Disneyland tips and tricks?

That just goes to show you how I view the place. A double negative just wasn't negative enough. :)

My $0.02 :

Went to SoCal for the ACE Spring Con this year. Spent the week before the Con doing as much as we could.

With the exception of the first night (spent in Hollywood), we got our room at the Super 8 on W. Katella Av in Anaheim. That would be our base for nearly the entire trip. Room was decent, breakfast was typical continental but it worked for us.

From there we were able to walk to the front gates of the Disney parks in about 15 minutes. We had the three day park hopper pass (hint : check disneyland's website for a special on those if you are using it Jan-April), and we saved on parking three days.

From there it was a very quick drive to Knotts and Adventure City. Because we were on the south aide of LA, we were in perfect position to visit Castle Park, LegoLand, and Belmont. Carpool lanes helped with traffic immensely. Only downside was when driving back from Belmont we were corralled into a border inspection on the I-5 halfway back to Anaheim.

Our only long drive was on the Sunday morning to SFMM (about an hour)... but that was the last day of the trip and once the park closed we drove to the airport to fly back east.

As for the parks we visited:

Santa Monica pier and Scandia were done the day we landed there. The pier was busy but we got our moneys worth and the scenery was nice. Scandia, while wayyy out in Ontario, was kind of neat, and the Screamer way surpassed expectations.

Universal was our second day. Spent the whole day (a Monday) there. Some people say its Orlando's poor cousin. I just say it is different. I enjoyed my day there.

Disney was all day Tues and Wed, and Thursday night. I could stay there forever. Can't wait to see what DCA is like when it is done. Park hopper pass came in handy, as we crossed over to DL after DCA closed, and took advantage of a Magic Morning.

Legoland was Thursday during the day. Way overpriced, but we got a discount through tickets@work. Don't expect anything beyond mediocre coasterwise (although the half darkride/ half coaster was neat), but the displays made up for that. slow day so we left at 4 and went back to close DL.

Friday the ACE event started. Castle park is a small park off my radar that I will go back to again. Unique spinning coaster, a really old kids coaster, and some cool mini golf. Went from there to Belmont in San Diego. Giant Dipper was alright, I will go back if I am in the area again, but it was not anything special. Park atmosphere was nice. Beware the washrooms... no stalls or doors for the toilets. No privacy whatsoever.

Saturday was Adventure City (worth an hour of your time if only for the unique mouse) , and then Knotts. Knotts was packed. Definitely worth the visit though... but had to save Ghostrider fpr ERT as it had a 2h line all day.

Sunday was SFMM. we had 3 hour ERT to start our morning on 10 coasters. If not for that we would not have got all the coasters in as the park was swamped early on. Best bets there were X2, Terminator. Did not care at all for Tatsu or Goliath.

bratman said:
Did not care at all for Tatsu or Goliath.

All the coaster opinions I've read the last several years on this and other fora (yes, that's the proper plural!!)..this may be the first negative comment I've read about Tatsu.

Hmmmm, I have heard from many people that Tatsu is the best coaster at the Mountain. Bratman, why the shade?

Mike Gallagher said:

bratman said:
Did not care at all for Tatsu or Goliath.

All the coaster opinions I've read the last several years on this and other fora (yes, that's the proper plural!!)..this may be the first negative comment I've read about Tatsu.

Essentially, I found the layout to be rather boring, and the humongous loop to be too much for me (the positive Gs). Only rode it once due to that loop.

Wow. Admittedly not a fan of the genre (well, especially the B&Ms), I find Tatsu just one small step below Manta. The enormous height makes that thing scary even in those secure restraints. The more-interesting layout and the mountain views made it a real plus ride in my book.

I didn't think much of the B&M flyers until I got Manta. I have to say that I absolutely loved that ride. I could see being a bit put off by the pretzel loop. It is a pretty darn intense element.

Manta has the best theming out of all of them. Esp like the rays underneath the glass in the quque.

Count me in as a Tatsu enthusiast! Definitely the best ride there and perhaps my favorite B&M ever! The extreme height above the terrain was breathtaking and the insane power of the pretzel loop at the end of the ride made for some of the best pacing ever on a coaster.

Looks like the main obstacle is to get from disney to six flags magic mountain. Pretty much I called my hotel and called supershuttle and some other tour companys and to go one way with them is over 100 dollars. Probably because it is about 60 miles away. From I am hearing from everyone is rent a car. About an hour and 1/2 drive with no traffic jams from disneyland. I really dread driving in an unfamilar place esp since it is LA traffic. Someone said to take the 460 metro and a few other steps but I am wondering if it is just wise to invest in a car rental and rely on "Nancy" (My GPS) =)

Driving in that area is not bad at all because it's usually grid locked to a hault. :)

It's just interstate/highway driving like any other part of the country. It's not hard at all, especially if you have a GPS telling you where to go. Don't be afraid. The traffic isn't always in gridlock either. Just don't travel during rush hour and you'll be fine.

Safe to say that anybody who is planning this trip around coasters will probably be going early enough (this is key) and staying late enough that traffic will not be too big of an issue. I would even consider renting the car the evening before and spending one night near SFMM. This assures a crash, etc does not screw up your day (at least until Magic Mountain's celebrated customer service does that for you :)).

By the way, I'm sure it has been mentioned....but if not...Go to Knott's early and get that Chicken Breakfast! The old restaurant is the best part of the park!

Did not get wind of the chicken breakfast at Knott's. Do they serve that before opening I am guessing? What makes up the chicken breakfast...just a little curious on that too!

When I drove from my hotel by Knott's to MM a couple of years ago, the traffic really wasn't that bad outside of rush hour. Unfortunately, coming back from an unplanned 2nd day at MM, we got caught in both rush hour and a bad downpour. Took over 3 hours to get back to the hotel.

Aamilj said:

Go to Knott's early and get that Chicken Breakfast! The old restaurant is the best part of the park!

Agreed. That whole area of Knott's is pretty awesome. I love how it seems like its own little town.

Don't forget to go to Independence Hall while you're there. You'll be saying "Holy randomness Batman" when you see it.

Acoustic Viscosity said:
It's just interstate/highway driving like any other part of the country. It's not hard at all, especially if you have a GPS telling you where to go. Don't be afraid. The traffic isn't always in gridlock either. Just don't travel during rush hour and you'll be fine.

I had the same fear that you have Kingda and my experience turned out to be just like AV said above. In fact I found the drivers to be rather courteous.

I would second Aamilj's advice about the hotel. I stayed at the Holiday Inn just on the other side of the interstate. Cost some money but it saved me from worrying about getting to the park in the morning.

Just been flipping through some guidebooks at the bookstore. One of them swears on these so called "day plans" IE line up here 40 mins before opening and then do this this this and this. You get the point. Tells you what to do and when. Are we all for hey this plan might actually work or do you think its best to discover your own things once you get into a park like disney. I can see the merit they have but I am just thinking of a crap load of what ifs that could go on like rehads and such. Speaking of that.....anyone know any attractions rehabbing this June at D land?

kingdakacor said:
Are we all for hey this plan might actually work or do you think its best to discover your own things once you get into a park like disney.

If it's a once-in-a-long-while trip to Disney, I have no problem with the plans. But I also believe the key to every plan is the ability to successfully deviate from the plan. I think it works best with a general outline to maximize the ability to do key things, but being open-ended enough to play it by ear, change on the fly and do things as you find them. But it still helps to be knowledgeable for those things as well, if the goal is to maximize your day.

If you just want to hang out at Disney and do whatever the plans make no sense. If you go to Disney a lot, I imagine the plans have less value too.

But for the first-timer or not-all-the-timer that wants to maximize their time at Disney, I think the plans are great.