Pride, Pumpkins & Paradise [Trip Report]

[Animaniac93-98]

I spent the last 3 days of my vacation at the Disneyland Resort, after having visited Orlando for 4 days and Vegas for 1. This is simply an ongoing list of my observations of the current state of Disneyland, including my thoughts on staying at Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel for the first time.

No I did not go to Knotts as originally planned. The Disney parks were slammed this past weekend, which made it difficult to see everything I wanted to there, even with almost 3 days in Disneyland Park. Still, I had a good time overall, but I have serious concerns about how the resort will fare once Star Wars opens.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I stayed at Parade Pier because of the event rate I got for Gay Days weekend, which was between 25-30% off the rack rate. I thought it would be convenient to stay within walking distance of the parks and at a nice "Disney" hotel like I did in Florida.

You can tell it's a remodeled 80s hotel, but the rooms themselves were quite nice. Pixar balls instead of beach ball pillows, but still "paradise pier" themed for the most part. The lobby and some other areas were decorated as "Pirates Pier" for Halloween which I liked because they don't put up Halloween decorations in the WDW hotels.

Elevators are weird. There's almost no buttons inside so to pick a floor you touch the number on an ipad and it tells you which one to board (A, B, C, or D). Some times there was a long wait for one to show up.

Gym is OK, but limited to free weights, some cardio equipment and one cable machine. Naturally it wasn't busy in the morning when people were going to the parks.

Did not get a chance to go to the pool or water slide, but they looked nice.

On-site dining is limited to PCH Grill ($$$), room service or the lounges in the lobby or pool deck. Lobby lounge tries to be bar, grab-and-go and sit down eatery for breakfast and I think they would be better to build another place to eat here.

I think it was faster to take a bus from Pop Century to Magic Kingdom than take the official guest path to the parks (first north to the far west side of DTD then a hike to the main gates). Monorail was the better option IMO because they scan your ticket there and you bypass the main gate. Plus it's more fun. I tried going through Grand Californian instead but there's a gate that you need a room key to walk through. Other Disney hotels won't work, and if you had a VIP Pass for gay days (the welcome centre was near the lobby) or dining reservations you still had to walk the long way around. Bag check was also slow and the line for guests with no bags wasn't always open.

Would I stay here again? Only if I got a substantial discount like this time. Both DLH and GCH looked nicer for the kind of money this place costs and the Harbor Blvd hotels are closer to the main gates.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Halloween party was a bust IMO. They cancelled the fireworks, only to do them Saturday night for the regular guests. The parade was cute, but not as good as the one in Florida. Cadaver Dans were nice, but without something like Hocus Pocus or the HKDL mazes the party-specific stuff felt a bit lacking. Place was packed as it was a sold-out night, but the lines for rides were not too long.

I would only recommend it to those who only have one day, but don't want to pay for a 1-day hopper. There was enough time to ride RSR and look around Cars Land before the official party start time.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Had meals at Cafe Orleans, French Market, Plaza Inn and the Golden Horseshoe. I enjoyed all of them, and had the mint julep twice. I wish MK in Florida had some nicer cafeteria places (with real forks and knives) and a show at the Diamond Horseshoe.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

When I'm at Disneyland in California I don't think about how much smaller it is, because you don't really notice that much. The castle and hub are the only exceptions because of the difference in height and the moat. I like the look of both parks, though Disneyland obviously has more trees and flower beds (for now, please don't rip all of them out).

I did however, miss the larger restrooms of MK. DL's were always full, with lines for the men's room (!) not being uncommon. At least they were being constantly cleaned.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Sailed aboard the Columbia for the first time on Sunday. Audio was dead so they had a CM read the script live and she was terrible. No enthusiasm in her voice and she frequently fumbled her lines. Would have been better to say nothing or something else.

But it was really interesting to go below deck (where I'm almost too tall to fit), hear them fire the canon and see the refurbished RoA, which I also saw aboard the RR the day before. Better than the rivers in WDW or DLP.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I went to pick up my "will call" park tickets at the Esplanade, only to find out there is no "will call" line and you have to wait with everyone else purchasing day tickets.

So much for buying them in advance, but it was the only option for the Canadian Resident tickets.

The CM at the booth gave me the whole spiel about MaxPass and PhotoPass (it's not short!), but I declined to use either during the trip.