Saturday, January 25

You know what’s great about being an East Coaster who visits Disneyland? The time difference so works in your favor for early mornings. So on this particular Saturday morning, I was up with the sun in order to take advantage of early entry at Disneyland.

While I haven’t been a devoted Touring Plans reader for some time, I had it stuck in my head that its touring plans called for you to line up at Disneyland’s gate 13 for park entry, so I figure…why not? And that’s where I queued up. If it made a discernible difference I’d be hard pressed to tell you, but honestly there weren’t that many people there anyway. Unlike WDW, there was also no real opening show, but I’m not sure whether that’s normal or was because of early entry.

In any case, a little before eight we were let into the park, and unlike the masses who literally sprinted around me (DL appeared a bit more lax on the whole “no running!” thing?), I took my time, wandering slowly up Main Street and soaking up the daytime ambiance. I wanted to ride things, yes, but I also just wanted to feel the differences.

Eventually, the urge to actually ride something became too strong, so I decided to knock out most of Fantasyland before the crowds arrived at 9. First up was Peter Pan. Initial impressions? Holy tiny queue, Batman! This became a running observation, that Disneyland queues are just not built like WDW’s – and that’s just fine with me. Also interesting was that – at least at this time of day – there was only one Cast Member operating Peter Pan; the same CM asked how many were in your party, sat you down, adjusted your safety belt, and sent you on your way.

I didn’t even bother with pictures, but suffice it to say Disneyland’s Pan is a revelation. Oh my gosh. The scale is larger, the effects brighter and more immersive, the audio impeccable crisp and clean. The two rides are similar only in that they have “Peter Pan” in the name.

Next up? Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. I wish I had better recollection of the WDW version in order to compare the two, but absent that, I’ll just say I enjoyed this.

You know what I didn’t enjoy as much? This.

Now, you may remember that I went to WDW earlier in January, where I met up with the lovely @thatsoestelle and her equally lovely husband James:

These two are pretty convincing people. Don’t they look innocent and trustworthy? Well, don’t believe them…at least not about Primeval Whirl, which until Matterhorn was the most painful ride I’ve ever been on. You’ll love this ride, they said. It’s not THAT painful, they said. It’s so cute, trust us, they said.

Luckily for them, the pain and suffering I experienced at the hands of Primeval Whirl was NOTHING compared to the Matterhorn. Now don’t get me wrong – I’m so glad I rode it and I would definitely ride it again (unlike Primeval Whirl, which I would happily watch burn to the ground if it was made of anything that would burn). But I’m too old to be jostled around like that on the regular, so this was a one-and-done ride for me.

After staggering off Matterhorn, I made my way to a fairly desolate Tomorrowland to give Space Mountain a try. My first reaction? What an ugly queue. Next? What an amazing ride. I love WDW’s version – it’s painful, rickety, but at this point pretty predictable. Disneyland’s – since it was new to me – was fast and unexpected and unbelievably smooth. And in another example of where Disneyland’s audio basically makes the park experience (the thesis of my upcoming PhD dissertation), the on-ride audio was crystal clear, perfectly synced with the ride movements, and utterly complementary. WDW’s Space Mountain tries but doesn’t quite hit a home run in this regard.

I contemplated exiting the ride and queuing right up again, but crowds were starting to build and I had new frontiers to explore. Since it was nearing 9am, I decided to head out of the park and over to California Adventure in hopes of getting Radiator Springs Racers out of the way. En route, I made an impromptu stop at the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, thinking maybe the slightly different laser cannons would allow me to suck less at this game than I do on the Florida ride. Guess what: I suck bicoastally.

It’s at about this moment we need to queue up a cartoon record-scratch-and-double-take; my poor, WDW-addled brain had trouble comprehending that I could exit Disneyland and be at the DCA gates less than thirty seconds later. But there it was: proximity. A girl could get used to this.

Now, I know all teh blogz tell you to proceed immediately to RSR to procure a FastPass, but I really suck at park touring and don’t follow directions well. Instead, I went pin trading, spent some time chatting up some lovely Cast Members, and then left the stores to see the RSR FP procurement line hundreds of people long. Forget that, I thought; instead I headed straight to the ride itself and walked right on.

Verdict? RSR was really, really fun! I have to admit, I went in with low expectations and RSR easily exceeded them. I actually looked forward to riding this one again. Color me pleasantly surprised.

Next up? Some aimless wandering around Cars Land, which – I must admit – is really well done. I hate that we’re (likely) forever stuck with such a beautiful land based on a Cars franchise, but Walt Disney told me never to look a beautiful themed land in the mouth.

It was about this time that I had a revelation: DCA is amazing. It was like this vision from another realm of what DHS could be, if DHS didn’t suck quite so much. I was basically drunk on DCA at this point.

Next up: Soarin’. Which had a 10 MINUTE WAIT. I REPEAT, A 10 MINUTE WAIT. You know what else? The film was *crystal clear.* And oh, the audio. This film is completely different with audio like this – you could actually hear shears trimming the orange trees. The sound of the skis on the mountain. It was beautiful. Yep, I cried.

Time for more wandering about!

Eventually I made my way over to the Paradise Pier section of the park, which oddly enough might actually be my favorite area of DCA. Before visiting DCA, I wrongly assumed it would feel tacky and like a cheap carnival, but instead it felt like what WDW’s BoardWalk area might be if it were fully realized.

After trying unsuccessfully to stalk Duffy for a photo (remember, I’m unapologetic in my love for Duffy. It’s what makes me endearing, right? RIGHT?), I somewhat nervously hopped in line for California Screamin’. Growing up in Michigan, I came of age on Cedar Point roller coasters, but for the past few years the most exciting thing I’ve been on is Rock n’ Roller Coaster at DHS. So far, CS had the longest line I’d encountered, but I still made it through in roughly 15 minutes.

This…THIS is a good coaster. Oh my gosh was this fun. So fun that I immediately got off and back in line again, but this time I had wised up. Well, wised up because the woman sitting next to me the first time was a local, and she asked if I knew about the single rider’s line. Um…no? So since she was on her own, too, she escorted me to the exit line, where we walked right in and back onto the ride. This was one of the most interesting aspects of Disneyland for me – so many rides have single rider options, which in itself is different from WDW. But in DL, few of them are actually marked, so it pays to do some research and/or befriend nice locals in line. This was one trip where I was actually pretty happy to be traveling solo; once I figured out the single rider secret, I really never waited for anything again.

Well, okay, not entirely true. Since I had heard so much about how the hype/waits  you find at WDW’s Toy Story Midway Mania are nonexistent at the DCA version, I decided to see if that was actually true. Verdict? Sort of. On a busy Saturday in January, I waited maybe 20 minutes? If I had been at DHS I’m sure that would have been more like a 90-120 minute wait, but it certainly wasn’t a walkon.

Next up? Mickey’s Fun Wheel. Because I am not a glutton for punishment and do not particularly care for barf bags, I elected to try out the non-swinging side. This, of course, put me in line with families full of small children, but that was just fine with me. In fact, I shared a…gondola?…cage?….with a delightful mom and her toddler. We chatted about my first Disneyland visit; the mom gave me some great tips; and I took in the sights. No vomiting involved.

By this time it was almost noon, which meant…time for a refreshing libation! I queried Twitter for a few suggestions, and ultimately settled on grabbing a beer at Sonoma Terrace. I choose a North Coast Pranqster, a decent selection not easily found on the east coast. I wandered about, drinking my beer, soaking in DCA and snapping some pictures as I walked:

The Hollywood Tower Hotel was indeed my next destination; it was time to see how DCA’s Tower of Terror stacks up to WDW’s.

So I’d say my response to DCA’s Tower is mixed. On the one hand, there are some special effects present in DCA’s version that I quite liked. On the other, the lack of the Fifth Dimension and a fairly uninspired drop sequence were definite negatives. If (when!) I go back I’d certainly ride this again if the lines weren’t bad, but it’s not like in Florida where I’d like to ride TOT twenty or six thousand times when I visit.

By this time it’s not even 1pm, and I had already felt I’d accomplished more in five hours than I do in a normal day at WDW; this is where DL’s/DCA’s small footprint is really a blessing. I still had a bunch of time to kill before my lunch reservation at Carthay Circle so I browsed Hollywoodland and Buena Vista Street before checking in for my meal:

But wait – I had forgotten (look how quickly FP+ dulls the mind) that I had a paper FastPass for Radiator Springs Racers, so I hoofed it back to Cars Land to see if I could use it before lunch.

When I approached the queue, it became evident in a hurry that the FP return line was a mess – lots of congestion and people not knowing what they were doing or where they should be.  So instead of dealing with the chaos, I gambled and hopped into the single rider line. Even as a single rider I still had to wait 15-20 minutes to get on the ride, so I was a little nervous about my lunch reservation, not knowing whether there was a 10 minute grace period like you have in WDW. In any case, I focused on enjoying another spin on Test Track RSR.

Okay, right on time for lunch – commence sigh of relief. I waffled (food pun! So many DCA puns!) before my trip about whether eating at Carthay would be worth it; ultimately I’m really glad I elected to eat there. What got me to keep my reservation was the prospect of choosing the World of Color lunch package; with the purchase of a prix fixe meal, I’d be guaranteed reserved seating for World of Color that night. After checking in, I waited maybe five minutes – just long enough to order the best Manhattan I’ve ever had, and that’s really saying something, because I’ve had MANY – and then I was ushered upstairs and to my table.

The World of Color menu is a bit limited (for reference, you can access it here), but I really enjoyed it. I started with the soup, and then had the burger for my entree. It was cooked perfectly, very flavorful, and really satisfying. Chocolate cake rounded out the meal. (In all cases, apologies for the lackluster iPhone pics.)

Now, in a story straight from the “only on Twitter” department, I realized that my Carthay reservation happened to overlap with that of @socaldork aka Thomas. In fact, it turned out that we had been seated at adjacent tables, but with a pillar in between us. Once Twitter helped us figure that out, we exchanged pleasantries and had a lovely chat about our meals and what I should make sure not to miss in DCA/DL. (Have I mentioned how much I love Disneyland locals? Such a great resource!) Would I see him again? Would I break down crying another twelve times that evening? Would I finally get evac’ed off my very first ride ever in the lamest way possible? Yes, yes, and yes. More on that soon!