We just got back. We were first timers too and loved it. Way more than WDW. We gave up going to WDW years ago.
1. DL Hotel was nostalgic and awesome. We walked through Californian and it was gorgeous but nothing Disney about it. Definitely would stay at
Disneyland hotel again.
2. Yes, definitely Park hopper and
genie+. The parks are next door and easy to walk back and forth assuming you are healthy that way. It makes a world of difference in enjoying the parks. Genie+ might suck for WDW because the parks are so far apart. See my post on Genie+ I just wrote a few minutes ago pros and cons.
3. not familiar with adventures.
4. We did 3 1/2 days and got more than everything in. We literally got every ride in and then some and we were able to just walk around and site see. We did not do some of the shows though, but we heard Rogers was super fun. Something for us next time. Also Disneyland hotel has tons of Disney history photos as well (go to store near the elevators for cool pictures).
5. Must do - in 3 1/2 days you'll likely get everything in. For us, all the main rides. Space Mountain is different than WDW and more fun in my opinion (smoother). Pirates and Big Thunder too - a little different. Indiana Jones was one of our favorite rides and not at WDW. The park itself at DL is simply different than WDW and you'll notice it right away. I won't tell you why. But it's just nice because it's different. The CA rides are super fun, especially Guardians and Incredicoaster. You'll get soaked on the grizzly water ride. but so fun. Take your soles out of your shoes and use the free locker before riding. Also, character meet and greets were everywhere and easy to stand in line for (maybe 10 minutes or less even for Mickey).
Also definitely see both night shows. We liked the CA water show better than the fireworks since it was so different. Walk around the star wars land at night v. day. Super cool. Same with California Adventure night v. day especially entrance and Pixar area.
Learn Genie+ in advance and bring a portable phone charger.
6. We did Blue Bayou for our nice dinner. Food was really good. Service was meh. But the ambiance was awesome. Would probably recommend that however we didn't eat sit down otherwise. Rather grab and go or we did do the bar at the Californian and that was awesome food.
7. Everything is super expensive, so if you're eating and want to save money, maybe split a mean. Try to stop at a grocery store before checking in and bring in snacks/food to hotel room. Bring in water bottles to the park and have a back pack.
