sethschroeder
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2013
What about Disneyland Paris and France in general. It's not terribly expensive for flights and it's something out of the ordinary.
And that’s the hard thing- some people like certain versions of rides better at DL and some at WDW. So you need to experience both.I have to disagree with this one. I have been to Magic Kingdom only a couple of times and mostly Disneyland through out my life, so yes that does have an effect on my opinion. However I do think there are things that are better at Disneyland than Magic Kingdom.
Personally like Haunted Mansion in Disneyland better, at least I like the outside queue better and how you go in through the front door of the Haunt Mansion like a welcomed guest instead of shoved in through the back basement entrance like a shameful guest that you don't want people seeing entering your house. (Like they saying "ehhh, use the back door, don't dirty my front porch.") Also their stretch room servers a purpose other than just being a stretching room. (Elevator that gets you down to the basement level).
I also think that Pirates of the Caribbean is better because there it more to it in the ride. I mean, you have all those caves scenes which just do not exist in Magic Kingdom and the inside of the burning building at the end of the ride. AND they have the Blue Bayou Restaurant (My favorite place to eat out, reservations 100% needed!)
Thunder Mountain has that cool explosion scene at the end that was added fairly recently. (also I don't recall seeing the goat with the TNT in his mouth, but I could have just missed him since I was just having fun on the ride and not paying attention to every detail.)
Space Mountain is better, it has those new cars that set two to a row instead of just one. But what makes the cars really great is that they have speakers and themed music that follows you through out the ride, making the ride even more fun than without the music. I think the music really enhances the experience.
I agree the Max Pass system is superior, but everyone should keep in mind that every person in your party has to pay for that superiority, it isn't free.
As long s you go with the expectation that this is NOT WDW, you will be fine. We were really disappointed our first trip. We felt like we were at Cedar Point. There are a lot of locals and you miss that “magic”. There are not tons of little girls dressed in princess dresses, the castle is small, and CMs were not as “happy”. That being said, we can do the parks easily in 3 days, cars land and Pixar pier are so much fun ( can’t count how many times we rode the incredacoaster, it was DS12 favorite ride), and we love grizzly falls. Definitely get maxpass, it’s worth every penny. We rode everything we wanted. Hopping is as easy as walking across the street. We stayed directly across the street and it saved a ton of money and we had free breakfast. The walk is short. I do recommend Southern California. Do the zoo, the beaches (La Jolla cove and Mission Beach were huge hits with the kids) SAN Diego is beautiful and we really enjoyed it. We could have stayed longer!!!
You will need 4-5 days to see it all! But then I think all the parks are more than just rides.
Not for my party of six. And we really value having a good breakfast included. Pre-paid and close to where we sleep.2-3 days is plenty. And you can find good off-site hotels for under $200 a night. It's really an extended weekend park.
I think the point is that you can do that even without staying on property. In fact, some of the off-site hotels on Harbor are closer to the main gates than the on-site hotels.This is true, if you are willing to pay the prices for those on property hotels. You don't get value or moderate resort prices if you stay on property at Disneyland.
I think the point is that you can do that even without staying on property. In fact, some of the off-site hotels on Harbor are closer to the main gates than the on-site hotels.
Which is better and you can spend more time in? Downtown Disney was nice in that it was also walk-able to DL and DCA. We are planning on visiting Disney Springs on our upcoming cruise when it stops at Port Canaveral but haven't been there as of yet.Since there is a lot less space, the crowds feel so much worse! Downtown Disney compared to Disney Springs is not even a contest.
I'm thinking you have a different definition to "not terribly expensive" than me, LOLWhat about Disneyland Paris and France in general. It's not terribly expensive for flights and it's something out of the ordinary.
Agree. We only stay on-property at WDW, but only stay off-property at DL. The main reason for staying on at WDW is travel time, in addition to fast passes. At DL the walk is so easy from the off-property hotels. Sure, it’s a city street and not actually Disney, but it’s no big deal.We stayed at the BW directly across from the entrance on Harbor and it was life changing! Under $250/night during peak summer season and we left our room and were at security in five minutes. We didn’t miss the “Disney bubble” of WDW since Disneyland was practically at our doorstep anyways. We only stay on property in WDW but since DLR doesn’t do FP+ there wasn’t any incentive for us.