Tom's 2013 DLR Trip Report

[Tom]

Overall Thoughts on the Disneyland Resort

After a 3-night stay in Las Vegas for a business conference, my wife and I visited the Disneyland Resort for our first time. To summarize the entire experience in one word: amazing.

We were "on property" from Wednesday, May 1 through Tuesday, May 7. We stayed at the Grand Californian - in a 1 Bedroom Villa - for 4 nights, and then the Disneyland Resort for 2 nights. We bought 5-Day Park Hoppers and visited the parks on May 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

The weather was most certainly not what we were expecting for "beautiful southern California" - but we were still in Disneyland! It was 97 the first day, in the 90s the next two days, then dropped to the 60s the last two days. Went from sweating through every layer of clothing, to needing extra layers of clothing.

For years, I've heard all about how you just don't feel "removed from the world" when you're in the parks, due to the proximity of the interstate, roads, hotels and retail. I would completely argue against this. Not once, while inside the parks, did we ever feel like we were just in a theme park plopped down in the middle of a town. Ambient music and careful sight lines combine to offer a very secluded feeling, in my opinion (and I'm one who NEEDS to escape when I take a Disney vacation...and I was pleased).

Since we've been back (and even while we were there, speaking with CMs who found out we were WDW veterans), we've been constantly asked how we'd compare WDW and DLR. It's really impossible to compare them on a global scale - they're apples and oranges. My default response was, and still is, that Disneyland has an intimate feeling.

I'm sure it was drastically less impressive when it was just the "original MK", and even after adding DCA Phase 1. But today, I would recommend it as a destination to any loyal WDW fan.

One thing we noticed as a GLARING difference (and I mean no offense to the WDW CM's on here, who are obviously a cut above the rest), is the "quality" of the Cast at DLR vs WDW. Even the CMs who were obviously young (perhaps even high school) were extremely "magical". We didn't encounter ONE SINGLE grumpy CM who was "working there because his mom made him get a job." They worked hard. They went out of their way to be nice and helpful. And above all, we could tell they actually cared. It was so refreshing.

And for a park that's over 50 years old, the Magic Kingdom is holding up quite well. The custodial staff is what WDW's used to be...and what WDW's was renowned for. I dropped a few pieces of popcorn as I was walking and eating - and BAM, it was literally swept up within seconds. After a Fantasic or World of Color show, there was an army of custodial crew to clean up the seating areas. Within minutes, the areas were spotless.

And crowd control.....wow. In WDW, they use about 8 miles of masking tape (which I think is simply the most ridiculous thing in the world) every time they have a parade...thinking that will actually corral people. At DLR, they use ropes and stanchions for everything, and they work. We were in roped off areas for both Fantasmic and WoC, and as the shows neared their endings, CMs would sneak in like Navy Seals and remove the posts and ropes like "magic". So, as soon as the show was over, everyone could just stand up and walk out - without being trapped in a mess of ropes or bottlenecks.

And while we certainly saw things that said Disney Parks & Resorts on them....something that jumped out at me the minute we checked into our room at the Grand Californian was the extra roll of toilet paper sitting on the back of the toilet. It had a fitted card stock wrapper around it with GRAND CALIFORNIAN text and logos. Not Disney, or Parks & Resorts - it was literally branded to that very hotel. Kind of sheds new light on the napkin and cup fiasco of last year. It was an eye opener for me.

Food was fantastic, but very expensive. We ate at all of the headliner dining establishments, and there wasn't a meal we didn't enjoy (except breakfast at Story Tellers...nasty food).

I don't care for DtD in Florida, but DtD is extremely nice. We only went in World of Disney, but the overall area was well-kept and tasteful - without being as commercial-feeling as Florida's has become (here's hoping Disney Springs fixes that).

As for the guests, I wouldn't say it was any better or worse than WDW. Instead of Brazilian tour groups, there were Asian tour groups. Plenty of nice guests - plenty of rude guests - and they have their own GAC abuse issues too.

I'll use the following posts to discuss my thoughts in more specific ways, but to close out this post, I'll just say that we will most certainly return. It's a fantastic destination.

 

[Tom]

A Summary of our Trip Itinerary

Wednesday, May 1:
I think we arrived at the Grand Californian around 7pm. We ended up with a villa overlooking DCA and were able to watch WoC from our balcony. It is now our favorite DVC Resort.

We unpacked, grabbed dinner at Story Teller's, toured the hotel, then watched WoC. After the parks closed, we walked out to see DtD, only to realize that you could keep walking into the Esplanade. It was almost like being on MSUSA after every guest has left. It was so awesome! We walked right up to the gates at DL's turnstiles and just stared in awe. I sound lame, but it was surreal. There we were...standing 50' outside "Walt's Park"...with area music playing in the plaza and about 5 other people in the whole area.

Thursday, May 2:
It was Magic Morning at Disneyland, so we headed over and knocked out Fantasyland in a couple hours. Around lunch time, my wife noticed on one of the social media sites she stalks that @WDWFigment and his charming wife were at DCA (stopping by on their way to Tokyo). I "messaged" Tom and we ended up meeting them in DL, riding Pirates, HM and Pooh together, along with Guy Selga from Touring Plans. It's funny that we live about a half hour away from each other here in Indy, but ended up being in the same park clear across the country.

We said our goodbyes and my wife and I headed to Wine Country for dinner. On any other day, we would have appreciated their outdoor dining, but it wasn't the best choice on this 97 degree day. I think it was a cool 95 on that patio...but the food and service were great.

After dinner we just walked around DCA, running into the B's again in Cars Land, then found our way to our viewing area for World of Color. Then, back to the room to crash.

Friday, May 3:
Magic Morning at DCA, so we took advantage of it and experienced Radiator Springs Racers using the Standby queue, so that we could have at least one ride together. We hopped off and used the Single Rider queue 2 more times, and then 1 more time later in the day. I think our longest wait was 10 minutes.

We had lunch at Flo's V-8 (indoors, in the A/C) and experienced most of the rides and shows until it was time to go clean up and head to dinner at DL.

We had dinner at Blue Bayou, which was also great. Very cool atmosphere, especially with the PotC boats going by, and the highly immersive bayou across the water.

After dinner....a leisurely double loop on the railroad, then Indy and Jungle Cruise.

We found a spot in the hub (behind a tree) for whatever the fireworks show was. I was bored to tears by the show - I guess I've been spoiled by WDW's fireworks (i.e. Wishes). I was bummed that we waited so long for that disappointment. Afterwards, we headed to New Orleans Square to claim a piece of pavement for Fantasmic #2 - which was incredible.

After a slow walk out, we went back to the room.

Saturday, May 4:
My wife had booked us for the Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour at 9:15. We booked it for one sole reason.....and it was well worth it. I guess it's a fairly new addition to the tour, but the last stop was a visit to Walt's private apartment above the firehouse! Talk about goosebumps. The front part, where the couches and window with the lamp were sitting, was roped off, but we could see the entire place, including the kitchenette, bathroom and deck. They used our cameras and took one photo of each person/couple, which is a keepsake for life! It was overwhelming to think I was standing in the very apartment where Walt slept and stewed over blueprints....and watched out the window as guests poured into his dream park. Words cannot describe the feeling, so I'll leave it at that.

After lunch - which culminated the tour - we took a ride down Main Street on the trolley, and back up on the double-decker bus. So awesome seeing all the Main Street transportation running at once time, and all day!

We had dinner at Napa Rose (yum) at 5:30, then headed back to DCA for a few more trips on RSR. Um, I think we're up to 6 rides on it by now.

We strolled through Paradise Pier and rode Toy Story with no wait. When we got off, they were closing the ride (and the park). We walked over to the railing and watched World of Color from the back. During the show, I glanced back into TSMM's queue/load area and counted 6 custodial and 3 operations personnel cycling the ride vehicles through - inspecting each and every one, and thoroughly cleaning them too. That was an impressive sight.

Slow stroll out of the park and to the room.

Sunday, May 5:
Slept in a bit and had the breakfast buffet at Story Teller's. As I said in my opening post - yuck! I think the scrambled eggs had the extra yolks they removed from the "scrambled egg whites". The biscuits were like hockey pucks. And the waffles were whole wheat, or something equally awful. I want my waffles to be made out of real waffle batter, damn it! The bacon was the only thing they did right.

Went back to the room, packed, and toted our bags over to the Disneyland Resort. Our room wasn't ready, so we left the bags with Bell and headed to DL.

We had a late lunch at Carnation Cafe and just popped around the park, hitting things with little waits. We had a late dinner at the Plaza, then headed over to ride the Canal Boats. The fireworks were about to start, so they stopped the boats just before we boarded. However, due to high winds, they stopped the show about 2 minutes into it, and played an announcement. Bummer for the poor saps who had sat in the hub for an hour waiting for them....but we got to get on the Canal Boats, lol.

A few late night spins on FL dark rides, then back to the room.

Monday, May 6:
This was our last day in the parks, so we just hopped around to all of our favorites....starting with RSR. I think we rode twice in a row. We used this morning to experience some of the clones from WDW.

We ate quick service, but I can't remember where and it's not in our notes. We went to DL to end our trip and repeated some of the classics like PotC. We rode Roger Rabbit's Spin, and just before the last turn to unload, the ride went down. Lights came on and they evac'd us. My very first evac ever....and it was pretty lame. We hurried across the park to the HM and the ride went down as soon as we sat down in our doombuggy. Fortunately, they got it started back up after about 5 minutes. But, between these two delays, we missed the last Lincoln show and never got to see it. Guess we have to go back!

The park closed at 8pm, and we took our time leaving, getting some empty park pictures and saying our goodbyes to Disneyland.

We headed to LAX the next morning and flew home.

Stay tuned for more thought in the following posts over the next couple nights.

 

[Tom]

Specific Thoughts Regarding Disneyland Park

So, Disneyland park...this is definitely where I would use the word "intimate". You can tell they didn't design it for the crowds it sees, because they likely never expected it to be this popular. We found the walkways very difficult to navigate, with lots of bottle-necks.

I personally never really learned my way around the park. Sure, I could get from Adventureland to Tomorrowland, but like WDW's MK, there are cut-throughs and side paths all over the place. I would often find myself wondering which way to turn. But at the same time, I think this design further assisted me in becoming absorbed in the magic, and isolated from the real world 50 feet away.

And I always knew the castle was small, but wow! Sure, it's charming (or cute), but it just doesn't give Main Street that wow factor like Cindy's does in Florida. I appreciate the grandiose feeling of WDW's Main Street more, now that I've been to Disneyland's - but, there's still nothing wrong with DL's.

Now, I'm not going to write a guidebook about each and every ride, but I'd like to hop around the lands and offer my general impressions of various lands, rides and attractions. I'll go clockwise...

Adventureland
This, as most people know, is one of the tightest areas of the park to squeeze through. But I enjoyed the atmosphere in this area, just like I do in Florida.

We experienced the Tiki Room and tried to get a Dole Whip beforehand, but the line for them was OBSCENELY long. It stretched nearly to Jungle Cruise's entrance on the outside, and wrapped around the entire perimeter of the queuing area as well. It was VERY hot that day, so it would have been refreshing - but oh well. While waiting, there was a camera crew filming things in the queue area, and then they came into our show and filmed. We found out they were filming for the next Vacation Planning DVD.

I didn't realize Jungle Cruise was one of the rides that was "plussed" with the WDW version. I was shocked when it ended so soon, and without going through a temple. It was still a nice ride, with a couple differences, but not many. The queue is very deceiving. We got in line, and 15 minutes in we realized it went up stairs and looped around up there for a while, before coming back down. Again, we did this the first day when it was 97, so just imagine, lol.

We skipped the treehouse, and for some reason, I'm not losing sleep over that.

I think we rode Indiana Jones 3 or 4 times during the trip. Very impressive. We Fastpassed it each time, because it had some fairly long waits. Given that it's the same ride system (and layout) as Dinosaur, they're naturally going to be compared. Indy gets an A+++ and Dinosaur gets whatever's worse than an F. The queue was incredible. The ride itself was entertaining the entire time, and I was impressed that there weren't all the pitch black areas (like in Dinosaur) where they just turn off the lights and thrash you so that they didn't have to build more sets. Great attraction.

New Orleans Square
This is the home of the big sisters of my two favorite rides from WDW's MK - Pirates and Haunted Mansion.

Other than the lack of the CGI hitchhiking ghosts at the end and the staircase room, the HM ride is essentially identical. But the queue is vastly superior, and I got a kick out of their elevator version of the stretch rooms. They get much taller than Florida's, which really makes that part of the pre-show more dramatic.

But Pirates....wow. Just wow. I was in awe from the moment we entered the show building until we exited. The kinetics are fantastic, with the boats passing right by the queue, and then past the diners at Blue Bayou. And I was simply blown away by how much "show" there is before the drop. It makes WDW's look like a C-ticket. I don't know the ride times of the two versions off the top of my head, but it FELT like it was twice as long, with a significant portion being before the drops.

Critter Country
We never did make it onto Splash Mountain, but again, I'm not disappointed. Neither of us enjoy getting drenched in a theme park (even when it's 97 degrees - its just uncomfortable). The line was always long and it was an experience we were OK with skipping.

Winnie the Pooh was a neat ride though. I would personally rank it above WDW's - even though it's very similar. The ride vehicles and a couple other details just give it the edge, in my book. Our VIP tour guides that first afternoon (Brickers and Guy Selga) showed us the hidden gem in the ride - the mounted animal heads from the Country Bear Jamboree are hanging above one of the doorways your vehicle passes through during the ride. You have to turn around to see them, but it's pretty neat.

Frontierland
We never ventured over to Tom Sawyer's Island (I don't think I've been to WDW's since 2006, and my wife has never been), and we didn't explore with the canoes, so no comments on those attractions.

With the Riverboat and Columbia both sailing the day we were in that area, we chose to sail on the Columbia. Quite an elaborate ship! We saw the Mark Twain, which was looking good with it's fresh coat of white paint.

Big Thunder was down for refurbishment, and we're not really into petting zoos, so we actually didn't do much in this land, now that I think about it.

Fantasyland
We were told many times, and everyone was right - the dark rides are plentiful, and more entertaining in California. It was so cool getting to ride Mr. Toad's Wild Ride again, as well as Snow White.

it's a small world was actually tolerable. The queue was hot, because of the days we visited, but the ride itself was much more elaborate than I had expected. Yes, it's still just a bunch of dolls bobbing around to music, but you can tell they put effort into masking lighting, darkening the ceiling and other non-show areas, and keeping things kept up. I also found the integration of the Disney characters to be quite tasteful and well done.

We rode the Casey Jr. Train, and, well, "meh". I wouldn't ride it again. It was a long wait for a disappointing experience. Obviously geared towards the little ones.

We rode the Canal Boats at night, and had a GREAT Cast Member. It's a cute ride, and she made it very magical for us. You could tell she loved her job.

We rode the Matterhorn....so now we can say we've done that. It was an extremely rough ride, and neither of us enjoyed it. It unfortunately won't be on the list for future trips.

Toon Town
We only ventured back here once, and it was on the last night of our trip. We hopped on the Roger Rabbit ride and got through most of it before it stopped and all the lights came on. We were evac'd and that was that.

Tommorrowland
Quite a lackluster land - especially with the abandoned Peoplemover track all over the place.

We rode Space Mountain, which my wife enjoyed more than WDW's. I, however, did not enjoy it, but that's just because it stirs up my motion sickness.

Buzz Lightyear was just OK - the same way I feel about Florida's. Of course, I usually score high in WDW, but did terribly on this one.

My wife had never experienced 20K in Florida, and we both wanted to experience the Nemo Submarine Voyage. It was clever, but I had forgotten how claustrophobic the inside of those subs were. Yikes! Plus, it was hot and we were trapped in the thing with a bunch of rude people (the woman next to me was taking flash photos and letting her two children talk and bounce around the entire time).

Food
We had lunch at Hungry Bear on the first day, and it was pretty good.

On our second night, we had dinner at Blue Bayou. Again, the atmosphere was awesome, and we both enjoyed our dinners.

We enjoyed our lunch at Carnation Cafe one day, and had dinner at the Plaza that night. Again, both were great meals.

On our last night, we had dinner at Cafe Orleans. I had the Monte Cristo, which was pretty good. I probably wouldn't eat here again though.

*EDIT* Added Section 05/19
Nighttime Shows

Fantasmic was everything I remembered from the working version in Florida...and then some. Setting it on the Rivers of America is genius. The way they integrated it seamlessly (including the gigantic lighting towers that telescope up out of the pavement), is nothing less than genius. Everything worked perfectly, including the dragon. Sitting so close to the performance area really adds to the impact, especially when the Columbia comes by with it's forward masts hanging over the crowd. And the Mark Twain is an impressive way to parade the characters past at the end. The superior sound system and close proximity gave me those "goosebump moments" that I used to get from Florida's version the first couple times I saw it.

As has been discussed in this thread already, we did not care for the fireworks show we saw. I believe it was just called Magic. It was the first night they ran it for the season, and due to the knee-jerk reaction to OSHA's visit, Dumbo and Tink were both "grounded until further notice". Fireworks are fireworks, and in my opinion it's the soundtrack that makes or breaks a fireworks show. This one did nothing for me. I was looking around and checking my watch throughout the entire show. It won't be on our "to do" list for future visits. Here's hoping we can see the "Dreams" one next time we're there, as I hear it's vastly superior.

 

[Tom]

Specific Thoughts Regarding California Adventure

For a while, all I heard or read was how lackluster DCA was. Then they did BVS and Cars Land and completely transformed the park. Well, I never saw Version 1.0, but this version they have right now is 100% incredible.

I'm not going to talk about Cars Land or any of its components in this post, as I've set aside one dedicated solely to that land. That also gives me a bit more time to think of some additional synonyms for "wow" and "amazing".

We didn't run a timer, but during our 5 days of park hopping, I'm pretty sure we spent more time in this park. In Florida, the majority of our time is in the MK. It's just flat out my favorite park there. But in California.....I'm really torn. Emotionally I WANT my favorite park to be DL (since it was the first, and Walt's, etc), but I actually think I enjoyed being in DCA more. It's a completely different ambiance, but no matter where we were, it felt wide open, clean, and downright magical (in its own way).

Like with DL above, I'll run through each land, discussing my thoughts on things in essay format. We'll start with the new....

Buena Vista Street
Simply put, it's a very cool makeover. Obviously nothing to really do here except shop and eat, but the architecture and ambiance is great. We did ride the Red Car Trolley and watched the News Boys do their little show one time.

Hollywood Land
This land includes one of my major "negatives" for DLR, and that's the Tower of Terror. One should never ride the one in Florida and then come here. It was down right boring....and a lame excuse for what it should be. It's like TDO was in charge of the project, because they could have easily cloned Florida's, but decided to "value engineer" it down to the haphazard mess that it is.

The load/unload system is hokey, for lack of a better word. Elevator doors open, then you walk through a hallway to get to another set of elevator doors to get in the vehicle. That just seems like a major design flaw, or "crap, we're out of money, just build the thing". The Rod Serling voiceover during the ride sound like if they had hired me - it's not even close. I think we rode it twice, simply for the fact that we had PhotoPass+ and wanted to get additional ride photos. It would not be on my list again if there were any sort of wait - and that's unfortunate.

The Aladdin show was pretty good, but we had seen the brand new one on The Fantasy last Mark. Aside from the flying carpet over the audience in DCA, I preferred the version on the ship. The Genie's pop culture jokes were too numerous, and some were quite dated. But otherwise, it was a well-done show from both performer and technical aspects. It also offered a good time to slump down in the padded chair, in the air conditioning, and doze off a few times

Muppet Vision.....exactly the same as DHS. Still enjoyed it here!

The Monsters Inc ride was cute. It was pretty elaborate for a dark ride. I just wish a few of the figures had moved...at all. Even rock them back and forth, or swivel their heads. It's very strange to ride past extremely elaborate figures, within close proximity, and have them be completely motionless. We rode this twice, since it never had a wait. And again, it was a nice component for the park.

We appreciated the fact that the Animation Academy posted the times that they'd be drawing certain characters, so we made sure to take the drawing class for two that struck home with us. First, we drew Oswald, which was pretty cool. The next time we drew the Cheshire Cat - my wife's favorite character. We didn't end up seeing Turtle Talk, because it always appeared to have long lines, and we'd seen it plenty of times in Florida.

a bug's land
We walked through this mini land several times, but didn't experience any of the attractions. But it's geared toward kids anyway, and we're child-free. It was cute and well done, but I have no further introspect.

Pacific Wharf
We ate lunch here, and walked through it many times, but that's about it. We didn't end up going in Blue Sky Cellar. Partly because I forgot about it until we had left the park for the last time - and partly because whatever it was showcasing at the time was of no interest to us (but I don't remember what it was). I got lunch at Lucky Fortune Cookie and my wife got a bread bowl soup from Pacific Wharf Cafe. Both were yummy.

Paradise Pier
We rode TSMM, which was the first time we had ridden any version of it in a few years. We just don't wait in the DHS lines for it anymore. This one had no line (toward the end of the park day) so we took a spin. It was fun, and exactly the same as Florida.

We looked at Mickey's Fun Wheel and both said, "Nah!". We were both determined to do it before the trip, but after watching it in person, and hearing it referred to as "Mickey's Wheel of Death" by some friends, we opted to spend our time elsewhere. I get motion sick, plus you spend more time sitting still as they load/unload than you do traveling...and with the temperatures as hot as they were, we preferred not to sit and bake in a little cage 100' in the air.

Little Mermaid was pretty much the same as Florida's, as everyone already knows, except for the queue. We rode it once for the sake of saying we did.

During our last couple days, the temperatures had plummeted with the highs being in the low 70s and getting down into the 50s at night. I decided that the California Screamin' coaster looked too fun to simply pass up, even though inversions usually make me urpy. Had it still been 90+ degrees, there's no way I would have ridden it. But we did, and it was great! I like coasters - I just don't like inversions (well, my inner ears don't). With the one little loop, it wasn't bad at all. And otherwise, it's a very smooth steel coaster, a long ride, and the linear-induction launch is pretty cool.

Since World of Color is technically an attraction here, I'll comment on it now. It's pretty friggin' cool. We had just been to Vegas and watched the Bellagio water shows. That was a nice segue into this show, which blows Bellagio out of the "water". We saw it once using the reserved seating deal through dinner at Wine Country, and then watched it again from the back after we exited TSMM one night. Oh yeah, we also watched it from our balcony the night we checked in, but it wasn't the best vantage point. It will never surpass Illuminations for me (my all-time favorite nighttime show), but it was 1000 times better than fireworks. If you're planning a trip to DLR, and are teetering on whether or not to see this - see it!

Grizzly Peak
We didn't ride Grizzly River Run. My wife had wanted to, but it never came up while we were there. Again, neither of us like to get wet, and once the temperatures dropped during the second half of the trip, it sounded even less appealing, I guess. It looked pretty cool though.

I think the only time we even walked through the area was when we were entering or leaving through the GC turnstiles.

Food
On our first night, we had dinner at Wine Country Trattoria. Aside from having to sit outside after dragging our wretched souls through near 100-degree weather all day, the dinner was great. We were the first people seated for the day, so we got great service.

We enjoyed lunch one day at Flo's V-8 Cafe. Fortunately, we got in early enough to grab an indoor table. Their lunch offerings are huge and delicious!

I think that just about wraps up my DCA-specific report. Again, I'll save Cars Land and RSR for its own post later.

 

[Tom]

Super Specific Thoughts Regarding Cars Land

I've saved this post to edit last because I've had to put a lot of thought into what I'm going to say. I'll still probably end up rambling on, but here goes nothing....

I had seen photos and a couple of videos of Cars Land over the past year or so. I never watched a video of RSR so as not to spoil it (in case I ever made it to DLR). I'm so glad I made that choice.

The land itself is simply indescribable. We took LOTS of photos, but they still don't do it justice. You have to experience it in person to fully appreciate what they've created.

I can honestly say that I have never in my life experienced anything like Cars Land (as far as man-made creations). It actually gives Mother Nature a run for her money too.

No matter where we stood in the land, we felt like we were IN the movie. Never has a Disney theme park transported me so successfully to the replicated time/place/location/movie like this land did. There are no sight line issues. There are "real" mountains and canyons as far as you can see. The street is freshly paved. Every detail is perfect....just perfect.

Last year we experienced Harry Potter land at Uni, and even though I'd never seen the movies or read the books, I was impressed with the land. It was the most impressive theme park land I'd experienced.....until now. Cars Land puts Harry to shame, in MY opinion.

We often found ourselves gravitating to the land anytime we were in the park and not specifically doing something else. It's eye candy. It's the definition of immersive. And dare I say it.....it's nothing that WDW will likely ever reproduce.

But as my wife and I have discussed, we don't WANT Cars Land to come to WDW, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it is a landmark land that DLR deserves to keep for itself. By keeping the unique experience, it will coerce more of us mid-westerners and east-coasters to venture west and give this destination some much-deserved love.

Secondly, I think we all know by now that if they do attempt to bring it east, they'll half-a$$ it, and then it will be a complete waste of money. DLR did it right, and it should be done in no less level of completeness. Besides, RSR would never work in Florida because much of it is outdoors, and the Florida rains would keep it closed over 50% of the time.

I hear the rumors that Florida will bring a Cars 2 style land to DHS....but I honestly hope they just go a completely different direction and focus on something else.

Radiator Springs Racers - wow! I lost count when looking at our notes, but I believe we rode it over 10 times in 5 days. Once together, and the rest as Single Rider (always ended up in the same car anyway). It never got old, like many rides do. On every ride, there was something new to look at, or something you just didn't notice before.

There were a couple rides where some of the effects weren't working perfectly, but it didn't negatively impact our experience. The car mouths were very impressive, as were the special effects in the pre-race prep rooms (I don't know the technical name for those rooms where they split the track).

The timing of the music is absolutely PERFECT, and so well done. The soothing music as you leave the seatbelt check, which crescendos into the big orchestral push the instant you see the waterfall...just wow. And the race itself is both thrilling AND full of visual appeal.

I'm actually afraid to ride Test Track again after having experienced RSR, because I know I'll just be disappointed (even with TT2.0, which opened a week after we were last there).

For the rest of the land....

We had snacks from Cozy Cone and ate lunch at Flo's once. Both good.

We didn't do the meet-n-greets, but Mater and Lightning passed us many times on their way to and from their meet location and backstage. The "characters" are quite impressive.

My wife rode the tractor spin thing (I avoid it for the same reason I don't ride the Tea Cups), and she said it was fun. We both rode Luigi's Tires one night....and were never able to figure out how to really make it work. Oh well.

Some of the best times I had were spent standing on the road that runs alongside RSR, between Flo's and the ride. Just staring at the "mountain range" and watching the cars come by every 30 seconds or so was hypnotic. If you want to REALLY escape the real world, that area will do it for you.

I could go on and on. I still love my WDW - it's "home". But I absolutely must give DLR credit where credit is due. This land, and it's flagship attraction, are on a level not yet reached by WDW. And under current leadership, I fear that Florida may never receive this level of perfection when it comes to new lands or rides. There just is flat out no comparison between Cars Land and anything else we've experienced in the States.

If you don't have kids, or you do and they're at least 40" tall, I suggest you pack up your things and head west for a few days. There is absolutely no way you will regret it.

 

[Tom]

Specific Thoughts Regarding our Disney Resort Hotels & Property

We started out in the Grand Californian, and then moved to the Disneyland Hotel for our last two nights. We should have done that in reverse order, because the Villa spoiled us.

Wilderness Lodge Villas is quite possibly our favorite DVC Resort at WDW. So, it's no surprise that we thoroughly enjoyed the design and ambiance of the Grand Californian when we arrived.

We didn't get in until about 7:30pm, so check-in was quick and easy. We headed up to our room, opened the door, and heard faint screaming and music. So we make a bee-line to the balcony, only to discover that we had a Theme Park view! It was awesome to overlook the Paradise Pier part of DCA. And better yet, we started our trip off by watching World of Color from our balcony.

It was nice to come back and just sit on the balcony, or in the bedroom or living room with the doors/windows open, and watch and listen to the park close down.

The Villa was in great shape - very clean and everything was in working order. The Resort itself is huge and sprawling, but the immediate access to DtD and the back entrance to DCA were major perks to staying here. From our room to the Bag Check line was maybe a 10 minute walk, with half of it being from our room to the exit from the hotel.

On Sunday of our trip, we hauled our bags over to the Disneyland Hotel. It's very nice, but I would definitely not pay $400/night to stay there (we stayed on a special 50% discount). We had a room in the Adventure Tower with a king bed that overlooked Downtown Disney. We were the furthest room north on the 7th floor.

It was a very strange setup, because we had to key into a set of double doors, which opened into a tiny "vestibule" of sorts, which then had a door into our room, and another into the adjacent room. It's as if it had previously been a suite of some sort, and they just turned them into two separate rooms.

The room was quite large for a theme park hotel room, and at night I would sit in one of the big padded chairs and watch DtD wind down.

As I already mentioned, DtD was very nice and clean, and felt far less "commercial" than Florida's version.

And other than the couple times we saw the backstage and off-property areas from the monorail, the "outside world" never once impeded on our vacation. I had expected quite the opposite from everything I've seen and read, but was very pleasantly surprised.

 

[RandomPrincess]

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Californian Elitist]

I'm looking forward to reading more as well!

 

[Californian Elitist]

Your breakfast sounds absolutely disgusting. I'm sorry you had to experience that.

I can't believe you ran into Tom... That's crazy.

 

[RandomPrincess]

Sad you didn't like the fireworks. Are they still showing the 50th anniversary ones narrated by Julie Andrews? Those were awesome! You had fireworks all around 360 degrees in the hub.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Sad you didn't like the fireworks. Are they still showing the 50th anniversary ones narrated by Julie Andrews? Those were awesome! You had fireworks all around 360 degrees in the hub.

It's Magical! now, which I happen to like more than Wishes (though Wishes is good). I love Dumbo, Pinocchio and the finale in Magical!. Oh, and Tink of course.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I forgot to say, it's a shame part of the apartment was roped off. The rest of the apartment is AMAZING.

 

[TP2000]

After a 3-night stay in Las Vegas for a business conference, my wife and I visited the Disneyland Resort for our first time. To summarize the entire experience in one word: amazing.

Yup. Sounds like you just made your first trip to Disneyland and figured out what everyone has been talking about for awhile.

Welcome to the club.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

Sounds like a great time! I can't believe how many MAGIC posters have been in DLR lately!

I'm just gonna go ahead and like all your posts now... I have a feeling they'll be good.

 

[AmongMadPeople]

It's Magical! now, which I happen to like more than Wishes (though Wishes is good). I love Dumbo, Pinocchio and the finale in Magical!. Oh, and Tink of course.

Dumbo and Tink did not fly, which I overhead some CMs talking was due to cast safety concerns (i.e. more fall protection). I haven't seen this info published anywhere, so I don't know if those concerns have been fixed, or if they are still grounded. We saw the very first showing of Magical for the season on Friday, I saw on twitter it was cancelled on Saturday (but can't verify), and Sunday only played for a few minutes before being cancelled. I don't know what their status was this past weekend.

I personally don't think Magical compares to Wishes at all, but I was excited to see Dumbo fly. Disappointed it didn't happen. We'll go back, but will try to avoid Magical season in the future Christmas season, February, then Halloween are next on my Disneyland to do list!

 

[Californian Elitist]

Dumbo and Tink did not fly, which I overhead some CMs talking was due to cast safety concerns (i.e. more fall protection). I haven't seen this info published anywhere, so I don't know if those concerns have been fixed, or if they are still grounded. We saw the very first showing of Magical for the season on Friday, I saw on twitter it was cancelled on Saturday (but can't verify), and Sunday only played for a few minutes before being cancelled. I don't know what their status was this past weekend.

I personally don't think Magical compares to Wishes at all, but I was excited to see Dumbo fly. Disappointed it didn't happen. We'll go back, but will try to avoid Magical season in the future Christmas season, February, then Halloween are next on my Disneyland to do list!

Those darn winds! They screw up everything.

I think both Magical! and Remember... Dreams Come True top Wishes. IMO, Magical! is jut slightly ahead of Wishes (as stated previously, Tink, Dumbo, the Pinocchio section and the finale make it for me), but Remember is leagues better than Wishes. By a long shot. You should try and see that firework show before the holiday ones!

I'm not a fan of the Christmas fireworks at DL, as they're quite boring. The Halloween fireworks are awesome, though. Hopefully you go during Halloween (*wink wink).

 

[RandomPrincess]

Those darn winds! They screw up everything.

I think both Magical! and Remember... Dreams Come True top Wishes. IMO, Magical! is jut slightly ahead of Wishes (as stated previously, Tink, Dumbo, the Pinocchio section and the finale make it for me), but Remember is leagues better than Wishes. By a long shot. You should try and see that firework show before the holiday ones!

I'm not a fan of the Christmas fireworks at DL, as they're quite boring. The Halloween fireworks are awesome, though. Hopefully you go during Halloween (*wink wink).

I don't think and thing can top Remember Dreams Come True. It was a full history if Disneyland in Fireworks! It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I don't think and thing can top Remember Dreams Come True. It was a full history if Disneyland in Fireworks! It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen.

Oh man, I agree. I'm a little scared of what the 60th fireworks are going to be like in two years. Remember set the bar pretty high and if it's going away in two years, the new fireworks need to be just as great, if not, almost as great or even better (wishful thinking). Guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[Tom]

Your breakfast sounds absolutely disgusting. I'm sorry you had to experience that.

I can't believe you ran into Tom... That's crazy.

Fortunately, the breakfast was the only negative thing about the trip (ok, well, besides the temperatures).

And yeah, it was crazy indeed to see Tom and Sarah there. It took traveling a couple thousand miles to meet up, when there are so many fine restaurants right here in town, lol.

 

[Tom]

Dumbo and Tink did not fly, which I overhead some CMs talking was due to cast safety concerns (i.e. more fall protection). I haven't seen this info published anywhere, so I don't know if those concerns have been fixed, or if they are still grounded. We saw the very first showing of Magical for the season on Friday, I saw on twitter it was cancelled on Saturday (but can't verify), and Sunday only played for a few minutes before being cancelled. I don't know what their status was this past weekend.

I personally don't think Magical compares to Wishes at all, but I was excited to see Dumbo fly. Disappointed it didn't happen. We'll go back, but will try to avoid Magical season in the future Christmas season, February, then Halloween are next on my Disneyland to do list!

Those darn winds! They screw up everything.

I think both Magical! and Remember... Dreams Come True top Wishes. IMO, Magical! is jut slightly ahead of Wishes (as stated previously, Tink, Dumbo, the Pinocchio section and the finale make it for me), but Remember is leagues better than Wishes. By a long shot. You should try and see that firework show before the holiday ones!

I'm not a fan of the Christmas fireworks at DL, as they're quite boring. The Halloween fireworks are awesome, though. Hopefully you go during Halloween (*wink wink).

The lack of Dumbo and Tink could have played into the lackluster show, for me. But I had seen the Dreams one online and was hoping to see it. I didn't realize they changed shows in the middle of the year until my wife told me a couple weeks before we went. I believe I would have enjoyed Dreams much more.

But I'm just a big fan of Wishes, in general - which is saying a lot because fireworks shows pretty much do nothing for me. If I see one shell, I'm good