do not miss!

[Lindslou]

Hey gang,

We are three adults who normally frequent WDW on our first DLR trip (in 21 days!). What should we definitely not miss in terms of rides/attractions? What's better at DLR or not present at WDW for example?

Thank you!!

Linda

[tinkwest]

My very first thought was to go see Aladdin at the Hyperion theatre in Hollywood Land at Disney California Adventure. It is said to be leaving soon so see it while you can.

Secondly, go to the Holiday Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. It just opened on Friday and, as usual, did not disappoint me. The Hatbox Ghost is still in attendance during the holidays.

I always take a ride on the Disneyland Railroad for the grand circle tour and a visit to the Grand Canyon & Primeval World. Play the music box in the Main Street station.

[magicofdisney]

My very first thought was to go see Aladdin at the Hyperion theatre in Hollywood Land at Disney California Adventure. It is said to be leaving soon so see it while you can.

Secondly, go to the Holiday Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. It just opened on Friday and, as usual, did not disappoint me. The Hatbox Ghost is still in attendance during the holidays.

I always take a ride on the Disneyland Railroad for the grand circle tour and a visit to the Grand Canyon & Primeval World. Play the music box in the Main Street station.

I agree with all of this! Additionally, do NOT miss Pirates. It's so awesome at DL.

Mr. Toad is there also.

[EeyoresBestFriend]

So many of DL rides are different from WDW.

Agreed with the others, Pirates, DEFINITELY Haunted Mansion with the Jack overlay, DH liked Indiana Jones and the Railroad.

If you are Foodies, I highly recommend Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen in DTD there. New Orleans cuisine and oh-so-good!

Word to the wise - we found the weekends there are WAAAAAY more crowded than WDW. Couldn't really move and we were there on an off time.

Enjoy and would love to hear a trip report after!

[BrerGnat]

Do not miss:
Indiana Jones Ride
Space Mountain (will have the Ghost Galaxy overly, but is generally a much better ride than WDW)
Pirates (better at DL)
It's a Small World (better at DL)
Matterhorn
Alice in Wonderland (unique to DL)
Pinocchio Ride (unique to DL)
Monorail (its an attraction at DL)
Snow White (no longer at WDW)
Mr. Toad (no longer at WDW)
Storybook Land Canal Boats (unique to DL)
Casey Jr Circus Train (unique to DL)
Toontown (unique to DL)
Big Thunder Ranch (unique to DL)
Thunder Mountain (better at DL)
Splash Mountain (different than WDW)
Winnie the Pooh (different than WDW)
Autopia (better at DL)
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (better at DL)
Jungle Cruise (better at DL)
Haunted Mansion
Tower of Terror (different than WDW)
California Screamin'
Carsland (all of it is amazing!)
Grizzly River Run (better than Kali River Rapids)
Aladdin Show
All of Paradise Pier (unique to DCA)

Fireworks
Paint the Night Parade
Fantasmic (way better at DL)

Every CS restaurant (better than WDW)

[Goofster]

Everything Natalie said above. We were just there for our first time in January and are going right back the 1st week of January in 2016! As a WDW vet, we loved DLR...it's soaked with Disney history and it's a nice change from the massiveness of WDW.

[Lindslou]

My very first thought was to go see Aladdin at the Hyperion theatre in Hollywood Land at Disney California Adventure. It is said to be leaving soon so see it while you can.

Secondly, go to the Holiday Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. It just opened on Friday and, as usual, did not disappoint me. The Hatbox Ghost is still in attendance during the holidays.

I always take a ride on the Disneyland Railroad for the grand circle tour and a visit to the Grand Canyon & Primeval World. Play the music box in the Main Street station.

Thanks Tink! DH is a train nut so no way we miss the railroad. These sound like amazing suggestions! And I hadn't heard about the music box yet so we'll have to check that out!

[Lindslou]

So many of DL rides are different from WDW.

Agreed with the others, Pirates, DEFINITELY Haunted Mansion with the Jack overlay, DH liked Indiana Jones and the Railroad.

If you are Foodies, I highly recommend Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen in DTD there. New Orleans cuisine and oh-so-good!

Word to the wise - we found the weekends there are WAAAAAY more crowded than WDW. Couldn't really move and we were there on an off time.

Enjoy and would love to hear a trip report after!

We had heard that too about the weekends. We are hitting the parks Wed - Fri for that reason. You aren't the first person to recommend Ralph Brennan's so we'll have to get there. Thank you for the recs!!

[Lindslou]

Do not miss:
Indiana Jones Ride
Space Mountain (will have the Ghost Galaxy overly, but is generally a much better ride than WDW)
Pirates (better at DL)
It's a Small World (better at DL)
Matterhorn
Alice in Wonderland (unique to DL)
Pinocchio Ride (unique to DL)
Monorail (its an attraction at DL)
Snow White (no longer at WDW)
Mr. Toad (no longer at WDW)
Storybook Land Canal Boats (unique to DL)
Casey Jr Circus Train (unique to DL)
Toontown (unique to DL)
Big Thunder Ranch (unique to DL)
Thunder Mountain (better at DL)
Splash Mountain (different than WDW)
Winnie the Pooh (different than WDW)
Autopia (better at DL)
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (better at DL)
Jungle Cruise (better at DL)
Haunted Mansion
Tower of Terror (different than WDW)
California Screamin'
Carsland (all of it is amazing!)
Grizzly River Run (better than Kali River Rapids)
Aladdin Show
All of Paradise Pier (unique to DCA)

Fireworks
Paint the Night Parade
Fantasmic (way better at DL)

Every CS restaurant (better than WDW)

Natalie that sounds like an exhaustive list! Thanks so much for taking the time to put this together. I'm going to print it and bring it with me! Thanks so much!!

[BrerGnat]

Natalie that sounds like an exhaustive list! Thanks so much for taking the time to put this together. I'm going to print it and bring it with me! Thanks so much!!

You're welcome! It looks like a lot, but you can get it all in in 3 days, I promise. That's the great thing about DLR. Your Wed-Fri plans are great. Wed and Thurs are the slowest days at the parks.

[texas211]

Like you, I'm a WDW'er, and we went to DL just last year.

Musts:
Cars land everything, especially the Racers
Aladdin musical
Mr. Toad (it lives!)
Fantasmic
Monster's Inc the dark ride (if you like dark rides)
Submarine Voyage.
Snow White (b/c it still is there)

Same, but nice. These rides have the fraction the wait time they do at WDW. .
Little Mermaid is like 5 minutes.
Toystory Midway. Toy story is like 20 minutes.

Heads up:
Pooh still has a really long wait. Same ride, different vehicles.
The only thing californians eat at DL are churros. Heads up on that.

Not better at DL:
Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain, Small World,

[Lindslou]

Like you, I'm a WDW'er, and we went to DL just last year.

Musts:
Cars land everything, especially the Racers
Aladdin musical
Mr. Toad (it lives!)
Fantasmic
Monster's Inc the dark ride (if you like dark rides)
Submarine Voyage.
Snow White (b/c it still is there)

Same, but nice. These rides have the fraction the wait time they do at WDW. .
Little Mermaid is like 5 minutes.
Toystory Midway. Toy story is like 20 minutes.

Heads up:
Pooh still has a really long wait. Same ride, different vehicles.
The only thing californians eat at DL are churros. Heads up on that.

Not better at DL:
Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain, Small World,

I've heard that about the churros! They must make them with crack! Thanks for all of the insight!

[tinkwest]

....
Not better at DL: .... Haunted Mansion, ....

Keep in mind, as I mentioned earlier, that the Haunted Mansion will be in it's holiday mode with Jack Skellington and friends during your visit. Very different from regular Haunted Mansion.

[Jeff]

"World of Color" light and water night time show at California Adventure.
This show is worth the whole trip west!

[Lindslou]

Keep in mind, as I mentioned earlier, that the Haunted Mansion will be in it's holiday mode with Jack Skellington and friends during your visit. Very different from regular Haunted Mansion.

Oh I definitely need to see the overly. And regardless HM is one of my favorite attractions! No way I miss that one!

[Lindslou]

"World of Color" light and water night time show at California Adventure.
This show is worth the whole trip west!

We are doing a dining package for that at Wine Country Trattoria so hopefully that affords us a good view. Great to hear it is worth the time allotted!

[BrerGnat]

The only thing californians eat at DL are churros. Heads up on that.

Not better at DL:
Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain, Small World,

LOL. You are SO wrong that Californians only eat the churros. SO wrong. We eat it ALL! But yeah, the churrros rock for sure.

And I have to ask, did you ride Thunder Mountain with the new projections? Because, it is amazing and I think the whole ride is much better than WDW's. The track is so much smoother.

[BrowncatP]

I had the WOC dinning package at Wine Country. You most likely will get wet. Take a rain poncho. I don't think that Monster's Inc. is a must see. I do agree with the other ride suggestions though.

[Lindslou]

I had the WOC dinning package at Wine Country. You most likely will get wet. Take a rain poncho. I don't think that Monster's Inc. is a must see. I do agree with the other ride suggestions though.

This is hugely helpful information!!! I never would have though about getting wet. Thank you!!!!!

[texas211]

LOL. You are SO wrong that Californians only eat the churros. SO wrong. We eat it ALL! But yeah, the churrros rock for sure.

And I have to ask, did you ride Thunder Mountain with the new projections? Because, it is amazing and I think the whole ride is much better than WDW's. The track is so much smoother.

Are you sure? I'm pretty sure there was a Churro booth on board during the Storybrook ride. And I hear there is one at the top of Matter (took out the bball hoop).

I did. It's a push to me. WDW is bigger, and I like the refurb touches, as I do like the DL ones as well.

We liked the Monster's ride, as it had some cool details and like the dark rides of old (which still exist in DL).