First Time Disneyland Tips for WDW Regulars Jeff and Danielle

Disneyland and Walt Disney World have their share of commonalities, but there is also a lot that is very different.   Robyn talks with WDW pros Danielle and Jeff to help them prep for their first-ever trip to Disneyland.  

She covers the attractions that are unique to Disneyland as well as the main differences in our Genie Plus process.  

Right now, our tools are just for Disneyland, but we hope to expand to other parks soon. Disney changes policies, prices, and shows often. Be sure to visit our website at Parkmagic.com or Disneyland's Website for more information.

Park Magic is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Walt Disney World, Disneyland, or Disney Enterprises, Inc. Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and Mickey Mouse are all registered trademarks of Disney Enterprises, Inc. Any use of third-party names or trademarks is for identification purposes only and does not imply, nor is it intended to imply, any affiliation with, endorsement from, or business relationship with any third party, including with Walt Disney World, Disneyland, or Disney Enterprises, Inc.

Episode Transcript

Robyn (00:00):
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Introduction (00:31):
Welcome to the Park Magic podcast, your place
for insider tips for your nextDisneyland adventure.
Whether you're a first timer orfirst time in a while visitor,
we're here to unwrap the secretsto creating and simplifying
your dream Disneyland vacation.

Robyn (00:52):
Today I've got two Walt Disney World experts that are
going to Disneyland for thefirst time and I'm gonna share
some of the tips that I have.
In some ways that the parks,while they seem like they should
be very similar, are actuallyvery different.
But I wanna first introduce myguests, Danielle and Jeff, who
own this amazing bagel shop inFlorida called Jeff's Bagel Run.
You should hit it up like goout of your way, rent an Uber,

(01:12):
whatever you gotta do to gettheir shop.
But they also, you guys, haveannual passes.
Tell us a little bit about yourexperience with Disneyland.

Danielle (01:19):
Sure.
So we have been annual passholders for as long as we've
been married, so I think over 10years.
Grew up in Florida but not inOrlando, ended up moving to
Orlando seven, eight years agoand since then, you know, become
even more rabid Disney people.
We're annual pass holders.
We love the parks.
We remain pass holders duringCOVID and took advantage of all

(01:40):
of that short line experience.
We just really love the magicof Disney and all that it offers
, and it is great to be in theOrlando area and see how much
business it drives.
For you know a lot of ourfellow small business owners.
So yeah, we're Disneyenthusiasts.

Jeff (01:55):
You know, living 10 minutes from the gate is a huge
benefit and if you're that closeand you're not a pass holder,
it just feels I don't know, itfeels silly.

Danielle (02:03):
Yeah.

Jeff (02:05):
Like you know I think, the idea of talking about how do
you go to Disneyland and how doyou do that when we're so used
to just being able to pull upwhenever we want, do the few
things that we want to do thatday, maybe even just go in and
like grab a pretzel and turnaround and walk back out the
idea of going to Disneyland andplanning an entire day?

(02:28):
one day, two days get all thethings that you want to get done
.
See all the things, because youknow, like so many people, that
we meet here while Disney Worldthat are coming and this is
like that once in a lifetime,where they're like once in 10
years trip.
We're going to experience thaton the other coast and it's
exciting, but it's also scary.

Danielle (02:44):
Yeah, and we have two kids.
So we have a five year oldHe'll be six by the time we go
to Disneyland and almost nineyear old, so we're definitely in
the right age range.
I though we'll be Disney adultswhen they retire don't worry,
we retire when they go tocollege.
But Jeff has two older kids, 20and 17.
So one of them has an annualpass because she's here more.

(03:07):
So we have like a wide agerange.
I think we're just going tobring the little kids to the
Disneyland trip for this one.

Robyn (03:13):
It's very different when you go as a pass holder versus a
single or a two day ticketwhere it's like go, go, go.
Even the way that you get readyfor the day is different.

Danielle (03:22):
Yeah, like we don't pack anything, you know.
Yeah, there's no, it just feelslike, you know, I'll be there
for a couple of hours.
I'll ride, you know, I'll rideGuardians of the Galaxy, I'll
have my coffee and I'm going togo home and pick up my kids from
school, you know.
So it is a very different.
It's much more leisurely and I,you know, never been in
Disneyland.
I want to do it all.
Like, I know I'm going to be oneof those parents that's going

(03:45):
to let their kids be upsetbecause I've spent all this
money on this trip, but I'm onlycoming once, you know.
So it'll be very interesting tohave, like you know, a
different perspective.
And, you know, I really thinkthis will be helpful because I
am a planner.
I want to make sure I get themost out of my experience in my
time, but I have some goals.
You know, I definitely havesome ideas.
I am like a little bit of aDisney fan.

(04:06):
I've watched all of the behindthe attractions.
So you know, there's a lot ofthings that, like, I feel, like
I know, but haven't experienced.

Robyn (04:14):
All right, then let's go ahead and get right into it.
And I'm a planner too.
Yeah, I'm a fellow.

Danielle (04:18):
A personality and, honestly, even now, when we go
into the parks, like onThanksgiving, we did a four park
day and we had a list.
You know, we had a list ofeverything we wanted to ride and
, like we had a plan, even aDaniel Passholders so I think
the more information thatmatters.

Robyn (04:35):
Okay, good, I think that we should start with some of the
ways that the resorts aredifferent, because there's some
things that are backwards.
So the first thing is that bothparks and downtown Disney are
all in one security bubble,which means you park in one
location for all of them andonce you're in the bubble for
all of them, you can go back andforth, so you don't have to re
go through security as you park,hop or if you were to go to

(04:57):
downtown Disney Amazing.
The other thing aroundDisneyland that's really
different is staying on propertyis just not as much of a thing.
There are hotels that areacross the street, that are like
a fairfield in, that areactually like the same amount of
steps to the main gate as likethe Disneyland hotel.

Danielle (05:15):
Awesome.
Yeah, so we are thinking aboutspending one night because we're
gonna be staying a little bitfurther away, but we wanna be
able to kind of do a park, go tobed, wake up, do a park.
So is that something you wouldrecommend?

Robyn (05:26):
if you're like only have two days, so the Disneyland
hotels there are crazy expensivebecause there's just I mean,
there's really only three ofthem, okay, with a fairfield in
vibe.
So there are a couple acrossthe street that are like
directly across the street, kindof like from the courtyard
Marriott with Water Park down to, I would say, the Anaheim would
be within like a five or 10minute walk.

(05:48):
But there's a bunch that areright there, Like the fairfield
across the street.
It is a place to sleep, it isnot fancy but it is really close
.
But there's a couple of hotelsthat are literally across the
street.
When you're looking at the map,make sure you're looking at
where the buses bring in, soit's over on that side.
Anything on the other side ofthe park, closer to the parking

(06:08):
structure, is gonna be a reallyreally long walk.
Awesome, okay, that's reallyhelpful.
And then if you stay at theDisneyland hotels, they kinda
have these back entrances.
You know how?
Epcot has an entrance in theback, yeah.
So kind of have that atDisneyland.
You can go in through theMonorail if you're staying at
those Disneyland hotels, andGrand Californian has a back

(06:28):
entrance into kind of like theside of California Adventure.
So both of those are nicelittle shortcuts, but the
security can get a littlebacklogged in the morning for
those.
The biggest thing about stayingin a Disneyland hotel there is
you get access to the earlyentry by the time you get there
in March it'll just be one day.
So just make sure you checkthat out before you book, if you
decide to book one of theDisneyland hotels, Okay.

(06:50):
The other thing that's reallydifferent is park hopping.
So we're still doingreservations in Disneyland and
park hopping happens at 11, andthen after 11, you don't have to
check in at the first park, youcan just go wherever you want.
Wow, okay With Disneyland, theparks are literally like 500
feet apart.
So it is very easy to park hop,but you can kind of the same

(07:11):
challenges that you have aDisney world Doing Genie Plus
across two parks makes it a lotmore challenging.
So for me if I only have twodays then usually we will do one
in each park as long as we'vegot most of our parties over 40
inches.
California Adventure it used tobe, you know, like people say,
anel King was not a full daypark.

(07:31):
It used to be that it was not afull day park and we can spend a
full day there and not doeverything now.
But that's because my kids lovea couple of the things that can
kind of soak up a little bitmore time.
Right, they've got like fewerrides for little kids.
If you were gonna only do one,it would be Disneyland.

Danielle (07:48):
Yeah, I definitely think.
Well, we're more than happy todo like single park days and
just kind of get everything inas much as we can, of course.
Yeah, then park hopping wedon't even bother doing it,
honestly at Disney World,because it's after two now and
by the time I get it togetherit's like oh, just go home, I
can come back another day.

Robyn (08:05):
I usually don't park hop there unless I'm doing like
three or four days, I think,especially since you haven't
been to the parks.
I think one park per day is thebetter option.
Okay, perfect.
And then Genie Plus.
It is like Alice in Wonderland.
So it's the same but it'sdifferent.
So you either buy it with yourticket or you cannot buy it
until you scan into the park,and then you can't book your

(08:26):
first until you scan into thepark and because of that there's
nothing like Slinking Dog thatruns out in like two seconds.
So there are definitely anorder and we have that on Park
Magic.
And, to give you an idea, atDisneyland there's a couple that
you want to book early, justbecause they are more popular.
You want to book Indiana JonesSpace Mountain, but it doesn't

(08:48):
sell out nearly as fast becausepeople have to get to the park
before they can book their firstlightning lane.

Danielle (08:53):
So we've never done Genie Plus at Disney World.

Jeff (08:56):
So we're maybe one time and it wasn't- I don't even know
if it was a Genie Plus, itmight have just been in singular
lightning lane.

Danielle (09:02):
No, it was Genie Plus I remember but we weren't very
good at it, to be honest, sothat might be a whole other
conversation that we candefinitely use Park Magic to
help us, because I think that'slike a must do from what I
understand.

Robyn (09:15):
Yes, especially because Disneyland is different.
They basically only use GeniePlus for like the really popular
thrill rides and then theythrow in a couple of extras on
top of it when, if you did it atDisney World, it gives you
access like meet and greets andyou know some of the shows and
stuff like that.
It's mostly the roller coasters, the thrill rides, and so it

(09:36):
can give you a really good valueand it makes the day move a lot
faster, basically, when youscan into the park, if you're
going to do individual lightninglanes, so there's one in each
park, you would only do it forCalifornia Adventure because
Disneyland is Rise of theResistance and you can ride that
anytime you want.

Danielle (09:54):
Yeah, that's exactly the same.
Yeah, and I think for us we'renot really looking to waste time
to ride.

Robyn (09:59):
We can ride here, you know, especially when there's no
differences.

Danielle (10:03):
Yeah, if it's like a copy, if it's a copy paste, I
don't have time for that.
And a lot of things I think aredifferent.
You know, even Small World isdifferent.
You know Space Mountain isdifferent Not interested in
riding Rise, but for surethere's plenty of others that I
do.

Robyn (10:15):
So what you would do is you'd get Genie Plus either with
your ticket you buy it as soonas you get into the park, the
day that you get into CaliforniaAdventure by Radiator Springs
Racers as fast as you can,because it goes down like Rise
all the time Okay, got it.
And then book your firstlightning lane as soon as you
get into the park.
You can now modify it so like,let's say, you get in there at
eight o'clock and it gives youSpace Mountain at eight o'five.

(10:37):
You can modify it to later inthe day.
And then I recommend focusingon the rides that they don't
have Genie Plus, because GeniePlus doesn't include Pirates or
Jungle Cruise, and you mightdecide to skip both of those
because they're, you know,they're obviously in Disney
World, but they both have slightdifferences.

Danielle (10:55):
Pirates is probably a yes Jungle Cruise.
I don't even like it at DisneyWorld, so I'm not yeah.

Robyn (11:00):
And really the only difference is the delete, so it
doesn't have the temple scene.
Oh okay, yeah, so there's notreally much that's unique there,
so you can probably skip thatone.
The other big thing is thatPhotoPass and the Ride Photos
are included with Genie Plus.
Oh, that's so nice.
Yes, and they have some likecamera lenses, like special

(11:20):
lenses, and they have the thingcalled AudioTales, which are
kind of like audio supplementsthat are available that are part
of Genie Plus as well.

Jeff (11:27):
Robyn can we just go back for a second and listen to the
blasphemy that Danielle saidthat she doesn't even like
Jungle Cruise.
What is that Like?
I didn't realize I married aperson who hates Jungle Cruise.
I don't know what's going on.

Danielle (11:38):
I know it just feels like a lot of line and you know
20 jokes.
Yeah, it's just not for me, butI don't yuck people's yums.
So for all those Jungle Cruiseenthusiasts, yeah, more, less
people in line for you when I'mnot in line.
So there you go.

Robyn (11:54):
Well, yeah, you know, but I'm like the kind of person
that like thrives off of makingbad jokes to like make my kids'
eyes roll like it is my life.
So for me, yeah, like it's likegoing to a convention, like I'm
like, okay, these are my people, you know.

Danielle (12:08):
yes, All right, I love that.
Okay, maybe I'm missingsomething.
Maybe I need to try it again.
It's been a minute, so I'm open.
I'm open to some Jungle Cruisetherapy.

Robyn (12:20):
And then the last thing that is like on the lines of
like the Genie Plus is virtualcues, which I know are a big
deal at Disney World.
There's only one thing that hasa virtual cue right now and
that's World of Color, which isCalifornia Adventures Nighttime
Spectacular.
And I really, really like Worldof Color.
It's mostly weaving themdifferent clips of different

(12:41):
Disney shows for a story.
It's got like a little fire.
I really enjoy it.
I think it's better than someof the other nighttime
spectaculars like Harmonious andthings along those lines I feel
like it's worth it.
So I usually set an alarm forlike 11.45 and an alarm for
11.55, just so I'm not likesomeplace where there's not cell
service.
And then I book my World ofColor virtual cue, write it new.

(13:04):
You get basically a color andthen you just show about 30
minutes before and then whenyou're looking at where to stand
, the first row, you're going toget wet because they've got so
much water projection.
Focus on trying to get as closeto a reel.
It kind of like steps up, kindof like an amphitheater, and the
biggest thing is to not havesomebody put their kids on their
shoulders in front of you.
Okay, what time is that at?

(13:26):
If it's not a peak season, itmight only be available Friday
through Sunday, just likefireworks.
Fireworks aren't every day inDisneyland.
So during the busy seasons,like if you were to go during
Christmas or summer since you'regoing like around spring break,
you shouldn't have a problem.
It should be available everyday.
But if you were going on, likeyou know, january 17th or 22nd

(13:48):
or something like that, theymight only be available Friday,
saturday, sunday, depending onhow busy the park is.
Sometimes it's only 1015.
And sometimes there's a nineand a 1015 for World of Color,
which is really confusing,because the park will see it
closes at 10.
And then there's a show thatstarts at 1015.
That's not a tight bow.
They close down the rides,everybody's watching the show

(14:09):
and then at the end everybodyleaves the park.

Danielle (14:12):
Okay.
So in this vein, how crazy isit when people are exiting the
park?
Is it like because with DisneyWorld, if you leave the Magic
Kingdom right after fireworksit's just not enjoyable?
Is it kind of the sameexperience if you're leaving
after the show, so across thestreet?
Maybe not so bad?

Robyn (14:29):
Yes, if you're seeing across the street, it's not so
bad.
The biggest thing is to not tryto get an Uber.
There's only one Uber pick upfor the entire resort that most
people know about.
There's another one kind ofover by the hotels, but most
people don't know about that andyou have to, like make a U turn
to get into it.
So it could be so frustratingbecause your Uber driver is like
700 feet away and it's like a30 minute wait.

Danielle (14:50):
We do then recommend, if we were going to stay the
night, to go the first day, dothat at night, stay the night
and then do Disneyland thesecond day.

Robyn (14:59):
You can do it either way.
I kind of go back and forth.
My first thought is I want touse my best energy for
Disneyland.
For you, you might want to doCalifornia Adventure first,
because that's going to have themost novel items for you.
Okay, and it closes a littleearly.
Since you've got young ones,that gives them more time to
sleep between the next day,because if the parks are open at

(15:21):
Disneyland from eight tomidnight, they'll be usually
open eight to 10.
For California Adventure I haveto stay over two nights.

Danielle (15:27):
It's going to be long days.
Yeah, long days, I know.
No, it's awesome.
It's a lot to consider.

Jeff (15:32):
Put on the good walking shoes.

Danielle (15:33):
Yeah.

Robyn (15:34):
Yes, yeah, if it looks like it's going to rain, the
rain is colder, so normally, youknow, you probably would just
do flip-flops in the rain.
You might want to do somethingmore like a hiking shoe or like
you know something.
You can take the socks off,they can get wet and they can
dry.
Okay, wait, it rains inCalifornia now, so they've had
like crazy amounts of rain thelast couple years, so hopefully

(15:57):
this year is a little bit drier,that's so funny.
I want to kind of go througheach park, so I thought we'd
start at Disneyland and I'll gothrough a little bit about the
shows and then mostly about therides.
And because you guys areprimarily a ride family, not
necessarily a show, family right.

Danielle (16:12):
Yeah, we are mostly a ride family.

Robyn (16:14):
Okay, so let's start at Disneyland, and I'm just going
to tell you how I feel when Iwalk into Magic Kingdom.
When I walk into Magic Kingdom,I go.
This is not Disneyland.
It feels like you should knowwhere everything is, but
everything's slightly different,okay.
And some of your favorite thingsaren't going to be there and

(16:36):
it's just a little bit Alice inWonderland-y where you feel a
little disoriented, okay, sojust be prepared for that.
Our castle is much smaller, soyou know, my kids were used to
going with George to Walt DisneyWorld.
Right, because of the pandemic,it had been a while since we
had gone to Disneyland.
My kids walked in and theylooked at me and said I forgot

(16:57):
how Leymar Castle is, but it'sthe OG.
It is the OG.
Yes, yeah, as you walk into thepark there's a little fire
station.
That's over to the left, andabove it there is a light,
usually a window, with a candlein it.
That's Walt's apartment.
I really like taking a look atthe little firehouse they have
like an old fire wagon.

(17:18):
It's kind of cute.
The other thing about ourcastle is that you can actually
do a walkthrough.
You can actually walk throughthe gates, so there's no stage
in front of it, and then, if youmake a U-turn, there's like a
little diorama that has thestory of sleeping beauty, where
you kind of climb into thecastle to see it.
You can't see out any windows,but it's kind of a cute thing to
do while you're waiting betweenGenie Plus.

(17:39):
I wouldn't do it.
First, it's something that'sunique to the park.
Our daughter will love that.
And then our Fantasmic! happensat Disneyland.
But it's closed until May andit's not as nice of an
experience because we don't haveany seating, so it's like
standing or sitting on the floor.
So I think you'll be okaymissing that.
Yeah, and then everything'sreally close together.

(18:01):
We have just very small amount.
So just go in expecting to feellike it's really crowded and
really busy, even if it's not abusy day, just because we have a
couple of like really heavytraffic choke points.
So just know that the crowds,like in the passageways, are
going to be a little bit moreintense.

(18:21):
That's usually why I wouldrecommend like a single stroller
versus a double stroller, iffamily doesn't really need the
double stroller just becausethere's like a lot more people
in the walkways.
Is the stroller rental the same?
Yes, so they have the strollerrental.
It's right outside DisneylandPark.
There's places that rent thatwill bring to your hotel,
because if you're just acrossthe street it's not as big of a

(18:41):
deal.
But there's some hotels thatare like kind of at the end of
the block and carrying asleeping child.
That far is a nightmare.
So you know you can't take therental strollers outside of the
security bubble.
So depending on how many daysyou're there, sometimes it can
be cheaper to rent from thatthird party and they have more
storage.

Jeff (18:58):
Ok that's great to know, because I've carried many a
sleeping child out of the MagicKingdom onto the monorail
through the parking lot.
I've done that.
It's awful.

Robyn (19:07):
It is.

Jeff (19:09):
Doing that while going down like a random street in the
Anaheim to a hotel isterrifying.

Robyn (19:16):
Yeah, I think that rent having the stroller rental come
to you I like that they have thestorage and the other ones are
like a hard plastic and sinceyour kids are bigger, they're
probably going to be a littleless comfortable.
Yeah, I can give you a couplerecommendations.
You know, when it gets closerfor that.
Then the other thing is withthe fireworks.

(19:38):
Our fireworks get canceled alot because there's houses, like
less than a mile away.
So if there's any wind athigher elevations they'll cancel
it and sometimes it's like thevery last minute.
The standard place to watchMagic Kingdom is kind of in that
hub and Main Street.
That is true for Disneyland.
But just make sure, especiallyif you're in the area like

(20:00):
around the statue of WaltonMickey look at the castle.
There's some trees that are inthe front that block a lot of
the viewpoints.
That's kind of like the moreintense viewing point, because
that's where everybody goes.
I personally like if you go overto Rivers of America and you
get just a little bit left ofcenter, they do the projections
that they do on the castle, onthe water, and then you can

(20:23):
still see the fireworks andyou're further away.
So the fireworks are a littleless loud.
That's my favorite place, andthen over in front of Small
World.
Now I want you to just rememberthat our Small World facade is
so much cooler than yours.
Okay, so it's a much bettertheater, so you can go and watch
them in front of Small Worldand they have the same
projections that they have onthe castle.

(20:44):
On Small World you are going tobe closer to where the actual
fireworks happen, so it's alittle bit louder, and then
you'll kind of have to toggleyour head because the Small
World is a little bit more tothe right and the fireworks are
going to be happening a littlebit more to the left, but it's
much less intense as far aspeople getting there and camping
out.
What time are the fireworks showat Disneyland, 9.30.

(21:06):
Make sure you check theentertainment calendar.
Yeah, the parades are great,but you have an idea of
Disneyland parades so you candecide whether or not you want
to do those or not.
They do kind of block offgetting from one side of the
park to the other.
So they go from Small Worlddown to Main Street and I think
the biggest thing on the paradeis making sure you know which

(21:28):
direction the parade's coming inso you can make sure you're
kind of pointed in a directionthat will not be in the sun for
pictures.
So let's get to the fun stuff.
Let's get to the rides now.
Okay, all right, so I'mincluding attraction.
So we have great moments with MrLincoln, which is kind of like
our version of the Hall ofPresidents.
It is a really comfortabletheater.
It's really good historicalthing.

(21:49):
It's a really good place for anap, if you like a little PTSD
with your nap, because the CivilWar happens in the middle of it
.
I might have given myself aheart attack one day, but it is
really cute.
My son's like a history junkieso we usually do hit that, but I
would do that on our way out tonap.

(22:10):
So we talked about JungleCruise being pretty much the
same, but just no temple scene.
Indiana Jones and Adventure inFrontierland is going to be the
big thing that is going to bedifferent in Adventureland and
Frontierland.
So, if you kind of know, thedinosaur ride is the same ride
vehicle but themed for IndianaJones.
It is a chiropractor's dream.

(22:33):
So, I think it's much betterthan dinosaur, and so I highly
recommend it.
This is one of the ones you'regoing to want to do early.
So the lightning lanes move faston this and it breaks down
constantly, so I would get thatearly.
Just kind of a little side noteon Genie Plus If, like it is,
that your return time is 805 to905 and from like 845 to 920,

(22:56):
the ride was down, you get amulti experience pass and you
can either use that to ride theride that you originally booked
later or you can rebook for alater time period on that ride
and use that for several otherrides.
Oh that list, and some of themare ones that don't normally
have lightning lane access, sothey can be pretty valuable.

(23:18):
That's one of the other reasonswhy I like to book the rides
that go down a lot earlier inthe day is so that I have more
flexibility.
Perfect, they just did ourSwiss family Robinson treehouse.
It's called the AdventureTreehouse.
Now it's not a ride and it'sSwiss family Robinson theme.
There's a cute little ostrichat the bottom that even if you
just popped in to see theostrich, she's kind of cute.

Jeff (23:39):
The kids will make us climb the tree.
Yeah, she will.

Robyn (23:42):
Yeah, they love doing it.

Jeff (23:43):
Every time we go, we walk in, they're like, oh, let's go
through the treehouse.
I'm like, okay, we'll do thetreehouse.

Robyn (23:49):
You know that's a good thing to do, Like while you're
waiting for Genie Pluseligibility next time.
And then our big thunder is somuch better.
It's so much smoother.
I really like it a lot better.
It's not nearly as jerky.

Jeff (24:03):
Because of the way it's positioned, you get kind of like
a cool view of that too, and Ireally like it on Disney Plus
behind the attraction andthere's a new season and they do
a whole episode dedicatedsolely to Big Thunder Mountain
and the differences between allof them in all of the parks and
Disneyland definitely looks likeit's top tier.

Robyn (24:25):
It is.
It's my favorite.
So I mean I would say makingsure that that's one that you
want to make sure you hit.
I really like that one.
And then in Fantasyland there'sa couple of rides that are
unique.
So there's Alice in Wonderland,which is a slow, dark ride.
It has pretty crazy lines.
So if that's important to you,I would try to do that early.
Nothing really in Fantasylandhas a lightning lane, except for

(24:49):
the Matterhorn, so you probablywant to hit those first if your
kids are going to really wantto do those.
Pinocchio Daring Journey isanother dark ride.
I find it loud and stressfulbut I'm sure that there's people
who love it.
Mr Toad's is the shortest rideever.
It's so short.
The lines can be a littlelonger, but it is an opening day

(25:12):
attraction and you get to go tohell.
So you know that's a fun thing.

Introduction (25:15):
You don't get to get to the line every day.

Robyn (25:17):
And then the storybook canal boats are very cute.
They are very much a we need alittle sensory break.
It's very quiet, very peaceful.
And then we have Casey Jr,which is kind of a little bit
more of a fast paced way to lookat some of those dioramas,
because it's not a book canal,it's.
You know, you see Aladdin'sCastle and all that stuff in

(25:38):
miniature.
Casey Jr, you can have the funof being inside a train car with
bars, because you know that'sfun.
It was my son's favorite ridefor a long time.
He really loves trains.
I've kind of ridden it topieces.
I think the one you're probablygoing to be more interested in
is Matterhorn.
If you have the choice, try togo to the right.

(25:58):
It's a little bit smoother, forboth Matterhorn and Big Thunder
are really great If you cantime like a second ride around
the fireworks.
If you didn't want to actuallysee the fireworks.
I really like Matterhorn, butif you have a bad back you might
want to skip it, yeah.

Danielle (26:15):
I feel like we'll probably do it because it's like
Matterhorn, it's something youhave to do.
It feels iconic, like there aresome rides that I'm like I have
to do them, and Matterhorn ison it, you know.

Robyn (26:25):
And it can go down quite often too.
So it's something I would doearlier in the day.
And when it goes down it can bea little more unpredictable.
You know Space Mountain goesdown all of the time but it's
usually back up in 20 minutes.
Yeah, matterhorn goes down forlike longer periods.
And then you know you don't haveto do Small World, but you
should at least go see SmallWorld.

(26:45):
Most of the time they'll havelike a lighting evening where
they either do projections onthe front of it and it's got
like kind of this cuckoo clockthing where, like, the soldiers
come out.
It's kind of cute.
It's something that'siconically Disney.
So you know you get to be onthe outside for a little bit on
the boat.

Danielle (27:00):
So yeah, it's different.
And then you know, we might seesomeone taking a swim inside
the.
No, I never know.

Robyn (27:06):
Yeah, and then kind of on that side of the park there is
a theater where they have beendoing the Lion King and then
toon town.
You don't need to do Mickey andMinnie's runaway because it's
practically a copy.
But, there are two other rides.
There is Roger Rabbit Spin.
It is loud but it is uniquelyDisney.
It's not my favorite ride, butif you watch Roger Rabbit it's

(27:26):
kind of nostalgic.
You get to see the charactersagain and it's kind of one of
those like 90s rides, Okay, andthen they also have what used to
be called Gadget's Go Coaster.
Now it's like Chippendales GoCoaster.
It's basically barnstormer.
So it's a very short, very likebaby coaster, so you know you
can kind of look at it anddecide whether or not you want

(27:48):
to do it.
They only have like two carsand the cars are small so the
line moves a little bit slower.
But there is Goofy's how toPlay Yard, which is like a cute
little playground.
Your kids might be on the olderside for that, All right.

Danielle (27:59):
Yeah.

Robyn (28:00):
But that's pretty much all that's over in Toon Town.
And then Star Wars you cancompletely skip Great, and then
Tomorrowland.
So our finding Nemo is in thesubmarines.
Oh, so I would say, if you'venever done it, do it, unless you
have somebody who'sclaustrophobic.
If you do, they have a viewingup at the top, but at that point
it's not really that muchdifferent than doors.

(28:23):
So you get to get in theseyellow subs and then you go down
.
So there's a little bit ofdifference in the ride because
you're in a sub, kind of lookingthrough a porthole, which makes
it a little different.
If it's a hot day, I usuallywill try to prioritize that year
that are for early in themorning or in the evening,
because the line doesn't have alot of shade and then our space
mountain is so much better.

Danielle (28:43):
I know I can't wait.

Robyn (28:46):
So definitely do space.
That's one of the attractionsthat books out further on the
Genie Plus.
So try to do that.
And then, friends don't letfriends eat in Tomorrowland.
So, they've got like a pizzaplace and a hamburger place and
they're both very mid, you don't.
You know, like there's betterpizza, there's better hamburgers
, other places in the park, soyou guys aren't DVC members, are

(29:08):
you?
You're not.
There's like a little loungeclub in the same thing, and then
they also have a Chase VisaDisney meet and greet.

Jeff (29:16):
Oh, I have one of those.

Robyn (29:17):
And the one in Tomorrowland is usually Darth
Vader or Chewbacca, and then ourchurros are much better.
I've heard that, yeah.
So I would try to get somechurros.
There's a lot of differentchurros that are available.
And then there's like a pizzaflop over in Toontown where it's
like a pizza that's folded inhalf.
That's pretty good.
But then we have, like you know, a lot of the same thing the
bread bowls, hamburgers.
One thing that is a littledifferent on the food is we have

(29:39):
Bengal barbecue.
It's like skewers.
It's really good.
It just can get a littleexpensive because you're buying
like individual skewers, ok.
And then California Adventureis kind of like get Hollywood
and a cut had a baby, ok.
So we kind of want to thinkabout it that way.
It closes.
Earlier we talked about theWorld of Color show, about the
virtual queue and how it mightbe after close.

(30:01):
When you first enter the park,there's this cute little red
trolley that will take you kindof like over to Avengers Land
and then, instead of a castle,the main icon is Carthé Circle,
which is modeled after where thepremiere happened for Snow
White.
If you have a chance for a nicemeal, I really like Carthé
Circle Alfresco, because they'vegot some really good food, and

(30:22):
if you go upstairs to go to thebathroom.
You can see like they have likepictures of waltz, like at the
Oscars Snow White.
It's kind of cute, oh cool, ifyou enter and like head towards
the left.
After you get to like theopening part where Carthé Circle
is, they have Hollywood Land,which is Mickey's Feel Harm
Magic.
You can skip, of course,because it's the same.
They have Monsters Inc, which Iknow, you and I texted a little

(30:44):
bit.
It used to be SuperstarLibo.

Danielle (30:47):
I kind of have to ride that.
Yes, is it a long line, or isit?
It's got a lightning lane.

Robyn (30:54):
So before there was a lightning lane for it with Genie
Plus there was never a line.
But now it's got these crazylines.
They have this thing called aBuddy Pass 2 where if you can go
in groups of two you can kindof like a single rider line.
But if you have Genie Plus,just use Genie Plus for it.
Ok, I wouldn't rearrange my dayaround it, but it's a nice
little like fill and ride, yeah.

Danielle (31:15):
Well, I just like feel , because I've watched the
Defunct Land episode on it, thatI want to ride it and also I
think my son would love it andit seems silly.
But I mean, I guess if it's onthe chop, like if I have to make
choice, I probably won't rideit, but if I can I will.
That makes sense, yeah.

Robyn (31:30):
It's kind of what I would feel.
And then we have another DisneyChase Visa over there.
That's usually stitched, butsometimes it can be somebody
else, oh OK.
So he's kind of over betweenMickey's Fill Hard Magic and
Monsters Inc and it's not alwaysstitched.
But, usually they won't tellyou if you ask.
But if you say is there anybodyfrom another planet there?

(31:52):
they usually will give you alittle nod, got it.
I've never seen a line for thatbecause the Chase Disney visas
those meet and greets don't geta lot of publicity so they're
usually pretty short.
We have the little animatorswhere you can do the drawing
thing, and turtle talk are inthe same building.
If you just need a little airconditioning, it's a really nice
place.
They have these huge screenswhere they have songs at Disney.

(32:15):
It's really cute, so it's anice place to come in and sit.
The other two things that arein that building you kind of
have in your other parks, so youdon't need to hit that.
But they also have the Elsameet and greet, if that's
something you wanted to do.
Personally, I try to avoid that.
Yeah, the next couple areas aregoing to be more important.
So Avengers Campus so Guardiansof the Galaxy is our refurb

(32:39):
tower of terror.
I was really mad when theydecided they were going to
refurb it, but I actually reallylove it as Guardians.

Danielle (32:46):
Yeah, that's a must ride for us.

Robyn (32:47):
Yeah, and then Web Slingers is very similar to Toy
Story Media, so you use yourhands instead of a gun, so it's
really fun.
I really really like it.
Everybody in the whole familygets to sit in the same car and
you can kind of work as a team,so it's really fun.
OK, that sounds awesome, so Iwould definitely hit that If you

(33:09):
have big Avenger fans.
There's a place called PimmsTest Kitchen.
It is a great place to eat.
There's a little bar thatcalled the Labs.
If you go to the seats that arejust outside of that you'll see
a lot of the Marvel characterswalking back and forth to their
meet and greets.
So it's really kind of fun ifyou can do that.
There's a ton of charactersthat are usually kind of walking
around and then they haveseveral shows.

(33:31):
They have a dance party whereStar Lord is dancing to Save the
Universe.
They have Doctor Strange show,which is really just kind of
like a Marvel themed illusionshow.

Jeff (33:41):
It's kind of cheesy, but it's kind of fun.

Robyn (33:43):
OK, I really kind of like the Wakanda show.
I can't even describe it.
I mean it's not something Iwould rearrange my day for, but
if you're going to be in thearea, I really like that.
And then Amazing Spider-Man islike a five minute show, so you
got to get there early.
Yeah.
And when you get there you wantto look for the crane and you
want to try to make sure you cansee the crane.
That's the most important thing.
And then at the end of the show, spider-man will come down and

(34:06):
give everybody a high five.
Oh, ok, that one is reallygreat.
And then, right next to it,we've got Cars Land, which is
all new.
We have to do that, yes.
So Radiator Racers, springsRacers you might want to pay the
individual light and willing toride that all together for the
first time.
After that they have a singlerider line that moves very
consistently fast.

(34:26):
You have somebody that's underseven, so they wouldn't be able
to ride it Right.
And then Mator's junkyardjamboree is kind of like the
alien saucers that you know,kind of like that spinning.
Yeah, yeah, I really like it.
It's like it's fun to like slipand slide around in it.
And plus, like hearing Matortry to speak Spanish is my
favorite part of the ride, likeI ride it just so I can hear him

(34:49):
give the instructions Spanish.
And then there's Luigi'sRollakin Roasters, which you
know it's kind of a cursedattraction, right, because they
tried to bring back the aliensaucers floating thing that they
try to do as a car's land thing, and then that never really
worked.
So they brought in Luigi'sRollakin Roasters, which you

(35:10):
know in Mickey and Minnie'sRunaway Railway, you know where
Daisy's doing the dance thing.
Yeah, it's kind of like that.
Okay so, but it is kind of funif you pretend that, like the
car is your feet, and you try todance dramatically to match the
feet, okay, and then you slidearound and it makes it a lot
more fun.
Other than that, if you want toride it serious, it's probably

(35:31):
not going to be a favorite.
Okay, with cars land, you knowyou want to do racers earlier in
the day.
It breaks down a lot.
Same reason for rise People'shats and sunglasses fall off the
track and they have to resetthe whole thing, oh, my goodness
.
So make sure you do that oneearly, and then I would come
back at least walking throughCars Line at night, because

(35:51):
they've got all of these coolneon.
You know, it's just really cool.
They have the meet and greetsall day and then they have like
the cozy cone hotel, but each ofthem have a different themed
cone shaped snack.
So they have like ice creamcones, they have like macaroni
and cheese in a cone, but fromwhat I hear, that is not
something you want to enjoy,okay, but they have a whole

(36:11):
bunch of things.
They have flows that has likefried chicken and things along
those lines.
I love seeing it lit up atnight.
I think it's so beautiful, yeah.
And then Pixar Pier, becauseyou definitely want to do our in
credit coaster.
That's our only looping coaster, right.
And then the scariest ride inthe park is Pixar Pall around
wheel.
We have a Ferris wheel.
I don't know if you know aboutour Ferris wheel.

Danielle (36:32):
I've seen it.

Robyn (36:33):
Okay, terrifying, but also I have to do it, yeah, and
you got to do the swinging right.
Right, the non-swinging is justa normal Ferris wheel, oh, okay
, but you're in like a cage.
So if you've claustrophobia,yeah, I would not recommend it.
But the swinging ones they'reon this track, so, as the wheel
moves, there's no seat belts,there's no restraints, but the

(36:56):
car is just freely moving andswinging on this track, wow.
And so if you're mean like me,you don't tell your kids that
that's going to happen, okay,and then have them when you're
getting in the car, have themface away from in credit coaster
, because they won't be able tosee that it's going to swing

(37:16):
until they're already mid swing.
Oh so if you're a mean person,then that's what you would do.

Jeff (37:22):
If you're a nice person and you tell them it's going to
swing, before Danielle and Iwent to a carnival with the kids
like locally like one of thoselike pop up carnivals and they
had a Ferris wheel there and theride attendance at the Ferris
wheel thought it would be funnybecause Danielle was like so
desperately asking them to stopthat they just kept going.
We wrote it for like 28 minutesand Danielle was basically

(37:45):
crying.
It was.
It was incredible.

Danielle (37:47):
But this ends right.
So, like you know, every ridehas an end.
That ride felt like it wasnever ending.

Robyn (37:53):
Just like any Ferris wheel, it depends on when in the
cycle you load.
If you load when it's at thebeginning of the loading cycle,
it's not as intense because it'slike a little swing, a little
swing, a little swing.
And then they do one loop andthen they start unloading.
Got it.

Danielle (38:07):
I'll do it because it seems like I should do it, but I
might be afraid.

Robyn (38:12):
It is affectionately called Vicki's wheel of death.
Okay, yeah.
And then there are a coupleother rides over there that I'm
just going to mention them, butthey're basically just things
that spin in circles.

Danielle (38:24):
Okay.

Robyn (38:25):
So Jesse's critter carousel, which is just a
carousel.
The emotional whirlwind, whichis little things that are
spinning in a circle, jumpingjellyfish, is kind of like a
little mini tower of terror.
You're sitting down on it andyou know it pops up and then
pops down.
Okay, Nothing really to writehome around.
And then we've got swings andwe've got the golden zypher,
which is you're basically in aboat spinning around, Okay.

(38:47):
So carnival rides yeah, Verymuch carnival rides, so I'll
usually knock those out kind oflike in the middle of the day.
And then we have Goofy's FlySchool, which you know, in
dinosaur land there was thecoaster that they just took out.

Jeff (39:00):
That was kind of like a lot and jerky it was.

Robyn (39:02):
It's very much like that.
It's not quite as long, but ifyou like that, then that's just
a very small footprint.
It's very much tucked in thecorner.
I think our little mermaid isslightly different, you know,
but nothing really to write homeabout there.
The last land in Californiaadventure is Grizzly Peak.
So we have our Grizzly RiverRun, which is similar but

(39:22):
slightly different to what youhave in Animal Kingdom, the
River Rapids, yeah yeah, so youcan get pretty wet.
So usually if we will go I willbring a pair of flip flops and
we will switch out into flipflops and bring ponchos.
The coolest thing that I thinkthat's over there is they've got
this Redwood Creek Challengecourse.
It's a big playground with ropeladders and then they've got

(39:45):
like suspension bridges, thatkind of bounces.
You walk some slides.
There's like a little kind oflike mini rock wall where you
can me across the side, butthere's a fun little tire swing
where they get on it and theyslide across.
My kids really like thisplayground and it's very quiet.
It's a nice like break awayfrom everybody.

Danielle (40:02):
So I really like it.
Yeah, we do build our Disney.
You know Walt Disney Worldtrips like we'll go to Epcot to,
the kids can play insidemission space, like the downtime
, and they like it too.
So that's good to know.

Robyn (40:14):
For your age group.
I think that that would besomething that I would make sure
to make some time for.
Okay, it's, it's really fun andit's really unique and like
they'll have meet and greetsover there.
Like Christmas They'll haveSanta sometimes.
Last spring they had Raya fromRyan, last time in there you
know.
So it can be kind of fun.
And then you know we have oursoaring, but it's since.

(40:36):
Right now you have soaring overCalifornia and ours will
probably be soaring over theworld.
You've seen that, done that,been there.
I don't think that's a yeah nota must do.
Yeah, exactly On the food, likeover by Pixar Pier, there's a
place called Cocina Cocamangaand they have quesadilla tacos
that are really, really good,and then in the same place they

(40:57):
have the clam chowder, breadroll, macaroni and cheese in a
bread bowl and they have alittle Asian place and a GR deli
ice cream.
So there's a lot of good foodall in that area and they have a
lot of seating Awesome.
Do you guys care aboutcharacter dining or do you guys
like do that so often, or youknow it's kind of expensive and
you guys aren't?

Danielle (41:15):
Yeah, I think the problem isn't that it just takes
forever, it does no.
So I think in this trip I'mreally here to ride the rides
and like, do the things that Ican't do.
I have an ethnic eating mousesignatures in books, I think at
this point.

Jeff (41:30):
Yeah, I think every time character dining becomes
valuable in this experience forus would be as if it's like a
good food experience.

Danielle (41:37):
Yeah, we do like eating.

Jeff (41:39):
But, sometimes the character food is like you're
there for the characters, notfor the food experience.

Robyn (41:43):
So it's kind of a mix of, and I would say most of like
the traditional characters.
You know, like they're kind oflike that buffet food.
Yeah, there is one characterone that's really really
delicious, but it's the princessadventure breakfast.
But it's like $125 per person,yeah.

Danielle (41:57):
I'm okay.

Robyn (41:58):
Yeah.
So I mean, Goofy's kitchen hasa dinner option, so it can be
nice for an arrival day.
But you know, I think that if Iwere you coming to the parks
knowing that you can docharacter dining anytime, I
would probably use that moneyfor the racers lightning lane
and our Starbucks in both parks,same as Disney World.
They have crazy lines and thenyou know there are places to

(42:20):
mobile order where they havejoffreys.
But the Starbucks in our placein Disneyland it's Market House
and California Adventure it'sFiddler Pfeiffer and Practical.

Danielle (42:29):
Yeah, and we're not visiting both of those.
Knowing us, yes, we areStarbucks loyalists.

Robyn (42:35):
And there's also one in downtown Disney before the
entrance of the park.
If you knew you were going torope drop, you might want to hit
that one earlier, if that makessense.
Yeah, yeah.

Jeff (42:46):
So quick question about that, Since you mentioned rope
drop.
I listened to your pod just theother day about rope dropping
but I didn't connect the genieplus usage once you're in the
park.
So rope dropping is great ifyou want to run to a ride and
like, save a genie plus, butlike, do you think that you need
to rope drop to make sure youget the genie plus offerings you
want?

Robyn (43:04):
No, you don't need to rope drop to get the best genie
pluses, because they'll all beavailable later in the day.
I would just make sure youstart booking by 9am, and then
you should be able to use themall.

Jeff (43:15):
Yeah, it's my Disney World mindset of like I gotta wake up
at 7 to get the thing you know.

Danielle (43:19):
Yeah, because we do Guardian and we'll set our alarm
to get the queue, but we don'tneed to do that.

Jeff (43:24):
But even for, like, the earlier you started Disney World
with Genie Plus, the better.
So okay, that's good to know.

Robyn (43:29):
So I'll do it either one of two ways.
So if I'm doing Genie Plus orRope Drop, I'm a Space Mountain
junkie.

Jeff (43:35):
So I will.

Robyn (43:35):
Sometimes, if it's just me because I'm weirdo and go to
Disneyland, I'll be myself allthe time then I will rope, drop
Space Mountain and then do acouple of other rides and then
start Genie Plus, knowing that Iwill get Space Mountain again
later.
But if I'm with my kids, whatwe'll do is we'll go do those
rides that don't have Genie Plus.
So we'll either do Fantasylandso I would say for you, either

(43:58):
doing the Fantasyland rides ordoing Pirates Pirates doesn't
have a Lightning Lane I usuallywill focus on those other rides
until it gets busy and then Ikind of have some Genie Plus
stacked and then in between thatI'll do the things like ride
the Mark Twain or go over toPirates Lair and run around in
the caves.
You know kind of doing some ofthose other things that don't

(44:19):
have as much of a line.
And then you know Peter Pan isthe same.
So I would skip that.
A lot of people would run toPeter Pan.
So basically you'll be going tothings that aren't necessarily
as busy.
Good, okay, yeah.
So what I would do is, as soonas I get in there, I would pick
which entrance you want to go toand if you do Jungle Cruise.
First thing in the morning theline is pretty much non-existent

(44:39):
because everybody's focusing onRise of the Resistance and
Indiana Jones and everything.

Danielle (44:44):
So Genie Plus what's the cost on top of like?
Does it change?

Robyn (44:49):
So it does so.
If you buy it with your ticket,it's like $30.
So you can buy it with yourticket when you purchase.
If you don't, then it has beenstaying pretty close to $30.
Recently I've never seen it goover $40.
So because you're only going tobe there two days, you're going
to want it for both days.
You probably just want topurchase it with your ticket.
Yeah, if you were going likethree or four days, I would say

(45:11):
it's better to purchaseindividually because you're not
going to need it for all fourdays, okay, and then we have
like a little tool to help youlook for lower prices, so
sometimes you can save a littlebit of money.
Honestly, we have that tool,but most of the time undercover
tourist is going to be thecheapest, yeah, and they allow
for refunds minus a 5% restockfee if you have to cancel your

(45:33):
trip.

Danielle (45:34):
Okay, wow, okay, that's amazing.
And then so we were thinkingabout is it worth it to do a VIP
tour?
We have to buy tickets.
With a VIP tour, the tourist isreally gaining you access to
everything without lines.

Robyn (45:47):
Yes, is that correct?
Okay, so a VIP tour can be alittle bit more valuable at
Disneyland because there are somany rides that don't have
lightning lanes.
Yeah, so, especially if youknew you wanted to do like all
of the fantasy land rides, youknow, I think it's most valuable
if you're going during peakpeak season.
So somebody's going only fortwo days this is a once in a
lifetime thing and they want togo during Christmas time, then

(46:10):
VIP tour is going to save them aton of time and lines.
They can't promise meet andgreet access, so you do get
preferred seating for likeparades and fireworks, but it is
pretty pricey.
So it's pricey enough you mightbe able to do a second trip to
Disneyland, correct, you know.
So it's something that I thinkcan have a lot of value.

(46:30):
If you have the money andyou're trying to avoid staying
in those lines, they're going todrop you off in the lightning
lanes for most of the rides.

Jeff (46:39):
Right.

Robyn (46:40):
So I would say, if it's like a really busy day and you
really want trying to do a lotof the rides that maybe don't
have that option.

Danielle (46:48):
Yeah, In our timeframe , kind of March, you know, is it
like a?
I don't think it's spring breakfor California, so yeah, I was
wondering that too.

Jeff (46:57):
Like, obviously March and April in Florida for Walt Disney
World are very busy.
It's like if we go, we go lateafternoon, we go to do one thing
.
We're not going to spend anentire day at a park because it
is spring break and so manypeople come to Florida for
spring break that is just a partof their holiday.
So does Disneyland experiencethat same kind of seasonal shift

(47:18):
and should be expected a verybusy period of time?

Robyn (47:21):
You should expect a busy period of time, but it won't be
like Christmas.
So, on a scale of one to 10, Iusually expect it to be
somewhere between like a six andan eight.

Danielle (47:32):
Okay, okay.

Robyn (47:34):
So Disneyland does this dynamic pricing thing where,
like on single days, some daysare $104 and some days like $189
for a one day ticket.
It can be a littleunpredictable, like sometimes
you'll go on a weekend and itwill be really quiet because a
lot of the passes are blockedout and the single day tickets
were expensive, and then, likeon a Tuesday, it might be really

(47:56):
busy because the passes aren'tblacked out and it was $104 for
a single day ticket.

Danielle (48:01):
Yeah, because we're kind of thinking either like a
Tuesday, Wednesday or Wednesday,Thursday.
We're going to try to go midday.

Robyn (48:06):
Yeah, that's usually going to be better because
Mondays can be pretty busybecause people try to add on a
day before or after.
Just make sure you take a lookand see whether the nighttime
spectacular will be availableduring that time period.
And there's a lot of reallycute shows.
They're into princesses.
There's like a storyteller showwhere Belle tells her story and

(48:26):
it's really funny and cute.
So there's some really fununique shows and there's some
things that are going to becopies.
We have Dapper Dan's and pianoplayers and marching bands and
all of that stuff.

Jeff (48:36):
Robyn, I don't think we talked about Haunted Mansion
when we were discussingattractions.
Haunted Mansion definitely isdifferent at Disneyland compared
to Walt Disney World, right?

Robyn (48:46):
Yes, so we don't have the staircase room.
For a while, our big thing wasthat we had the hat box ghost,
but now you guys are gettingyour hat box ghost.

Jeff (48:53):
We have it.
We did, we got a hat box ghost.

Robyn (48:55):
Yes, is it the same?

Danielle (48:56):
I think it is the same .

Robyn (48:59):
I haven't been to Disney World since they added to our
show.

Jeff (49:01):
We haven't seen it yet either, because they decided to
add it like peak season.
I'm like I'm not waiting inthat line.

Danielle (49:09):
We are entitled.
Annual pass folders is what Ithink about.

Robyn (49:13):
And Haunted Mansion does have a lightning lane.
Honestly, I think the biggestdifference is the exterior right
.
So, and then our elevatoractually goes down where yours
is a pretend elevator, right,you know.
So there are some differencesand same with pirates.
We have like two dips and likea longer period before you get
into, like the ship sink, sothere are some minor differences
on both of those rides.

(49:34):
You've seen a bunch of stuffabout the pirates, so Haunted
Mansion is definitely differentas well.
So I must have missed that one.
I apologize.

Danielle (49:41):
Okay, look at Jeff.

Jeff (49:42):
I'm doing my research.

Danielle (49:43):
I'm going to go to your website, though, and map
out everything, so I feel thestress.

Robyn (49:48):
I tried to put in in park magic, like the rides that say
like before after 10.
Those are the ones that aregoing to have like the longest
queue.

Danielle (49:55):
Right.

Robyn (49:56):
In the middle of the day, like Tiki room.
You can walk on whenever youwant.
The only thing that's differentis the seats and we have a
little fountain.
That's not really worth it, youknow.
So I think that you know, ifyou focus on those rides first
at California Adventure, youknow so much of it is included
in Genie Plus Now that mostlylike kind of like Luigi's and
Grolikin Roadsters are notincluded and like the carnival

(50:18):
rides aren't included, but mostof the things that you're really
interested in they'll haveGenie Plus.
The biggest thing is makingsure you stay on those return
times, even when you go to takeyour nap.
Keep booking the lightninglanes because you can always
modify them without resettingyour next time to book.
Okay, got it so excited.
I think you'll have a reallygreat time.

(50:39):
I think that you're really likeAvengers Campus.
I wish they had more rides inthere, but you know there's some
things that are really uniqueand fun.
There's so much nostalgia thatcomes with Disneyland being, you
know, the original park.
I really love it there.

Danielle (50:55):
Well, we're very excited.
We appreciate this.
This is amazing.
This is so helpful and I couldprobably give this speech about
Disney World not probably thisin depth but it is a little bit
overwhelming and like we'respending all this money.
You really just want to get themost out of that experience if
you're only going to do it once.
So I kind of feel this likepressure to I mean, my kids

(51:16):
probably don't, they don't care,they just want to have fun.

Robyn (51:18):
But as the planner in me you know, I think that you know,
if you just pick, like, theseare the three things that like I
have to get done.
Disneyland, I would probablysay that's Indiana Jones, big
Thunder, space and Matterhorn,yeah.
And then at CaliforniaAdventure, you know, racers,
guardians, web Slingers and inCredit Coaster, with Genie Plus,

(51:39):
even if it was a super busy day, especially if you're arriving
early, you will have no problemgetting those debt.
Awesome.

Danielle (51:46):
Yeah, perfect.

Robyn (51:47):
You know, and then did they have canoes in Disney World
.

Danielle (51:50):
I don't even know what that is.

Robyn (51:52):
Like okay.
So this is another one I justrealized I missed.
So the hours are really short,usually like 10 to two, and if
the park is not busy theysometimes they won't even open
the subtraction.
But they have the Davy Crockettcanoes and you get in an actual
canoe with an actual ore andyou actually paddle around the
rivers of America.
No way, yeah.
So it's a really fun likesometimes you get the captain of

(52:14):
the boat will be like reallyfun and make jokes, and
sometimes they are a little bitmore like let's just get around
the circle because, yeah, andthere's like 20 people rowing.
So I didn't do it for yearsbecause I was like I don't know
if I'm up for this physicalchallenge.
It's not right.
Yeah, and then when you'relooking for a break, like just
taking a ride around on thetrain, can?

Danielle (52:34):
be really fun.
Yeah, our son will love thattoo.
So, yeah, amazing.
I hope this was helpful at all.
I took two pages of notes andyes, I feel less nervous.
I have an idea.
I think Genie Plus it was likeit's just so foreign to us
because we don't use it.
So I think this is very helpfuland I think this will be
helpful for anyone like us whois, you know, making that leap.

(52:57):
I think what you said, likesetting yourself up for the
reality of like it's going to bedifferent, it's going to look
different, but, you know, we'reof the mentality that like it's
not one is better than the other.
They're just very different andwe want to make the most of our
experience.

Robyn (53:12):
There's pros and cons to both, and I think what you grew
up with is what you have themost nostalgia around, right?
One of the nice things is thatthe parks are so much smaller,
so everything feels a little bitmore crowded, but you also are
not walking nearly as far foreach attraction.
Yeah, because everything's likejammed right there.
It's like New York.

Danielle (53:29):
Right.

Robyn (53:30):
Texas right.

Danielle (53:31):
Yeah, yeah.
So that's good.
I think, you know, at the endof the day it's really about our
kids.
You know, they're little Disneyenthusiasts.
They watch all the shows.
They probably know more stuffthan we do because, you know, we
leave the room while the showsare playing.
Yeah, I think there for them tohave the experience is really
what it's all about, and likeimmerse themselves in the
beginning of Disney, you know,and so that's really what it's

(53:53):
all about.
Even though I am a superplanner and want to do all the
things and have it in a perfectorder, I think just having the
mentality like it's about themand having a great family time
experience and not getting toostressed out.

Robyn (54:05):
It's really easy to get so caught up in doing everything
that it becomes like where youdon't enjoy anything because
you're dragging people andyou're getting frustrated.
Why didn't you go to thebathroom when Susie went to the
bathroom?

Danielle (54:15):
Seriously, we know, we know, you know.
So, yes, it does feel like oncein a lifetime for us because,
like, it is the first time inour lifetime and we are not
young people anymore.
So, you know, for our kidsit'll hopefully be the first of
you know, many for them, butthis was incredible.
So thank you.

Robyn (54:34):
No problem, Just try to split it up.
One person's in charge of genie, One person's in charge of
navigating.
I find that that helps andbecause you're not as used to
the park, you know where younormally at home and you might
book genie plus as you'rewalking.
I would recommend that you stop, because sometimes it's easy
for you to not realize like infantasy land there's a lot of
characters that might roamaround a lot more than would be

(54:56):
at Disney World.

Danielle (54:57):
Yes.

Robyn (54:58):
And you could be booking genie plus and look up and your
kids have met Jasmine and youjust missed it.

Danielle (55:02):
Right, okay, so also start for genie plus.
So if we get it and our friendsget it, we can link all that
together, right?

Robyn (55:08):
Yes, so you're going to link all of your tickets
together.
One person can book all of them.
So I usually recommend that youkind of like pick like a genie
general and that person is incharge of the order and the
booking and that kind ofdeciding what rides to go to as
much as possible, and thenmobile order earlier, especially
for dinner, and a lot of thedining locations close around

(55:30):
nine.

Danielle (55:31):
Okay, yeah, we're early people, we are bakers.
So well I get, well, I'm gonnatime change.
I don't know so many things todeal with.

Robyn (55:39):
Yeah, so it'll be easier for you to get an early start
because you'll be coming.
Yes, yes, we'll be awake.
Yeah, just make sure you take anap because, yes, it's easy to
feel like we're not going to getit all if we don't take a nap,
but then you end up being doneat eight o'clock, right.

Danielle (55:52):
So, it's kind of backwards.
I got it.
I got it Also.

Robyn (55:55):
Well, thank you so much.
You know we've got to go toDisney World together.
I had so much fun.
I hope you have that much fun,or more when you go to
Disneyland.
Thank, you.

Danielle (56:02):
I think we're gonna have an amazing time.
Well, thanks for coming ontothe show.
Thank you, take care, thank you.

Introduction (56:09):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the
Park Magic podcast.
For more tips and planningtools designed to help simplify
your Disneyland adventure, visitParkMagiccom.
If you enjoyed today's episodeand want to hear more tips, be
sure to subscribe to the ParkMagic podcast.
Don't forget to leave us areview.
Your feedback helps us spreadthe magic even further.
Leaving a review could alsohelp you.

(56:30):
Each month, we will beselecting one reviewer to win a
one hour planning session withRobyn.
Winners will be announced atthe end of the first episode of
every month.
Thanks for tuning in andremember that we are here to
help you have a less stressfuland more magical trip to
Disneyland.