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A Brief Trip Report of L.A.

Visiting Disneyland / California Adventure / Universal Hollywood for the first time.

From Daniel Etcheberry
Posted August 19, 2012 at 9:44 PM
First of all, I have to say that my plan was to ride the rides that Orlando doesn't have -with the obvious exception of PotC- but add some flexibility to that plan if necessary.

I first went to Universal; I had to take an elevator + a shuttle to get to a level that had only one ride (Transformers)that I was interested in riding, and all the hassle was worth it! What I most liked about this ride were the huge screens; they just immerse you into the action. Orlando deserves to get this ride.

My other favorite non-Floridian attraction is King Kong 360; the HD is so good! It's amazing how they fool you with forward and sideways movements that are only happening on the screen. My favorite element: everytime a T-Rex sneezes, a spray of water comes into your face. I wish Universal brings this classic to Orlando with an extended version.

The following day I split the day between the two Disney parks. Radiator Springs Racers was my number one reason for traveling from coast to coast, so I went to California Adventure first. After getting the World of Color fastpasses, I headed to RSR which had a waiting time of 90 minutes (not bad); the only problem was that it was down! The clock was ticking and nothing. I had to decide if I was going to stay at the queue and miss other rides or ride other rides and come back with an insane waiting time. I stayed, and after several times of trying to reset the cars, I was lucky to ride it that day; the only part that it didn't work were the tractor/cows that didn't tip to their backs. I have to say that this was my favorite ride of my whole trip; I felt like I was another character of that movie + the AAs are awesome + the race at the end is so much fun. My car got to the finish line first.
Cars Land looks nice, but it looks even better at night.

From there I headed to Indy, and I didn't enjoy it which is not to say that it's a bad ride. My disability just didn't let me stay straight up with all those dramatic movements. I had a similar experience with Dinosaur, but there is no Indy ride over here + it's a very popular ride; perhaps I should had skiped it anyways.

From Indy, I went to Pirates; for a Floridian like me, it's nice to ride a longer version, but I have to say that MKs version takes the best elements of the original. Ok everyone, start to shoot! I even found that the talking skull takes away the surprise from the first drop. Shoot again!

I headed from Pirates to Peter Pan since I'm not able to ride it at MK, but the disability line was so packed that I decided to skip it and go to It's a Small World instead; I loved the idea of getting into the boats outside; the front of that building is pure magic. It was a relaxing way of getting out of the heat.

From there I headed to my hotel across the street; everything is walking distance, and for a WDW guest like me, it meant a lot. Then I returned to California Adventure.

Cars Land looked great at night. I rode Little Mermaid (nice but not great), Monsters Inc (nothing special) and Toy Story which I have it here in Florida, but I like it so much that I would never skip it anywhere.

While waiting for World of Color, I was admiring the Ferris Wheel; what a sight! Then came the big disappointment of the trip; I was not able to see a thing from WoC; nothing, zero visibility. It was all heads that I could see since everyone stands up. I even was on the disability section, but even from there it was impossible. I wonder if Fantasmic can be seen from the disability area since that show doesn't have seats either.

p.s.1 I found the quality of employees to be far better than in Orlando. i.e. The operator of Toy Story offered me 2 re-rides.

p.s.2 When leaving L.A. on car, I passed next to Magic Mountain; I'm not a coaster fan, but it looks really impressive from the interstate.


Comments in chronological order. Most recent at the bottom. Scroll down to respond.

From Brian Emery
Posted August 20, 2012 at 10:39 AM
Thx for Posting....

From Zack McDonald
Posted August 20, 2012 at 1:15 PM
You wern't interested in going on the Mummy in California? It's very different from the Florida version. Heck you had to walk past it to get to Transformers.

From Daniel Etcheberry
Posted August 20, 2012 at 1:24 PM
The Mummy at Hollywood is the lesser version, so why bother?

From Dominick D
Posted August 20, 2012 at 1:26 PM
Daniel, I think you should of went on it because it was different.

From Jay R.
Posted August 20, 2012 at 1:56 PM
Glad you enjoyed the SoCal parks Daniel! Also, an interesting fact with King Kong 360...there are no edits, so depending on where you are sitting, you'll always be seeing something different.

From Zack McDonald
Posted August 20, 2012 at 2:19 PM
I like both versions of the Mummy and always ride it everytime I go to California. You missed out on a great ride.

From Daniel Etcheberry
Posted August 21, 2012 at 1:39 PM
At Universal, Frankenstein stopped me to give me a hand shake; it made me smile. Afterwards, Marilyn Monroe waved her hand at me with a big smile; that made my day.

From Brent Moody
Posted August 22, 2012 at 3:24 PM
To bad you could not see anything on World of Color. I went to Disneyland and DCA for the first time this spring and really enjoyed it, and World of Color was one of the highlights of our trip!

I found though that while the employees were for the most part nice they were not nearly as into there parts as the ones in Orlando are. The cast memebers at TOT did not act creepy or say the little corny things like "have a nice fall" or anything like that. They just acted like a normal ride operators. And maybe the thing that left the worst taste in my mouth about the employees was of Space Mountain when the guy telling my wife and I which line to go in told us to go to line 1 then when we were waiting our turn to go he came up and chewed us out for being in line one. When we told him that we were told to be in that line he just said whatever and acted like we were lying to him. Not really sure what that was about but all and all I though Disneyland was great.

Great trip report! I can not wait to go back and try RSR.

From Jay R.
Posted August 22, 2012 at 4:54 PM
Hey Brent,

I think it depends on the cast member, I've been on ToT at DCA many times, and sometimes you'll get a regular operator.

Usually though, they'll ask if it's anyone's first time & then say something funny.

But usually, everything is done in character, looks like you got a rare moment when nothing extra was said or done.

From Daniel Etcheberry
Posted August 25, 2012 at 2:44 PM
The day at Universal Hollywood, I went to Wolfgang Puck at City Walk to get my meal; I got the sirloin burger, and let me tell you that it's one of the best burgers I ever had! Try it medium and you won't regret it.

My day at the Disneyland Resort, I went to Cafe Orleans and tried a Montecristo sandwich for the first time; I didn't like it. Try the seafood crepe instead; it is much better. I had to wait 30 minutes for a table.

A sidenote: If any of you ever goes to Chillis, try the Paradise Pie; it is one of the best desserts I ever had.

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