After several trips we converted our veterinarian and his family into Disney geeks. They take great care of our dogs and expect me to text Disney pictures to them. Especially food porn!
they do , from what i can gather though its a smaller version. we have the forbidden journey and a small coaster called flight of the hippgrath (sp) haha i looked it up, its call hippogrif i guess
To be honest I didn’t enjoy either of the Harry Potter rides at USF, but I do enjoy the castle and the whole atmosphere. Pity there’s no Hogwart’s Express or Diagon Alley. I’m more excited about HP for one of the friends I want to take, as he’ll really enjoy it.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout is just outstanding. Not just a retheming of and old ride. Its my new favorite ride. I think I rode it 6 times this week.
I wasn’t that crazy about ToT.
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I love the ride!! but it is the old tower, that’s all i was saying… I was disappointed at first when i found out the tower was leaving, then i rode it and fell in love. actually alot more fun than the tower
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I think a lot of people were up in arms about ToT changing to Guardians. I also think about 99.9% of those people like it better as Guardians. Disney has turned my DD15 and I into a huge Marvel nerds and I can’t wait to see a much bigger Marvel presence in DCA in the coming years.
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DL is way easier to plan AND has better weather. Now, the future remains to see how Star Wars Land is going to change DLR forever. I think it will have a much bigger impact there than at WDW but we shall see.
Am following as we want to go to DL at some point. just have to decide when. Might have to do it before Star Wars Land.
I would wait until they complete paradise pier (this summer I believe), but I agree, go before Star Wars opens up. We have had really good luck with the week after thanksgiving. It is really beautiful that time of year. Many have also suggested the week after Labor Day. We have also done that, but found it to be a bit warm for us.
We did our first DL trip last August after many WDW visits. It is definitely a different experience with both good and bad. While having the parks and Downtown Disney right there where you can walk across to park hop and easily dip out of the parks to eat at DD is great, there’s less of a DIS bubble, no Magical Express, etc. Perhaps if you can afford to stay at the Grand Californian you can capture that bubble feel a little more though? I couldn’t justify the costs personally.
DisneyLand feels much smaller than the Magic Kingdom - from the smaller castle to smaller walkways etc. it’s just a smaller feel. That can be good and bad, but if crowded, it’s definitely bad.
I know I’m in a huge minority, but I honestly prefer Dinosaur to Indy. Same ride system and Dinosaur is a cogent story while Indy is effectively random highlights from various Indiana Jones movies, but there’s really no story there. But it’s Indy so it’s cool, but I found it lacking given the hype. Radiator Springs is effectively the Test Track ride system, but a far-far-far better ride - it’s all in the theming effectively & Radiator Springs is top notch. There are other similar but different rides like Grizzly River run is essentially Kali, although with smaller rafts which rotate far faster which can up the dizzy factor.
While you don’t need ADRs at most places, I would definitely get them at Blue Bayou. Excellent food & a great environment being able to watch Pirates go by. We ate there early in our visit and then met friends and my biggest regret is not grabbing a 2nd reservation for the large group as well - it was that much fun. We also had great meals at Napa Rose in the Grand Californian and Carthay Circle in DCA - if you want to eat well, I’d highly recommend both, although neither are cheap.
There are other little differences like Splash is single file flumes at DL (and you can get far wetter due to that design) while Space is side by side rockets rather than in a line and is a smoother ride. Catching some of the rides which are now gone from MK is cool - like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride was fun to experience once, but it’s probably a good thing Pooh took over at MK. Similar with Nemo - a ride I remember from my childhood trip at MK rethemed to have a different Nemo involved - cool, but one ride as an adult and I’m good.
I think DL is well worth a visit - there is something special about seeing where it all started and having the ghost of Walt lingering on various rides that is cool. MaxPass was great and saved us a ton of time on all the headliners - well worth the cost especially if you can’t go often…
I cant stand the nemo ride!! lol claustrophobia sets in for me… I remember it when i was a kid and was hoping it would be better after they rethemed it for nemo, but nope. not worth the wait…I personally love mr toad tho! and we do have a pooh ride as well!!
Yah - if you’re at all claustrophobic Nemo is terrible. If tall it’s pretty cramped too - it is one of the few rides I vividly remember from visiting WDW in '77 so it was cool to experience a form of it again at DL.
Mr. Toad is definitely an interesting ride - the story is fairly dark. Glad to have experienced it once, particularly given the lore of Pooh killing Mr. Toad at WDW and the Toad statue in the pet cemetery outside Haunted Mansion - if I go back I’d likely ride it once, but it’s not a repeat multiple times a trip ride at all.
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I went back in to find this post! I wanted to check with you (@Grumpy_in_Tejas) to see if they had fireworks the night you did your dining package at River Belle Terrace? And if so, how was the view for the fireworks? We ended up dining at BB, but not doing the Fantasmic! package. I want to go back and do the Riverbelle package (with upgrade) as you suggested, for my birthday.
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We’ve been to DL 4 times since 2006. headed out for WDW for first time next weekend. We’re west coasters (PNW), so it’s a big deal and probably won’t be back again for awhile. After spending so much time planning this trip, I think I can do future DL trips in my sleep. I know we’re headed back summer 2019 as it is…But yes, being able to go for 3-4 days and feel complete is a big difference. I know MK will have fewer rides and some may not be as good, but I am kind of looking forward to experiencing the larger scale as far as walkways, etc. DL can feel so claustrophobic when it’s busy. Our WDW is shaping up for mostly CL5-6, fingers crossed…
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They did have fireworks but, the view is not wonderful from that part of the park. Trees get in the way.
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We will be at WDW in about 3 months for the first time in 4 years. In the back of my mind I’m planning the next DLR trip.
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Thank you! I appreciate you getting back to me. I figured that was the case, but was hopeful I was wrong.
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