Disneyland/ Universal Studios

[ferretkona]

We went a couple of weeks ago on a rainy day, people usually leave as soon as it sprinkles. That night the walkways were very slippery, too slippery!
We went to go into the starwars tour and I slipped only a few feet in. They has porchmats all thru the line, but not on one curve. I look up and a park employee is looking at me, my wife looks up to him for help and he is still watching.
I climb up and leave, he acts surprised. I told him I slipped and he says "I did not see that" . The hell he did not.

I went and got Xrayed the next day, just a small fracture on my arm and whiplash from my shoulder hitting the ground.

No more rainy days for me!

[edelweiss]

I can't believe it rained like that. And puddles... unbelievable!

[mishigas73]

One of the few highlights of my experience living in So Cal was being able to get to Disneyland on a regular basis. I never saw it as "ghetto" as compared to Orlando, at all.

With that being said, follow the advice given to you by edelweiss. Great stuff!

You can also find several Disneyland-related forums on Google for practically up to the minute updates. Gotta love the net!

As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing like Disneyland, but, depending on your time-frame and the ages of the people in your party (see previous posts about that), CA is worthwhile as well.

Universal is well, Universal. I used to go regularly, as I lived only several miles away. IMO, if you're anywhere even close to a "movie nut", it's worth a trip. It really is interesting seeing where the movies and TV shows that you've come to know and love were filmed. If you *do* decide to go, I would wait to get tickets until you get there. Take a look on the local cans of coke. Very often they have 2-for-1 specials going on.

[stargazer]

Thanks so much everyone for the advice. We are going with a 12 and 6 year old. We hope to have loads of fun!

[r8ersgrl80]

Any vacation away from home should be fun and rewarding. I have had the privledge to expereince MK and D-Land, there are major differences, you can actullay view both D-land and Cal- Adv in one day. You can buy a park hopper and do both parks in one day, and dine in downtown disney, I would reccomend Tequilla Joes if you like Mexican food.

I actually work at the lovely Universal Citywalk, I would suggest staying at the Sheraton, but it might be a little pricy, there is also an Express Holiday Inn right across the street. Universal Studios is exciting, you get to go on a tour of actual studios. Citywalk is great for shopping and dinning. My fav. rest. is Cafe TuTU Tango, you should be familiar there is one in Miami as well and for the kids you can take them to Jillians, its food with an arcade and bowling.
Have fun

[Charles]

Originally Posted by edelweiss

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are typically the least crowded days, but you can probably expect more crowds during those dates as many students (and teachers) will be on spring break. Absolutely get there first thing in the morning. The park will be most crowded between lunch and dinner. Usually when I take my kids (age 3 and 1), we get there at 9 and we're out of there by noon. If you want to save money, bring your own snacks and even lunch if you want. They don't mind you bringing food just as long as you don't have glass bottles. And since you probably won't have a stroller, you'd have to get a locker.

Fast Pass is a great thing. As the previous poster said, you can only have one at a time, but if you know how to work it, you can still visit loads of attractions. Example: go first thing to the Finding Nemo subs as this line will be long throughout the day. While in line, send someone in your party with all the tickets to get Fast Passes for Space Mountain. After the subs, go on the Buzz Lightyear ride. By that time, you can use your Space Mountain Fast Passes (when you first get your Fast Pass, it tells you to return in a certain hour-long window, like between 9:30 and 10:30). Once you've used a Fast Pass, go get another for a different ride. While you're waiting for the window of time, go on other nearby rides with short lines. This way you don't spend all day waiting in line, and you're not walking back and forth all over the park.

Okay, so long explanation, but you've asked a real Disneyland pro, and I'm happy to help anyone with D-land plans!! ENJOY. I'll be there again tomorrow!! He he he he.

P.S. - if you do bring your 4 month old, they have an excellent baby center with everything you can think of including a private area for moms to nurse. It's a must for anyone with diaper-changing needs or potty training toddlers.

We're coming out again this December, flying in the 24th, out the 31st. Will be doing Disneyland. May, but not for sure, be going with my mother in law who has handicapped credentials - I think she can get some sort of preferred line service - not sure.

So, eliminating the 25th because we'll be with my folks that day, which of the other days F-T, 26th-30th would be recommended? I am thinking about following the good advice quoted about getting there first thing in the morning and getting out early afternoon - especially if the MIL doesn't go, also can get ahead of traffic heading back to Calabasas.

Will be focusing on rides/attractions for a 7 year old under 48" tall, so that may affect our strategy.

[missionhome]

Originally Posted by Charles

We're coming out again this December, flying in the 24th, out the 31st. Will be doing Disneyland. May, but not for sure, be going with my mother in law who has handicapped credentials - I think she can get some sort of preferred line service - not sure.

My niece is disabled and we went with her and my sister's family to Disneyland November 28. She was in a wheel chair and we only did a few rides with her (anything with lots of motion or loud noise is a big no no for her) like Small World where we were with her in the handicap line.

Just so you know this line does not mean it is faster. It simply means it is handicap accessible and you usually get to it by going in the ride exit. On Small World for example we waited 40 minutes and the regular line said it only was taking 30. Plus Disneyland has TONS of people in wheel chairs at it and many have families with them so this line doesn't make it all that much faster.

This was only my experience on the very mellow rides around Fantasy Land. My niece couldn't go on anything like Space Mountain, Matterhorn, the Log Ride, etc... due to her disability.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by missionhome

My niece is disabled and we went with her and my sister's family to Disneyland November 28. She was in a wheel chair and we only did a few rides with her (anything with lots of motion or loud noise is a big no no for her) like Small World where we were with her in the handicap line.

Just so you know this line does not mean it is faster. It simply means it is handicap accessible and you usually get to it by going in the ride exit. On Small World for example we waited 40 minutes and the regular line said it only was taking 30. Plus Disneyland has TONS of people in wheel chairs at it and many have families with them so this line doesn't make it all that much faster.

This was only my experience on the very mellow rides around Fantasy Land. My niece couldn't go on anything like Space Mountain, Matterhorn, the Log Ride, etc... due to her disability.

Didn't know that. Thank you for the informative post.

Do you have any insight as to the lines for rides (especially the classics like Small World) for small kids like mine? If indeed the handicapped thing isn't that much of an advantage, then we plan on getting there really early and aggressively targeting the worst lines first with the intention of beating the crowds.

[missionhome]

^^^
The worst lines I found were for Matterhorn, Space Mountain, the Log Ride, the new Nemo Submarine Ride, Small World, Peter Pan, Indiana Jones, Thunder Mountain, and Haunted Mansion (people like to see it decorated for Christmas). We didn't wait longer than 50 minutes for anything though which I thought was pretty good. We started to get in line for the Log Ride, but apparently there was a mechanical problem and everyone had to get out of line. The sign said the line was going to take 1 hour and 10 minutes and that was the longest I saw. If you want to do that, I recommend getting a Fast Pass. Get your Fast Passes for select rides early because we didn't get ours until 3PM and our appointment was at 5-6PM then.

The rest of the rides were 30 minute or less in line that we went on. Take your kids on the new Nemo ride and the Buzz Light Year Astroblaster (this one is really fun). They will enjoy them.

Have fun!

[Chatteress]

Originally Posted by stargazer

We are going to hit Disneyland and Universal Studios for a couple of days in March. We lived in Orlando for a few years and have seen Magic Kingdom a few times. Is Magic Kingdom there the same as the one in Orlando or is there something different about the whole experience and worth going to? What about Disney's California Adventure? I also heard there was a Downtown Disney and a Universal Walk like Orlando. What hotels would you suggest staying at?

Thanks in advance.

I have been to Disneyland here in CA zillions of times (including this past summer) and visited the Magic Kingdom in FLA earlier this year so the comparison is fresh. The Disneyland resort is much smaller and not as spread out as the Disneyworld resort in FLA as we only have two parks (Disneyland and CA Adventure). The Disneyland park itself is much bigger than the Magic Kingdom park and features just about all of the rides at Magic plus some rides that are unique to the Disneyland Resort (Indiana Jones, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and Matterhorn Bodsleds). I personally feel that you could spend a whole day at least at Disneyland alone.

California Adventure: Most of the rides are unique to CA except for Soarin (Epcot) and It's a Bug's Life (Animal Kingdom). You could actually spend less than a day at CA Adventure and many of the rides are carnival style. Hope this helps.