reading all about the parks and game planning how to see as much as possible during our 2 days in the parks (hoping to see everything depending on crowd levels).

Do any of you folks whose home park is DL have any tricks or suggestions for seeing as much as possible and what to avoid?

I'm doing Coast to Coast as well and it will be my first trip to DLR as well. Best of luck!

 

[ryan1]

First thing's first, it's a good thing you're not expecting to do everything in two days.

Secondly, do you have park hoppers or one park tickets?

On Thursday we were able to do EVERY ride in DCA, except the ferris wheel because we can ride one anywhere, by 6pm. We rode RSR, California Screamin, and Tower of Terror twice because they were our favorites. At 6pm we walked over to Disneyland to ride some of the other big rides while the crowds were low. We were able to ride Space Mountain, Nemo, Indy, and Pirates before grabbing a late diner at French Market and then watching the fireworks show. After the fireworks we rode the monorail over to Downtown Diz and walked to Trader Sam's for night caps. We are about to head out to Disneyland for the day to take care of all the rides we missed yesterday and ride some of the Cali only rides we want to experience again.

 

[Californian Elitist]

On Thursday we were able to do EVERY ride in DCA, except the ferris wheel because we can ride one anywhere, by 6pm. We rode RSR, California Screamin, and Tower of Terror twice because they were our favorites. At 6pm we walked over to Disneyland to ride some of the other big rides while the crowds were low. We were able to ride Space Mountain, Nemo, Indy, and Pirates before grabbing a late diner at French Market and then watching the fireworks show. After the fireworks we rode the monorail over to Downtown Diz and walked to Trader Sam's for night caps. We are about to head out to Disneyland for the day to take care of all the rides we missed yesterday and ride some of the Cali only rides we want to experience again.

You weren't missing anything with Mickey's Fun Wheel... I'm not fond of that attraction.

Good luck with DL!

 

[coachwnh]

You weren't missing anything with Mickey's Fun Wheel... I'm not fond of that attraction.

Good luck with DL!

Oh, come on now @raven24 , you know you love the death..I mean fun wheel!!!

 

[Californian Elitist]

Oh, come on now @raven24 , you know you love the death..I mean fun wheel!!!

I really don't! It doesn't look bad at all from the ground, but when your gondola drops and swings off the rim for the first time... Heart attack mode. Way more scary than Tower of Terror. They should switch names, actually. "Tower of Fun" and "Mickey's Terror Wheel."

 

[TuffyCatt]

I really don't! It doesn't look bad at all from the ground, but when your gondola drops and swings off the rim for the first time... Heart attack mode. Way more scary than Tower of Terror. They should switch names, actually. "Tower of Fun" and "Mickey's Terror Wheel."

The Fun Wheel definitely gave us one of our most...memorable...moments on our trip! I was wearing one of the t-shirts I bought there the other day and my dad pointed at the Fun Wheel on it and said "That's what I want to ride again!" And he's totally serious - and he's the one that nearly got sick on it. He's crazy...

 

[Californian Elitist]

The Fun Wheel definitely gave us one of our most...memorable...moments on our trip! I was wearing one of the t-shirts I bought there the other day and my dad pointed at the Fun Wheel on it and said "That's what I want to ride again!" And he's totally serious - and he's the one that nearly got sick on it. He's crazy...

Hahaha, your dad is funny! As of right now, I have no interests in getting in one of those gondolas anytime soon. If I were with my young nephews and they wanted to get on, I would do it for them. Other than that, I don't know. I'm not saying I'll never do it again. The good thing is I'm well prepared and aware of what they can do.

 

[ryan1]

You weren't missing anything with Mickey's Fun Wheel... I'm not fond of that attraction.

Good luck with DL!

Another good day on Friday. The crowds were light again so we were able to do everything we wanted to do, exceptions being Big Thunder and Mansion but we got to double up a few rides to make up for them not being open. The longest wait times we had were for Peter Pan and Toad.We couldn't help laughing when cast members and some of the other folks were saying how hot it was. One cast member said that it was one of the hottest days and that it only got that hot maybe 7 days of the year. It was pretty mild compared to FL and what its been like this summer. It felt like early May or late September FL day to us which we welcomed.

We had lunch at French Market since we liked the food so much the night before and I wanted a French Dip sandwich (it was really good and a nice size portion). The missus and her gf ate at Begal BBQ for dinner and thought it was tasty while I was disappointed because the line for Plaza Inn was way too long to wait to get the fried chicken. I settled for snacks instead.

We didn't do the following attractions because we decided we wouldn't miss doing them or they were the same as WDW (we had plenty of time to do them if we had wanted to as we left 2 hours before the park closed):
- canoes
- Lincoln
- Tarzan Treehouse (same is Swiss Family in WDW)
- Tom Sawyer Island (WDW)
- King Arthur Carrousel (WDW)
- Gadget's Go Coaster
- Innovations (EPCOT)
- Astro Orbitor (WDW)
- Dumbo (WDW)

I may be being a homer but the only rides at DL I prefer over Magic Kingdom are Pirates and Autotopia. If Pirates could be combined; the queue at WDW and the ride at DL, it would be the best attraction on the planet. They are both fantastic though.

The DL specific rides were great, Indy, Alice, and Storybook being my favorites of the group. It was a lot of fun experiencing new attractions and different versions of the rides we love.

Overall thoughts: We loved getting to come to DL resort and wished we hadn't had to rush like we did. It would be great to be able to have more time to explore and soak in the park the way we have the 100+ times we have visited the WDW parks. DL was lovely and inviting. The smaller layout and openness of the lines made it feel so much different in a way that is hard to describe. There is no way to have the outdoor lines at WDW, which on some of the rides is a shame because the open lines allowed you to feel the energy of the park and the surroundings. That being said I'll take the WDW Space Mtn and Pirates queues over DL every time.

It is hard to compare the two resorts but I still prefer my home park but I hope to be able to visit DL again soon and give it another chance to win me over.

I would rank the resorts we have been to in the following order: WDW, DL, DLP.

 

[teacherlady19]

For Southern California, our weather has been unusually humid for the past week or so. With the heat turned up too (also unusual), it's not surprising that the CM's were commenting.

The Fun Wheel was fun for me, but ONLY in the stationary cars. I rode that thing when it was the Sun Wheel (or something like that) in DCA 1.0, in the non-stationary mode, and did NOT like it. As Raven says, "heart attack mode!" When my niece really wanted to ride the non-stationary cars, I told my husband (who loves that) to ride with her. Her mother and I rode the stationary car which was much better -- great pictures to be had, if you can figure out how to aim without the cage effect!


Donna