DisneyFanGuy
Disney Nut
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2000
Well, I finally had an opportunity to visit the much abused DCA. I was with a friend from Southern CA and his family, and I had one day to see the park. He purchased a two day pass for 49 dollars, with which I was able to go back and forth between the two parks, although I had to burn both days to do it. Still a pretty good deal.
I expected to really dislike DCA. I have seen many pictures on the net, and read tons of poor press o the place. I also must admit that I haven't liked much of what Disney has built in Florida over the past few years. So my expectations were pretty low.
Imagine my surprise and delight to find much more to like than not! Here's a brief run down of my day.
We arrived at 10:00 am, which is when the place opened. We got fast passes for Soarin', and headed to Paradise Pier while we waited. Along the way I saw several musical acts setting up, or actually performing. Very cool.
First up, Screaming over CA. I'm a huge coaster nut and found it to be a very fun and very smooth ride. A+ from me. Then on to the Sun Wheel (Fun, though not too scary) and the Maliboomer (OK. I have been on similar rides before) In all cases there were CMs with big smiles going out of their way to make everyone's visit very enjoyable. I found myself really liking the Paradise Pier themeing (Shocker after reading all of the stuff on the web), but other then the Coaster and the Sun Wheel, not a whole lot that I would repeat. MM was closed for rehab. Too Bad.
Then on to Soarin'. One of the best things that Disney has ever done. Period. Huge Wow. We did it twice.
On the way I got to check Grizzly Run. Too cold to do, but it looked like a top quality effort all around.
We did Bugs, Muppets, Millionaire, and Blast in the next three hours. Squeezed in lunch too. All fun attractions, however, re-runs of what is in Florida. Blast is among the best theater performances that I have ever seen anywhere. A top notch performance all the way. I thought it and Soarin' were worth the price of admission.
Outside of the Animation exibit (Also very very fun) were three women doing a musical song and dance deal on the street. They asked me to come into the street and participate. Another highlight.
We ended the day at Golden Dreams. I thought that was well worth seeing as well.
Superstar Limo was closed for rehab.
I was delighted at the level of theming at the park. Everything, including the entertainment, was first class all the way. I didn't feel like any corners were cut at all.
The bottom line was that I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the place. I will even recommend it to my friends. It's no where near the complete miss-step that I have read about.
The only problem is that it seems to suffer from lacking a couple more true "E ticket" experiences. TOT will help, but it seems to need a little bit more. Muppets and Bugs are nice, however, still felt like re-runs. In each case, the theater was only 1/4 full, and this is on a Sunday! Disneyland was much more crowded when we zipped across the entrance plaza for a couple of hours.
But I am pleased to recommend that others check it out. It's well worth a trip.
One other thing........Downtown Disney is a complete treasure! Very nice job there too!
I expected to really dislike DCA. I have seen many pictures on the net, and read tons of poor press o the place. I also must admit that I haven't liked much of what Disney has built in Florida over the past few years. So my expectations were pretty low.
Imagine my surprise and delight to find much more to like than not! Here's a brief run down of my day.
We arrived at 10:00 am, which is when the place opened. We got fast passes for Soarin', and headed to Paradise Pier while we waited. Along the way I saw several musical acts setting up, or actually performing. Very cool.
First up, Screaming over CA. I'm a huge coaster nut and found it to be a very fun and very smooth ride. A+ from me. Then on to the Sun Wheel (Fun, though not too scary) and the Maliboomer (OK. I have been on similar rides before) In all cases there were CMs with big smiles going out of their way to make everyone's visit very enjoyable. I found myself really liking the Paradise Pier themeing (Shocker after reading all of the stuff on the web), but other then the Coaster and the Sun Wheel, not a whole lot that I would repeat. MM was closed for rehab. Too Bad.
Then on to Soarin'. One of the best things that Disney has ever done. Period. Huge Wow. We did it twice.
On the way I got to check Grizzly Run. Too cold to do, but it looked like a top quality effort all around.
We did Bugs, Muppets, Millionaire, and Blast in the next three hours. Squeezed in lunch too. All fun attractions, however, re-runs of what is in Florida. Blast is among the best theater performances that I have ever seen anywhere. A top notch performance all the way. I thought it and Soarin' were worth the price of admission.
Outside of the Animation exibit (Also very very fun) were three women doing a musical song and dance deal on the street. They asked me to come into the street and participate. Another highlight.
We ended the day at Golden Dreams. I thought that was well worth seeing as well.
Superstar Limo was closed for rehab.
I was delighted at the level of theming at the park. Everything, including the entertainment, was first class all the way. I didn't feel like any corners were cut at all.
The bottom line was that I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the place. I will even recommend it to my friends. It's no where near the complete miss-step that I have read about.
The only problem is that it seems to suffer from lacking a couple more true "E ticket" experiences. TOT will help, but it seems to need a little bit more. Muppets and Bugs are nice, however, still felt like re-runs. In each case, the theater was only 1/4 full, and this is on a Sunday! Disneyland was much more crowded when we zipped across the entrance plaza for a couple of hours.
But I am pleased to recommend that others check it out. It's well worth a trip.
One other thing........Downtown Disney is a complete treasure! Very nice job there too!
