traciruns
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2010
Greetings!
We just returned from our first trip to Disneyland a few days ago. We have visited WDW several times over the years and were eager to see the park that started it all. We were there from August 22-28 with 5 day Park Hoppers, staying at Paradise Pier Hotel.
Hotel: We always stay on property at WDW but really debated if we needed to do that at DL, since so many people stay at Good Neighbor hotels. My husband was a big fan of staying on property, and it turned out that a friend of ours had a bunch of DVC points that were about to expire so she offered to rent them to us for a very low rate. We paid for 3 nights with points and 3 nights out of pocket. We really loved it there! Even though it is the least fancy of the 3 DL hotels, we found the accommodations to be very comfortable and clean. The room was spacious and we had a great view of Pixar Pier, which was awesome at night! The CM's here were super friendly and helpful. I would definitely recommend staying here to anyone considering it. Our kids are 13, 11, and 7 and they loved the pool and the beach theming.
Food: We had reservations for the following: Hungry Bear Fantasmic package, Café Orleans, Plaza Inn breakfast, Carnation Café and Blue Bayou. We enjoyed each meal but didn't really feel that any of them were better than dining experiences we've had in Florida. Carnation Café was probably our favorite. Blue Bayou was probably our least favorite (but we went for the ambience as we'd heard that the food was just so-so, so it was fine). The number of characters at Plaza Inn was astounding!!! I think there were 12-13 there. We didn't get to meet every one as they didn't all circulate to our area, but we did meet Pluto, Tigger, Eyeore, Dale, Minnie, Honest John, Rafiki, and Max. We were bummed that Captain Hook, Chip, Fairy Godmother and Perla never made it over our way, but it was fun watching them circulate.
Rides: We had a ball riding so many attractions multiple times with MaxPass (absolutely loved MP!!) We loved comparing and contrasting rides that are in both locations, and trying out the unique to DL ones. The kids wanted to ride Star Tours every day, so we did...5 days in a row (only got the same sequencing twice...and two members of our family got to be the Rebel spy!!) We rode POC 3 times (definitely have to give DL the nod on this one). We hit Indiana Jones twice and preferred it over Dinosaur! Guardians of the Galaxy was crazy fun but a bit too much for a couple of our kids. We rode BTMR probably 4 times, and thought it was a little better than WDW. Splash Mountain was a hoot...rode it twice. Only hit Space once, just ran out of time because the fastpasses seemed to go quickly for that one so two nights they were just too late for us. Soarin' is always one of our favorites, as is Peter Pan. We really missed the ability to fastpass PP for sure!! TSMM and Buzz were played multiple times each and we really appreciated those MaxPasses. The Incredicoaster became an instant favorite, as did RSR, and we were able to ride each of them multiple times as well with MaxPass. Totally worth it!
Shows: Fantasmic was fabulous! I think I preferred the show to WDW, but the seating was a little bit less comfy. It was nice to be close-up but seats would have been good. Together Forever was beautiful and the music was just perfect. We loved Paint the Night! Saw Mickey's Magical Map and Frozen. Both were great but Frozen was just exceptional! I was blown away by the talent.
Characters: We loved seeing so many characters just roaming and had an awesome interaction with Cruella Deville one afternoon. She is hilarious and someone you just don't see at WDW. My 7 year old son absolutely loved meeting all of the Marvel characters as well. The interactions with each of them were really great.
Cast Members: I was a little worried from some of what I've read on here about cast members at DL, but we found them to be every bit as nice and helpful as the ones in Florida. In both parks, we've run into people who were maybe not having their best day or maybe it's just a job to them, but have had so many more positive experiences with CM's that seem to genuinely love what they do and go out of their way to make your time there special. We met so many nice and enthusiastic CM's in California! The only grumpy one we encountered was at the Disney Visa Meet and Greet at DCA. In Florida, we've never been asked to show ID besides the credit card but she was very firm on this (and pretty rude about it, too). So...take your driver's license along for that M&G!
Pixie Dust: We never expect Pixie Dust but always appreciate receiving it. We had a few great examples this trip. Anastasia at the front desk of PPH was amazing as she wrote my husband a voucher for a t-shirt when we checked in because his luggage was lost (again...it had happened like 4 weeks earlier on a business trip!! It did show up the next day fortunately!) In addition, we had a theme park view booked for our days on DVC points and a standard for the remainder of the days. I asked about paying to upgrade so we could just stay in the same room and she told us they had already done it for us at no extra charge!!! Two Pixie Dust experiences upon check-in with the t-shirt and the room!
We had another Pixie Dust experience on Saturday. I had pre-paid for a meal voucher at Getaway Today for our Plaza Inn breakfast (don't do this, by the way, as there is no tip there so it actually cost a few dollars more for the voucher!) I goofed and brought the print-out which I was supposed to cash in at the ticket booth for actual vouchers. They were great about it and said it happens all the time and to just pay with a credit card at the time of the meal, then go get the vouchers and come back later to pay with them and have the charge removed. We did all of that on our way out of the park at like 6 pm (our only evening we were heading back early). I was almost to the PPH parking lot when I got a call from them saying that the return hadn't processed properly and could I please come back? We had already walked 12+ miles that and were pretty exhausted since it was day 3, so I asked to just give my card number but they couldn't do it that way. The very kind CM said that it was important for me to come back so their drawer wasn't way off and could she offer to make it worth my while by making us to-go dinners!!! Whatt??!?! Got freshened up a bit and I headed back over to Plaza Inn. They fixed the error and made each of us a lovely platter to go and insisted that we take dessert as well! It was awesome! We ate it by the pool under the moonlight
.
Sorry this is so long, but we just had an amazing time. We loved the California weather and the ability to walk everywhere so much! Now we have 2 places to miss when we are at home in Maryland! Can't wait to come back!
Edited to add a big THANK YOU to all on this forum for answering questions and posting information to help guide the planning of our trip! Lucky Rabbit, I really appreciated the advice you gave. We ended up hitting Huntington Beach on Sunday during the day to avoid potential CHOC walk crowds, then went to the parks in the evening. It worked out great. Thanks!
We just returned from our first trip to Disneyland a few days ago. We have visited WDW several times over the years and were eager to see the park that started it all. We were there from August 22-28 with 5 day Park Hoppers, staying at Paradise Pier Hotel.
Hotel: We always stay on property at WDW but really debated if we needed to do that at DL, since so many people stay at Good Neighbor hotels. My husband was a big fan of staying on property, and it turned out that a friend of ours had a bunch of DVC points that were about to expire so she offered to rent them to us for a very low rate. We paid for 3 nights with points and 3 nights out of pocket. We really loved it there! Even though it is the least fancy of the 3 DL hotels, we found the accommodations to be very comfortable and clean. The room was spacious and we had a great view of Pixar Pier, which was awesome at night! The CM's here were super friendly and helpful. I would definitely recommend staying here to anyone considering it. Our kids are 13, 11, and 7 and they loved the pool and the beach theming.
Food: We had reservations for the following: Hungry Bear Fantasmic package, Café Orleans, Plaza Inn breakfast, Carnation Café and Blue Bayou. We enjoyed each meal but didn't really feel that any of them were better than dining experiences we've had in Florida. Carnation Café was probably our favorite. Blue Bayou was probably our least favorite (but we went for the ambience as we'd heard that the food was just so-so, so it was fine). The number of characters at Plaza Inn was astounding!!! I think there were 12-13 there. We didn't get to meet every one as they didn't all circulate to our area, but we did meet Pluto, Tigger, Eyeore, Dale, Minnie, Honest John, Rafiki, and Max. We were bummed that Captain Hook, Chip, Fairy Godmother and Perla never made it over our way, but it was fun watching them circulate.
Rides: We had a ball riding so many attractions multiple times with MaxPass (absolutely loved MP!!) We loved comparing and contrasting rides that are in both locations, and trying out the unique to DL ones. The kids wanted to ride Star Tours every day, so we did...5 days in a row (only got the same sequencing twice...and two members of our family got to be the Rebel spy!!) We rode POC 3 times (definitely have to give DL the nod on this one). We hit Indiana Jones twice and preferred it over Dinosaur! Guardians of the Galaxy was crazy fun but a bit too much for a couple of our kids. We rode BTMR probably 4 times, and thought it was a little better than WDW. Splash Mountain was a hoot...rode it twice. Only hit Space once, just ran out of time because the fastpasses seemed to go quickly for that one so two nights they were just too late for us. Soarin' is always one of our favorites, as is Peter Pan. We really missed the ability to fastpass PP for sure!! TSMM and Buzz were played multiple times each and we really appreciated those MaxPasses. The Incredicoaster became an instant favorite, as did RSR, and we were able to ride each of them multiple times as well with MaxPass. Totally worth it!
Shows: Fantasmic was fabulous! I think I preferred the show to WDW, but the seating was a little bit less comfy. It was nice to be close-up but seats would have been good. Together Forever was beautiful and the music was just perfect. We loved Paint the Night! Saw Mickey's Magical Map and Frozen. Both were great but Frozen was just exceptional! I was blown away by the talent.
Characters: We loved seeing so many characters just roaming and had an awesome interaction with Cruella Deville one afternoon. She is hilarious and someone you just don't see at WDW. My 7 year old son absolutely loved meeting all of the Marvel characters as well. The interactions with each of them were really great.
Cast Members: I was a little worried from some of what I've read on here about cast members at DL, but we found them to be every bit as nice and helpful as the ones in Florida. In both parks, we've run into people who were maybe not having their best day or maybe it's just a job to them, but have had so many more positive experiences with CM's that seem to genuinely love what they do and go out of their way to make your time there special. We met so many nice and enthusiastic CM's in California! The only grumpy one we encountered was at the Disney Visa Meet and Greet at DCA. In Florida, we've never been asked to show ID besides the credit card but she was very firm on this (and pretty rude about it, too). So...take your driver's license along for that M&G!
Pixie Dust: We never expect Pixie Dust but always appreciate receiving it. We had a few great examples this trip. Anastasia at the front desk of PPH was amazing as she wrote my husband a voucher for a t-shirt when we checked in because his luggage was lost (again...it had happened like 4 weeks earlier on a business trip!! It did show up the next day fortunately!) In addition, we had a theme park view booked for our days on DVC points and a standard for the remainder of the days. I asked about paying to upgrade so we could just stay in the same room and she told us they had already done it for us at no extra charge!!! Two Pixie Dust experiences upon check-in with the t-shirt and the room!
We had another Pixie Dust experience on Saturday. I had pre-paid for a meal voucher at Getaway Today for our Plaza Inn breakfast (don't do this, by the way, as there is no tip there so it actually cost a few dollars more for the voucher!) I goofed and brought the print-out which I was supposed to cash in at the ticket booth for actual vouchers. They were great about it and said it happens all the time and to just pay with a credit card at the time of the meal, then go get the vouchers and come back later to pay with them and have the charge removed. We did all of that on our way out of the park at like 6 pm (our only evening we were heading back early). I was almost to the PPH parking lot when I got a call from them saying that the return hadn't processed properly and could I please come back? We had already walked 12+ miles that and were pretty exhausted since it was day 3, so I asked to just give my card number but they couldn't do it that way. The very kind CM said that it was important for me to come back so their drawer wasn't way off and could she offer to make it worth my while by making us to-go dinners!!! Whatt??!?! Got freshened up a bit and I headed back over to Plaza Inn. They fixed the error and made each of us a lovely platter to go and insisted that we take dessert as well! It was awesome! We ate it by the pool under the moonlight
.Sorry this is so long, but we just had an amazing time. We loved the California weather and the ability to walk everywhere so much! Now we have 2 places to miss when we are at home in Maryland! Can't wait to come back!
Edited to add a big THANK YOU to all on this forum for answering questions and posting information to help guide the planning of our trip! Lucky Rabbit, I really appreciated the advice you gave. We ended up hitting Huntington Beach on Sunday during the day to avoid potential CHOC walk crowds, then went to the parks in the evening. It worked out great. Thanks!
