First Trip To DisneyLand!!!!

[IDreamofEeyore]

Hey Everybody! We're WDW Veterans & DVC. We've just booked our 1st trip to DL for August. Staying at Grand Californian Villas. Very excited! We'd appreciate any & all tips!!! Thanks!

[NotaGeek]

How exciting! Be sure and search through the old posts in Vacation planning -- there's lots of old posts that have tons of info.

Big tip: Be sure and check out Billy Hill and the Hill Billies in the Golden Horseshoe!

[Joannelet]

Do the walk in Walt's Footsteps Tour. You will not be disappointed. We did that our first day there...it's a great thing and you get to go into the lobby of Club 33.
I suggest you use this site and get the birnbaum's guide. I went through the entire book and highlighted every restaurant that I wanted to do and eat in and highlighted every attraction that I wanted to NOT miss.
Blue Bayou is a must do restaurant. Make ressies ahead of time..it gets very crowded. BUt the good thing is the ressies there are NOT hard to get like at WDW.
Also, if you are DVC owners make sure you bring your card. I don't know how it is now that they have their own DVC there..but we were able to get a discount back in 2008 on a ton of stuff..I think every meal we had had a 10% or 20% discount. It was very diff. from WDW where it is a little more limited. Again I'm not sure that this has changed now that they actually have a DVC hotel on property. THey were just building it when we were there in 2008.
Enjoy your time there!!! ANd don't forget to look for Walt's lamp on in his apt at night. It means Walt is home His presence is still in the park.

[mook3y]

I grew up 20 minutes from Disneyland and have been many times.

The #1 experience I would recommend for you is to have dinner at the Blue Bayou Restaurant in New Orleans Square. Make reservations to make sure you get in and ask for a table by the waters edge.

You can take a ride on Mr Toad's Wild ride too! I so miss that and wish WDW still had it. My kids have yet to ride it.

Also you have got to ride Indiana Jones - it is basically the same as Dinosaur at AK, but to me, the line is themed way better and I love the ride - it is a completely different experience.

Those are the top 3 things I recommend.

Have a great trip! DL is smaller than MK, but there is a unique charm to it. For me, I think it is knowing it was Walt's first park and how much thought and love went into building it.

[IDreamofEeyore]

Thanks for the tips everyone! And yes, I'm very excited about getting to ride Mr Toad!!

[faline]

Make sure you visit all the attractions that are unique to California!

I second the recommendation for the Walking in Walt's Footsteps tour. We did that on our last California trip and it is a terrific tour!