Let me preface by saying this was a last minute trip, so everything was pretty spontaneous. I love the Orlando all Orlando parks (Disney, Universal, Sea World), but I’ve always wanted to go to Disneyland. Just from having general knowledge of the resort, I knew that while it would be similar in some respects, Disneyland Resort is also vastly different of an experience. I’ll spare you guys of all of the boring stuff and delve right into my Disney California Adventure (DCA) observations…
- I arrived on New Year’s Eve… didn’t get over to DCA to until about 5:00 or so (after Disneyland for awhile) and saw the 10:15 World of Color and finally rang in the new year at midnight with the Mad T Party band, including light pyro after the countdown.
- My only regrets about the trip center on Mad T Party. I feel like, in general, I spent way too much time in this area and after seeing the World of Color New Years Eve fireworks on youtube, I regret ringing in the New Year with the freakin Mad T Party band (ugh).
- I never personally experienced it, but from everything I’ve seen through video and pictures, I feel like Mad T Party is a major downgrade from ElecTRONica. The “Who R U” guy is no comparison to Laserman and the way the event is set up, it has you going back and forth between stages VERY OFTEN.
- DJ Michael Paul deserves a lot of credit for making me spend so much time here though. Based on my research, he’s been around since at least Glow Fest and for good reason – I really enjoyed his sets both nights I saw him.
- Carsland – What can I say that hasn’t already been said? I found it amazing literally how it really felt like you were actually *there* and you actually had to search to find the attractions.
- Bathrooms are hard to find. Everywhere.
- Tower of Terror – Eh. I like the two-level load in the boiler room, but beyond that, it doesn’t come close to the original. The scale of the building is very weird as well.
- Buena Vista Street is beautiful – I love the Red Car News Boys shows done with the Trolley.
- California Screamin’ – I enjoyed the ride a lot, if you’ve ever been on it, you’ll know it’s a long coaster. I feel like there was some missed opportunities however (possible second launch when it slows down in the tube going up the hill).
- Mike & Sulley to the Rescue – It’s lazy and cheap that they basically just made minor adjustments to the horrible façade and that they kept the Taxi’s from Superstar Limo. The actual ride is decent overall, but it needs help still.
- Aladdin: The Musical – Came late and ended up in the Balcony, but boy am I glad I got to see this show! I don’t even like Aladdin that much, but this show made me really love it. The Genie was hilarious.
- Condor Flats/Grizzly Peak – Didn’t step foot in either land. Nothing about going on Soarin’ or Grizzly River Run (especially with how cold it was) made me think twice about stepping foot in either land.
- Mermaid – Magic Kingdom’s version is better, if only because of the elaborate queue. The ride is virtually identical. However, speaking on the queue, DCA really doesn’t need all of that queue space MK uses. It was sitting at a 5 minute wait on New Years Eve.
- Unlike WDW, the FASTPASS system still allows returns after the return times. Couple that with the fact that many machines aren’t connected with each other, and you can easily collect a good amount of them between parks.
- World of Color – Not sure why FASTPASS would ever be necessary for this. Again, it was New Year’s Eve and I walked right up to edge of the water right before the show no problem.. The whole FP situation for WoC actually looked like hell.
That’s pretty much it for DCA. I was very impressed with the park overall. Disneyland observations to come in Part 2…
- I arrived on New Year’s Eve… didn’t get over to DCA to until about 5:00 or so (after Disneyland for awhile) and saw the 10:15 World of Color and finally rang in the new year at midnight with the Mad T Party band, including light pyro after the countdown.
- My only regrets about the trip center on Mad T Party. I feel like, in general, I spent way too much time in this area and after seeing the World of Color New Years Eve fireworks on youtube, I regret ringing in the New Year with the freakin Mad T Party band (ugh).
- I never personally experienced it, but from everything I’ve seen through video and pictures, I feel like Mad T Party is a major downgrade from ElecTRONica. The “Who R U” guy is no comparison to Laserman and the way the event is set up, it has you going back and forth between stages VERY OFTEN.
- DJ Michael Paul deserves a lot of credit for making me spend so much time here though. Based on my research, he’s been around since at least Glow Fest and for good reason – I really enjoyed his sets both nights I saw him.
- Carsland – What can I say that hasn’t already been said? I found it amazing literally how it really felt like you were actually *there* and you actually had to search to find the attractions.
- Bathrooms are hard to find. Everywhere.
- Tower of Terror – Eh. I like the two-level load in the boiler room, but beyond that, it doesn’t come close to the original. The scale of the building is very weird as well.
- Buena Vista Street is beautiful – I love the Red Car News Boys shows done with the Trolley.
- California Screamin’ – I enjoyed the ride a lot, if you’ve ever been on it, you’ll know it’s a long coaster. I feel like there was some missed opportunities however (possible second launch when it slows down in the tube going up the hill).
- Mike & Sulley to the Rescue – It’s lazy and cheap that they basically just made minor adjustments to the horrible façade and that they kept the Taxi’s from Superstar Limo. The actual ride is decent overall, but it needs help still.
- Aladdin: The Musical – Came late and ended up in the Balcony, but boy am I glad I got to see this show! I don’t even like Aladdin that much, but this show made me really love it. The Genie was hilarious.
- Condor Flats/Grizzly Peak – Didn’t step foot in either land. Nothing about going on Soarin’ or Grizzly River Run (especially with how cold it was) made me think twice about stepping foot in either land.
- Mermaid – Magic Kingdom’s version is better, if only because of the elaborate queue. The ride is virtually identical. However, speaking on the queue, DCA really doesn’t need all of that queue space MK uses. It was sitting at a 5 minute wait on New Years Eve.
- Unlike WDW, the FASTPASS system still allows returns after the return times. Couple that with the fact that many machines aren’t connected with each other, and you can easily collect a good amount of them between parks.
- World of Color – Not sure why FASTPASS would ever be necessary for this. Again, it was New Year’s Eve and I walked right up to edge of the water right before the show no problem.. The whole FP situation for WoC actually looked like hell.
That’s pretty much it for DCA. I was very impressed with the park overall. Disneyland observations to come in Part 2…
