I don't think we're in Kansas any more - a power trip through Disneyland and California

[shoreline99 137]

Sorry this has taken so long to get to, but life has been hectic since our return from the West Coast last month. I'll also apologize for the lack of photos in this report, but I'll try to make up for that with some outside links and witty repartee

We really blasted through Disneyland, and I wish we could have had one more day, but it is manageable to hit the highlights of both parks in two days.

Our family arrived on Friday evening after a cross-country flight and drive from LA in the rain (!?!?). The valet at the car rental place told us it was only the 12th or 13th day of rain in the last year, so I guess we brought that with us.

It was an uneventful trip from LAX to Anaheim, and we arrived at the Park Vue Inn ready for a late dinner. TCD hit it out of the park with his recommendation of the Park Vue Inn. Great location, you really can't be any closer. It looks a little dated from the outside but the room we had looked brand new and was plenty spacious enough for the five of us. The complementary breakfast was lovely and the roof deck view while eating was great. The staff was friendly, even the lady in the little store was pleasant. We never got to use the pool (it was chilly), and it's in a weird location in the middle of the parking lot, but it looked well kept. Thanks for the heads up. Photo courtesy of Google Street View:

We never made it to the Cold Stone Creamery either.

After crossing the street, we were 'on property'.

The Park Vue is situated right across from the bus entrance to the parks, which means you enter in between DL and DCA. It's a relatively short walk along the pickup/dropoff area to the central area between the parks. (sort of like walking to MK from the Contemporary through the bus area, although nicer and with more palm trees). One nice thing about this area is that you only have to go through security once to get into either park, although everyone has to go through the same lines - no separate line for bag check. Also, it helps to separate you from the city and by the time you get to the center compass rose area you wouldn't think you were in Anaheim at all. It's also weird to see the monorail zipping above your head as you walk through. It's much lower than at WDW and also a newer version.

So, to orient yourself from this central courtyard, DL is to the north, DCA is to the south, and their version of Downtown Disney and the DL resorts are to the west. We did catch some of the fireworks show at DL on our way through, which was a nice treat.

Being that it was late and we were all starving, we proceeded through the courtyard and into the Downtown Disney District.

Similar to the one in Orlando, this is a central area with lots of dining and shopping options, along with some street entertainment and performers. Some of the dining options are the same as offered in Florida - like a House of Blues, the Earl of Sandwich, and a Rainforest Cafe - but there are some other places to eat like a nice mexican restaurant, a few bar/restaurants (including an ESPN zone), an upscale pizza place and some smaller food court type options. We settled on Brennan's Jazz Kitchen, a spinoff of the original Brennan's in New Orleans. Everyone tried something different, but the Gumbo Ya-Ya, Chicken Etoufee, Blackened Chicken Mac and Cheese and some Beignets for dessert were the clear winners. Price was reasonable and they also have a good beer & drink selection. The night we were there the restaurant also had a live band playing zydeco in the bar side.

Pro tip: they sell fresh beignets and a limited menu from a small walk-up on the side of the restaurant.

Everyone was pretty beat from the flight out and it was rapidly approaching 2 am East Coast time when we headed back over towards the central courtyard. The kids looked in some of the stores and we all walked through their world of disney - so weird to see the same merchandise with a different logo, and all the 60th anniversary gear.

As we left DTDD and headed through security again to cross back over to the park vue, we were treated to a light show from the castle and the distant sound of music. Even though we were all tired, it was really nice to get a feel for the area before we took on the parks the next day.

I had prepped for the trip with some reading and a few conversations with TCD, so hopefully we were ready. We had the weather and still being on an east coast sleep pattern working for us, but I'll recommend a few books for those hoping to visit and pack as much as they can into the trip:

A great primer on Disneyland. Sam Gennawey also wrote 'The Promise of Progress City'. This book is a little dry, but covers a lot.

This book series is great for the kids, as it gives them things to look for and some insight on the design and thought behind it.

Highly recommended for planning purposes.

More to come.

 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I'm in!

Thanks for writing a trip report.

I've been to Disneyland a few times now, but there's still stuff I haven't done.  Like eat at that Brennans'.  It sounds good.

Looking forward to the rest!

TCD

[shoreline99 137]

Brennans' was great. I'd totally go back there for more of that Gumbo. And the beignets...

ETA: Found this recipe:

http://www.rbjazzkitchen.com/recipes_gumbo.php

I forgot to mention there is also a LEGO store there. And that calling it 'Downtown Disney DISTRICT' was one of the first things we discovered that weren't used to. Hence the name - so much out there is familiar yet... different.

I have more pics from the two days in the parks, just not from the first night. Phone was dying, and it was late. It was also their Food & Wine Festival while we were there, so I'll touch on that as well.

[wdwpoohbear...Jennifer 40]

I'm in...can't wait to read more!

[dvccamper 32]

I'm so interested to read more. We leave for our CA trip next month and like you, only have 2 days to see the highlights at both parks. Thanks for sharing!

[dblr....Rennie 224]

I'm in also!!!!

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I'm in too!

[ependydad...Doug 176]

I'm totally in like flint.

Quote

"Also, it helps to separate you from the city and by the time you get to the center compass rose area you wouldn't think you were in Anaheim at all."

You're so right!

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

Following along and taking notes.

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

I'm in and looking forward to more.

[Beckers 1,136]

I love the imaginaneering field guides! I have a few of them.

cant wait to hear more!

[PrincessNana 15]

Enjoying your report since we're also  following TCD's recommendation and staying at ParkVue Inn June 1 - 3 for a quick trip to Disneyland.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Hope Pam is reading along as she's about to go.

Great start!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[shoreline99 137]

The morning of day 1 came early. Our oldest daughter was performing with her HS orchestra at a competition at Disneyland, so we wouldn't be seeing her much this trip, so it was just five of us. Aaaand it was raining.

Is this the California weather we had heard so much about?

We had planned earlier to Start our trip at DCA. Based on the weather and some recommendations from reading up on crowds, I anticipated that since DL had early morning hours that day we'd hit DCA as it would be less crowded. Even with Food & Wine going on there, that ended up being a good choice.

After a hearty breakfast at the Park Vue, we headed over to DCA. Bag check was smooth, and I had to get our tickets before we could get into the park. I ordered 2 day park hoppers online through MouseSavers, and before long I had our PAPER TICKETS! in hand. Old school.

On to California Adventure!

Yes, it does look like the entrance to Hollywood Studios. But yet it doesn't. Another similar but different thing.

Here's the park map view:

For the uninitiated, when it opened California Adventure was supposed to represent the history and attractions of several areas of the state; the boardwalk pier of Santa Monica and the southern coast, the mountains and terrain of the inland parks, the hustle and bustle of Hollywood and the moviemaking industry, the wharf areas of the northern coast, etc..

This concept was not as successful as Disney would have hoped, and the park was completely renovated from 2007 onward culminating with the opening of Cars Land a few years ago.

The entrance into the park is similar to DHS, with Oswald's gas station (on the other side from where it is at DHS) and a shortened shopping street (Buena Vista Street). The end of the strip is anchored by Carthay Circle and a replica of the Carthay Circle Theater. This is the theater where Snow White opened in 1937 and in DCA is a high end restaurant similar to the Brown Derby in DHS.

Here's where some advance planning helped us: we started with a modified version of the one-day touring plan from the unofficial guide.

Arguably, the biggest attractions at DCA are the new Radiator Springs Racers and the World of Color show. And both parks in California still use the paper fast pass system, so I had to dust off my memory on how to play that game. We did not arrive for rope drop as hoped, so we hustled through the entrance and Carthay Circle to grab fast passes for RSR. Even getting there by 9 or so, our return time was 2 PM. We then headed over towards Grizzly Peak to grab fastpasses for the viewing area for World of Color, which is a separate fast pass system.

We didn't feel like riding the rapids as it was still drizzling, so we headed over to Paradise Pier. What a beautiful area! Very reminiscent of the Boardwalk at WDW, but with rides and attractions.

There was Mickey's fun wheel, taunting us with its moving cars.

California Screamin' only had a 10 minute wait, so we started there. What a great ride, easily one of my favorites from the trip. It's a fantastic roller coaster that combines the launch system of Rock n Roller Coaster with a loop and over a mile of track.

After that we started working our way around the Pier area, riding King Triton's Carousel (which has sea creatures in place of horses).

We skipped Toy Story, but to note the average wait time there is about a half hour compared to a sellout at DHS for basically the same ride.

Next up! The fun wheel!

We all agreed - go big or go home, so we hopped in the line for the swinging cars.

For the squeamish, there are barf bags in each car. That's the sign of a good ride.

All I can say is definitely ride the swinging version rather than the other fixed cars. So much fun. For the whole family.

We continued to work our way around the pier, hitting the Silly Symphony Swings, the Flying Zephyr ride and Goofy's Sky School.

Goofy's Sky School is basically Primeval Whirl without the spinning car, and I have to say it's a poorer ride because of it. We saw plenty of people getting off the ride rubbing their necks; i think the fact that the car swings around in Dinoland helps alleviate some of the shock of the ride.

We skipped the jellyfish parachute ride (even my 9 year old declared it was for little kids) and headed over to the Little Mermaid ride. Same as WDW, but you have to do it. I actually thought the Ursula figure was better here. At this point we had hit all of Paradise Pier and we had only been in the park a few hours.

I mentioned earlier that it was DCA's Food & Wine festival on the weekends in April. I think this helped with the crowds in the mornings as the booths and celebrity chef demonstrations didn't start until later in the day. If I recall right the food booths didn't open until after 11.

Most of the booths were clustered along the main walkway from Buena Vista Street, past Cars land and over towards Paradise Pier. There were 8 different booths and several stalls selling wares. The kids decided to check out the Grizzly Peak area and the Redwood Trail adventure area, so my wife and I stopped to check out 'The Brewhouse'. It was my birthday after all.

The Brewhouse was offering two different flights of California beer. The only negative thing I have to say about this booth is that they were pouring most of the samples from bottles, which caused a backup when there was a line.

Gratuitous beer picture:

From where we sat you could see directly down the main street of Cars Land:

I have to say that this is truly an amazingly themed area. All of the rides and shops are exactly what you would think they would be if Radiator Springs was a real place. The theming is sooo well done and totally immersive.

We rode Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, which the younger kids loved and rode several times:

Which has a lot of memorabilia from Mater's Tall Tales in the queue:

Fillmore's is a marketplace for food and drink:

The Cozy Cone has many different food options and a meet-and-greet with a Cars character:

Red was there that morning:

So of course I had my picture taken with him. And he even played Happy Birthday on his air horns for me :)

Even the flowers were themed:

Flo's Cafe is a restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating:

And, of course, the founder of Radiator Springs:

At this point the rain had picked up again so we couldn't go on the new Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters ride (it closes down when it rains).

The one thing i will note is that up to now, everything we had ridden was either a very short wait or a walk-on. The only rides with longer lines were TSMM and RSR. There is a Disneyland app that lists ride wait times, but service in the parks was spotty (there is no park-wide wifi like at WDW). Pack a spare battery charger or put your phone on battery saver mode.

Timing worked out fine as we had to head over to the Carthay Circle restaurant for our lunch reservation. So we walked through 'a bug's land', rode the bumper cars and headed over to Buena Vista Street.

We're barely halfway through our first day, so much more to come!

 

[shoreline99 137]

21 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

I'm in!

Thanks for writing a trip report.

I've been to Disneyland a few times now, but there's still stuff I haven't done.  Like eat at that Brennans'.  It sounds good.

Looking forward to the rest!

TCD

Thanks!

20 hours ago, wdwpoohbear...Jennifer said:

I'm in...can't wait to read more!

 

19 hours ago, dvccamper said:

I'm so interested to read more. We leave for our CA trip next month and like you, only have 2 days to see the highlights at both parks. Thanks for sharing!

 

19 hours ago, dblr....Rennie said:

I'm in also!!!!

 

18 hours ago, CCIntrigue...aka Gwen said:

I'm in too!

I hope I can be informative for everyone! Thanks for following along!

18 hours ago, ependydad...Doug said:

I'm totally in like flint.

You're so right!

I was genuinely surprised at how well the berms, backdrops and landscaping worked at the parks. Once in a while you'd see something in the distance that broke the illusion, but in general the mature landscaping made a huge difference. Also, much more shade at these parks compared to FL.

14 hours ago, Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie said:

Following along and taking notes.

Sharpen the purple crayon. Happy to answer any questions that I can.

14 hours ago, fladogfan aka Gretchen said:

I'm in and looking forward to more.

Thanks! I'm no TCD but hopefully, like an episode of Fat Albert, if you're not careful you might learn something.

11 hours ago, Beckers said:

I love the imaginaneering field guides! I have a few of them.

cant wait to hear more!

Yes, we have several of them as well. They're very informative and give you a lot of background information that's usually not obvious. I wonder if they will do one for the new Disney Springs area now that it's open.

11 hours ago, PrincessNana said:

Enjoying your report since we're also  following TCD's recommendation and staying at ParkVue Inn June 1 - 3 for a quick trip to Disneyland.

It worked well for us. Parking was a little tight if you have a big car though, so if you do I'd look for a space on the north side of the pool near the storage container. We had a rental suburban on this trip and it felt much safer parking it over there. Also, you can see the DL fireworks from the breakfast roof deck.

10 hours ago, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

Hope Pam is reading along as she's about to go.

Great start!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks! Again, happy to answer any questions I can. I think we made the most of our two days and didn't feel overly rushed.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great update.

Sorry about the rain, but it looks like that worked to your advantage crowd-wise.  Since rain is such a rare occurrence out there, the SoCal locals seem to stay away when it rains.  The California parks have a lot of outdoor seating and outdoor queues, so it is a bummer when it rains.

It sounds like your touring plan worked great, so good job on that.

Good move having lunch at Carthay Circle- very nice.

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Great pictures.  Really enjoying your TR.

[dvccamper 32]

Thank you for posting the picture of the park map. I want to be familiar with the layout of the parks so I will have some idea of where things are.

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

This is fun!

[ependydad...Doug 176]

On 5/17/2016 at 8:38 AM, shoreline99 said:

At this point the rain had picked up again so we couldn't go on the new Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters ride (it closes down when it rains).

Interesting- that was under construction when we were there. I do agree- the themeing in Radiator Springs is tops. I absolutely loved it.

[shoreline99 137]

On 5/17/2016 at 9:32 AM, Tri-Circle-D said:

Great update.

Sorry about the rain, but it looks like that worked to your advantage crowd-wise.  Since rain is such a rare occurrence out there, the SoCal locals seem to stay away when it rains.  The California parks have a lot of outdoor seating and outdoor queues, so it is a bummer when it rains.

It sounds like your touring plan worked great, so good job on that.

Good move having lunch at Carthay Circle- very nice.

TCD

The rain definitely worked in our favor, as I expected much bigger crowds with the Food & Wine Festival going on. It did fill up as the day went on though.

Our touring plans went out the window pretty quickly, but it gave us a framework anyway to start from. We even got to try out the TCD sneaky park exit through the Grand Californian (more about that in a bit).

We enjoyed the lunch very much. I'll discuss it in my next update. Hope to get the next part up tomorrow.

On 5/17/2016 at 0:19 PM, CCIntrigue...aka Gwen said:

Great pictures.  Really enjoying your TR.

Thank you! I'm sorry we didn't take more park photos, but the weather was gross the first day.

On 5/17/2016 at 5:41 PM, dvccamper said:

Thank you for posting the picture of the park map. I want to be familiar with the layout of the parks so I will have some idea of where things are.

That was a big benefit to doing a little research before we went. DCA is a totally new experience so a map was helpful, and the park is laid out pretty well. Disneyland was very confusing at first and I'll touch on that as well.

On 5/18/2016 at 7:22 PM, fladogfan aka Gretchen said:

This is fun!

Thanks!

On 5/19/2016 at 3:53 PM, ependydad...Doug said:

Interesting- that was under construction when we were there. I do agree- the themeing in Radiator Springs is tops. I absolutely loved it.

It absolutely was. We were all pretty blown away by the attention to detail but had concerns whether or not the same scale land would work at WDW.

Personally I don't think it could handle the crowds. For those who haven't been, I'd roughly equate it size and scale wise to Sunset Boulevard at DHS (with RSR where TOT is in Florida).

[shoreline99 137]

Yikes, can't believe it's been so long to get this update out. Apologies, but it's been a busy couple of weeks.

We left off riding the bumper cars in 'a bug's land'. According to my 9yo, they were 'lame but fun'. You could clearly see the Tower of Terror from here:

Which is different from the ride at WDW, both in exterior look and ride mechanics - it's the same ride every time here. We passed on the TOT this trip (I think it was the only ride at DCA that we purposely skipped).

From A Bug's Land we headed over to Carthay Circle for our lunch reservation. We checked in on the first floor, where there is a lounge area for waiting and a bar area off to the side. There were many photos of premieres and the history of the original Carthay theatre, but we weren't waiting there long before a hostess brought us up to the second floor dining room.

I didn't take any photos in the lounge or dining room, however there is a nice write-up, with photos, on the Disney food blog:

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2014/04/03/review-carthay-circle-restaurant-at-disney-california-adventure-in-disneyland-resort/

The vibe was very interesting. It was a little more relaxed than the Brown Derby at DHS (which is the best approximation that I can compare it to), but still very formal. The ceiling and lighting were beautiful.

The menu had a good selection, and prices were comparable to the HBD.

The biscuits and wings are two of their specialties, and though I couldn't sell anyone on the wings everyone agreed on trying the house fried biscuits. Glad we did, they were pretty spectacular. One or two were enough for sure.

I had the tri-tip, a few in our party had the Noodle bowl, and I believe there were a few specials. The wine list is extensive, as are the cocktails. Lunch was well worth it.

The restaurant doesn't serve a birthday cake, however they did bring out a nice chocolate dessert with a candle in it for me. Pardon my ugly mug.

After lunch, we all felt a stroll was in order to walk off the meal. We strolled over and grabbed some fastpasses for Soarin', and checked out the area around the ride. The hangar theming works well here as it's in the middle of the park.

The gift shop across the way had an awesome old Nash Rambler wagon in front loaded up for a trip:

It was time for us to use our earlier fastpasses for Radiator Springs Racers, so we headed back to Cars Land. It was still sprinkling out but That didn't detract from the ride.

I would have liked to have walked through the queue to see some of the story, it looked very well done. The ride itself is a lot like test track (but with Cars characters throughout). At the end of the inside portion of the ride you either go through Luigi's or Ramone's - we went through Luigi's - and wind up at a starting line. The race portion of the ride was a lot of fun, and unlike test track's loop you race through the hills, valleys and turns of Radiator springs. We lost our race, though :/

After checking the Food & Wine schedule, we took advantage of a break between demonstrations and headed down towards Hollywood Land, where we rode the Mike & Sully ride. This is a pretty typical Disney story telling dark ride that rehashes the Monster's Inc. movie, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. This area was all set up for the Food & Wine festival cooking and lifestyle demo's, so we didn't stick around.

The restrooms in Hollywood Land are themed after a Frank Lloyd Wright house in LA. Pretty cool.

After some discussion, we decided that this was a good time to head over to check out the Grand Californian, which we did via the TCD secret entrance.

The hotel is beautiful, and the main lobby is similar in theming to a scaled-down Wilderness Lodge.

Notice everything is still decorated for the 60th anniversary of Disneyland.

From here we headed over to check out Trader Sam's, which is located in the courtyard of the Disneyland Hotel. It's a hike. Thankfully the kind staff at the Grand Californian drew us a map:

Over the river and through the woods, indeed. At least TCD's shortcut saved us having to backtrack around and through Downtown Disney. Score!

When you enter the courtyard there is a lovely outdoor fireplace and seating area:

I guess you can tell it really never rains in southern California.

The Trader Sam's here is the original and is attached to the Tangaroa Terrace restaurant in the courtyard.

The theming is similar to the one at the Poly, but with more artifacts:

The drink menu is basically the same as the Grog Grotto, and the reactions by the staff are similar but with a little more laid back California vibe.

Lots of Grog:

One different drink at the Trader Sam's in CA is the Shipwreck (on the rocks). Had to grab one just for the barrel mug.

Ever feel like you're being watched?

So, after a cocktail we had to leave this peaceful oasis to head back for our Soarin' fast passes.

We strolled back the long way through Downtown Disney, and made it back in time for our ride. I'm pleased to tell you that Soarin' in DCA is the same as in WDW, although they will both be changing shortly.

On our way through Carthay Circle after we got stopped by a couple of Disney hostesses. We figured it was a survey, but were surprised when they asked us a trivia question (what Disney movie has more than one ride at DCA). Anyone?

My daughter piped up with 'The Little Mermaid'. Correct! (Ariel's Undersea Adventures, King Triton's Carousel). For our correct answer we were awarded a free go to the head of the line, no BS fastpass for Toy Story Midway Mania. As we had some time to kill, we headed over to Paradise Pier and rode the ride. It's exactly the same as WDW, except Mr. Potato Head is outside, right in the middle of the queue.

For you keeping score at home, we rode every ride except a couple of the kiddie rides in Bug's land, the Jumpin' Jellyfish, Luigi's and the Tower of Terror. Not bad. and it was just starting to get dark.

After this, we strolled around the Pier checking out the shops until it was time for World of Color.

I'm going to stop right here and hope it won't be as long until the next update as it was for the last!

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Wow!  You had a TCD day!

[Friend of a Fiend ... Pam 8]

On May 17, 2016 at 10:37 PM, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

Hope Pam is reading along as she's about to go.

Great start!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm in. Reading along. 

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

Busy day, lots of fun.  Good for you!