Just got back from Disneyland for my sons 1st trip. We had a good time overall and there are many things I liked and some I didn't. This was only my 3rd trip ever to the park. 1 as a kid and 2 as an adult.
First the good. The first that comes to mind, the holiday overlay for haunted mansion is awesome! Basically it's a whole new ride and some of the best theming ever. I know they have been doing this awhile but this is my first time seeing it. The wait was rediculous but I will get to that. The Ghost Galaxy layover on space mountain was cool too but not quite as good.
Also my first time in cars land. Very cool. RSR is cool but I felt that it moved through the dark ride part way too fast, you miss some of the story and what they are saying. My son love the theming in that area, with Mater and Lighting driving around. Enjoyed the kid rides in that area too.
So much more so say but to keep it shorter, just to hit on the bad. First it was HOT! Wow. I was hoping it would have been cooler in Sept.. Wed and Thurs were nice and light. But man was it busy Friday, this is where Haunted mansion was busy. Could have been the 2 rides opening with holiday overlays. And after seeing a lot of people dressed up and some research found it was Dapper Day. Next time, Tuesday through Thursday or something like that instead.
My main issue was traveling with 6 people. It was nice to have help but doing what everyone wanted to do was tough. Some people wanted to do the adult rides most the time. Where I was fine doing the kid rides for my son. We jumped around a lot because of this. Problem is when you have fairly young I think you need to stay in one area and ride the rides that they can ride. Jumping around takes a lot of time and makes it hard to keep track of the rides and such. We hardly rode anything in Fantasyland and never did any shows or watched a full parade. I missed out on the refurbished Alice in wonderland and others. Next time, I will seperate from that group or not travel with as many people. Just a tip to any others in that situation.
The food was decent. The French market was probably my favorite place we ate. The price for the amount of food you get was fair. Tasted good as well.
I like bengal bbq for a quick bite to eat. The skewers were good. Rainforest cafe was good but spendy for me. I stuck with a burger to keep it cheap. One of the toughest is my wife has a wheat allergy and is gluten free. There were no options what-so-ever for her in the park. The only place we ate that did was the burger place on the pier on Newport beach.
All in all a good trip. But man was it hot.
Hey Kelly,
It's cool that you really enjoyed Universal Hollywood. Many times that park gets a bad rap around here for being a "half day park" and for not being like it's sibling in Florida, but I still think it's a fun park.
Hey Jay.
We loved it! Kong 360... wow! Waterworld was amazing!
The only thing I found a little lacklustre was the Blues Brothers Show, maybe it was just that day's performers or the heat but I've seen better actors/singers in USO.
Aside from that it was great. I got walked around by Dracula, took selfies with Scooby and didnt wait in any lines at all! And the views from the Upper Lot are incredible.
Add to that a huge Lard Lad donut for breakfast... pretty much a perfect day!
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Hi David
I was there on Friday too. As I am English the heat was a blessing for me! It was my very first trip to SoCal and I loved it!
I made Haunted Mansion and Ghost Galaxy my priority, found the wait looked long but actually wasn't, on both. (This was the 3rd day of 3 at DLR).
We switched it up late afternoon and popped to California Adventure for a drop on the Tower and some Ghirardelli and were stunned at the huge lines to get back into Disneyland! We went right to the very end and really only waited 10 or 15 minutes to get back in.
My absolute favourite for food was extremely simple but really won me over - Jolly Holiday Combo followed by a Matterhorn Macaroon. It was 103 degrees and I just HAD to have that soup :-))
My only (kind of) regret was that I would have loved to have seen Haunted Mansion in its classic mode as well - which I did for Space Mountain. Just bad timing really - next time!
I really enjoyed California Adventure and also LOVED Universal Studios Hollywood. Had a day at Knotts too which I really enjoyed - Mystery Lodge lived up to my TPI researched expectations and was wonderful!