We are frequent visitors to WDW (Me-age 44, DW-??, DS1-10, and DS2-3), but our last three Disney trips have, not due to intent but circumstance, been to Disneyland. We just finished the most recent one, and as I write this we're on the flight home.
I'm not going to write anything like a trip report -- I don't figure I have anything particular interesting to say in that regard. But I will give a few thoughts that we garnered during this trip. Most of this confirms what we have believed in the past, but because my younger son has now passed 40", we had more time to do stuff as there was far less wasted baby swap time. Therefore, we noticed more and different things and really had time think about some things.
We stayed off-site, because I cannot fathom paying Disneyland resort prices, despite having the money to do. Our little guy uses a stroller to tour the parks, as walking would take forever and he'd eventually get tired. Little one still needs a nap on long days, but otherwise both kids have great stamina, and we ride everything we can.
With that as background, in no particular order, some random musings.
First, about the resort in general
1. Given a choice, I will always park in the structure. The buses from the Toy Story lot go through 3 traffic lights in less than a mile, meaning the trip can take seeming forever. The drop-off for the buses is further away from the entrance than the tram drop point, and getting to the lot is pain due to the traffic lights as well. Loading at the end of the night can take 15 minutes easily, as buses load way slower than trams. The structure is organized bliss compared to that, and the tram ride is non-stop, predictable, and fast.
2. The frequency with which requests and issues (only minor) were handled differently in different locations around the resort was surprising to me. From baby swaps, to fastpass problems (one of our tickets didn't register coming into the park one day), to which side of the ride the little kid should be on, to whether the two kids could ride together, etc., we kept getting different answers, sometimes at the same location. None of the answers were particular unreasonable, but the changes were odd. A couple times, I mentioned that others did it differently, and the CMs were surprised to hear that.
3. Disneyland food continues to be insanely expensive, moreso than WDW. The only tip I have is to ask at the counter-service places if they offer drink refills. Some do, and some don't. In general, it seemed that where the drinks are self-service (Redd Rocket's, Rancho Zocalo), one refill was allowed, while at other places, they looked at you quizzically like you had asked if they could magically make the crowds disappear. However, this was not consistent, and nobody could tell me the "rule".
4. While food in both parks in expensive, food at DCA is at least good. Counter-service food in Disneyland Park is truly disappointing, all the way around. Especially since I have some issues that prevent me from eating spicy stuff. Once you knock out Mexican and RZ, and Cajun in NOS, you're left some pretty disappointing stuff. Just grab a salad, get your kids some chicken nuggets, and make do.
5. As expected at Disneyland, most rides and attractions were in great shape. There were some notable surprises in that regard, which I'll touch on later. But the dark rides were a treat, as we always expect.
6. Big crowds were clearly expected this week (we went to DCA June 1, and Disneyland June 3 and 4) based on hours, but crowds were not large at all, and waits at most every attraction were manageable, with liberal use of fastpass, of course.
7. New at Disneyland Resort -- they now take your picture if you have a multi-day pass. The process of taking the pics upon first gate entry was quick, but not as quick as the finger-scan at WDW. Plus, this makes all entries now have three parts. First is bag check, then picture check (or picture taking), then scanning the tickets at the turnstile. They had lots of CMs to make things go relatively fast, but the added complexity seems silly, unless they were having really big problems with "sharing" of tickets.
8. 40" is a magical height at Disney. One of the things I love about Disney parks over others is the fact that kids don't have to miss all the thrills. My now 41" son could ride everything in both parks except California Screamin', Goofy Sky School, Matterhorn, and Indiana Jones. That meant he could join us on Tower, RSR, Space Mtn, Splash Mtn, Soarin', Big Thunder (except that it was closed, so nobody rode), Silly Symphony Swings, and Jumpin' Jellyfish, all for the first time. He loved them all, of course. In comparison, there are no thrill rides at my local Six Flags park that he can ride yet. Ridiculous.
I'm not going to write anything like a trip report -- I don't figure I have anything particular interesting to say in that regard. But I will give a few thoughts that we garnered during this trip. Most of this confirms what we have believed in the past, but because my younger son has now passed 40", we had more time to do stuff as there was far less wasted baby swap time. Therefore, we noticed more and different things and really had time think about some things.
We stayed off-site, because I cannot fathom paying Disneyland resort prices, despite having the money to do. Our little guy uses a stroller to tour the parks, as walking would take forever and he'd eventually get tired. Little one still needs a nap on long days, but otherwise both kids have great stamina, and we ride everything we can.
With that as background, in no particular order, some random musings.
First, about the resort in general
1. Given a choice, I will always park in the structure. The buses from the Toy Story lot go through 3 traffic lights in less than a mile, meaning the trip can take seeming forever. The drop-off for the buses is further away from the entrance than the tram drop point, and getting to the lot is pain due to the traffic lights as well. Loading at the end of the night can take 15 minutes easily, as buses load way slower than trams. The structure is organized bliss compared to that, and the tram ride is non-stop, predictable, and fast.
2. The frequency with which requests and issues (only minor) were handled differently in different locations around the resort was surprising to me. From baby swaps, to fastpass problems (one of our tickets didn't register coming into the park one day), to which side of the ride the little kid should be on, to whether the two kids could ride together, etc., we kept getting different answers, sometimes at the same location. None of the answers were particular unreasonable, but the changes were odd. A couple times, I mentioned that others did it differently, and the CMs were surprised to hear that.
3. Disneyland food continues to be insanely expensive, moreso than WDW. The only tip I have is to ask at the counter-service places if they offer drink refills. Some do, and some don't. In general, it seemed that where the drinks are self-service (Redd Rocket's, Rancho Zocalo), one refill was allowed, while at other places, they looked at you quizzically like you had asked if they could magically make the crowds disappear. However, this was not consistent, and nobody could tell me the "rule".
4. While food in both parks in expensive, food at DCA is at least good. Counter-service food in Disneyland Park is truly disappointing, all the way around. Especially since I have some issues that prevent me from eating spicy stuff. Once you knock out Mexican and RZ, and Cajun in NOS, you're left some pretty disappointing stuff. Just grab a salad, get your kids some chicken nuggets, and make do.
5. As expected at Disneyland, most rides and attractions were in great shape. There were some notable surprises in that regard, which I'll touch on later. But the dark rides were a treat, as we always expect.
6. Big crowds were clearly expected this week (we went to DCA June 1, and Disneyland June 3 and 4) based on hours, but crowds were not large at all, and waits at most every attraction were manageable, with liberal use of fastpass, of course.
7. New at Disneyland Resort -- they now take your picture if you have a multi-day pass. The process of taking the pics upon first gate entry was quick, but not as quick as the finger-scan at WDW. Plus, this makes all entries now have three parts. First is bag check, then picture check (or picture taking), then scanning the tickets at the turnstile. They had lots of CMs to make things go relatively fast, but the added complexity seems silly, unless they were having really big problems with "sharing" of tickets.
8. 40" is a magical height at Disney. One of the things I love about Disney parks over others is the fact that kids don't have to miss all the thrills. My now 41" son could ride everything in both parks except California Screamin', Goofy Sky School, Matterhorn, and Indiana Jones. That meant he could join us on Tower, RSR, Space Mtn, Splash Mtn, Soarin', Big Thunder (except that it was closed, so nobody rode), Silly Symphony Swings, and Jumpin' Jellyfish, all for the first time. He loved them all, of course. In comparison, there are no thrill rides at my local Six Flags park that he can ride yet. Ridiculous.
