What’s with the ponchos???

I ran in the Star Wars 2019 5K in the rain.

Hey thanks these look great. Do they fold up pretty small? Like, think two would fit in a 1-gallon ziplock bag?

We usually go in winter. Being wet and cold, no bueno!!

I won’t do the River rapids ride in Animal Kingdom…I don’t want to be soaked.

I don’t consider splash mountain a ride where you get wet.

Yes. The poncho folds up and slides into a small pouch that is probably 3”x3”x9” if I remember right. We easily fit 2 into one of those small string back packs along with our dopp kit with plenty of room for other stuff.

You really don't get wet on either of those rides. The ponchos are for the short rain bursts they get down there.

If you want to get wet on rides, go over to Universal. They are brutal.

You don’t get wet on River Rapids??? It looks just like all the other ones where you get soaked.

I’ve been on this ride several times and was fairly dry and I’ve been on several times where I was absolutely soaked. There isn’t really many spots where you get wet on this ride, but if you are lucky/unlucky you can get soaked. I believe that they also turn down or off some of the water when it’s colder out as I have ridden at Christmas and didn’t notice as much water as when I ride it in august

This is a pretty good representation of the current state of Disney Parks.

Screenshot_20211104-132850_Brave.jpg

Springtime surprise races: 5K, 10K and 10 mile run.

https://www.rundisney.com/events/disneyworld/springtime-surprise-weekend/

https://allears.net/2021/10/03/things-you-never-realized-were-totally-abandoned-in-disney-world/

There are times where things in Disney World have been left (and are still to this day) TOTALLY abandoned. Curious to know what Disney has built and then simply left behind? Actually quite a few real attractions have been built and then abandoned (and in one case buried!) We’ve just the thing for you.

Who Knew?

I went to Hollywood studios years ago and couldn't believe the original trilogy star wars vehicles that were just rotting out in the sun.

I saw the plane on the last year that the backlot studio was open. The train went past it and I couldn't believe that the actual plane was just sitting there.

"Had" a wave machine. Original idea was to be able to surf at the polynesian. It caused massive erosion and didn't last very long. It was briefly tested again after sitting for 14 years, before being scrapped back in '85. Only the concrete wall remains and some plumbing below the waterline.

https://www.extinctdisney.com/polynesian-wave-machine/

I never knew that, that is so cool

Only reason I knew anything about it is that I did an engineering project on Barr + Wray wave system at Typhoon lagoon back in my early days of college. There was a Disney forum rumor that they repurposed the 7 seas lagoon system at typhoon, but that's not true.

I knew about the wave machine back in the 80’s when I was young. My mom told me about it.

The other thing my mom taught me back in 1984, when I was 6, was to not go into the lakes there, because there all alligators in the water.

Still boggles the mind that the family let their child wade in the water like that. Such an easy tragedy to avoid.

People tend to think that since it's Disney, that everything is perfectly safe and there is no need to watch too closely. I feel horrible for them because the likely didn't know any better. If you don't know much about Florida, you might not know to stay out of pretty much all fresh water due to snakes (water moccasins), alligators, and brain eating amoebas.

You must be on the FLA tourism board.

I think it was the brain eating amoebas that made them stop using the lakes first, before that alligator attack.

https://www.mamamia.com.au/disney-river-country-theme-park-deaths/

Eh... it's not THAT bad. You are much more likely to die from a bee sting than an alligator attack, and thousands of times more likely to die in a car accident.

Here in Louisiana, people are in the water all the time and we have all the same critters. The biggest problem here is alligators that get tame and follow your boat around wanting to be fed. People go out fishing and bring a pack of hot dogs to feed the gators at the dock, so theyve learned to hang around the dock to eat.

People are idiots. Not just gators but all wildlife. Someone either gets hurt or the animal has to be put down. Morons.

If you want to see idiotic behavior, go watch the Yellowstone Cubs on Disney plus. It’s an old Disney nature film and what they used to do in Yellowstone with Bears is beyond comprehension.

The state actually pays people to cull around 30,000 alligators a year here due to over-population. They used to be considered near extinction, but everyone that lives around here always knew that was total bullshit.

So it has been decided that we are going to make our first visit to Disneyland. We're WDW veterans, but the attractions at DL have made the family want to make the primglage.

I have two immediate questions -

Coming from Chicago - would it be better to fly into LAX or John Wayne?

Also - are the hotels directly across from the DL park ok to stay at? i see there are quite a few, and the price difference between the few park hotels and these are pretty substantial. Never been to Anaheim before, so any feedback is much appreciated.

john Wayne is better. Take Uber (skip the rental car) get and stay right across the street at best Western park place inn and suites.

Definitely John Wayne. LAX is a nightmare all the time and John Wayne is usually devoid of people during slow hours. Also look into the Candy Cane Inn right down the road (walking distance) from the entrance to the park. It's supposed to be one of the best small hotels in the area and usually sells out first when I go there for NAMM shows at the convention center. Ride the Matterhorn for me. Almost 60 years old. Still awesome.

Candy Cane use to have free popcorn too in the rooms. My kids loved that.

Stay away from the Desert Palms but go eat at Mimi"s!

Since I live right up the street, I can confirm the choices mentioned above are all good.
The past 3 years we've seen 5 new hotels built close to the park. The one at Gardenwalk is very nice. Anaheim Hilton and Marriott are dated.
Up Harbour Blvd in the city of Garden Grove there are also 5 bigger nice hotels. So use G.G. in hotel searches for perhaps slightly better rates.
There is also Long Beach airport, not a far Uber ride. It has great rates with southwest. Jet blue moved out.
What time of year you coming?

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

Dates are not locked down - but probably will be around the first week in June. We are going to visit for 4 nights, then swing down to Orlando for a week.

I stayed at the Howard Johnson across the street four or five years back and it was great. It’s a budget hotel of course so pretty basic, but it was clean and quiet and a very quick walk back and forth to the park with little kids (as I recall it’s actually closer to the entrance than the on-site hotels). And it even has a pool. I’d definitely look at that again if we were going back to DL.

I've done both and like others have said, John Wayne is way less stressful and the better choice (though our last trip was into LAX and it was quite easy ... but I wouldn't chance it if you have the choice)

For the Disneyland vets, if price is no object, what is your preferred hotel?

Stay on campus at Grand California.
Used to come with early hours if you stayed there.

Both times we went to Disneyland we stayed at the grand californian; it was very nice. The first time it was because of some crazy good offer, the second time it was just because we liked it so much the first time we wanted to stay there again. The direct entrance into california adventure was handy too.

If money were no object, concierge level @ Grand California.

Not sure if covid has affected it, but I love their PB&J sandwiches. Yummy!

i would love to stay at the Grand Californian, but the differences in price is significant.

At this time, - my thought is we arrive on day 1 - visit DL on day 2, Ca Adventure on day 3, then DL again on day 4 and fly out for Orlando on day 5.

We have never been to DL before and want to make the most of this trip.

Residence Inn has always been our go to.

I don't know if I'd do Anaheim and Orlando back to back. There's so many attraction duplicates that you might feel like the overlap makes WDW redundant. Especially now that they're very limited in shows and entertainment, with no real sign of things going back to precovid levels of offerings, I would just do Disneyland and then save your time and money for WDW another time.

I have to agree with this knowing both parks very well. I would rent a car and enjoy some California. Beaches are close, San Diego 90 min south, LA 60-90 min north.
Lots to do out here, especially in June.

Things are gearing up that most shows will be back by next summer. Not the Hyperian, going to be a new show there late 2022/ early 2023.

We are going to stay at our new condo for a few days, and not visit any of the WDW parks this trip. Probably do Sea World, the Space Center, Disney Springs, etc.

You can also head over to Tampa and check out Busch Gardens. I'm a pass member there and Sea World.

I'm moving out of state so I wasn't going to get a new annual pass anyways, but I've never seen Disneyland fans so unhappy with the state of the parks as they are now. I feel like people just complain all the time about what's not there anymore and what's not ever coming back. NPR even coined the term "skimpflation" to describe Disney's Park cutbacks amidst growing inflation. I get the sense that the new normal is going to continue to be a lot less entertainment options than before shutdowns... Whether that's parades, shows, character interactions, decorations, etc... I think the expectation is that budget cutbacks and staffing shortages are going to establish a new, inferior normal.

WDW's state of skimpflation is based more around the benefits of staying on site, which has pretty much been all erased. Are there any major attractions at DL that are still not up and running? That is what we really are coming to experience.

I plan to get passes for that park again in a couple of months.