Post by johnb on Aug 25, 2024 12:57:18 GMT -5
Crazy me finds out that I'll be in the LA area for work on 8/22 and rather than fly home on 8/23, I opt to fly home on 8/24 so we can spend one day in DCA/DL.
DW flew to SNA and I picked her up after my work was done. LA traffic. Believe the hype. Driving on the 405 from the LA area to SNA was an adventure. Stop. Go. Stop. Speed. Slam on the brakes. Almost got hit by an idiot who appeared to be racing another car using the HOV and left lane to weave in and out of the stop and go traffic.
We go to our motel (Park Vue Inn, super convenient location adjacent to the crosswalk on Harbor Blvd.) around 10 PM and crashed (body clock is on east coast time).
Here's what we did in one day, using LL. DW told me that our step count was over 25K. My feet tell me it's more like 100K!!
8 AM--DCA
Webslingers--seriously fun ride; I wish we had the time to ride it more than once; surprisingly good score for first timers (740K)
Guardians three times--at 8 AM the wait time was 50 minutes so we rode Webslingers first; after Webslingers we'd intended to ride RSR single rider, but that line was really long, and the Guardians wait dropped to 20 (which makes me think they had a limited number of elevators running during early entry), so we hurried back to Guardians and rode it twice (standby then LL)
Incredicoaster--fun, a little rough in spots, not as smooth of a ride as other metal coaster I've been on
Guardians again--we had a Webslingers LL and the ride went down just as we were arriving, so out LL converted to an MEP, which we used to ride Guardians. We got Born to Be Wild all three times.
Toy Story Mania--my gun was broken. Very low score.
Quick lunch--we opted to do a few shareable items in the Sanfransokyo area. I like this spot, wish WDW had something like it. Food court layout with fun J-Pop tunes and a good food variety.
Monsters, Inc.-well done kiddie ride
Radiator Springs Racers--really well done ride; the Test Track ride tech done better.
Jungle Cruise
Pirate of the Caribbean--I think I like the DL version better than WDW's version.
Big Thunder
Buzz Lightyear
Star Tours
Indiana Jones--maybe this ride was hyped a little more than it deserves? Fun, but is there a story or is it just a few IJ scenes thrown together?
Matterhorn--I was warned but didn't listen; very rough ride; not enjoyable. I'd skip it if we ever make it back to DL.
HM with the NBC overlay--I saved the best for last. I was completely blown, awestruck and got goosebumps when I saw how the ride was transformed. The outside, the inside, the music, the songs, the narration. Unbelievable. What they do here shows wheat they are capable of doing in any of the parks.
We finished the day/night with World of Color. A great show. The integration of the lights from Incredicoaster and the Ferris wheel into the show are great touches.
Comparison between DL/DCA and WDW? CM's at DL/DCA were collectively nicer than at WDW. Stairs in queues--obviously, DL's queues go up while WDW's go out due to space constraints, but could they not create some shade in the JC and BTMR queues?? DL seems to have more attention to detail. Little things, like the JC skippers till using a gun to shoot at the hippos. The scenes on PotC seemed more detailed and coherent with the story.
Overall, we'd definitely go again, but split the parks into two days. LL really helped us do as much as we did.
DW flew to SNA and I picked her up after my work was done. LA traffic. Believe the hype. Driving on the 405 from the LA area to SNA was an adventure. Stop. Go. Stop. Speed. Slam on the brakes. Almost got hit by an idiot who appeared to be racing another car using the HOV and left lane to weave in and out of the stop and go traffic.
We go to our motel (Park Vue Inn, super convenient location adjacent to the crosswalk on Harbor Blvd.) around 10 PM and crashed (body clock is on east coast time).
Here's what we did in one day, using LL. DW told me that our step count was over 25K. My feet tell me it's more like 100K!!
8 AM--DCA
Webslingers--seriously fun ride; I wish we had the time to ride it more than once; surprisingly good score for first timers (740K)
Guardians three times--at 8 AM the wait time was 50 minutes so we rode Webslingers first; after Webslingers we'd intended to ride RSR single rider, but that line was really long, and the Guardians wait dropped to 20 (which makes me think they had a limited number of elevators running during early entry), so we hurried back to Guardians and rode it twice (standby then LL)
Incredicoaster--fun, a little rough in spots, not as smooth of a ride as other metal coaster I've been on
Guardians again--we had a Webslingers LL and the ride went down just as we were arriving, so out LL converted to an MEP, which we used to ride Guardians. We got Born to Be Wild all three times.
Toy Story Mania--my gun was broken. Very low score.
Quick lunch--we opted to do a few shareable items in the Sanfransokyo area. I like this spot, wish WDW had something like it. Food court layout with fun J-Pop tunes and a good food variety.
Monsters, Inc.-well done kiddie ride
Radiator Springs Racers--really well done ride; the Test Track ride tech done better.
Jungle Cruise
Pirate of the Caribbean--I think I like the DL version better than WDW's version.
Big Thunder
Buzz Lightyear
Star Tours
Indiana Jones--maybe this ride was hyped a little more than it deserves? Fun, but is there a story or is it just a few IJ scenes thrown together?
Matterhorn--I was warned but didn't listen; very rough ride; not enjoyable. I'd skip it if we ever make it back to DL.
HM with the NBC overlay--I saved the best for last. I was completely blown, awestruck and got goosebumps when I saw how the ride was transformed. The outside, the inside, the music, the songs, the narration. Unbelievable. What they do here shows wheat they are capable of doing in any of the parks.
We finished the day/night with World of Color. A great show. The integration of the lights from Incredicoaster and the Ferris wheel into the show are great touches.
Comparison between DL/DCA and WDW? CM's at DL/DCA were collectively nicer than at WDW. Stairs in queues--obviously, DL's queues go up while WDW's go out due to space constraints, but could they not create some shade in the JC and BTMR queues?? DL seems to have more attention to detail. Little things, like the JC skippers till using a gun to shoot at the hippos. The scenes on PotC seemed more detailed and coherent with the story.
Overall, we'd definitely go again, but split the parks into two days. LL really helped us do as much as we did.
