The Skipper Goes West

[Parkscope Joe]

DCA:

-DCA is awesome. Possibly tied with IoA for my second favorite park.
-World of Color is better than all the other nightshows put together.
-Mermaid is...well...it's not good. It's just kind of there. Monsters INC was a far superior ride, IMO.
-Radiator Springs Racers is amazing. An instant classic.
-Both the other Cars Land rides are super fun too. Yes, even Luigi's.
-DCA is (for the most part) an INCREDIBLY good looking park. The Hollywood area needs help, but everything else is pretty good looking. Very photogenic too.
-But why does Bug's Land exist? Especially after Cars Land, which basically has 2 of Bug's Land's rides in it.
-DCA ToT...feels so wrong.
-Paradise Pier is fantastic. Love it at night.

Glad to hear you enjoyed it. As someone who went to the park in 2002, it has improved drastically since opening. Bugs Land exists as what they thought was a stop-gap measure to have families stay longer. Take a look at some of the Yesterland stuff on DCA to fully see how far the park has come, and all of its mistakes. Makes you appreciate all the fixes and new attractions even more.

 

[jtsalien]

^I was on Superstar Limo and it haunts me to this day.

 

[Skipper Justin]

^I was on Superstar Limo and it haunts me to this day.

I just watched that on youtube. Why was that ever created?

 

[Parkscope Joe]

^I was on Superstar Limo and it haunts me to this day.

Remember X-Games? The horrible California parade that had rejected Tapestry of Nations puppets in it? Movies on grapes? Farm equipment? Ah good times...

 

[jtsalien]

Remember X-Games? The horrible California parade that had rejected Tapestry of Nations puppets in it? Movies on grapes? Farm equipment? Ah good times...

I love watching the opening special they made for TV on Youtube.

 

[Skipper Justin]

Question: For Skipper and anyone else who has gone to Disneyland. What are some good hotels/ places to book the vacation from experience? I've been just looking at expedia and priceline in order to plan a trip for March.

 

[Brian G.]

I stayed at the Sheraton Garden Grove when I went in Oct. It's not exactly next to the parks, but it was a great rate for a great room. When I went last year, and money was suuuuuper tight, I stayed at the Super 8. It was a clean room, which all that mattered.

 

[Disneyhead]

Candy Cane Inn.

 

[Jymmymack]

Candy Cane Inn.

Great place to stay.

 

[jubs]

As someone who was born in Long Beach, CA, and a lot of my relatives still live near Disneyland, I feel I have committed some unnatural violation of unspoken theme park law by not having ever been. :bang:

I have ALWAYS wanted to see their Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and Indiana Jones.

 

[Teknik_DC2]

Question: For Skipper and anyone else who has gone to Disneyland. What are some good hotels/ places to book the vacation from experience? I've been just looking at expedia and priceline in order to plan a trip for March.

Given that my trip is still 3 weeks away I booked our hotel thru Hotwire.com and got the Holiday Inn and Suites Anaheim for $61 a night. Yes you take a gamble with Hotwire by not knowing what hotel your staying at until after you've booked but by reading thru betterbidding.com you can pretty much narrow it down to what hotel you'll get before you book. I did this with our Southern California trip coming up and also our Orlando trip this past April. Both times I knew what hotel I was getting thru Hotwire before actually booking thanks to betterbidding.com

I will have a full report of the Hotel after my trip but i've never been dissapointed in the nearly dozen hotels i've booked thru Hotwire in the past. This Holiday Inn has good ratings on tripadvisor, is 3 star hotel, and is located next to the Mickey and Friends parking structure making for about 5 minute walk to the parking tram or a 10 minute walk to Downtown Disney and the Monorail. Thats a shorter walk then it took to walk to Universal Orlando when we stayed at the Doubletree and Days inn (the Days inn was a mistake btw).

Our past visit to Anaheim we stayed at the Fairfield Inn in Placentia. It was about a 6 mile drive to the parks but with the exception of driving to the parks it was also a very nice hotel.

 

[Jymmymack]

As someone who was born in Long Beach, CA, and a lot of my relatives still live near Disneyland, I feel I have committed some unnatural violation of unspoken theme park law by not having ever been. :bang:

I have ALWAYS wanted to see their Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and Indiana Jones.

What you need to ride is our Space Mountain. It KILLS the MK version.

 

[Andy]

What you need to ride is our Space Mountain. It KILLS the MK version.

It's a massacre

 

[jtsalien]

What you need to ride is our Space Mountain. It KILLS the MK version.

Pirates does too. HM is pretty much a toss up for me, minus the Holiday overlay of course.

 

[Andy]

MK Mansion trumps Disneylands outside of the holiday overlay :skellington:

 

[ReelJustice]

What you need to ride is our Space Mountain. It KILLS the MK version.

Every time Skip tried today, it was 101

 

[Andy]

Oh man that sucks! Did he get to ride it at all?

 

[jubs]

It's a massacre

I've been lead to believe that MK is not quite as "magical" as Disneyland. The Orlando counterparts seem to be lacking the original flair that made that park such a success, to hear it from friends who have been to both parks.

 

[Andy]

Disneyland is miles ahead of the Magic Kingdom in offerings. And in reference to the hotels I highly recommend either the Doubletree or Marriot Suites in Orange Grove. Ive stayed at these places during my last two visits. Booked the Marriot through Hotwire and got a suite for 70 bucks a night.

 

[Jymmymack]

I've been lead to believe that MK is not quite as "magical" as Disneyland. The Orlando counterparts seem to be lacking the original flair that made that park such a success, to hear it from friends who have been to both parks.

This is EXACTLY how I would describe the difference. It's not a quantitative or empirical explanation whatsoever... but Disneyland FEELS more magical and special. It's both grandiose and simultaneously charming.