The TCD Gang Goes to Disneyland!

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

 

As we speak, soccer moms all over America are checking availability at Disney's Pop Century to get insulted in person.

 

I'm not a soccer mom ... I'm a soccer GRANDmother.  Still, this guy is seriously impressive.

[Beckers 1,136]

His push up skills are impressive!

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Ok. Enough of gaston.

Luigi's tires does SMB. It's looks great on paper but lacks in its execution.

Monorail thru the hotel is news to you? Did you not read my TR from a few months ago?

http://www.fortfiends.net/forum/topic/13825-a-solo-day-at-disneyland-california-adventire/page-8

[geoffdaddy 33]

Thanks for the trip report. Jen and I are in the process of planning our own DL visit here in a couple of weeks, so the intel is much appreciated!

 

My first experience with DL was back in 2003 and was kind of lacking... the castle was all scaffolded up, couldn't see it. Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain were both closed due to some unfortunate accident that resulted in a death on BTRR a few weeks before. I was really ticked about that since at that time it had been over 10 years since I had last been to WDW.

 

Anyway, I remember really enjoying Matterhorn, and Indiana Jones, and the Pooh ride. I also liked the french quarter facade on HM, and thought that the Pirate ride was better.

 

Jennifer has been more recently than I... she went in 2013, but she was there for only a half day basically. She like you noted that it seemed like they had "all the nice stuff." My theory is that since DL is pretty old now, the initial investment must be "fully depreciated" by this time where that may not be the case at WDW so there might be more money in the budget for upgrades. Sounds good anyway, but still... would have preferred they spent that money from the magic band garbage on rides.

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

All caught up now. What a fun trip! I think it's lovely that your daughters wanted you to go along. How many 19 year olds want to travel with their parents? My bet is, not many. You sure did raise them right. 

I never thought I would care to go see DisneyLand, but after this trip report, I may need to rethink that. It sort of reminds me of the way Disney World used to be. I can remember being in the parks and seeing characters just walking around. And the subs and Mr. Toad bring back lots of fun memories. 

 

Can't wait for more. 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I am scared of the BWLL.

The monorail looks pretty cool.

Too bad Lou isn't reading along. He would love it.

 

I am also scared of BWLL.  She really didn't need to be wearing that t-shirt to let me know she was BWL.

 

I always thought the Disneyland monorails were cool too.  Riding the monorail was high on my priority list, but not the twins'.

 

 

I wonder why the lines can be long for the tire ride?  

 

I am not sure if the lines get long or not, but the queue is long.

 

I could see where there could be a long wait, as this is one of those rides where they have to stop, unload, get guests loaded again, check seatbelts, and then go.  There's a very limited capacity to move guests through.  I've also heard that the ride just doesn't work right.

 

They're already taking a ride out of Cars Land? Wouldn't it be easier to fix the vehicles? Weird. They must need space for another gift shop. 

 

Mullets SMB. But they also make me laugh. 

 

Soarin as a walk-on... I guess that's what happens when there are more than 5 rides in a park. 

 

I could have sworn that I read some kind of official announcement about Luigi's Flying Tires being replaced, but I looked and now I can't find it.  So maybe it's just a rumor.

 

It was strange that Soarin' was a walk-on. They have Toy Story Midway Mania in this same park, and there's no FP for it.  The waits are supposedly never that long.  It was very strange to be in California Adventure and see how many attractions they have for guests.

 

Most legit update Everrrr!!

 

I love this photo representin'!  

 

Seriously though, what did the rest of her t-shirt say?  Sadly, I want to know.

 

The lady's shirt said "Backwoods Legit- Don't Take No Lip."  It's a line from a Blake Shelton song called The Boys 'Round Here.  That's the radio version.  The real version uses another word in place of "Lip."  It's a popular song in the Country Music genre.

 

We interrupt this inactive trip report for this late breaking news report.

 

The evil Disney Galactic Empire has awarded another Iron Cross...this one with Oak Leafs:

 

Congratulations, evil Gaston impersonator guy. Free Disney Internet virality (i.e., advertising) gets you an Iron Cross. A promotion is in order. Appearances on Ellen Degeneres are soon to follow.

 

As we speak, soccer moms all over America are checking availability at Disney's Pop Century to get insulted in person.

 

You know what I would love to see?

 

A Troll/Gaston push-up contest.

 

That's what.

 

I'm not a soccer mom ... I'm a soccer GRANDmother.  Still, this guy is seriously impressive.

 

Oh my.

 

His push up skills are impressive!

 

True.  But I think Troll could beat him.

 

Ok. Enough of gaston.

Luigi's tires does SMB. It's looks great on paper but lacks in its execution.

Monorail thru the hotel is news to you? Did you not read my TR from a few months ago?

http://www.fortfiends.net/forum/topic/13825-a-solo-day-at-disneyland-california-adventire/page-8

 

OK, I actually did know that the monorail traveled through the Grand Californian from your trip report. What I didn't know is where that happened, and I was surprised to see the monorail when I did.

 

There were a lot of things that I had seen photos of before we went, but I didn't grasp where they were.  For example, I had somehow gotten it into my head that Carsland replaced the Autopia ride in Disneyland.  I was surprised to find that Autopia still existed and that Carsland was in California Adventure.  I should have known where Carsland was from your trip report and other things I had read, but I never really processed that information.

 

Thanks for the trip report. Jen and I are in the process of planning our own DL visit here in a couple of weeks, so the intel is much appreciated!

 

My first experience with DL was back in 2003 and was kind of lacking... the castle was all scaffolded up, couldn't see it. Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain were both closed due to some unfortunate accident that resulted in a death on BTRR a few weeks before. I was really ticked about that since at that time it had been over 10 years since I had last been to WDW.

 

Anyway, I remember really enjoying Matterhorn, and Indiana Jones, and the Pooh ride. I also liked the french quarter facade on HM, and thought that the Pirate ride was better.

 

Jennifer has been more recently than I... she went in 2013, but she was there for only a half day basically. She like you noted that it seemed like they had "all the nice stuff." My theory is that since DL is pretty old now, the initial investment must be "fully depreciated" by this time where that may not be the case at WDW so there might be more money in the budget for upgrades. Sounds good anyway, but still... would have preferred they spent that money from the magic band garbage on rides.

 

I hope that you find some helpful information in this report, and that you have a great trip.  Make sure to ride Big Thunder if you get the chance. The Disneyland version is so much better than WDW's.

 

I think you're right about the budget differences between Disneyland and WDW.  Also, WDW is just so big, and the attractions are spread out over four parks.  At Disneyland, they just have to focus on the two parks and three hotels.  I also think they have to keep improving things in order to attract locals, which they seem to rely more heavily on than WDW does.

 

All caught up now. What a fun trip! I think it's lovely that your daughters wanted you to go along. How many 19 year olds want to travel with their parents? My bet is, not many. You sure did raise them right. 

I never thought I would care to go see DisneyLand, but after this trip report, I may need to rethink that. It sort of reminds me of the way Disney World used to be. I can remember being in the parks and seeing characters just walking around. And the subs and Mr. Toad bring back lots of fun memories. 

 

Can't wait for more. 

 

Truthfully, I didn't expect to like Disneyland as much as I did.  I figured I'd go once, and not fell any desire to go back.  There is something special about that place, and I do want to make another visit when the opportunity arises.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

We need another update.

 

And here it is.

 

We left off when it was still kind of early in the morning on Saturday, December 6.  We had been here since opening, and had FP's to use at 9:30 am for Radiator Springs Racers.

 

I had decided to grab another set of FP's for RSR as soon as our eligibility arrived, so I was sitting right outside the FP queue, enjoying this view:

 

 

Look at that blue sky!

 

It was a beautiful day.

 

I already said I admire the rock work they did here in California Adventure. Their Bear Rock is almost as impressive as the one we have at the Fort.

 

I timed my arrival at the FP machines perfectly, and pulled a second set of RSR FP's right at 9:30 am.  You can tell this ride is popular, as the return time wasn't until 4:55:

 

 

That was OK with us, though.  We wanted to ride it in the dark, and it would be dark toward the end of our return window.  I also thought it might be possible to score a third set of FP's as the park was open until midnight tonight.

 

Right after I pulled those RSR FP's Twin #1 showed up with these:

 

 

That trick she heard from a fellow CM worked- the twins were able to use their WDW CM ID's to get an extra set of FP's.  The only problem was there were only two of them, and three of us who would want to ride. I had some ideas about this.  You can see how we did in the update after this one.

 

For now, though, it was time for RSR.  And here we go:

 

 

Note how the sign says that we are entering the Gateway to Ornament Valley.  The surroundings are a big part of the RSR experience.  They went overboard with the fake rocks around here.

 

The RSR queue is an attraction in itself:

 

 

This is the original spring in the oasis that Radiator Springs was built around:

 

 

That's the standby queue over there:

 

 

 

The standby queue was a posted 70 minute wait.  And there were FP's still available.  If any of those guests had arrived a park opening and gotten FP's like us, they wouldn't be in that 70 minute line.  Or they could go and get FP's now and go do something else instead of stand in line for over an hour.  This is something that I just don't understand- there are hundreds and hundreds of guests who don't use FP's.  Which I guess is a good thing for those of us who do.

 

It's pretty incredible to be in the queue and to look up at the towering rock formations all around:

 

 

 

 

 

The ride vehicles here look pretty much identical to the Test Track ride vehicles, with what looks like just cosmetic differences:

 

 

Fellow Fiend Devores once said that almost everything we see in a Disney park is there for a specific reason, and has some meaning.  I've looked and looked, and can't figure out if there is any significance to the license plate number on that car.

 

Although there is a part of this ride where we will be riding side by side next to another car, the loading area is still a single lane:

 

 

As you can see, the ride vehicles here have smiling faces:

 

 

RSR selfie:

 

 

When you first pull out onto the course, all you see is fake rocks and fake trees:

 

 

Some of the fake rocks are huge:

 

 

They got the forced perspective right on this scene, which is beautiful and impressive:

 

 

 

The sound systems in these cars are great, and we enjoyed some nice music and narration as we wound our way through the initial outside part of the course.  Then we entered an inside portion where there were animatronic Cars characters and even some pretty cool special effects as our ride vehicle was prepped to go out on the race track.  We paused here to listen to these animatronic cars before another car pulled up beside us for the outside race portion of the ride:

 

 

Then we head out on the track:

 

 

The race part of the ride is fun.  And one of the cars noses out the other. Our car lost, but we were still congratulated by Lightning McQueen and Mater at the end:

 

 

You unload in the same area where you load, like Test Track:

 

 

You walk out past the track, where you can watch other guests race by if you wish:

 

 

 

 

This statue is on display near the entry area for RSR:

 

 

We all liked the hubcap Christmas tree:

 

 

I didn't realize Stanley had a gold tooth.  I assume this is a detail from the movie, but I don't recall it.  I also like the poinsettia plants in the tire planters:

 

 

So, we have now ridden Radiator Springs Racers, which was our number one priority for California Adventure.  We had two FP's which would soon be good for California Screamin', but we were close to Tower of Terror, and we also wanted to ride that.  I suggested that we head there and either ride TOT or wait and pull FP's for it before riding California Screamin'.  And that is what we will be doing next.

 

TCD

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

RSR looks so cool! Can't wait to ride!!

[Memphis 105]

RSR does look cool. How fast is the race part? It's not as fast as TT is it?

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

RSR does look cool. How fast is the race part? It's not as fast as TT is it?

 

That's what I was just about to ask!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

RSR looks so cool! Can't wait to ride!!

 

It's definitely our favorite ride in California Adventure.  Although, it is very similar to Test Track, it is so much better presented, and much more fun.

 

RSR does look cool. How fast is the race part? It's not as fast as TT is it?

 

Definitely not as fast, but I think the ride itself is much more satisfying than TT.

 

There are some banks and hops on the race part that make it very fun.  And, racing against another car makes it interesting.

 

That's what I was just about to ask!

 

As I said, I don't think the RSR cars come close to reaching the speed of the cars on TT.  But, that isn't a bad thing.  The ride itself is way better than TT.  As far as I'm concerned the latest update to TT was a complete waste of money.  It's sad to see what they got at Disneyland compared to that mess in Epcot.

 

TCD

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

RSR looks awesome.

Looking forward to see what you can pull off to get a third entry for California Screamin.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Agreed on your last point. As you'll see later in our trip report, Rick hates the new test track. The car designing during even the FP line breaks up the experience too much. And is really pointless

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

YAY!!! More of your trip. I wonder if they will ever do something like this at DS?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

RSR looks awesome.

Looking forward to see what you can pull off to get a third entry for California Screamin.

 

RSR is awesome.  We will be back there a bit later, and several more times after that before this TR is over.

 

Spoiler alert- all three of us rode California Screamin' with those two FP's.  Twin #2 came up with the way to do that, and I'll tell you about it in the next update. 

 

Which I'm going to try to post today.

 

Agreed on your last point. As you'll see later in our trip report, Rick hates the new test track. The car designing during even the FP line breaks up the experience too much. And is really pointless

 

Rick is absolutely right.  What's the point of designing your own car?  Sometimes it will show up on the displays in the ride, but more often than not, that doesn't work.  And going through the design part really slows down getting on the ride if you have a FP+ for it.  I would so much rather have the original version of TT.

 

YAY!!! More of your trip. I wonder if they will ever do something like this at DS?

 

Do you mean something like Cars Land in Hollywood Studios at WDW?

 

There are rumors to that effect, but I can't see them putting a RSR ride in DHS when there's TT in Epcot.  Without RSR, then Cars Land would be boring as heck.  No thanks.

 

TCD

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

RSR is awesome.  We will be back there a bit later, and several more times after that before this TR is over.

 

Spoiler alert- all three of us rode California Screamin' with those two FP's.  Twin #2 came up with the way to do that, and I'll tell you about it in the next update. 

 

Which I'm going to try to post today.

 

 

Rick is absolutely right.  What's the point of designing your own car?  Sometimes it will show up on the displays in the ride, but more often than not, that doesn't work.  And going through the design part really slows down getting on the ride if you have a FP+ for it.  I would so much rather have the original version of TT.

 

 

Do you mean something like Cars Land in Hollywood Studios at WDW?

 

There are rumors to that effect, but I can't see them putting a RSR ride in DHS when there's TT in Epcot.  Without RSR, then Cars Land would be boring as heck.  No thanks.

 

TCD

Yes to Cars in DS at WDW. I have heard the rumors which is very exciting. Agreed that another TT type of ride would be boring but I really like the overall look of the Cars Land and think something like it would be HUGE here in WDW.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Yes to Cars in DS at WDW. I have heard the rumors which is very exciting. Agreed that another TT type of ride would be boring but I really like the overall look of the Cars Land and think something like it would be HUGE here in WDW.

 

No question that DHS needs something.  The strongest rumor is that it's going to be Star Wars related.  And, I'm fine with that.  Whatever they do, I hope its of the scope and scale of Cars Land- that is what is impressive about this part of California Adventure.  And, whatever they do, it needs a really impressive major ride like RSR.

 

TCD

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

Agreed!

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

Wow, the attention to detail on Cars Land is impressive, even for Disney! It looks like you were actually IN the movie. 

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

Oh sweet bippy...I'm not back on FF for two days and the ghost got me!

[shoreline99 137]

Agreed on your last point. As you'll see later in our trip report, Rick hates the new test track. The car designing during even the FP line breaks up the experience too much. And is really pointless

I hate the new test track. I liked the old ride theming much better, and the 'tron' neon overlay really doesn't do much to justify the redesign.

[shoreline99 137]

And TCD is right, any new land at DHS needs to have a major E-Ticket ride. And serious theming. It's pretty sad that the biggest draw there is a game that I can play at home on the Wii.

 

And no hat, please.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Wow, the attention to detail on Cars Land is impressive, even for Disney! It looks like you were actually IN the movie. 

 

The twins kept saying that.  I haven't watched the movie enough to notice all the details.  Like who is that Stanley guy, and does he have a gold tooth?

 

Oh sweet bippy...I'm not back on FF for two days and the ghost got me!

 

Sweet bippy?  Watch it- this is a family friendly board.

 

I hate the new test track. I liked the old ride theming much better, and the 'tron' neon overlay really doesn't do much to justify the redesign.

 

Right- it doesn't make sense anymore.  Why is there all the neon in there?  I think they were going to go with a Tron thing, and then the movie didn't do so well, so now we just have a bunch of neon for no apparent reason.

 

And TCD is right, any new land at DHS needs to have a major E-Ticket ride. And serious theming. It's pretty sad that the biggest draw there is a game that I can play at home on the Wii.

 

And no hat, please.

 

From what I understand, there is a construction wall around that hat at this very moment!

 

DHS needs several new rides.  It's pathetic how little there is to do there.  And Epcot is just as bad.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

After riding Radiator Springs Racers, we decided to go over to Tower of Terror and get FP's or ride it.

 

We cut through Bugs Land to get there.  I didn't really know much about Bugs Land.  It is obviously designed with smaller rides for younger guests.  They had these bumper cars there:

 

 

The theming reminded me of the Honey I Shrunk The Kids Playground in DHS:

 

 

 

The California Adventure Tower of Terror looks pretty much like WDW's:

 

 

The standby line was really short.  No one was in the outside part, and we could walk right on in to the building:

 

 

We kept walking, and entered the lobby area just like the one in WDW.  It looked to be about the same:

 

 

 

We were ushered in to the little pre-show room just like at WDW.  At this point, I had concluded that this ride was an exact copy of the WDW one.  But, then we exited the preshow room and were directed to walk up these stairs:

 

 

This sign seemed pretty random:

 

 

We kept on walking up and up.  Now we're looking down:

 

 

 

I don't understand why there are all of these stairs in a ride that is based on an elevator.  Why couldn't we just walk in to the elevator on ground level?

 

Those stairs were different, and so was the actual ride.  Once you enter the elevator and are seated, that's it- the ride starts.  They don't have that part where the elevator rolls from one shaft to another like we do at WDW.

 

Basic TOT ride photo:

 

 

To give you an idea of wait times, I took the photo of the outside of TOT at 10:12 am, and the photo of our ride photo at 10:31, as we were heading on out of there.

 

Try doing that at DHS without a FP mid-morning on a Saturday.

 

As we exited TOT, this streetcar was passing by:

 

 

We had seen one of the streetcars on our first night visit here, and I wanted to ride one.  But this one was not transporting guests, it had CM's on it who were on their way to perform a show:

 

 

 

The show was performed somewhere over near the entrance area, and is in the style of the Broadway show, Newsies.  We all agreed we would try to watch it if we got a chance, but we didn't have time for that right now.

 

So, there goes the streetcar:

 

 

We cut through Bugs Land on the way to California Screamin':

 

 

At this point in our trip, we had the idea that we were going to ride all of the attractions in each park.  All of them.  As we walked past the bumper cars, one of the girls suggested that we try them.  There was just a short line, so we all agreed this would be a good time to ride.

 

We joined the line, and it looked like we would be able to ride in the very next group of riders.  As we walked up to the CM, she asked how many in our party, and we told her three.  She said sorry, there was only space for two more riders, and she said we would get on the next one. She then asked if there were any parties of two behind us.  But, I told the girls to go ahead and go, and I'd pass.  That way they could ride and we would be on our way.  So they did.

 

And here they are, crashing in to each other:

 

 

 

Twin #1 looks like she's having fun, but she's a good actor:

 

 

This may have been the lamest bumper car collision in the history of bumper car collisions:

 

 

All I have to say about those bumper cars is that I'm glad I didn't ride.  They were so lame.  Back in my day, there used to be big poles on the back of bumper cars, and showers of sparks falling down from overhead where there was a giant electrified wire net.  And people would come out of there with whiplash and back injuries.  Why even bother with this version?

 

There are several other little rides in Bugs Land, but after the bumper cars, we all agreed that we didn't need to ride them.

 

So, we headed out. They did have cool Christmas decorations back here:

 

 

We headed over to California Screamin'.  I hadn't thought of a way to get all three of us on with just two FP's.  Back in the day of paper FP's, I would sometimes have an old FP, and I would put that on the bottom of two good ones, and that would work to get us through the line.  Or, other times, I would scan one of our tickets twice and use one of the "This is not a Valid FP" papers to give to the CM and shrug my shoulders and act dumb.  But, I didn't have anything extra to use here.  Just two paper FP's.  Twin #1 took the bull by the horns, and told me to follow her.  She walked up to the CM at the FP entrance and just told him that they had two FP's but that their dad wanted to ride to, and would that be OK even though he didn't have a FP?  The CM said sure, and that was that.  That was easy.  Why didn't I think of that?

 

And here we are:

 

 

Bear Rock from over by California Screamin':

 

 

Now What?

 

Remember how I had that extra FP from this morning?

 

I wanted to use it at Toy Story, which was right here.

 

The girls said no.

 

They said we should go and get an early lunch and then go to the Aladdin show, and save that Toy Story FP for later.

 

So, that's what we did.

 

We wanted to try Flo's V8 Café. so we headed there:

 

 

It was around 11:20, and we had the place to ourselves:

 

 

After checking out the menu, Twin #2 said she preferred to get something from one of the Cozy Cone food booths, and she headed out to get her food. She said she'd bring it back and eat with us.

 

I decided on the Roast Beef Sandwich, and Twin #1 went with the chicken.

 

I noticed that they were using real plates to serve the food here:

 

 

Also notice the beer taps and the box of sangria they have back there:

 

 

I only got a photo of my sandwich, not the girls' meals:

 

 

We were all very pleased with our food.  It was much better than any quick serve meal I've had at WDW in a while. If you go back and look at the menu photo above, you'll see that the food prices here are not much different from what we pay at WDW.  And, the quality and atmosphere is much nicer. 

 

They don't have that Disney Dining Plan mess like we do at WDW. 

 

Coincidence? 

 

Hardly.

 

It was about noon when we were done with lunch and heading out:

 

 

The next order of business was to see the Aladdin show. 

 

On the way there, I checked on another set of RSR FP's, but found that they were done distributing FP's for the day.

 

Next up-we're going to see a show.

 

TCD

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

Another tip for those reading along. If you want to ride California Screamin but dont have a Fastpass there is a Single Rider line. You go to the normal entrance to receive a card that you then take around the corner to the single rider entrance. Since I dont do many coasters we used this so Sil could get right on when we were there.