Originally Posted By trekkeruss I've been here in SoCal for a couple of weeks, and will be here for two weeks more. I've always gone to DLR on every visit to California, but for the first time ever, I am seriously considering skipping out on visiting the Happiest Place on Earth. Frankly, the high cost and the large crowds are the reasons why I may not go. On the flip side, I'd like to see DL park before they close down the RR and the ROA because of the SW land expansion. Decisions, decisions.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Go. It is costly but worth it. You often have to pay as much or more for a ticket to a 3-hour sports event as you pay for a full day at Disneyland. If it is anything like WDW, you can avoid crowds by going early. I know... I hate getting up early on vacation too. But I've discovered that I have to if I want to avoid crowds... either that or go during January-February.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I vote no. I'm in a similar boat as you, since I am going to be in soCal for the next week and a half (including running a race at/through DLR), but I'm not spending a day at the parks. Maybe I'm just burned out on my roughly-annual visits, but I just don't find much value in the short-term tickets. Given the small size of the resort and my limited vacation time, I can't justify enough days at DLR to make it worth it (if I want a longer vacation, WDW is a better experience IMO; DLR is great for a day or two). I'm spending the time to visit my grandma (twice!) instead
Originally Posted By Kidz-n-k9s If you can go during the week when the crowds are down, I agree with the GO! Our visits this year have been in the busy season and will continue to be since I can only go when my kids are on break, and the crowds have been massive.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Too bad Disney doesn't offer evening tickets like they have at TDR. Too bad too that they no longer have a general admission ticket like they had in the days of the coupon books.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros If you'll still be out there next weekend, you can get a Twilight Ticket through one of the travel agents for the half marathon for $68. You don't need to be affiliated with the race at all, but you will need to go to the expo at the DLH to pick the ticket up (in the past, the tickets have been located near race bib pickup, in the parking garage) <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.gettravel.com/ashhm/themepark.shtml">http://www.gettravel.com/ashhm...rk.shtml</a>
Originally Posted By tashajilek I just went two weeks ago and I sadly vote with a no. It was so hot, crowded and yet again I got sick which seems to happen on most of my Disney trips. Our best part of the vacation was our trips to the beach and the moments we weren't rushing around like maniacs. Seriously after our last trip I am scratching my head why we were such idiots paying fists loads of money and having a somewhat horrible time. If you are able to go for only a day or two and just casually enjoy the parks then you should probably go for it.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss "Go!!" I went to Disneyland yesterday, Sunday, Nov 15th, with my mom. We got 1-day tickets for DL only; as much as I love Cars Land and also Soarin', there's no way to justify spending $112 extra dollars for a couple of attractions. Between the $18 parking, the $198 tickets, and the $32 wheelchair rental, that was already $248 just to start. Yesterday was cool with mixed clouds and a some sunshine. The crowding was manageable; it seemed less crowded than our visit in February. We did a bunch of rides in Fantasyland to start, just because there was essentially no wait: Snow White, Pinocchio, Alice, Mr. Toad, Storyboookland, IASW. We skipped Peter Pan because it was already a longish wait by the time we entered the park at roughly 10 am. After a quick lunch which I had brought, I took my mom onto BTMRR. In hindsight, I'm never taking her on that again. As tame as it is, it was too much for her at her age now. Working our way over to the rest of Frontierland, we passed the turkey lag stand. She had mentioned turkey legs on the drive up, and sure enough, she mentioned it again. She REALLY wanted a turkey leg. They're $10.49. I was still satisfied from lunch, but I did have a few bites of it, and it was tasty. Afterwards, we went on the canoes. We sat right behind the CM guide, who was quite amusing with his spiel. Somehow the river already seemed shorter even before the SWL construction; the trip took no time at all. Since we were in the area, we also rode Pooh. We then went to the Mansion, but had to get a return-time. So we walked over to the Jingle Cruise, but couldn't ride that until we had done the Mansion; I wasn't aware of the return-time protocol, which I guess is similar to FP? Anyway, slightly confusing and a bit of a hassle, so we went into the Tiki Room to burn off some time. My mom was tired and she slept through the entire show. She told me afterwards she didn't even remember me wheeling her into the room. Haunted Mansion Holiday? Not really my cup o' tea, probably because I have never seen Nightmare Before Christmas. But visually, the mashup of Halloween and Christmas is just something I don't care for; I'd rather see the regular HM. One funny thing on the ride though: my mom couldn't get out of the Doom Buggy at the end of the ride and ended up going back to the loading area. I told her she got to see a part of the attraction very few people ever experience. I guess you could say se was spirited away. The Jingle Cruise is not an amazing re-imagination of the classic, but it is fun. We sat right up front with the skipper. She was good, and the fruitcake jokes were cute. After the cruise, we went over to Pirates, and had to get another return-time, so we walked through some shops and rested in the little quiet courtyard inside on NOS. After Pirates, I wanted to my mom a tender ride on the railroad since we couldn't last trip, but I couldn't this time either. Apparently some lights in the cab weren't functioning(?) so they weren't doing cab rides at night. Bummer. We then went to the Plaza Inn for dinner and had the pot roast. It was tasty as usual. Afterwards, we went out onto Main Street to wait for the Paint the Night parade and Disneyland Forever fireworks. As we waited, dashed over to Star Traders to see if they had any of the Pixar Cars Star Wars cars, but alas they did not. I hadn't watched any of the parade or fireworks on YouTube, so I didn't know what to expect. I LOVED Paint the Night. The music, the lights, the creative floats, and dancer costumes; it gave me that really good feeling that I get from Disney when it's just done right. Sadly though, the fireworks were cancelled due to high winds. But my mom was complaining about being to wiped out and wanted to go home anyway. I was pretty pooped too as I had gotten less than two hours of sleep the night before and still had another 50 minute drive home. But it was worth it.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I hope the $32 for wheelchair rental is a typo. We rented one at WDW for my wife's mother and it was $12 for the day. $32 is outrageous... the ECV I rented for myself was only $50.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I'm glad you enjoyed your trip! Even though it's expensive and exhausting, there are always great experiences and memories that will last a long time
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Not a typo, but I forgot about the $32 includes a $20 refundable deposit. So it was and still is $12 for wheelchair rental.
Originally Posted By iamsally Oh, I am so sorry about the fireworks. We have had that experience and it can be so frustrating. I am glad you loved Paint the Night. I am sure you would have loved the fireworks as well. So glad you felt it was worth it.
Originally Posted By familyguy I just came back from 4 days and loved it! The only thing that was really in bad shape was Splash Mountain. REALLY bad shape. I was a little disappointed.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Glad that most of your day seemed to go pretty well. On our recent trip to the MK at WDW we also noticed that experiencing it with Ann's Mom was fun but put a totally different dimension on it. She is 84 and just didn't want to stay in the park as long as I would have liked to. It was kind of a tough day for me also... I had planned to rent an ECV but by the time we arrived about 10 AM they had all been rented. I had my supplemental oxygen along so made the best of it. And I was still going strong when Ann's mom wanted to go back to the hotel. Oh well... she was thrilled we took her with us. She had never been to WDW before and had always wanted to see it before she died. I've decided that our next trip will be ANN AND I ONLY. Our last two trips we've had her relatives with us. Last year her niece, this year her mother. None of them ever were really in a position to go to Disney Parks before. But next year I am being selfish... it will be just Annie and me. We will stay at a Fort Wilderness Cabin again and have the time of our life. Not sure how many more years I have coming, so I want to make the trip next year GREAT!
