1-Day Disney California Adventure “Daily Trip Blueprint”

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLIJasOxofvaqtRzJSG15hTjoPKO9ktgW_3mQYm1JHNiivTE1TJT6YsIS8mKgMsEend5_er_IST8WiGZFqlQDyXTTzzv4HV9zAri2ZSXtMroOzVjAyRlwAu5uvUpLJwhsva4Vn3Yukf2wE/s1600/mickey-mouse-shorts-kitchen-sink-ice-cream-walt-disney-world-640x465.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLIJasOxofvaqtRzJSG15hTjoPKO9ktgW_3mQYm1JHNiivTE1TJT6YsIS8mKgMsEend5_er_IST8WiGZFqlQDyXTTzzv4HV9zAri2ZSXtMroOzVjAyRlwAu5uvUpLJwhsva4Vn3Yukf2wE/s1600/mickey-mouse-shorts-kitchen-sink-ice-cream-walt-disney-world-640x465.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> If you’re visiting Disneyland Resort, chances are that you will have one day to spend at Disney California Adventure, the park across the Esplanade from Walt Disney’s Original Magic Kingdom. If we had one day to enjoy at Disney California Adventure these are the attractions we would do, the restaurants where we’d dine, and the metaphorical roses we would stop to smell. <span style="color: #1a191a;">This post continues our series of single-day itineraries designed to answer the frequently asked question, “what would you do if you only had one day in ____ Disney park?” We call this series our “Daily Trip Blueprints,” or DTBs for short. </span><br /> These Daily Trip Blueprints aren’t touring plans or strategy guides for doing as much in a single day in Disney California Adventure as possible. In fact, if you follow this guide, you won’t come close to doing every single attraction in the park (just the ones we like best). However, as we view Disney California Adventure as the “atmosphere park” at Disneyland Resort, we think this is a good thing. Plus, a lot of attractions at DCA are off-the-shelf filler that are best skipped. Most park strategy guides focus solely on number of attractions, and totally ignore the great things that make Disney <em>Disney.</em> If you’re only after our ride ratings and reviews of each attractions, read our comprehensive <a href="http://www.disneytouristblog.com/best-disney-california-adventure-rides/">Best Disney California Adventure Attractions & Ride Guide</a> post. If you need comprehensive help for planning every aspect of your visit to Disneyland Resort, from where to purchase discount tickets to transportation from the airport and more, read our <strong><a href="http://www.disneytouristblog.com/disneyland-first-time-visit-2012/">Disneyland Resort Trip Planning Guide</a></strong>.<br /> Instead, this is a rough blueprint of our favorite things to do in an “ideal day” at <a href="http://www.disneytouristblog.com/disneyland-busy-crowd-times/">Disney California Adventure with low to moderate crowds (adjust expectations downward on busier days)</a>, and when you should do them for the ‘best experience,’ but not necessarily the most <em>efficient </em>experience. In other words, this strives to be subjective rather than objective. If you’re looking to develop a plan of attack for visiting attractions in the most efficient order, you should consult <a href="http://touringplans.com/disneyland-resort/touring-plans" target="_blank">TouringPlans.com for Disneyland</a>, which has years of experience and the statistical expertise in terms of “attraction order.”<br /> If budget is no issue, we recommend staying at <a href="http://www.disneytouristblog.com/disneys-grand-californian-hotel-spa-review/">Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel</a> for your visit. Note that we recommended <a href="http://www.disneytouristblog.com/disneyland-hotel-review/">Disneyland Hotel</a> in <a href="http://www.disneytouristblog.com/1-day-disneyland-plan/">our 1-Day Disneyland Plan</a>, and that’s because we think that hotel is a better “fit” for Disneyland. If you’re visiting both parks, we don’t recommend changing hotels…that would be excessive and unnecessarily time consuming. Staying at one of these hotels puts you in a good position to utilize Morning Extra Magic Hours to see more (make sure to consult the <a href="https://disneyland.disney.go.com/calendars/park-hours/" target="_blank">official Disneyland Calendar</a> to see when these are offered). Plus, these hotels have great location and are just flat out fun. If these hotels are outside of your budget, our pick is the Anaheim Desert Inn, an off-site hotel that is about a 10 minute walk from the parks.</div>

1-Day Disney California Adventure “Daily Trip Blueprint”

If you’re visiting Disneyland Resort, chances are that you will have one day to spend at Disney California Adventure, the park across the Esplanade from Walt Disney’s Original Magic Kingdom. If we …

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101 Delicious Disney World Dining Tips

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> There are a lot of restaurants at Walt Disney World and dining can be an important and fun part of any Disney trip. In fact, the single largest component of Walt Disney World vacation planning typically is (or at least should be) dining. Beyond just making “good” Advance Dining Reservations and purchasing the <a href="http://disneytouristblog.com/disney-dining-plan/" target="_blank">Disney Dining Plan</a>, there are a lot of things that can save you time and money, or improve your Walt Disney World experience just based on little decisions–or big ones–that you make with regard to where you eat at Walt Disney World.<br /> Many of you have loved our <a href="http://www.disneytouristblog.com/101-disney-world-best-tips/" target="_blank"><strong>101 Great Walt Disney World Tips</strong></a> post, and since dining is such a big thing, we thought we would see if we could follow that up with one <em>specific </em>to dining. This was no easy task. While there are literally 1,000 tips we could share based on our experiences eating at Walt Disney World, many of those would be hyper-specific, probably too specific, and thus not things we really thought would be good for more than a few slots on the list here and there.<br /> <div style="color: #1a191a;"> Rather than a list with tons of menu recommendations and things like that, we decided to come up with 101 random tips based upon our experiences in years of dining in nearly every restaurant at Walt Disney World that would be helpful to most readers. These tips consist of both fundamental, high level tips (like the necessity of making ADRs) and some more specific tips (like what to order for breakfast at Roaring Fork).</div> You’re going to find that some of these tips aren’t applicable to you–that’s probably a good thing, as following 100+ tips just relating to dining on a single Walt Disney World trip would probably take a bit of tenacity. You may also disagree with some of these tips, but such is the nature of such a list, which offers subjective tips.</div>

101 Delicious Disney World Dining Tips

There are a lot of restaurants at Walt Disney World and dining can be an important and fun part of any Disney trip. In fact, the single largest component of Walt Disney World vacation planning typi…

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Walt Disney World v. Universal Orlando

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <i><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiudIg97_FSUmHNdyILEHkqSn91uI2h33TE483_UzVhjJYDghN-OdD5lCcETvXC9JjIdZ2ZTVtVexGEtwkcE6MNV3eAQHxlGou_83S312h95QHd-5aYnvdOSFwteBPmJoREuPp5psMCUXrc/s1600/gringotts-dragon-close-up-fire-M.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiudIg97_FSUmHNdyILEHkqSn91uI2h33TE483_UzVhjJYDghN-OdD5lCcETvXC9JjIdZ2ZTVtVexGEtwkcE6MNV3eAQHxlGou_83S312h95QHd-5aYnvdOSFwteBPmJoREuPp5psMCUXrc/s1600/gringotts-dragon-close-up-fire-M.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></i></div> <i><b>walt Disney World. Universal Orlando Resort. Mickey Mouse. Harry Potter. The debate has raged since both entered the studios theme park scene in Orlando, and is hotter than ever with both Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida having opened Wizarding World of Harry Potter sections that have captured the attention of theme park fans and vacationers alike. In this battle royale between Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort, TWO THEME PARK RESORT COMPLEXES ENTER, ONLY ONE WILL LEAVE.</b></i> <br /> <i><b>Okay, actually, not really. The point of this post is not to engage in the typical fanboy arguing over which is better. That would be a fool’s errand. Chances are that you already have your favorite (and based on the skew of this site, I’m guessing I know which one that is for most of you), and no amount of impassioned text here is going to change anyone’s mind who is already entrenched in their belief. I will say that any supposed rivalry is mostly an artificial creation of theme park fans, and not something that actually exists between the parks themselves. Disney’s public position has been that “that a rising tide lifts all boats” and that a stronger Universal is beneficial to Disney. In other words, if you’ve ever thought that a visit to Universal Orlando would be tantamount to “betraying” Walt Disney World, banish the thought from your mind. Besides, these are for-profit, publicly-traded companies, not family members. You can’t “betray” them.</b></i><br /> <i><b> </b></i><i><b>None of this changes the fact that a bit of a rivalry does exist among theme park fans, and given that this post is on an unofficial <em>Disney </em>fan blog, you might very well be able to guess where our preferences lie. It would be nearly impossible for me to write an unbiased post pitting the two resort complexes in some kind of head to head battle. Instead, this post is written to compare and contrast Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando, to give those of you who haven’t recently visited both an idea of how you might want to allocate your vacation time in Orlando. Hopefully it’s reasonably fair in doing that. Ultimately, I think the two resort complexes are better as <em>complementary</em> destinations rather than competitive ones, so I don’t have much interest in that “battle,” anyway.</b></i><br /> <i><b> </b></i><i><b>Since returning from my first visit to Universal Orlando Resort in over a decade, I’ve already received a number of questions about whether Universal is “worth it?” That’s an incredibly loaded and subjective question, but I feel like this type of comparison post (with Walt Disney World as a baseline of sorts) is probably the best way to go about answering it. Given the sources of these questions, this post is going to assume some knowledge of Walt Disney World, so if you’re a first-time visitor planning your Orlando theme park vacation, you might need to supplement this post with our <a href="http://www.disneytouristblog.com/disney-world-trip-planning-guide/" target="_blank"><strong>Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide</strong></a>.</b></i><br /> <i><b> </b></i><i><b>The fact is, each complex brings a lot to the table, and has its strengths and weaknesses. For many of you, Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando might work well in tandem, and it might make a lot of sense for you to spend some time at each resort complex. For others of you, only one may hold any appeal due to your party’s demographics, advantages of staying on-site at one or the other, cost, or for a variety of other reasons.</b></i></div>

Walt Disney World v. Universal Orlando

walt Disney World. Universal Orlando Resort. Mickey Mouse. Harry Potter. The debate has raged since both entered the studios theme park scene in Orlando, and is hotter than ever with both Islands o…

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<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlRRL5B7HYMQ3D9BNcFwZFro-sNC7ERchwvHgyGNeUQZvEUdviGx9Fojm5sELPHLEHmFpZNdY8U0vKGgaXAbB47YG2anJbBraw1Y2N0w0gB-70UeKficOLGtfK3LiOqt-_E0RlK5G179Ej/s1600/DSC_6442+(2)-M.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlRRL5B7HYMQ3D9BNcFwZFro-sNC7ERchwvHgyGNeUQZvEUdviGx9Fojm5sELPHLEHmFpZNdY8U0vKGgaXAbB47YG2anJbBraw1Y2N0w0gB-70UeKficOLGtfK3LiOqt-_E0RlK5G179Ej/s1600/DSC_6442+(2)-M.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOH5NUGB1yxRqtFoOHGMSkcIbEaZq9K6M1z6XRdGs0esGJmlSp4sAZFxC3_yYZwctIZgv_5Sey0KeJqNp5Z9C9jig7wHll-JOSEzLZ9ojFregjoBF-Dq-jnv5aMWr4JJvXMj-nClDwuInp/s1600/empty-main-street-castle-framed-by-pumpkins-M.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOH5NUGB1yxRqtFoOHGMSkcIbEaZq9K6M1z6XRdGs0esGJmlSp4sAZFxC3_yYZwctIZgv_5Sey0KeJqNp5Z9C9jig7wHll-JOSEzLZ9ojFregjoBF-Dq-jnv5aMWr4JJvXMj-nClDwuInp/s1600/empty-main-street-castle-framed-by-pumpkins-M.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> Tucked away behind the Ice Cream Parlor on Main Street USA in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, the Plaza Restaurant is in what would seem to be a high traffic area, yet it never seems to be too busy–at least not when we’ve stopped by. Perhaps this is because it’s a high traffic area when people are entering and exiting the Magic Kingdom, and at those times, a table service meal isn’t crossing the minds of most guests. <a href="https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/magic-kingdom/plaza-restaurant/menus/" target="_blank">The Plaza Restaurant’s menu</a> consists of mostly American deli and soda-fountain classics, and is actually a lot like the Magic Kingdom’s version of <a href="http://www.disneytouristblog.com/beaches-and-cream-beach-club-kitchen-sink-review/" target="_blank">Beaches & Cream</a>.<br /> The Plaza Restaurant participates in the <a href="http://www.disneytouristblog.com/disney-dining-plan" target="_blank">Disney Dining Plan</a> as a one credit table service meal. It also accepts the <a href="http://www.disneytouristblog.com/tables-in-wonderland-card-review/" target="_blank">Tables in Wonderland card for a 20% discount</a>. We always pay out of pocket when dining here, <a href="http://www.disneytouristblog.com/dining-plan-table-service-top-value/" target="_blank">as this restaurant is a terrible value on the Disney Dining Plan (click to see top restaurants for maximizing your bang for buck on the Dining Plan)</a> because the restaurant is so inexpensive.<br /> In terms of ambiance, the Plaza Restaurant is basically a simplistic soda fountain with Victorian and Art Nouveau stylings. Its interior is very light and airy, with a lot of natural light plus some pretty, yet understated design flourishes. It’s not going to win any awards for being <a href="http://www.disneytouristblog.com/best-themed-disney-world-restaurants/" target="_blank">one of the best themed restaurants at Walt Disney World</a>, but I would definitely call its design intimate and charming. Plus, it’s fun when the Mayor stops in to entertain guests or sing ‘Happy Birthday</div>

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Tucked away behind the Ice Cream Parlor on Main Street USA in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, the Plaza Restaurant is in what would seem to be a high traffic area, yet it never seems to be too b…

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Best Days for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <i><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZyI3FtFXcKCeIzXj_LunGuDeZ4DErF4hmmHghwuYXHtvVhGp4sODqmEDS7Itk1_r6uIUC2WpE2HldVdVZHPu4Bods2o1qwDR4QY030RYY5AdbYzp1JpcUojDDVcPhQ2Fc6CObWPc__WRp/s1600/france-sunset-bricker-M.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZyI3FtFXcKCeIzXj_LunGuDeZ4DErF4hmmHghwuYXHtvVhGp4sODqmEDS7Itk1_r6uIUC2WpE2HldVdVZHPu4Bods2o1qwDR4QY030RYY5AdbYzp1JpcUojDDVcPhQ2Fc6CObWPc__WRp/s1600/france-sunset-bricker-M.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></i></div> <i><b>With Halloween season at Walt Disney World on us already, some of you have asked us which days are least crowded at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party? While we have not attended every single Halloween party at Walt Disney World ever, this is somewhat easy to figure out with a bit of deductive reasoning plus past experience. For 2014, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party occurs multiple dates starting in the beginning of September through Halloween night in October. Unsurprisingly, Halloween is always the busiest night of the party, but if you have other options, when should you attend?</b></i><br /> <i><b> </b></i><i><b>In an ideal world, we would recommend attending a party in early to mid-September on a Tuesday night. Our reasoning for this is because we have observed that there are generally two rules for how busy Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party will be: 1) Tuesday nights are historically the least crowded and Friday nights are the most crowded; and, 2) The parties get progressively busier the closer you get to Halloween season.</b></i><br /> <i><b> </b></i><i><b>We consider these fairly hard and fast rules because locals/Annual Passholders don’t want to take their kids to the Halloween party on a school night, and because they actually start <em>thinking </em>about Halloween when you get closer to Halloween. Basically, tourists go to the parties on whatever night they feel like going (they’re on vacation, it’s all the same to them), but locals who could go any night of the season choose more carefully, and tip the scales in terms of crowded-ness. We’ve found that October is also slightly more crowded (in general, not just the parties) than September, which probably adds to it. Still, they are both two of the best months of the year in terms of crowds.</b></i><br /> <i><b> </b></i><i><b>Tourists generally don’t have the same luxury of picking and choosing nights, having only a few days from which to choose during their trips. But locals with the entire calendar in front of them want to get dressed up and take their kids later on weekend nights, once Halloween is actually on their radar and they have made costumes. Plus, locals know that Florida is still hot and humid in September, and typically cooler in October, making those bulky or ornate costumes more feasible later in the season. <a class="more-link" href="http://www.disneytouristblog.com/least-crowded-mickeys-scary-halloween-party-dates/#more-12718">(more…)</a></b></i><br /> <i><b><br /></b></i></div>

Best Days for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

With Halloween season at Walt Disney World on us already, some of you have asked us which days are least crowded at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party? While we have not attended every single Ha…

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Visiting Disney World

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <i><b>September is a great month to visit Walt Disney World thanks to improved weather, lower crowds, and fun seasonal events. It’s the first full month of school being back in session, and crowds essentially drop off a cliff after the Labor Day holiday and stay low the duration of the month. In our experience, it’s arguably the best month of the year in terms of crowds (check out our <a href="http://www.disneytouristblog.com/when-to-visit-disney-world/" target="_blank">When To Visit Walt Disney World</a> post for the best and worst months of the year) and while every park isn’t going to be “dead” every day of the week, if you plan well, you can really avoid crowds during a September Walt Disney World visit. That also means shorter <a href="http://media.disneywebcontent.com/staticfiles/parkhours/wdwtravelagent_september.pdf" target="_blank">September park hours</a>, but you can’t really argue with accomplishing more in less time.</b></i><br /> <i><b> </b></i><i><b>In terms of weather, September is better than the July and August, but early in the month it can still be pretty hot and humid. It’s also the height of hurricane and storm season, so you may want to consult our <a href="http://www.disneytouristblog.com/disney-world-storms/" target="_blank">Visiting Walt Disney World During Storm Season</a> article to navigate the afternoon showers (or worse) without them putting too much of a damper on your trip. Things get better towards the end of the month both in terms of humidity and storms, so your best bet is definitely to hold off on visiting until later in the month if you can. Just remember to <a href="http://www.disneytouristblog.com/what-to-pack-for-disney/" target="_blank">pack accordingly</a>, bringing the <a href="http://amzn.to/Wldjgi" target="_blank">Frogg Toggs</a> for the humidity…and ponchos for the rain so you don’t spend $179 on them at Walt Disney World. You can view day-by-day temperature and weather forecasts plus historical averages for Walt Disney World weather in September <a href="http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/orlando-fl/32801/september-weather/328169" target="_blank">here</a>.</b></i><br /> <i><b> </b></i><i><b>September is also great for special events. To answer a common question: yes, you will see Halloween decorations if you visit Walt Disney World in September. <em>Any </em>day in September (this year decorations started going up August 24). Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is offered throughout September, and most of the <a href="http://www.disneytouristblog.com/least-crowded-mickeys-scary-halloween-party-dates/" target="_blank">best dates for attending Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party</a> are in September. It’s a really fun hard-ticketed event that we fully believe is worth doing at least once. If you’re considering attending and want to know whether it’s worth it or you’ve already decided to attend and want some tips and strategy for the party, read our <a href="http://www.disneytouristblog.com/mickeys-not-so-scary-halloween-party-review-tips/" target="_blank">Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party Guide</a>.</b></i><br /> <i><b> </b></i><i><b>The end of the month also brings with it Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival, which is a great way to graze and sample different cuisines, or attend instructive seminars, or other foodie special events. It’s also a great way to lighten your wallet, as it is very easy to spend a lot of money at Food & Wine Festival on these small samples. Especially if you buy booze: not only can you spend a lot <em>on </em>the drinks, but the drinks might cause you to relax your credit card swiping hand and use it more freely on snacks. Not that we know from experience or anything. Check out our <a href="http://www.disneytouristblog.com/epcot-food-wine-festival-guide-tips/" target="_blank">Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival Guide</a> for more tips and tricks for this event.</b></i></div>

Visiting Disney World

September is a great month to visit Walt Disney World thanks to improved weather, lower crowds, and fun seasonal events. It’s the first full month of school being back in session, and crowds essent…

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