WDW veteran goes to DL for the first time

[LauraF]

Hi all.
I'm planning a honeymoon tour of the parks and wanting to go to DL for the first time. My DF and I being on the east coast have never made it out to DL before, but have been to WDW bunches of times. (I knew he was the one when I asked him where he wanted to go for a honeymoon, and he didn't hesitate before saying "Disney!" :cool:)

So we're planning a trip from Vegas to DL and will be there for 3 days or so. Then we're going over to WDW in Florida to finish out the trip. :D (If I thought I could swing it financially to stop by Tokyo, Hong Kong and Paris, we'd be going there too!)

What I would like is some suggestions for first-time sights, restaurants, etc that would be different from Florida. I have heard that many of the same rides for WDW are better in DL (woo hoo!), but I would like to know from those who have been multiple times, what are the ones I should seek out as being that different.

Thanks!

[Disney4us2]

Hi all.
I'm planning a honeymoon tour of the parks and wanting to go to DL for the first time. My DF and I being on the east coast have never made it out to DL before, but have been to WDW bunches of times. (I knew he was the one when I asked him where he wanted to go for a honeymoon, and he didn't hesitate before saying "Disney!" :cool:)

So we're planning a trip from Vegas to DL and will be there for 3 days or so. Then we're going over to WDW in Florida to finish out the trip. :D (If I thought I could swing it financially to stop by Tokyo, Hong Kong and Paris, we'd be going there too!)

What I would like is some suggestions for first-time sights, restaurants, etc that would be different from Florida. I have heard that many of the same rides for WDW are better in DL (woo hoo!), but I would like to know from those who have been multiple times, what are the ones I should seek out as being that different.

Thanks!

First off... Congrats. Sounds like a great honeymoon.

For dining, a one of a kind is the Blue Bayou. It is located in New Orleans Square and inside the POC attraction. That one you would need a PS(priority seating) for. There are some other nice restaurants as well such as Napa Rose in the GCH and Steak House 55 in the DLH.

For attractions: Matterhorn Bobsleds, Induana Jones Adventure, Finding Nemo Subs. To name just a few. There are others as well.

Entertainment: Fantasmic on the ROA. I would do the reserved seating with the dessert box. Well worth the $$$ and you don't need to set up camp at 5 or 6pm.

World of Color. A must see. There are 3 dining packages for this and well worth it. There are two TS (Wine Country Trattoria and Ariels Grotto) and an al fresco style picnic box style dinner. With each of these you get your fastpasses. The TS get a premium view, the picnic is reserved seating.

Hotels: There are 3 Disney hotels. the Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel, and Paradise Pier. While I have not stayed in any of them, I love the GCH. It is perfect for honeymooners as well as the Disneyland Hotel. I have seen the honeymoon suite there and it is amazing. The GCH has it's own entrance into Disney California Adventure Park.

Hopefully someone else can step in as to what I may have missed.

Have a great time.:mickey:

[MMFreak]

Being a WDW veteren myself I was excited for our first trip to DL.

We went to Club 33. I do not know if you would be able to get in. We have relatives in the area and belong so he was able to get us in. But they had the best food I have ever tasted in an amusement type setting.

All the rides were great but I still don't think they were as good as WDW as the line queues are much shorter and you dont get the whole story with the ride. Probably not explaining that correctly but hopefully you will get the gist of it :thumbsup:

[Magic Smiles]

All the rides were great but I still don't think they were as good as WDW as the line queues are much shorter and you dont get the whole story with the ride. Probably not explaining that correctly but hopefully you will get the gist of it :thumbsup:

I have to disagree about the rides in DL. I wouldn't say the either WDW or DL's rides were better than the other. They are all different and fabulous for what each of them have to offer. I actually found the themeing in DL to be better in many places than in WDW. As it is a smaller park the themeing seemed to be more intense in the common areas - not the actual ride queues.

We ate at the Blue Bayou, food was fine, but as I was celebrating a special birthday, I was a little disappointed to realize that they serve no alcohol as the restaurant is in the DL park.

We spent 6 days at the park and still did not see everything. Partial poor planning and not reading the schedule :confused: We stayed at the Grand Califorinian and I don't think that we could stay at any of the others now. Locations was perfect. We did the dessert package for fantasmic. It was expensive, but don't eat dinner before if you choose this package. There was so much to eat in the dessert box and it was delicious. Unfortunately we could not finish it all.

One NOTE: It really cools down in DL in the evening, even in August.

[LauraF]

Thanks all!

We were going to try to swing the GCH - I love the style, but the price when compared to Paradise Pier is a bit much. We'll see - only have one honeymoon!

Everyone keeps warning me that DL is small when compared to MK. Seriously, or not?

[jonsmom]

Thanks all!

We were going to try to swing the GCH - I love the style, but the price when compared to Paradise Pier is a bit much. We'll see - only have one honeymoon!

Everyone keeps warning me that DL is small when compared to MK. Seriously, or not?

Laura

We went last Summer for the first time. DL is definitely smaller. Lot less walking. I preferred the Pirates ride in DL vs. WDW. We didnt know what to expect. Planning is not as extensive. I was disappointed there was no dining plan.

We feel that we spent too much time in the DL and not enough time in San Diego. There are only two parks at DL and we didnt need all the time there.

[Tygger7]

Thanks all!

Everyone keeps warning me that DL is small when compared to MK. Seriously, or not?

Seriously...it's MUCH smaller. I'm not sure of exact size, but I believe both parks combined would be around the same size as Epcot. You don't have to take a bus anywhere, everything is within a 15-20 minute walk. I've been doing a TON of research on DL and CA and the "compactness" of it is the most common comment.

[robnadina]

I have always said that WDW is a vacation destination and DL is more of an attraction. This is just my opinion.
DL is smaller in scale but not on charm. I prefer DL to MK but love WDW for Epcot, HS, & AK. CA has a long way to go to compare to DL, but they are getting there with all the new things going in (cant wait for Radiator Springs to open) and World of Color just blows all other Disney shows out of the water (no pun intended).
DL & WDW really are two different experiences.
With the exception of Blue Bayou, dining inside both DL & CA is mediocre compared to WDW. You are going more for ambiance (sp) than food quality. Dining options are much better at the hotels and at DTD. At WDW, the dining is an attraction.
The rides at DL are way better than at MK. But DL does not have Philharmagic which I love and Splash Mountain still has bobsled style seating not side by side, which I prefer.
As far as what hotel you stay at, see if you can split them up. One night at Paradise Pier and one at GCH, with GCH being at the end, cause trust me after staying there, you will not want to downgrade.
Also, try taking the Walk in Walts Footsteps tour. I have small children and am not able to go, but I hear its wonderful and its not something they can do at WDW.
Hope I can help just a little. The WDW vs DL debate will go on til the end of time, but there really is no big comparisons as they are both so different.
Hope you have a great Honeymoon!

[Magic Smiles]

Thanks all!

We were going to try to swing the GCH - I love the style, but the price when compared to Paradise Pier is a bit much. We'll see - only have one honeymoon!

Everyone keeps warning me that DL is small when compared to MK. Seriously, or not?

As you say, only one honeymoon (Hopefully). Splurge for the GCH it is worth it. After all it is only 3 nights.

DL is much smaller than the whole of WDW, but I can't say that I really noticed it as there is so much packed into the DL Park compared to MK. Just take your time and really take in all the scenery and enjoy every corner. There is so much there:mickey: Many of the good attractions from all the parks in WDW are packed into DL. The roller coaster in CA is the best that I have ever been on. DS and I just loved it and we have been on many coasters. Don't know what it is about the coaster but it certainly has my vote.

If you go to Disneyland with an open mind and not to compare it to WDW you will have a wonderful time. If you find you have lots of time, have lunch from White Water Snacks by the pool at the GCH. It was so relaxing and the nachos are really good. They came highly recommended from other Intercot members last summer when I was planning our trip. They did not disappoint.

If you head over the the DL trip reports you could read my reports (First Timers to Disneyland) complete with photos to see just how much we enjoyed it.
http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=160793 One of these days I will finish the reports. Can't wait to go back one day.

[EPCOT84]

Since California Adventure is partly under construction, I would agree the only "unique" ride at DCA is the California Screamin' roller coaster, but it so generic I can't really say it is unique as a Disney attraction. Same for Grizzly River Run. If you want to take it slow, the gondolas of Mickey's Fun Wheel give you a nice view. Definitely World of Color as others have posted. I always thought too much of the "real world" is visible, not covered by berms and such, but then again, it is basically a large carnival. Thankfully that is changing and all the new plans are exciting.Of course by August 2011 you may be able to enjoy more.

As for the original Disneyland, the rides that in my opinion are worth the time to compare is first Pirates, then Small World though mainly for the exterior. Same for the Haunted Mansion. I say for these three iconic rides, the difference is worth the time. Personally when I visited MK, the MK versions were somehow a let down.

Of course line queue theming and exit areas are all different and a toss up. PoTC's queue is mainly outside and once inside the door, smaller, but has a charm that the dark WDW version does not have, to me.

The Matterhorn is the icon of DL so just to say you rode it, put it on your list, keeping in mind the ride system may be rough and single line cars are quaint but it is a classic.

As a whole, the theming and ambience of New Orleans Square, especially as you are honeymooners, Blue Bayou is fine but more casual but welcome ambience is dining outdoors at the French Market (Counter service) with southern specialties and where live jazz bands entertain, PoTC, Haunted Mansion, and of course the riverboat Mark Twain are more unified than WDW. To complete the ambience, walk around with a mint julep (non-alcoholic though) and a fritter.

As for DLR's mini-version of Downtown Disney, it works as an after hours location and ties the areas together but without the lake.

DL is in the middle of the vast metroplitan suburbs. The folks at Disney are really tasking themselves trying to make it a "Resort". No matter what they do, the fact is the land space is limited. WDW as you may know was Walt's attempt to correct all of that and the company has made that bold vision into the best destination in the world.

If you do make it out to Tokyo, everything at Disney Seas would be a must visit since everything is unique. The TDL you will recognize as almost a retro MK, especially Tomorrowland. They have created a vast urban resort destination by Tokyo bay.

Not having been to Paris or Hong Kong, except virtually by online, I'd say HK still is growing its attractions on what limited land space they have, and Paris has some great looking hotels and a couple of unique rides.

[EPCOT84]

One NOTE: It really cools down in DL in the evening, even in August.

..Take this advice seriously. It can drop 20 to 30 degrees in the evening. I read a trip report from I believe it was a Florida based family not accustomed to this temperature drop. The family drove all the way out to a local mall just to buy jackets and as I recall even sweatshirts to avoid high DLR prices I guess.

If you are used to cool temps, not a problem, but carry a light jacket or long sleeve blouse or shirt just in case.