A special birthday, a diamond anniversary and a west coast adventure UPDATED 9/7 About This Page:

[Big Baloo]

Your plans are really shaping up. I agree that LAX is a nightmare, I can't imagine going through customs there. It's the only thing I'm not looking forward to for DH's and my trip in January.
Sorry to hear about your TS meals not being up to par in the past. Did you have a better experience with CS? Am hoping to hear that you have better luck getting what you want for dining reservations than Cam has been having!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Thomhazel

Thanks for your dining recommendations, I have Steakhouse 55 firmly in my plans now.

Let's just hope that it lives up to our experiences back in 2012 then!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by lauriep

I loved the look and feel of DCA, too, much more than I expected and agree completely about the fantastic job they did with Cars Land. I'm intrigued by the fact that you and Mark enjoy Radiator Springs Racers so much because I know you're usually leery of the thrill rides. I skipped this because I was afraid it would mess with my head the way even mild coaster rides do. Is this one different? Less intense? Less difficult in terms of swooping and turning and dizzy-making? After I read your report from your last trip I was sorry I didn't try it. We were given two FP for it by the ABD tour and I gave them away!

As I understand it, Radiator Spring Racers is essentially Test Track, so all you get is the speed from it. That's what I was told anyway. It's certainly not a coaster in any way, as both of us were fine with it, and trust us, even mild coasters mess with us these days!

Carthay Circle wasn't open when I was there and I really was disappointed in the TS meals I had at DLR. I enjoyed my lunch at Storytellers, but everything else underwhelmed, including Steakhouse 55. I think the QS options are much better and more interesting than at WDW, though.

Interesting about the quick service options, I hadn't even thought of those.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by disney_duke

So glad you are able to get a flight right into SNA! The two times I've been to DL, I've flown into LAX, so I know what you mean. I'll be flying into SNA for the first time this November - so excited to see this little airport!

I think you'll love it - we adore tiny airports!

Your story of your US vacation as a teenager explains a lot about how you travel! My style is not actually much different than yours though - we try to cram in as much as we can too!

I think I have a lot to thank my dad for on that count. Growing up the way I did, I know that it's possible to do so much when it comes to travel, you just need to work out a way to achieve it. I've never forgotten wanting to go to WDW, Washington DC and New York for our honeymoon, which was three weeks long. I went into a travel agents and they were quoting me stupid money, as they priced up all the flights as one way, not return. I knew it could be done, so I went to a specialist travel agents and they did it all for me - adding in two stops along the way for no additional cost. Without my dad having done that when I was a kid, I would've had no clue that was even possible...

I remember that TR from last time and the lackluster meals. I'm hoping this trip works out better for you guys.

Me too!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Big Baloo

Your plans are really shaping up. I agree that LAX is a nightmare, I can't imagine going through customs there. It's the only thing I'm not forward to for DH's and my trip in January.
Sorry to hear about your TS meals not being up to par in the past. Did you have a better experience with CS? Am hoping to hear that you have better luck getting what you want for dining reservations than Cam has been having!

Honestly? I don't remember the last time we went for counter service at a Disney park, we are so wedded to table service now!

[lauriep]

Originally Posted by chezp

As I understand it, Radiator Spring Racers is essentially Test Track, so all you get is the speed from it. That's what I was told anyway. It's certainly not a coaster in any way, as both of us were fine with it, and trust us, even mild coasters mess with us these days!

That's why it made me regret skipping it. I have a feeling if you can do it, I can do it!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by lauriep

That's why it made me regret skipping it. I have a feeling if you can do it, I can do it!

That sounds about right to me.

[PrincessSharon]

Originally Posted by chezp

Well, the hope is to be in WDW.... and maybe Aulani, Disneyland and on a Disney cruise over Christmas 2017... so you'd be welcome to join us for some or all of that! We are looking at a three and a half week trip to fit it all in, just before anyone asks...

Hmm... I may try to join you guys for some of that!

Originally Posted by chezp

One is our very own Princess Sharon, and she’ll be in Disneyland with Karen, who some longer term PassPorters may remember, as once upon a time, she used to write trip reports… well, she used to start them anyway, that’s all I’m saying on that subject…

Thank goodness Karen will never know how hard I laughed at that!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by PrincessSharon

Hmm... I may try to join you guys for some of that!

Now that would be great!

Thank goodness Karen will never know how hard I laughed at that!

I figure we're reasonably safe here, given how often she pops in to update her trip reports...

[KMB733]

I wish I had been able to see California Adventure before the new construction. When I was there 4 years ago, it was in the middle of all the renovations and most of the park was construction walls. One day I'll get back to see the brand new park. But then it will probably be time to put in Star Wars Land!

[Cam22]

I had forgotten about the jacuzzi tubs in the 1-bedrooms. Now you've gotten me excited even more for our 1-bedroom. I remembered your dinner at Carthay Circle so that is why I worked to talk Luke into it. I also remembered your poor dining experience at Napa Rose, so eventually threw it out as an option.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by KMB733

I wish I had been able to see California Adventure before the new construction. When I was there 4 years ago, it was in the middle of all the renovations and most of the park was construction walls. One day I'll get back to see the brand new park. But then it will probably be time to put in Star Wars Land!

Probably! I did notice that there weren't any timelines for when Star Wars Land was actually going to open amongst all the announcements, so I wonder how long that work will take...

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Cam22

I had forgotten about the jacuzzi tubs in the 1-bedrooms. Now you've gotten me excited even more for our 1-bedroom.

It's one of our highlights of staying in a one bedroom!

I remembered your dinner at Carthay Circle so that is why I worked to talk Luke into it. I also remembered your poor dining experience at Napa Rose, so eventually threw it out as an option.

I so hope Carthay Circle is just as good the second time around. As for Napa Rose, hopefully that was a one-off, but it was never going to make the cut for this trip, after what we went through there.

[chezp]

Pre-trip report – part seven: come on Disney, can’t you do things the same on the west coast as the east coast?

At a reasonably early stage, I was able to establish the crowd levels should be exceptionally low during our visit. Because we were getting so close to our visit, I was able to get those from the Touring Plans website, and for the first three days we’re there, the crowd levels should be around 2 out of 10, while the final day will be a whopping 3 out of 10.

So what does all this mean? Well, for Radiator Springs Racers, which I guess is still exceptionally popular, it should mean waits of between an hour and an hour and 20 minutes. However, by comparison, with Soarin’ over California, you’re looking at waits between 20 and 50 minutes – not too terrible. Over in the Disneyland Park, things look even more promising, with no predicted waits over 40 minutes, well at least for the things we’re interested in, so I’m talking things like the Indiana Jones Adventure. Splash and Space Mountains may have longer waits, but no way am I doing either. Don’t get me wrong, Splash is fun in Walt Disney World, but the one time we rode it in Disneyland, we got absolutely drenched to the skin – and I mean drenched, to the point where it just wasn’t fun.

In my research, I also found out that a few other things, apart from Luigi’s Flying Tires had also recently closed down. Innoventions apparently bit the dust in April and the reports I found suggested that Captain EO (no great loss to me – sorry to any fans) closed at the start of this year. Now I know it did in Walt Disney World to make way for Tomorrowland previews, but I’m guessing it’s a bit more permanent on the west coast.

Perhaps a lot more surprisingly, a lot of Frozen related things had closed. According to what I read, the Anna and Elsa meets closed just before Christmas 2014. Now surely that can’t be right, given how popular they are, and you wouldn’t close it just before one of the busiest periods in the park, would you? Olaf’s Snow Fest in Disney’s California Adventure apparently finished at the start of May, which I can understand, given Frozen stuff in the summer has always seemed a bit odd to me. Maybe that will be back in the cooler months?

Muppet Vision 3D also closed in November 2014, and as we hadn’t seen that in recent visits to Walt Disney World, I was going to see it over here, but obviously we won’t be. I must admit reading all of this made me realise how totally out of touch I was with what’s been going on with Disneyland recently.

There are, of course, as you’d expect from Disney, some must-sees during the diamond anniversary celebrations. The first of these is the new evening parade in the Disneyland Park called Paint the Night. I’m hoping with the low crowd predictions that this won’t be too mobbed, as I know when it debuted, the crowds to see it were just insane. The pictures I’ve seen of it on social media looked absolutely amazing, and I cannot wait to experience it first hand. I just hope and pray for no rain on whichever night we decide to see it, as that might throw the only wrench in our plans. Unfortunately with my chronic fatigue, there is no way I can stand and wait for parades any longer. I have to sit, as long periods of standing just completely and utterly drain me. Ironic, given that I can walk for miles, and regularly swim half a mile with no problem. You’d have thought standing would be easy by comparison, but apparently not.

Following Paint the Night are the Disneyland Forever fireworks. Now I’m hoping these will be worth seeing, as the last time we made an effort to see the fireworks at Disneyland (probably all the way back in 2006 if I remember right), we turned to each other at the end and said “was that it?” Well, that was it. They certainly weren’t up to the standard of Wishes or IllumiNations, but fingers crossed, if you’re celebrating 60 years, you up your game somewhat… at least that’s my hope anyway.

Over at Disney’s California Adventure, they haven’t been missed out. They have the World of Color nightly, but for the diamond anniversary, it’s got a bit extra. For starters, it’s now called World of Color – Celebrate! Having seen the holiday version on our last trip, which was very different to the original version, which we saw back in 2011, I’m hoping to be just as enchanted by this version.

As you’d expect, there’s also lots of special celebration merchandise available, and I will be sure to check that out, and hopefully purchase one or two bits and pieces. There are also specialty cocktails, which I might just have to sample and cupcakes, which again I may have to try all for research purposes of course…

Now here’s where I ran into the other problem I had with Disneyland – it is so darned hard for a vacation here, compared to WDW. With WDW, whatever you think of it, getting park hours six months beforehand, and being able to book ADRs for any meals you want at 180 days out seems here to stay. A more recent addition that uber-planners like me love is being able to get your Fastpass+ selections 60 days before your vacation. It means that by the time you get to a few weeks out from your vacation, pretty much all your planning is done.

Things are very, very different at Disneyland… In a way, it’s like stepping back in time to how WDW used to be. For starters, they’re still on the old Fastpass selection. That means you still pick up a paper Fastpass, then need to use it or have your window open up for it before you can get another one. At least I think I’m remembering that right – you see, that’s how long it is since I experienced that old system at WDW.

That means no more deciding you want a late start to the day, and you can book a Fastpass+ to that unmissable (and packed) attraction in the afternoon. Oh no, if you want to hit one of the big attractions at Disneyland, you’re going to have to get up early, or risk long waits later on in the day. At least we know crowd levels will be relatively low, so hopefully it won’t have that much of an impact, but it’s just a very different way to operate, compared to what you get in WDW now.

Another huge difference are the park hours and dining reservations. I have to admit I’m still not clear how it works at Disneyland. Let me explain. We know with certainly that you’ll get hours at WDW at least six months before. For example, we’re in late July as I write this. At the moment, you can see the park hours for WDW up until 31 January 2016, and I have no doubt that in the next few days, they’ll be posting the hours for February 2016 as well. At the latest, those details will be up by the end of this month. It’s a well known pattern, and we know where we are.

Now we turn to Disneyland. On the same date, we currently have park hours out until 29 August, although the website infers that they should be available for a few days after that. They’re not. You click on the dates following that, and it just helpfully says “schedule unavailable”. Best of all, it’s been like that for about three or four days now, after a spate of them faithfully adding an extra day each time I checked. Now nothing. I have no idea what’s going on, but I suspect that they will suddenly post an extra few days with no warning. Goodness knows!

It doesn’t exactly make planning easy when you don’t know when you’ll get the park hours for your visit. Even better, dining reservations are already open for our trip, and have been for about 10 days now. I have to yet to book anything, as I really want those park hours, and more importantly details of when the night-time events are, so I can work around those. This is also where it gets really silly.

You can already book the World of Color dining package, which I went to do one night. When I go to the website, it allows me to pick whatever time I want, including the exact times (9:00pm) that I suspect World of Color will be taking place! No times during the course of an evening are blacked out to even give you a clue about the performance time, so you can just imagine people making a mistake and booking the restaurant too close to the performance. It really is just laughable, and exceptionally frustrating as well. I do appreciate that Disneyland is a very different beast to WDW, but come on, isn’t it about time that they started to introduce some of the same ways of operating as their east coast counterpart? Please….?

Next: our Disneyland dining plans

[DMA]

Wow! Such a difference in planning for Disneyland! Especially for those who are used to the lead time given for WDW planning.