Disneyland Resort/knotts/Universal Hollywood

This was my first trip to Cali let alone first time being out of the EA time zone (Sad I know) I will only comment on a few things because there is just too much to cover with four parks so here goes

Disneland Park-Sleeping Beauty castle-I didnt realize how small it is compared to Magic Kingdom. I loved the I Jones ride. Reminded me of the dinosaur ride in animal kingdom. I think WDW verisions of Haunted mansion and splash mtn are just a bit better than at DL.

Space Mtn was a great ride with its fairly new track..much better than I expected and much faster!

The new star tours ride was constantly running out of fastpasses but I grabbed one first thing. I think the video itself is great but not really too many 3-D effects. But I guess there are so many diff versions of the ride it keeps guests coming back.

Matterhorn was a little rough for me.....the night time fireworks show was great. On the other hand they have such a small area for fantasmic. Most people had to sit down on the ground and there really wasn't anyplace to stand but they gotta use the space they have I guess

Knotts-Went there on a Thursday and crowds were fairly light. I got a skip the line pass for 40 bucks and it worked out well later on in the day when crowds were a bit more heavy. I loved xcelerator..very smooth ride in first row.

Got two laps on that. I "liked" ghostrider. Rode in the morning and another lap in the dark. I fell in love with boysenberry jam. Knotts chicken was great. I got it from the express place since the diner itself was filled by dinner time. Silver Bullet was running only one train all day. Looked like some workers were fussing with the other one. Could not tell if they were fixing something or doing something else. My pass worked out great for here.

Loved the log flume ride. Though the calico mine ride was interesting. Our ride operator did such a great old man style western voice I actually thought it was pre recorded. Rode the screamin swing with my pass (its an upcharge I think without one) All of the smaller coasters..were fun. Sidewinder was a different experience, pony express was just ok and mont's revenge marked my 150th roller coaster. Got two laps on that one with little wait. And yes I rode the boomerang...and took two advil after I got off.

California adventure. Construction, construction and more. The new cars land from what I could tell looks to be really cool based on the schematics I saw. World of color was neat. I got a preferred dining package so I got to sit up close to watch the show. Not too many places to eat around paradise pier due to the construction but what can you do. I think they could use one or more quick service places at that park. Got front row to soarin and I was stoked about that.

Calif screamin was fun. Nothing for me to jump up and down about but it was fun. Silly swings has a very short ride duration. I think I counted 7 revolutions before it came to a stop. Toy story broke down in the morning and I got a re admit pass.(like a fast pass) and got right on later in the day. Mickey's fun wheel eh....I got a swinging gondola and they keep stopping the wheel so much (to load guests on) it really didnt feel like a ferrish wheel ride.

Grizzly river run was great. I avoided getting drenched on it. Tower of terror loads faster in DL but I like the WDW version better. (Elevator moves horizontally across there but not in DL). Got a sneak peak at goofy's sky school and it was a very smooth mouse ride. Blue painted track and some re theming...I am sure the younger set will love it. ( I loved that it was my 160th coaster!)

My last disney thought is this. I noticed many of the rides in both parks that could use fastpass don't offer one. I don't understand why they cannot make toy story a fastpass attraction and even Peter Pan in DLP? So I was scratching my head at that one.

Universal was my least favorite park. Hardly any shady areas and I was dying by mid day. I got a front of the line pass for 50 bucks and it worked out well for the tram ride and mummy ride. It also gave you priority seating to all of the shows too. The tram tour was unique. I liked how they have a lot of interative special effects portions on the tour (earthquake, jaws, king kong 360).

All in all I loved being at the parks. Staff were very friendly all around. Great trip overall.

Nice TR. I looked online for information about the Front-of-the-line pass that you purchased at Knott's, but can not find anything about it. Can you provide some details about that, please?

Where did you stay? If it was a hotel, how did you feel about it?

A trip to the CA parks is a goal of mine. ...Someday.

They do not really advertise it very well. I called the park and inquired about it and they said it does exist. Basically after you go through the turnstile you go toward where the Screamin Swing is and they have a kiosk set up to purchase them. It allows you to go up the exit ramp (or wherever) and board the ride. The nice part is some of the ride opps let me pick what row I wanted to sit in. Ghost Rider, Boomerang, Drop tower, Sierra Sidewinder, Screamin Swing, Log flume ride, Pony express and silver bullet are the rides that you can use the pass on. Its only good for one ride each. The ride opp checks off the box next to the corresponding ride etc. You know how it works. Its like a little checklist. It works out great for re-rides too. I got on ghostride first thing when the park opened and rode it again in the dark with my pass. I think its a good investment during the peak season.

Thanks. I Googled it after my post asking about it and remembered that we have talked about it here before. I remember liking the way that they do this one, because it's like Bush Gardens' line cut pass, which allows you to cut the line once per ride that offers it.

I absolutely LOVE California and had a blast at every single park I went to.

Is the Transformers ride thing open yet at US? I missed the KK 360 I would love to go back and do that, I too liked the tram tour. Cheesy but fun :)
Mummy at USF way better then USH in my opinion.

I do have to agree that WDW is way better, although I did love Indiana Jones, especially when it stopped right at the hanging rope and rock part for 15 minutes, lights came on and we just sat there. That killed that special effect for me lol.

California Screamin is like one of my fav coasters too bad about the OTSR cause Im positive of tons of airtime on that ride. Still amazed its a Intamin! I have the soundtrack to that and Soarin and love them.

I couldnt get the Knotts chicken both times I went already packed by 11am! Silver Bullet is amazing, by far one of my fav B&Ms.

Did you get to SFMM? My favorite park EVER! :)

Great TR thank for sharing!

Jo
Lifetime Raptor flights: 3035 :)

Transformers was not open yet. KK360 was very unique. Def something I have never seen before in terms of 3-D. I really enjoyed Indiana. So glad I used fast pass b/c it has a massive quque.

Sceamin' had a little airtime but I agree that it would get a lot more air with some sort of different restraint. I went through the Chicken express at Knott's...not the same experience but I did enjoy the chicken (not the mention the boysenberry!)

I did not get to SFMM. There were tons of other places I would def want to do in the future. SFDK, Santa Cruz boardwalk, etc. SFMM is high atop my to visit list.

Thanks for the compliments. And if you mean Raptor as in raptor at CP, such a great B&M invert. Had the pleasure of riding it for the first time last year. Go Cobra Rolls!

Corey~