Trip Report The “lets count the ways Land is greater than World” as seen through the eyes of the #noobsfromgeorgia.

Whelp, this may be a record start of a TR for me. I’m sitting in LAX right now waiting to board and doing my best to put off grading the 30 term papers I need to have done by Monday so why not start this report! There is no true PTR to reference for this trip other than the breadcrumbs I dropped over in the Deja Vu TR. The lowdown is as follows:
The crew: DW, DD, and Myself

Lodging: 1 night at Paradise Pier and 4 nights at The Grand Californian.
The plan: 2 days at Disneyland and 2 days at California Adventure in the following order CS/DL/CA/DL

Despite the title, I promise this wont be a dump on WDW TR but it was hard to ignore the things that DL does so dang well. That said, lets do this.

This journey starts with a night at the Holiday Inn & Suites Atlanta Airport-North. We’ve stayed here once before for a Disney trip and had a great experience. What is nice about this place is you get to park your car for the length of the trip just for staying the night at the hotel and they shuttle you to and from the airport. This is especially nice when you have an early flight, which we did. The accommodations are nice enough and serve the purpose.

We let yelp help us find dinner and found a fantastic taco stand located in a hole-in-the-wall in the bad side of town. Worth it!

As I said before we had to fly out at 06:13 which meant we had to get up early. Andrew W.K woke us up at 04:10 so we could get down to the lobby for the 4:40 shuttle. This was still better than the 3:00 wakeup call we would have had to do if we drove straight from home!

My naive mind had me thinking we would be the only folks at Atlanta’s Hartsfield–Action-Jackson- Atlanta International Airport and Spaceport. Yeah, it was hopping!

We had a mild wait to get through security and were soon enjoying some bagels at our gate with 30ish minutes to spare.

This was our first time flying American and I would absolutely fly them again! The complementary in-flight movies/TV on demand for laptops and iDevices was appreciated and every row had charges to plug your devise in! We got seated and I immediately had to embarrass the kid before watching The Avengers: Half Ya’ll Gonna Die.

 

[flynnibus]

Unfortunately, we did not ride Splash Mountain. I'm not sure why. Another reason we need to return.

Splash is notably better in WDW than DL... so you're ok there

 

[aliceismad]

I love the Indy ride. I rode on it as a teenager the summer after it opened and just remember being dazzled by the whole thing. BB is also my favorite place to eat in DL, though I've not eaten at Blue Bayou.

(Also I like Crystal Skull. A lot. So...)

I have to say, this report has me almost second guessing going to WDW next spring instead of DLR. But DH really wants to go to Epcot.

 

[lostpro9het]

A monkey with a gun? ::GASP:: how very un PC of Disney!

I know, I feel compelled to loot and riot now since Disney hasn't protected my sensitive mind from such disgust! Time to lawyer up.

Bengal Barbecue is our "go to" light lunch or snack. The price is right, food is good and it never seems to be too crowded.

I know! I think the food there scares people off like Sanaa does in WDW. Hopefully DL wont screw with it like WDW did with Sanaa.

TL : DR - your tolerance for crap will probably go down when you toy in your brain about visiting alternatives vs just rolling over and taking it. But you'll still find things that will make you want to visit WDW... virtually every "WDW was my first" Disney fan does.

My tolerance of crap was already pretty low. Honestly, we've even reached the point of only doing visits to WDW to stay at the resorts and visit DTD.

Splash is notably better in WDW than DL... so you're ok there

Good to know we didn't miss anything. Is the DL version smothered in racist Song of the South references too?

I have to say, this report has me almost second guessing going to WDW next spring instead of DLR. But DH really wants to go to Epcot.

Nope, do it! Fun can still be had, though I don't understand what the current draw of EC would be for your DH.

So after our snack we had Haunted Mansion next on our itinerary. We did standby this time. We knew there would be a Nightmare Before Christmas overlay during our visit and went in with no expectations. Seriously, we had never seen NBC and had almost no knowledge of Skellington or Sally. The only character we kinda knew was Oogie Boogie and that is because my wife is an Epic Mickey fan. Speaking of which, she had more than a few "oh hey, thats in Epic Mickey" moments during this trip. Anyway, even before we set foot in the mansion the theming outside was enjoyable.

 

[lostpro9het]

Still making our way towards the house and plenty of theming.

When we entered the house the overly, obviously, continued.

When you enter the stretching room there are stain glass murals around the room and a large decorative bow on the ceiling.

 

[lostpro9het]

As the narrator kicks off Skellington's story the stain glass murals shatter and start stretching to expose the hidden murals.

Then Skellington and some pumpkins make an appearance on the ceiling followed by some hanging of seasonal cheer... #morosemuch

Ive got video of the above to share soon. As you exit the stretching room you are greeted with more murals that change over time to reveal different scenes.

Even the literary busts got in on the fun too.

 

[lostpro9het]

It probably goes without saying but DL HM > WDW HM. To be fair the overlay probably had a lot to do with this. So this may be another ride we need to come back for to try. Still, we loved this ride and immediately decided we had to do it again soon.

 

[flynnibus]

The overlay at hm is so thorough it’s insane. I don’t think most east coast people realize... it’s practically a new ride.

 

[CaliKris]

I know! I think the food there scares people off like Sanaa does in WDW. Hopefully DL wont screw with it like WDW did with Sanaa.

Wait, what? We are going to Sanaa for the first time in a couple weeks. How did they mess with it? Water it down? Americanize it?

There is no better feeling for a Disney fan than walking into a Disney park for the first time and experiencing what makes it special. I am sure you felt that at Disneyland. Although, I would imagine the castle was a bit of a let down. DL's castle is charming while MK's is grand. Although, like we say in California, it is not the size of the castle that matters. Ha! I have to say we love to spend a week at WDW enjoying all it has to offer (four parks, multiple resorts, great restaurants, Disney Springs, etc.). We do feel DL>MK, so we often skip MK or spend less time there. And yeah, Splash is way better at MK.

I will have to go back and read your cruise trip report. We have not yet experienced DCL. We couldn't afford it when our kids were little and aren't sure we would like it as four adults.

 

[lostpro9het]

The overlay at hm is so thorough it’s insane. I don’t think most east coast people realize... it’s practically a new ride.

It really is a whole new experience which is why it didn't seem fair to compare it to WDW. Just another reason to go back, as if we needed any more ;-)

Wait, what? We are going to Sanaa for the first time in a couple weeks. How did they mess with it? Water it down? Americanize it?

Thankfully they haven't messed with the recipes they just jacked the prices up and messed with how you can order things. You once could order your Potjie Inspired meal anyway you wanted it now they have, over the years, raised the price by $8 and now force you to choose a meat item and a veggie item. You also had the ability to pick and choose the bread service but now its a flat rate $17, which has risen several dollars over the past couple years, for all bread and all sides regardless if you want them. Don't get me wrong, the food is still excellent but they've made obvious changes to milk as much money out of you as they can because they know what items are popular. The butter chicken is still fantastic.

There is no better feeling for a Disney fan than walking into a Disney park for the first time and experiencing what makes it special. I am sure you felt that at Disneyland. Although, I would imagine the castle was a bit of a let down. DL's castle is charming while MK's is grand. Although, like we say in California, it is not the size of the castle that matters. Ha! I have to say we love to spend a week at WDW enjoying all it has to offer (four parks, multiple resorts, great restaurants, Disney Springs, etc.). We do feel DL>MK, so we often skip MK or spend less time there. And yeah, Splash is way better at MK.

I know I've been very one sided so far but I promise there are places where WDW does things way better and I will get there soon. But, yeah, experiencing this park for the first time was thrilling.

I will have to go back and read your cruise trip report. We have not yet experienced DCL. We couldn't afford it when our kids were little and aren't sure we would like it as four adults.

There are several to choose from. I would read over our 20/40 TR or the Deja vu 4-nighter. Oh my, DCL as an adult is awesome! With a kid or without, there is plenty to do and the service is ridiculously high. I usually tell folks to think how awesome WDW was in the 80's/90's and their commitment to the guest and not the dollar and that is the level of service you get on DCL. If you like Disney and you like cruising then I dont see how you couldn't like it.

 

[Songbird76]

DL Pirates is definitely better than WDW! And it's similar to DL Paris' version, which is where I grew up going to- so I also got the nostalgia kick the first time we went to DL. So DL gets extra points for me! (Paris also has WDW's que- best of both worlds!). I'm pretty sure Shanghai may top DL whenever we get to try that one though.

This report is making me want to book DL again sooner than later.

I have never been to DL Pirates, but I love love love the DLP version!! It's my favorite!! I can ride it over and over and not get tired of it!

 

[lostpro9het]

After HM we made our way across the park and back into Tomorrowland. We had FPs for Buzz and SM with Buzz due up first.

Now, I walked into Buzz with no knowledge of the differences or similarities. Right off the bat the queue seems pretty similar to WDW. Even the loading process was spot on.

As we sat in the ship the major difference hit us in the face, the guns are not mounted to the ship!

This immediately got me excited because it meant I wouldn't have to deal with steering the ship while trying to hit targets. So the ride gets going and I realize "I gotta keep pulling the trigger!?!?". Unlike in WDW, you cant just hold the trigger down to have automatic firing. To be honest, I didn't care for this part of the ride. The trigger wasn't very responsive and was a little annoying. I did catch a hidden Mickey, though!

I cant remember what my score was and I didnt do a good job of grabbing a pic of it.

This was a ride that I think WDW does better.

 

[flynnibus]

As we sat in the ship the major difference hit us in the face, the guns are not mounted to the ship!To be This was a ride that I think WDW does better.

Wuaaa? The targets being animated and lit should be enough to make you take that back

I like wdw's rotating cabs and fixed guns... most prefer the hand helds

 

[imahistorygeek]

Buzz

DL > WDW

The blasters are not mounted and the targets light up for bonus points, I think.

I’m pretty sure Sean gave this one to WDW because he can cheat on that one.

 

[ThemedScream]

The blasters are not mounted and the targets light up for bonus points, I think

Yeah, they light up and there are also different shapes (circle, diamond, square) for different point values.

 

[lostpro9het]

Wuaaa? The targets being animated and lit should be enough to make you take that back

I like wdw's rotating cabs and fixed guns... most prefer the hand helds

The animated targets are nice BUT the trigger fatigue got old. We would ride this guy again, though.

Buzz
I’m pretty sure Sean gave this one to WDW because he can cheat on that one.

This reeks of jealousy. Plus, I still bested ya'll so, yeah.

After Buzz our SM FP was ready ready to use. There was a not so hidden mickey I tried to get a picture of last time but came out blurry so I grabbed a better one on round two.

After SM it was time for lunch. There was slim pickings for lunch and it was tempting to go back to BB but in the end we decided to give Galactic Grill a go. I regretted this decision. The pricing was on par with WDW but the quality, meh, was a bit lower IMO. The ladies felt it was on par with WDW but I dont remember being this disappointed in mean especially for as hungry as we were. The ladies each got a cheeseburger and I got the fried chicken sandwich. I think the pictures say it all.

After lunch we had a FP for IASM coming up so we made for the ride. Along the way we past an art vendor and this stood out and took me by surprise. My spelling is about as popular as Bort merchandise (my Simpson peeps get it).

 

[lostpro9het]

We were especially excited for IASM this trip because, like HM, there was a Holiday overlay! Like WDW's SM, IASM is a special nostalgic experience for me. I was hopeful that the DL version would hold up. What was interesting about the DL version, other than the outside queue and loading area, was how the boats floated in flume rather than an open pool of water. It didn't detract from the ride but was interesting to see the different approach to the ride. I'd imagine this makes it easier on the CMs to roll out an overlay like this.

 

[lostpro9het]

We really enjoyed this ride but I would say that DL IASM = WDW IASM but the Holiday overlay was really nice.

 

[lostpro9het]

After IASM we decided to head back towards Tomorrowland as the DD wanted to ride Autopia. As we exited Fantasyland we bumped into Geppetto!

As we made it to the queue the DD had a bit of a teen meltdown, I don't know it might have been the color of the sky that set her off. She was tired and still adjusting to west coast time but decided while we were in the queue that she no longer wanted to ride it and wanted to go back to the room. We told her to "suck it up" and finish this ride and then she could go back to the room. As you can see below she didn't take kindly to not immediately getting her way. Somehow the DW didn't throw her out of the car during their ride.

Overall I'm not a fan of this ride at either park but would say the theming at DL is superior to that at WDW.

 

[aliceismad]

I also dislike Autopia. Honestly, it’s the one thing I wish they would gut and replace.

Holiday Small world looks amazing though. I prefer DLR to WDW not for the ride but for the exterior beauty of Small World

 

[Captain Barbossa]

Been meaning to comment for a while, but I’m thoroughly enjoying your TR and take on “the Land”.