First Time at Universal Studios Hollywood and Disneyland Resort: Trip Report

[belloq87]

I'll be leaving for California tomorrow (9/11), so I thought I'd create a thread to share some of my impressions!

Current park itinerary is this:

Tuesday, 9/12 -- Disneyland, Part 1 (Adventureland, New Orleans Square, Frontierland, Galaxy's Edge)
Wednesday, 9/13 -- Universal Studios Hollywood
Thursday, 9/14 -- California Adventure
Friday, 9/15 -- Disneyland, Part 2 (Fantasyland, Mickey's Toontown, Tomorrowland)

To say I'm excited about finally seeing these parks in person is an understatement. Finally getting to do things like Indiana Jones, the USH Studio Tour (though unfortunately without Earthquake), Waterworld, Radiator Springs, and all of the Fantasyland dark rides (and more!) has got me absolutely psyched.

I've done plenty of research, but if anybody has some under-the-radar suggestions/tips for food and beverage, I'd be happy to hear them!

 

[Magic-Man]

Funny, I'm also leaving for Los Angeles tomorrow! Going to Universal Studios Hollywood for the first time, but no Disneyland. Hope you have fun!

 

[Nick]

Have fun. Not sure if they still have it but the specialty Blue Milk, I can recommend that as a snack. It added a bit of a sour flavor which went well with the existing flavor and we don't have it in Orlando. I actually really liked it and i'm not a big Blue Milk proponent.

 

[MrBlonde]

Have fun on your trip!

Biggest recommendations is to use mobile order whenever possible. That saved us a lot of waits when getting snacks.

Things I wouldn’t miss out beyond the normal stuff would be going to Lamplight Lounge at DCA. I loved their lobster nachos, but also their potato skins. Both of those are really good imo.

If you like Adventureland and tiki stuff, be sure to hit up Trader Sam’s at the Disneyland hotel too.

 

[ItsAtrap]

I'm looking forward to reading about your visit here.

 

[Jake S]

Things I wouldn’t miss out beyond the normal stuff would be going to Lamplight Lounge at DCA. I loved their lobster nachos, but also their potato skins. Both of those are really good imo.

If you like Adventureland and tiki stuff, be sure to hit up Trader Sam’s at the Disneyland hotel too.

these are also great places to relax during the day. I’d also consider the large bar inside the grand Californian — it’s a great vibe and the drinks/food are very good.

 

[belloq87]

First day at Disneyland today. Got in:

- Indiana Jones Adventure (x2)
- Pirates of the Caribbean (x2)
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Disneyland Railroad
- Smuggler's Run
- Jungle Cruise
- Haunted Mansion Holiday

To start my impressions, a negative: I know it's almost certainly out of anybody's hands, but WAY too many attractions went down today WAY too frequently. I've never seen a day like this (in person) at a theme park ever. At one time, all of the following were inoperable: Rise of the Resistance, Smuggler's Run, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise (?!), and Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway (many of those also went down multiple times, though not overlapping like that). Big Thunder and Indy each also went down once as far as I could tell.

It is not only quite frustrating to be stuck in the same spot in a queue for 30 minutes (as happened on both Smuggler's Run and Haunted Mansion), but that major loss of capacity causes wait times on the remaining attractions to really jump.

Despite all that, I had an overall great time. The park seemed to be in great aesthetic condition, and I'd defy any theme park fan to not be charmed by the experience of just walking around. Some of those attractions being temporarily unavailable actually resulted in just slowing down for a bit, grabbing a mint julep, and strolling around, and it was extremely pleasant.

In terms of attractions, the full, unabridged Pirates is a masterpiece of the form, Haunted Mansion Holiday is a really impressive overlay (how do they put that together in only a month?!), and as for Indiana Jones, well...

Instant favorite. A perfect example of a dark thrill ride. The main chamber, with the criss-crossing ride paths, is some of Imagineering's greatest work in terms of environmental design. Lived up to the hype and then some!

Adventure has a name, and it is Indiana Jones!

 

[Jake S]

First: Really glad you had a good time and that Indiana Jones lived up to your hopes/expectations. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip!

Second: What in god's name did Haunted Mansion go down for? I honestly can't recall the attraction going down while I worked there, nor can I remember seeing it down. That's wild.

 

[belloq87]

Second: What in god's name did Haunted Mansion go down for? I honestly can't recall the attraction going down while I worked there, nor can I remember seeing it down. That's wild.

Wish I could say! It went down several times (at least per the app, and once for sure while waiting in the queue).

 

[Disneyhead]

Wish I could say! It went down several times (at least per the app, and once for sure while waiting in the queue).

"Haunted Mansion Holiday is a really impressive overlay (how do they put that together in only a month?!)"

Probably your answer right there. But it is what it is. You rode it, and were impressed.

Disneyland is charming.

If you don't mind me asking, how old are you. You come across as someone a bit older than the average poster here. I only ask because I myself am quite a bit older. And for us older folks, Disneyland took on an almost mythic aura because of Disney TV shows like "Wonderful World of Disney".

 

[belloq87]

I'm 36.

For me, the "mythic aura" comes entirely from being basically a student of Disney theme park history.

 

[Disneyhead]

I'm 36.

For me, the "mythic aura" comes entirely from being basically a student of Disney theme park history.

Ok, got it. '87. Not quite as old as I thought. Still a titch older than the '90s kids that hang out here.

What year was your first WDW trip?

 

[OrlandoGuy]

First day at Disneyland today. Got in:

- Indiana Jones Adventure (x2)
- Pirates of the Caribbean (x2)
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Disneyland Railroad
- Smuggler's Run
- Jungle Cruise
- Haunted Mansion Holiday

To start my impressions, a negative: I know it's almost certainly out of anybody's hands, but WAY too many attractions went down today WAY too frequently. I've never seen a day like this (in person) at a theme park ever. At one time, all of the following were inoperable: Rise of the Resistance, Smuggler's Run, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise (?!), and Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway (many of those also went down multiple times, though not overlapping like that). Big Thunder and Indy each also went down once as far as I could tell.

It’s funny, I haven’t been to Disneyland in a while (not since I was a kid coming along with my family) but I always noticed a lot of downtime too. I would complain about it and then my parents would chalk it up to me noticing it more than usual because I’d spend literally every waking minute of our trips in the parks…but hearing you bring this up brought me back to my childhood and gave me a little vindication about my pouting so that’s neat

But glad you had fun. I agree Indiana Jones is an elite ride, and I personally consider it the perfect theme park attraction. That whole side of the park is a nice change of pace from the expansive-concrete designs of modern theme parks, so walking around and chilling sounds great.

I could read reviews and trip reports all day—looking forward to more!

 

[Jerroddragon]

Sorry you had to deal with so many attractions going down

It's sadly become the normal since Covid. It's a lottery, when I went it happened pretty rarely but I've seen many have trips ruined by certain rides that just kept closing.

 

[Mad Dog]

Mice Chat's had a few articles the past two years about how bad Disney maintenance has become. Said rides are down way too often in comparison to past years.....Heh. Gotta pay for the Disney+ boondoggle.....and, according to Touring Plans weekly report, WDW isn't doing very well either, especially during the opening hour.

 

[SailwiththeTide]

Mice Chat's had a few articles the past two years about how bad Disney maintenance has become. Said rides are down way too often in comparison to past years.....Heh. Gotta pay for the Disney+ boondoggle.....and, according to Touring Plans weekly report, WDW isn't doing very well either, especially during the opening hour.

That is the really frustrating part is the Disneyland seems to not care about ride uptime anymore. A CM mentioned the entire ridesystems on INDY need replacing but they will not provide the budget to do so, so it limps along breaking down multiple times daily.

 

[Jake S]

A CM mentioned the entire ridesystems on INDY need replacing but they will not provide the budget to do so, so it limps along breaking down multiple times daily.

This is obviously anecdotal, but I can not remember a time in my life when Indy wasn't a downtime monster. That doesn't exactly make this good but I'd be curious if anyone has insight on whether or not this is worse than before.

 

[Jerroddragon]

This is obviously anecdotal, but I can not remember a time in my life when Indy wasn't a downtime monster. That doesn't exactly make this good but I'd be curious if anyone has insight on whether or not this is worse than before.

What's funny is from what I hear, Disneyland Tokyo could only build it's Indy ride if it didn't have the down time of Disneylands......so it can be done Disney just wont flip the bill on the attraction

 

[belloq87]

Day 2 -- Universal Studios Hollywood!

We got in...

- Mario Kart
- Transformers
- Revenge of the Mummy
- Jurassic World: The Ride
- The Studio Tour
- The Simpsons Ride
- Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
- The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash
- Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem
- DreamWorks Theater: Kung Fu Panda Adventure

... all by about 3:30pm (we had the Early Access hour for Nintendo). We unfortunately had to leave a bit early, so no Waterworld. Oh well, I guess that's still a reason to visit again!

General thoughts on the park: I knew about the unusual layout of the upper and lower lots, and was fully prepared to think the park was pretty weird, but I actually quite enjoyed it. Aside from the hassle of getting to and from the two lots, everything is packed into easily-walkable distances, and despite being a "Studios" park like USF, Hollywood definitely has its own personality. I dug it.

So what did I think of the new-to-me stuff?

Mario Kart -- A very nice D-ticket dark ride. I still don't really think it does the game justice, but for what it is, it's nice. Wrote a few more thoughts in its dedicated thread.

Revenge of the Mummy -- The expanded backwards portion in this version of the ride is a really fun enhancement, but as a whole, it totally lacks anything as thrilling as the fake-out, fire-ceiling climax of Orlando's (superior) version. Still, it's a good attraction.

JW: The Ride -- I hate the mosasaurus opening scene (the talk of "you have to see it in person to get a sense of the depth" did not play-out for me; it looked like a couple of big TV screens with animation to me!), but everything after that is quality stuff. The big scene before the drop is some of Universal's best animatronics work of recent years.

The Studio Tour -- Kind of magical in an old-school way. A throwback crammed with Hollywood lore that movie buffs like myself can't help but eat up.

DreamWorks Theater -- Some cool projection effects. Elements of this reminded me of Muppet*Vision 3D (in a good way). Nice C-ticket.

SLOP: Off the Leash -- This is a pure, total delight of a classic-style dark ride. Fun sight gags (lots of them), fun animated figures, colorful and stylized sets. This is proof that Universal of the 2020s can create a ride like this. Why Universal hasn't built something like this in USF (and seemingly has no interest in doing so) is baffling and beyond irritating. This is exactly what USF is crying out for. Give the park something like this, please! Until then (will there be a then?), USH should be proud to have this in its lineup.

Ok, got it. '87. Not quite as old as I thought. Still a titch older than the '90s kids that hang out here.

What year was your first WDW trip?

First trip was 1991, and I have only vague memories of it.

Next was 1993 (along with USF), and I have pretty vivid memories of that trip.

 

[Mad Dog]

Day 2 -- Universal Studios Hollywood!

We got in...

- Mario Kart
- Transformers
- Revenge of the Mummy
- Jurassic World: The Ride
- The Studio Tour
- The Simpsons Ride
- Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
- The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash
- Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem
- DreamWorks Theater: Kung Fu Panda Adventure

... all by about 3:30pm (we had the Early Access hour for Nintendo). We unfortunately had to leave a bit early, so no Waterworld. Oh well, I guess that's still a reason to visit again!

General thoughts on the park: I knew about the unusual layout of the upper and lower lots, and was fully prepared to think the park was pretty weird, but I actually quite enjoyed it. Aside from the hassle of getting to and from the two lots, everything is packed into easily-walkable distances, and despite being a "Studios" park like USF, Hollywood definitely has its own personality. I dug it.

So what did I think of the new-to-me stuff?

Mario Kart -- A very nice D-ticket dark ride. I still don't really think it does the game justice, but for what it is, it's nice. Wrote a few more thoughts in its dedicated thread.

Revenge of the Mummy -- The expanded backwards portion in this version of the ride is a really fun enhancement, but as a whole, it totally lacks anything as thrilling as the fake-out, fire-ceiling climax of Orlando's (superior) version. Still, it's a good attraction.

JW: The Ride -- I hate the mosasaurus opening scene (the talk of "you have to see it in person to get a sense of the depth" did not play-out for me; it looked like a couple of big TV screens with animation to me!), but everything after that is quality stuff. The big scene before the drop is some of Universal's best animatronics work of recent years.

The Studio Tour -- Kind of magical in an old-school way. A throwback crammed with Hollywood lore that movie buffs like myself can't help but eat up.

DreamWorks Theater -- Some cool projection effects. Elements of this reminded me of Muppet*Vision 3D (in a good way). Nice C-ticket.

SLOP: Off the Leash -- This is a pure, total delight of a classic-style dark ride. Fun sight gags (lots of them), fun animated figures, colorful and stylized sets. This is proof that Universal of the 2020s can create a ride like this. Why Universal hasn't built something like this in USF (and seemingly has no interest in doing so) is baffling and beyond irritating. This is exactly what USF is crying out for. Give the park something like this, please! Until then (will there be a then?), USH should be proud to have this in its lineup.


First trip was 1991, and I have only vague memories of it.

Next was 1993 (along with USF), and I have pretty vivid memories of that trip.

I'm really enjoying this trip report. Interesting comments from someone that's similar in what they want to experience in a theme park. Not just coasters, but a good 'all around balanced experience'.....Just an aside to the downtime problems you mentioned at Disneyland. As I said previously, WDW is having similar maintenance issues. No Touring Plan figures for Ca., but Touring Plans does a weekly report for WDW. The weeks of Aug. 29 to Sept. 11th illustrate this problem. DHS had 6.6% of it's capacity down on a daily average. Day of Sept. 3 was particularly bad with 18% of the capacity down. Aug. 30th WDW had 8% of the capacity down. Space Mountain averaged 50% down during that two week period. Rope drop downtime of headliner attractions was bad at all four parks.