Trip Report Wishes Heads West!

Hi friends! It’s been a while, but I’m back for another trip report! For those who don’t know me, I’m Brooke, a Disney World local who hangs out with @blreinsel a lot I reported on our summer of fun last year and have truly been slacking this year.

I’ve visited Disney World 80+ times in the last 10 months, but this week is a first for me! My family and I flew west to visit Disneyland! We will be spending one day in each park (which is nowhere near enough ) Wednesday and Thursday and I can’t wait!

Disneyland veterans- what do I absolutely need to know (what should we ropedrop, favorite snacks?) I’ve done a minimal amount of research which is very unlike me, but I want to experience everything without a lot of bias and expectation.

 

[LisaBelle]

No advice to offer, but I can’t wait to read your report!

 

[krisri18]

No advice to offer, but I can’t wait to read your report!

I'm with @LisaBelle ! Have a blast!

 

[Swissmiss]

Have fun

 

[youngdeb]

Have a great trip! Look forward to following along!

In DCA, Radiator Springs Racers FPs will sell out the fastest so try to get that one first. We would grab a FP and then head to the incredicoaster or TSMM.

In DL, most people rope drop Peter Pan. I would avoid it and do anything else with next to no line. The line will usually be 20-30mins most of the day. There’s no FP.

There are way less rides with FP than in WDW. Not sure if you plan to get Maxpass or not but we found that it was really handy and since you’re only there for two days, it will be helpful to get more done.

I love the Matterhorn Macaroon from jolly holiday bakery and Churros are way better in DL than WDW. You’re going to have so much fun!

 

[wishes2013]

Thanks for the tips @youngdeb! I’m excited to see how things differ between the coasts, and I’ll have to do lots of snack “research”

 

[youngdeb]

Thanks for the tips @youngdeb! I’m excited to see how things differ between the coasts, and I’ll have to do lots of snack “research”

They are two totally different experiences! We love both for different reasons.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Hi there! I go to both WDW and Disneyland frequently, this year I'm a passholder for DL. You might want to check out my on-going trip report if you want. I just got back from DL a few days ago and it was fantastic. I do recommend that you get Maxpass, it is very helpful for getting fast passes and not criss-crossing the park and it will include photopass too. A note about the ride pictures...they don't automatically load into the system, you have to take a picture of the code and link it to your account. I also suggest doing a dinner package for Fantasmic if you are interested in seeing that, it is better than WDW's but the seating area is a pain in DL. I've done all three packages and I don't have any complaints about any of them. If you plan on seeing World of Color a fast pass or a dinner package is fine. If you plan on eating at the Carthay Circle you might as well get the WOC package. There still might be some seats at the WOC dessert party, they don't tend to go as fast as at WDW. The dessert party is just ok as far as desserts go, it is a pre-plated thing but getting an actual seat is where the value lies.

Some of our favorite places to eat are:
Disneyland: Plaza Inn (good chicken & pot roast), Carnation Cafe, beignets at the Mint Julep Bar, Cafe Orleans, corn dog at the Red Wagon, skewer at Bengal BBQ (good but not a lot of food)
DCA: Flo's , Carthay Circle restaurant & lounge
Downtown Disney: Jazz Kitchen, Naples, La Brea
Other: Trader Sam's and Steakhouse 55
Treats: in the candy shops we always get the chocolate peanut butter sandwiches and bring home a tray of the English toffee

As for a tip about what to rope drop...well things may change but I would suggest getting a reservation for Oga's and then go into the land around whatever time you get a reservation for. You can always use single rider on Smuggler's or if that is a must do rope drop that.

If you have any questions feel free to ask, but in general Disneyland is less stressful than WDW so just have fun!

 

[wishes2013]

Thanks @ajrwdwgirl! I’ve been following your report but have yet to comment! Thanks for all the tips, the mint julep bar is definitely a must do. We may not even bother with Galaxy’s Edge, none of us are really Star Wars fans, so I may just wait until WDW crowds thin out and experience it all in a few months.We’ll see though, from what I’ve heard crowds aren’t as bad as expected!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Thanks @ajrwdwgirl! I’ve been following your report but have yet to comment! Thanks for all the tips, the mint julep bar is definitely a must do. We may not even bother with Galaxy’s Edge, none of us are really Star Wars fans, so I may just wait until WDW crowds thin out and experience it all in a few months.We’ll see though, from what I’ve heard crowds aren’t as bad as expected!

The crowds weren’t bad at all when we were there. We actually used SWGE as a way to avoid the crowds and Stroller that build up up by Pirates and Haunted Mansion by the Rivers of America. Never once did we think we would have been using SWGE as a shortcut to get across to the Splash Mt side of the park!

 

[wishes2013]

We arrived at John Wayne Airport on Saturday evening and headed for our resort in Newport Beach. As I mentioned, we are only doing 2 park days, and exploring other places the rest of the week, so this resort was a good pick!

We didn’t do much else other than grabbing some groceries, because our bodies thought it was a lot later than it was!

 

[wishes2013]

Sunday was our day to explore LA and the surrounding area. We followed a 1 day itinerary off of Pinterest, and added in a few things as we saw fit.
First up was sidecar donuts. Some health food blogger my sister loves eats here all the time (my sister is allergic to gluten and dairy, so sometimes it’s hard to find good food) the donuts were so good, and she said her gf one tasted like a real donut.

Next was Santa Monica pier. I’d been here once in college, but no one else in my family had been.

Then we headed for Beverly Hills/Rodeo Drive for some window shopping. We strolled through a few really cool parks as well.

Then we headed to Hollywood! We wandered the overcrowded streets and pushed through people trying to sell us things (including pictures with snakes ) and found some cool stars.

 

[wishes2013]

I was in no way expecting as much chaos as there was on the Walk of Fame. But we found the stars we wanted and it was fun walking past and seeing all the names.

 

[wishes2013]

@blreinsel’s pup has a star

It was neat to see the real Chinese Theater, again, it was suuuper crowded here

Then we had some time to kill, so we headed towards Burbank. You can’t take a tour of Disney Studios unless you are a D23 member or on an Adventures by Disney trip. We decided to drive by anyways, and now I need to go on the Adventures by Disney trip!

The fence surrounding the studios has Mickey all over

I have no idea what is in this building, but the 7 Dwarfs were holding it up!

Our last stop was Griffith Observatory for the sunset. The people directing traffic were super rude. My sister has a neuro-muscular disease and can’t walk for long periods of time. We were trying to find the handicap parking and everyone was very not helpful when the spots were full. We eventually found another lot with a shuttle, which we waited forever for, but the view was worth it! If you can see past the smog you can see the Hollywood sign!

I regret not stopping at Griffith Park to see the carousel where Walt dreamed up Disneyland. It didn’t even cross my mind that we were so close

 

[wishes2013]

Monday we headed to San Juan Capistrano to see a Mission. It was beautiful and super interesting to wander around the grounds

We stopped by Laguna Beach, which was just beautiful!

We ended our day at the pool and just relaxed in our room.

Tuesday we visited the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Birthplace. My family loves American history and we try to fit in little stops like this on any trip we take. We all really enjoyed it, and there is a beautiful rose garden out back

The rest of our day was spent on the beach, resting up for our big Disney day!

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the day we’ve been waiting for! Not everyone is quite as excited as me though, my mom just asked if we could just get a park hopper and do it all in one day. No mom, we cannot do that at all...

 

[Katiekitten]

Following along! Can't wait to see what your trip had in store for you.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

The mission is a pretty place. We went there a couple years ago and it was very peaceful and historic.

 

[wishes2013]

After waiting forever for my sister to upload the pictures off her camera, it's finally time to finish this report!

Wednesday July 10 Disneyland
We left our condo in Newport Beach around 6:30. It was about a 30 minute drive to the Anaheim Hotel where we were staying that night. They offer parking for $15 to hotel guests. We decided to stay closer to the parks very last minute (like at 9pm the night before) so our options were limited. My parents went in to pay and check in, although our room wasn’t ready that early. While they did that, Lauren and I headed to the ticket counter to purchase tickets and get a wheel chair for her.

I totally had the layout of the 2 parks backwards in my mind. I think I had it in my head how they were laid out coming from Downtown Disney, so we got there and I looked at Lauren and said “Wait, they’re backwards!”
It didn’t take us long at all, and we had tickets and wheelchair in hand. Just as we got through the line, my parents had made it to us. We got in line, and they let us in about 15 or 20 minutes before 8.

We stopped in guest relations to ask about the disability access pass. At WDW, they put it on the person’s park ticket. Almost any ride will give you and the party a return time that is equal to the current wait time, and you can have one DAS return time on your pass at a time. Apparently at DL, your wheelchair is your pass. Some rides will give you a return time, but a lot of the queues are fully accessible (especially at DCA) or if the line is short enough, they will let you right on through the wheelchair entrance. Later in the day, a guest relations kiosk gave us a map of all the attractions and their accessibility. Neither the person selling the wheelchair or the person we asked at Guest Relations offered us this, which is odd. Neither seemed very willing to help, but we figured it out!
We had to go back for buttons. We all got first visit buttons. My sister got a super cute graduation button, which is something WDW does not have!
We headed down Main Street and stopped for photopass pictures as we walked. As we were about halfway down the street, they made the announcement that the park was open!

We headed for Indiana Jones first. I had been keeping an eye on wait times throughout the week, and that one seemed to get higher than some others, so we wanted to start there. Lauren was keeping track of the times we went on most rides, so I’ll try to include those as well. We got on at 8:15. This was a really cool ride. I had been told it is similar to Dinosaur, and I would agree, but much longer, and there’s not as much “in your face” as Dinosaur. The wheelchair entrance has you go up 1 level in an elevator, then cross over the tracks, and back down in a 2nd elevator. Even the elevator was fully themed!

 

[wishes2013]

We headed to Jungle Cruise next (8:28) and then Pirates of the Caribbean (8:42). I LOVE WDW’s Pirates so much and DL did not disappoint. I don’t want to spoil it for those who haven’t gotten to experience in yet (@breinsel) but I loved the way that this version told the story.

We walked through Tarzan’s Treehouse (9:00) I really liked the music they played around here, it was a really cool version of the soundtrack, which is one of the best Disney soundtracks out there.

 

[wishes2013]

Tarzan's Treehouse continued

Then we hopped on Haunted Mansion (9:10). I really liked the outside of this attraction. Honestly, I am not a huge fan of haunted Mansion. I know I’m probably in the minority in saying it, but neither park’s version does much for me.

We headed for critter country next.

We got on Splash Mountain at 9:32. This is another one of my favorite WDW attractions. I enjoyed it, and there were some differences from what I’m used to, including the log. We thought that the ride moved quicker through all the scenes than at WDW, resulting in a slightly shorter ride. We grabbed fastpasses in case we wanted to ride later.

(Photo evidence that fastpass kiosks exist)
We hopped on Winnie the Pooh (9:48) and had some extremely obnoxious boys sitting behind us, which made the experience slightly less enjoyable.

Originally, I had planned on skipping Galaxy’s Edge altogether since 1. We aren’t Star Wars fans, like at all, and 2. I’ll see it once the crowds thin out here in FL. My dad wanted to go through the land, so we obliged. The wait for Smuggler’s Run was 85 minutes, so we skipped it. We also weren’t super interested in the simulation aspect, or that the pilot is totally in control of the ship. My dad gets pretty motion sick at times, so we didn’t want to risk it. The land was really cool, as I had expected. I knew it would be immersive, and it really was. I’m looking forward to checking out the Cantina and trying out the snacks the land has to offer when our version here opens.
Apparently neither my sister or I took any pictures. I guess we weren't that impressed

We headed out of Galaxy’s Edge and got Lauren a return time for Thunder Mountain. While we waited, we decided to ride the Riverboat (10:38). To be honest, I was not paying attention at all during the ride. I was looking up menus to find our lunch destination. We went back and forth between a few places but settled on the Carnation Café. I made reservations for after our next ride.