Right onto the parks we visited :-
The big one - Disneyland
Firstly I want to say how great it is to have Disneyland, California Adventure and Downtown Disney so close together, it made hopping simple and our days were so much more filled in because of it.
Right Disneyland, first impressions were of a much smaller park than the one in Florida but somehow we liked it more, it as easy to navigate and there seemed more to do with having MGM style rides in the same park, we both believe we prefer this to WDW, even the entrance is easier without the monorail/boat ride.
The castle itself seems smaller but that might be our imagination?
Onto the rides - we loved Matterhorn, the left side seemed quicker and a smoother ride but we went on loads of times, top tip for all the rides is to get there early, there were no queues until at least 2 hours after the parks
opened (well apart from Peter Pan which always seemed busy).
Small World is better than WDW, a much more impressive ride although the song doesn't get any better and stays in your head all day.
All the fantasyland rides are the same but we have never been able to get on Dumbo before in WDW but had no problems here, oh yeah the Storybook land and Train ride were new to us and we all enjoyed them.
Indiana Jones was great, again no queue, in fact we never used Fast Pass once not even on the 2nd day of the 50th celebrations!
Same with Splash, Thunder and Haunted Mansion, same as WDW, Pirates was a massive improvement though, those first few drops are great and the whole ride is a lot better.
Toontown was OK, not much there really and we only went once. Same with Tomorrowland, maybe once Space Mountain reopens it will be better, Buzz was a better ride than WDW though and Autopia appeared easier to control the cars than WDW!
Also the trash can that follows you round is inspired, I love it!
All in all, it was brilliant, previous reports indicated a jaded poor version of WDW, we found the exact opposite, very clean, everything appeared new and sparkling, the CM's were great, in fact I can't find a single fault. The new parade and fireworks were brilliant too, we watched them straight after Fantasmic and it was a night to remember!
PS Goofy's Kitchen was great, loads of character interaction and how much food!! I gained 11 pounds over two weeks and I think most of it was in here!
California Adventure
Again heard reports saying it was a 'barnacle' on Disneyland's side, we loved it, Soaring over California was brilliant, Tyler was amazed and I had a tear in my eye by the end! The rapids were good and you didn't get soaked which was a bonus and the carnival rides were OK, Screaming was good fun especially with no queue (although the launch was slow compared to the ride at Knotts which I will cover later). Best ride though was the moving cars on the Sun Wheel, Wendy hated it but myself and Tyler loved it, his face was a picture each time it swung madly!
The Bugs Life section was fun although tame even for a 3 year old and TOT was great, I had avoided it in WDW last year as I recalled it being too much for me but I had two rides here and was surprised how tame it was, maybe
WDW has a longer drop?
Downtown Disney
Seemed a lot more shops and restaurants than WDW and brilliant being so close to the parks, the one in WDW seems so out of the way.
Knotts Berry Farm
Again another park we loved, Wild Western Theme, there is a ride called Xcelerator and wow, what a ride, you are launched at 0-80mph in 2.8 seconds up a vertical top hat then straight down the other side, I rode it 4 times and it was brilliant. Also rode a screaming swing that sent you very high, paid extra but a good laugh. The perilous Plunge was an experience, not sure I would ride again as it was pretty extreme and you get literally soaked to the skin!
The new Silver Bullet rollercoaster was also great, unfortunately Ghost Rider was closed (woodie) but again no queues all day even though like all the parks there was a lot of school trips.
Universal Studios
Worth a visit just for the views! Rides were mostly identical to Florida but the Mummy ride is a poor imitation, can't understand why they didn't make them the same? The tram ride is great though, a lot better than the one in Florida and you get a feel it is so much more of a working studio, the Jaws bit is not included now though which was a shame!
Jurassic Park also lacked the theming of it's Florida version and a few effects were broken. Beware though some rides are down a never ending series of escalators and on the way back up Tyler wanted me to carry him up the steps!!! Also the Citywalk area is great and again a lot more shops/restaurants than Florida but not as impressive without the lake etc.
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Now I have wanted to visit this park ever since riding my first rollercoaster, now although I enjoyed the experience I would not go again, it is badly managed, the staff are rubbish, toilets very dirty and it's a shock compared to Disney etc.
On entry we paid $30 extra for a FastPass believing it would assist in not queuing with a 3 year old, after trying to use it we found that although we went down a FastPass line we joined the queue in the same place as the normal riders! I was fuming and demanded a refund to be told that FastPass only comes into effect once the queues are an hour long!!! Why didn't they tell us this when we bought it? Anyway they refunded after a few discussions with various people. Also we tried to use Child Swap on the first ride and the young lad told us we couldn't (none of the ride staff in the park appeared to speak much english), we checked with the people on the
help desk and they said all the rides should accept it, we tried a few more times but none of the staff appeared to understand the policy and how it worked (we had to explain the concept) so we gave up!
The rides themselves were good, Deja Vue was a blast and extreme, X was a massive disappointment, longest queue and worst ride, uncomfortable and not recommended. Goliath was great although broke down when Wendy went on, she was stuck on the lift hill for 20 minutes! Batman, Scream, Joker were all good rides too. There is a great area for kids too with a very large amount of rides, Tyler loved it.
PS If you are due to go soon, buy some Diet Cokes, they have an offer on them giving 2 for 1 admission!
Legoland
Nice park but tame, Tyler became bored quickly with the rides on offer although he loved the two small rollercoasters, not sure we would go again but did enjoy the day.
San Diego Zoo
Lovely Zoo but another disappointment for us, I think it was because they are in the middle of constructing a new area and everywhere seemed to be detoured and boarded up, we have seen nicer parks in Singapore and the UK really. Nice to see Panda's though!
SeaWorld
Again, great day thoroughly enjoyed by all three of us but not a patch on Florida, it seemed tiny compared, the Journey to Atlantis coaster was smaller and nowhere near as themed as it's counterpart. The rapids were avoided as you got soaked but we loved using the cannons on riders!! Shamu was identical and still a great show and the Haunted Lighthouse was great although be prepared to get wet! We thought we had lost Tyler in the Happy Harbour play area, why don't they make these place contained with one entrance/exit? We didn't relax once but found him eventually, the kiddie tag was a reassurance though if not needed!
If I think of anything else I will post but any questions please feel free to ask!
The big one - Disneyland
Firstly I want to say how great it is to have Disneyland, California Adventure and Downtown Disney so close together, it made hopping simple and our days were so much more filled in because of it.
Right Disneyland, first impressions were of a much smaller park than the one in Florida but somehow we liked it more, it as easy to navigate and there seemed more to do with having MGM style rides in the same park, we both believe we prefer this to WDW, even the entrance is easier without the monorail/boat ride.
The castle itself seems smaller but that might be our imagination?
Onto the rides - we loved Matterhorn, the left side seemed quicker and a smoother ride but we went on loads of times, top tip for all the rides is to get there early, there were no queues until at least 2 hours after the parks
opened (well apart from Peter Pan which always seemed busy).
Small World is better than WDW, a much more impressive ride although the song doesn't get any better and stays in your head all day.
All the fantasyland rides are the same but we have never been able to get on Dumbo before in WDW but had no problems here, oh yeah the Storybook land and Train ride were new to us and we all enjoyed them.
Indiana Jones was great, again no queue, in fact we never used Fast Pass once not even on the 2nd day of the 50th celebrations!
Same with Splash, Thunder and Haunted Mansion, same as WDW, Pirates was a massive improvement though, those first few drops are great and the whole ride is a lot better.
Toontown was OK, not much there really and we only went once. Same with Tomorrowland, maybe once Space Mountain reopens it will be better, Buzz was a better ride than WDW though and Autopia appeared easier to control the cars than WDW!
Also the trash can that follows you round is inspired, I love it!
All in all, it was brilliant, previous reports indicated a jaded poor version of WDW, we found the exact opposite, very clean, everything appeared new and sparkling, the CM's were great, in fact I can't find a single fault. The new parade and fireworks were brilliant too, we watched them straight after Fantasmic and it was a night to remember!
PS Goofy's Kitchen was great, loads of character interaction and how much food!! I gained 11 pounds over two weeks and I think most of it was in here!
California Adventure
Again heard reports saying it was a 'barnacle' on Disneyland's side, we loved it, Soaring over California was brilliant, Tyler was amazed and I had a tear in my eye by the end! The rapids were good and you didn't get soaked which was a bonus and the carnival rides were OK, Screaming was good fun especially with no queue (although the launch was slow compared to the ride at Knotts which I will cover later). Best ride though was the moving cars on the Sun Wheel, Wendy hated it but myself and Tyler loved it, his face was a picture each time it swung madly!
The Bugs Life section was fun although tame even for a 3 year old and TOT was great, I had avoided it in WDW last year as I recalled it being too much for me but I had two rides here and was surprised how tame it was, maybe
WDW has a longer drop?
Downtown Disney
Seemed a lot more shops and restaurants than WDW and brilliant being so close to the parks, the one in WDW seems so out of the way.
Knotts Berry Farm
Again another park we loved, Wild Western Theme, there is a ride called Xcelerator and wow, what a ride, you are launched at 0-80mph in 2.8 seconds up a vertical top hat then straight down the other side, I rode it 4 times and it was brilliant. Also rode a screaming swing that sent you very high, paid extra but a good laugh. The perilous Plunge was an experience, not sure I would ride again as it was pretty extreme and you get literally soaked to the skin!
The new Silver Bullet rollercoaster was also great, unfortunately Ghost Rider was closed (woodie) but again no queues all day even though like all the parks there was a lot of school trips.
Universal Studios
Worth a visit just for the views! Rides were mostly identical to Florida but the Mummy ride is a poor imitation, can't understand why they didn't make them the same? The tram ride is great though, a lot better than the one in Florida and you get a feel it is so much more of a working studio, the Jaws bit is not included now though which was a shame!
Jurassic Park also lacked the theming of it's Florida version and a few effects were broken. Beware though some rides are down a never ending series of escalators and on the way back up Tyler wanted me to carry him up the steps!!! Also the Citywalk area is great and again a lot more shops/restaurants than Florida but not as impressive without the lake etc.
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Now I have wanted to visit this park ever since riding my first rollercoaster, now although I enjoyed the experience I would not go again, it is badly managed, the staff are rubbish, toilets very dirty and it's a shock compared to Disney etc.
On entry we paid $30 extra for a FastPass believing it would assist in not queuing with a 3 year old, after trying to use it we found that although we went down a FastPass line we joined the queue in the same place as the normal riders! I was fuming and demanded a refund to be told that FastPass only comes into effect once the queues are an hour long!!! Why didn't they tell us this when we bought it? Anyway they refunded after a few discussions with various people. Also we tried to use Child Swap on the first ride and the young lad told us we couldn't (none of the ride staff in the park appeared to speak much english), we checked with the people on the
help desk and they said all the rides should accept it, we tried a few more times but none of the staff appeared to understand the policy and how it worked (we had to explain the concept) so we gave up!
The rides themselves were good, Deja Vue was a blast and extreme, X was a massive disappointment, longest queue and worst ride, uncomfortable and not recommended. Goliath was great although broke down when Wendy went on, she was stuck on the lift hill for 20 minutes! Batman, Scream, Joker were all good rides too. There is a great area for kids too with a very large amount of rides, Tyler loved it.
PS If you are due to go soon, buy some Diet Cokes, they have an offer on them giving 2 for 1 admission!
Legoland
Nice park but tame, Tyler became bored quickly with the rides on offer although he loved the two small rollercoasters, not sure we would go again but did enjoy the day.
San Diego Zoo
Lovely Zoo but another disappointment for us, I think it was because they are in the middle of constructing a new area and everywhere seemed to be detoured and boarded up, we have seen nicer parks in Singapore and the UK really. Nice to see Panda's though!
SeaWorld
Again, great day thoroughly enjoyed by all three of us but not a patch on Florida, it seemed tiny compared, the Journey to Atlantis coaster was smaller and nowhere near as themed as it's counterpart. The rapids were avoided as you got soaked but we loved using the cannons on riders!! Shamu was identical and still a great show and the Haunted Lighthouse was great although be prepared to get wet! We thought we had lost Tyler in the Happy Harbour play area, why don't they make these place contained with one entrance/exit? We didn't relax once but found him eventually, the kiddie tag was a reassurance though if not needed!
If I think of anything else I will post but any questions please feel free to ask!
My wife came over to see what was so funny! Goofy's Kitchen is one of our favorites. You should definitely go there when you're hungry because you'll leave really full!
