Mini trip report/notes from a WDW vet! :)

TNickell27

If they had Butterbeer at Epcot, I'd never leave.
Joined
Mar 9, 2017
I just got back from my 5 day California trip, and two of my days were spent at the Disney Parks! My husband and I visited last Tuesday & Wednesday (the 18/19) and we bought 2-day park hoppers. We have only visited Disneyland once previously (back in 2010!) and we have never visited DCA.

We arrived at SNA on Monday around 5pm. Loved flying into this airport! So much faster and easier than LAX. It was totally worth the slight extra cost. Quickly got an Uber from the airport, and about 40 min later (thanks traffic) we arrived to the Anaheim Majestic Garden Hotel. We were pleased with our hotel choice! I had read mixed reviews on the place, but the rooms were spacious (albeit slightly old) but overall, we had no problems! It was nice that they offered shuttles but since we are rope drop people, we opted for uber in the early mornings which only cost us $5-7 bucks based on time of day/tip etc. Worth it to get to the park super early! Anyway, after dropping our bags we headed to DTD and ate at Tortilla Joes! The chips and salsa and beers were good... the food, average. But we sat outside as the weather was perfect! Strolled the shops afterwards and then headed back to our hotel to get a good nights sleep before day 1.

Day 1 at Disney- Up early and arrived outside the DCA gates at 8:15am (park opened at 9am). Didn't have to wait too long to get inside, and we headed over to line up for GoTG. While waiting, I purchased Max Pass and immediately grabbed one for RSR. About 5 min before 9am, we were off to the races! Waited 10 min tops for GoTG and oh my, that ride is awesome! I love the Tower of Terror theming in Florida, but GoTG was a blast and way more thrilling! So many more drops! Easily my favorite ride of the trip. After that, we headed over to Cars Land and grabbed a quick breakfast at Flo's! My hubs had the classic breakfast of eggs/bacon/potatoes (standard but it was delish) and I got the French Toast! YUM. After breakfast, we hopped on racers. Super cute ride! I think I was expecting it to go a little faster than it did (and I was in the car that didn't win... boo) but it was a really great ride and I just can't get over how perfect Cars Land is! It's truly identical to the movie! Anyway, after RSR I had grabbed a MP for Incredicoaster so we hopped on that next. So great! I love the takeoff. Having never been to DCA before, I can't compare it to California Screamin' but I really loved this ride! Post coaster we rode Little Mermaid standby & Toy Story standby... and while in line for TS I grabbed a MP for Soarin'! Headed over to Soarin' (always a lovely, relaxing ride) and then grabbed a MP for Grizzly and strolled around a bit until it was available. Grizzly was fun! Got soaked, of course, but it felt good since it had gotten pretty hot! After Grizzly, we hopped to Disneyland (having ridden all the big ticket DCA rides). We headed straight to Splash Mountain (since we were already wet haha) and rode it single rider. Single Rider was a game changer for us! I wish WDW had more single rider options. I had already booked a MP for Indiana Jones so after Splash we headed over there and had lunch at Bengal Barbecue. The skewers were good and were a good portion without being too filling. We rode Indiana Jones with MP and then got in the single rider line after that and rode it again immediately! Love that ride. After IJ, we went and rode some of the fantasyland dark rides since the waits were low. I had also grabbed an nighttime RSR MP and we were also waiting on our Space Mountain MP. They were cute and a nice reprieve from the sun. Nothing game changing, but I had to make sure I rode everything that WDW doesn't have! Alice in Wonderland was my favorite :) After those, we rode Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy and it was lovely! So much fun and definitely different than WDW. Hard to say which I think is better, but Disneyland might get the edge :) We turned around and rode it again single rider after that. I then grabbed a MP for Big Thunder so we headed over there and rode that as well. At this point it was around 5:30pm and we were hungry so we got the Fried Chicken at Plaza Inn! We were pleased! As we are natives of Oklahoma, we eat a lot of good fried chicken back home so I can't say that it was necessarily better than southern fried chicken... but overall, we enjoyed it very much and would eat it again in a heartbeat! After dinner we headed back over to DCA as I had booked a MP for Incredicoaster from 6 to 7pm. When we got over there, Incredicoaster was down so our MP was good for anything else. So we lucked out and got to ride GoTG: Monsters after Dark! SO GOOD! After that we headed back over to Cars Land for some nighttime action and we rode RSR. That ride is so much better at night! It even felt faster! Haha! Plus, our car won :). Once we got off the ride, the park was closing so we headed out. Caught the tail end of Paint the Night...but made a note to catch the whole thing the following day b/c the tiny part I saw looked awesome.

Day 2- Up early and arrived outside Disneyland at 7:45am for an 8am open. Walked right in, grabbed MP for Space and rode Star Tours & Buzz standby. Used MP for Space and some girl's hair was in my husband's face the whole time so he was cranky (I have long hair and always tie mine up on Space so it's not in someone's face behind me.. I wish other girls would do the same! haha). So we rode it again single rider and all was well. Today's main objectives were Pirates and HM, so I grabbed a MP for HM and we headed that way. Rode Pirates first and oh boy, I forget how much BETTER pirates is than WDW. You literally get double the ride. It's twice as long and so much more majestic and pleasing. After that, we hopped on HM. I like the Holiday version... but I have only seen Nightmare BC once and it was years ago, so I don't think the ride was a charming for me as it would be for Nightmare fans. But still a great ride! We hopped on Pirates again after that! The wait was only 15 min for Pirates literally all day... so it was hard to pass up! After our 2nd Pirates ride, we grabbed some Mickey Beignets. They were a nice little mid morning treat! Then we headed to Big Thunder and used MP. As for which Big Thunder is better vs WDW.. it's a wash. Both are good. We also rode Mr. Toad since we didn't get to that one the day before. What a strange ride! Haha! Also hopped on the Canal boats. I love going through the Whale's mouth. and the little scenes are so charming. After all that, we had a reservation at Blue Bayou! The food was actually quite good. Overpriced, yes, but most things at Disney are haha. I ordered the gumbo as my meal, we got calamari as an appetizer and my husband got the monte cristo! I ate some of it too :) it was so good! Got a mint julep as well and it was tasty. but I didn't need them to keep refilling it! haha! Post-lunch we rode Pirates again (b/c YOLO) and then we headed to Indiana Jones to use MP. Earlier in the day, I loaded up on MP for Incredicoaster, Gotg, RSR & Soarin' since Disneyland closed at 6 for the Halloween Party, so rode short standby rides most of the afternoon. Luckily the waits were low or we just used the Single Rider option! After Indiana Jones, we said goodbye to Disneyland (tears) and headed to DCA. Everyone had warned us that it would be super packed, but I actually thought it was manageable! It helped that I had loaded up on MPs. We rode Gotg and Soarin back to back and then headed to Cars Land to watch the lights come on! I got the Slow Burnin' Mac & Cheese from Cozy Cone and OMG. I devoured it. If you enjoy savory & slightly spicy, I highly recommend it. After eating, we rode RSR (our car lost again lol) and then we headed to Incredicoaster for a night ride. Like RSR, I enjoyed it so much better at night! In my hustle to get everything accomplished I forgot about Paint the Night... but we lucked out! As we exited the coaster and headed to the wharf for a corn dog, Paint the Night was just starting. We walked up to the very start of it and were really near the rope! You guys, I'm not a parade person. I probably will be once I have children, but for now I think they are a time waster since I would rather be riding rides. But HOLY CRAP, Paint the Night is worth the time. Simply mesmerizing. I was enthralled. Such a lovely way to end our short and sweet Disney portion of our trip. The only sad part is we didn't get the corn dog haha!

In summary-
1) I think GotG > Tower of Terror
2) Max Pass is a game changer and an absolute must.
3) Single Rider is also game changing.
4) Pirates at DL > Pirates at WDW x a million
5) Space Mountain at DL > Space Mountain at WDW by just a smidge.
6) California weather is so much more bearable than Florida weather.
7) The ease and lack of planning needed for Disneyland is hard to beat.
8) We enjoyed ourselves so much that we are now going to alternate our Disney trips between DL & WDW!
9) Since we are just 2 adults with no kids, we were able to accomplish SO much in 2 days. However, I think the sweet spot is 3 days. It would have been nice to have a 3rd day to just explore the lands, appreciate the details and be less worried about riding everything.
10) Paint the Night is worth every minute of your time.
11) The castle is smaller, yes, but it's so charming and whimsical and lovely and shouldn't be compared to WDW.
12) THANKS TO EVERYONE ON THESE BOARDS FOR ALL OF YOUR TIPS. I love how friendly and helpful everyone is on the Disneyland boards. I can't wait to make a return trip to Disneyland!!!
 


Glad you had a great time! Disneyland is indeed special.

You really have to watch The Wind in the Willows (in the double feature from '49 called Ichabod and Mr. Toad) to fully appreciate Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (I did as a child and more recently, plus I've read the incredibly charming book as well).
 


Thanks for taking the time to write up such a nice trip report! It sounds like you packed in an amazing amount in two days. So glad you had so much fun!!
 
Glad you had a great time! Disneyland is indeed special.

You really have to watch The Wind in the Willows (in the double feature from '49 called Ichabod and Mr. Toad) to fully appreciate Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (I did as a child and more recently, plus I've read the incredibly charming book as well).
True! Dh always watched that movie. Had the book. It may very well be his fave ride in the park. I could take it or leave it. But I like the coals effect at the beginning. Haha
 
Thanks for your great and interesting report. When you used single line, have you always been in separate cars or sometimes were lucky and got the same. I'm wondering because usually I don't like to ride alone but it seems you can save some time.
 
Did you use WiFi or data for app/MP? Heard lots of people have problems with WiFi and app not working more so with Android. Also Android or iOS? Trying to see if I'm going to have to eat roaming costs and which phone works better with app. Thanks.
 
Did you use WiFi or data for app/MP? Heard lots of people have problems with WiFi and app not working more so with Android. Also Android or iOS? Trying to see if I'm going to have to eat roaming costs and which phone works better with app. Thanks.
We know people who use both Android and iOS without problems. The issue seems to be related more to the age of your phone. More and more older phones are having problems with each DL app update. If your phone is newer, just make sure you have the most recent version of the DL app. Also make sure to have good battery back up or use the fuel rod vending machines found throughout the parks and in the on site hotels. (There was a very recent thread on those here.) Free wifi works at DLR, but is slow and works best at/near the hot spots (locations marked on the maps/on the app). Are you coming from abroad? Many international guests buy a prepaid SIM card to use at DLR. That seems to be the least expensive option (by much). Other guests by a cheap, prepaid smart phone at Walmart just for use in the parks. There are other options to avoid roaming charges. A search on this forum might bring some of them up or you could start a thread asking specifically for ideas.
 
True! Dh always watched that movie. Had the book. It may very well be his fave ride in the park. I could take it or leave it. But I like the coals effect at the beginning. Haha

Mr. Toad is def my fave Fantasyland ride! My husband I broke down in the Hell portion where the demons are once and had to walk off the last 10 feet, which was hilarious.
 
Thanks for your great and interesting report. When you used single line, have you always been in separate cars or sometimes were lucky and got the same. I'm wondering because usually I don't like to ride alone but it seems you can save some time.

Generally, we were in separate cars! We got lucky a few times and were put in the same car... but not often. I don't LOVE being by myself either, but I LOVE saving time more! haha! Plus it means I can ride Space Mountain 3 times in a row back to back and not have to wait more than 10 min!
 
Did you use WiFi or data for app/MP? Heard lots of people have problems with WiFi and app not working more so with Android. Also Android or iOS? Trying to see if I'm going to have to eat roaming costs and which phone works better with app. Thanks.

I just used data and iOS. My phone speeds were great! My battery life.. not so much haha. But I just brought my Anker portable charger in and charged my phone anytime we sat down to eat. I also kept it plugged into the charger in my bag when I went on rides. So the battery draining really wasn't a problem.
 

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