California Theme Parks – Disneyland Or Universal

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When I was younger I never went to amusement parks. My parents weren’t really ones for theme parks, so our vacations were usually more around visiting historical sites and places. I am so grateful for that as I now have a good appreciation for places I visit, but part of me was always curious about the likes of Disneyland. So when my boyfriend Jeff and I planned a week in Los Angeles we wanted to hit up the California theme parks. It was February and we were sick of the cold, rainy winters that Vancouver gets. We were going in search of sun. The idea of visiting Disneyland or Universal Studios came up, and we couldn’t decide which one…so we did both.

Disneyland California theme parks

First things first, if you’re going to Los Angeles, Disneyland should be a must do activity. It’s one of the ultimate California theme parks. But before you go, remember that Disneyland is in Anaheim, and you’ll be better off staying out there around your Disney adventure. We planned a full day in Disneyland so booked a night in Anaheim either side. We stayed at the Holiday Inn in Garden Grove and took the Anaheim Resort Transportation bus to and from the park. It cost $5 so wasn’t too badly priced. You can stay closer to the park with hotels that are more Disney themed, but we were trying to keep the cost down and all we cared about was getting to Disneyland. Plan your trip to Anaheim here.

Also worth noting that there are two parks, Disneyland Park and California Adventure Park. You can get a multi park ticket but with only one day we decided to concentrate on the one park so chose Disneyland. I wanted more of a classic Disney experience and figured this would be the best choice.

 What time should you get to Disneyland?

Disneyland opens at 8am, but if you’re staying in one of the resort hotels you can get in an hour earlier than the general public. We were still there well before 8am to be ready. We’d bought our tickets online in advance, so just had to go to the kiosk first to pick our official ticket up. Already there were hundreds of people forming dozens of lines. We’d heard this would be the case, hence the early arrival.

Other than a little queuing, it was a pretty smooth process. The bus picked us up from our hotel, dropped us off at the park, we had our tickets and waited until opening time. We were surrounded by over-excited kids, and I was trying my hardest to contain my excitement in an adult kind of way. But there are no adults at Disneyland, only kids and big kids. Embrace it, and you’ll have the best day ever.

Planning your day at Disneyland

8am hit, the gates opened and hundreds of people started pouring into the happiest place on Earth. I was like a kid at…well, Disneyland. All that time queuing and we didn’t even have a game plan. Rookie mistake. Disneyland is an overwhelming experience to begin with. It’s bright, loud and busy (as were both of the California theme parks). You can easily get swept up in everything and not get to experience it the way you want to. We took a moment to get our bearings, consulted the map, and decided on a starting point. Heading up Main Street we got to the central part of the park, finally greeted by Walt Disney and his most famous creation, Mickey Mouse.

Using Disneyland FASTPASS

California theme parks are not the cheapest so you have to know this going in. Unlike Universal Studios though, there is only one type of ticket for Disneyland. You don’t have to pay more for a front of the line pass, but you do have the option of a FASTPASS for many of the more popular rides. Each ride that has this FASTPASS option, has a machine out front. You put your ticket into the machine, and you’ll be given a ticket with a window of time you should be back to that ride. When you go back at your given time, you skip the big line and get in much quicker. 

Some of the rides have a longer wait, so you have to check out the times out front before you get the FASTPASS. Otherwise you’ll end up with the same 20 minute time slot for 5 rides. Overall it’s a great system, and bonus points to Disney for not charging extra for the service. We used FASTPASS with great success for the day, and I think the longest we waited for any ride was 15 minutes. We went to some of the ones with the longest waits, got our FASTPASS ticket, then went to others while we waited.

Remember to take a reusable water bottle with you on your travels, like this one from FastTech

Early season closures – pick your time of year

We took our trip in February. The great news was that it’s wasn’t overly busy at that time of year. The weather was still nice enough – I mean it is Southern California. But one thing we didn’t bank on was that Disneyland had a few of the rides closed for the off season. I’m not sure how long they were closed for but some of the ones we first went to were all closed: Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Matterhorn Bobsleds. I get that rides have to be maintained, and the off season is probably the best time to do it. But it was a little disappointing. Especially since they were some of the first rides we went to so we weren’t off to a great start.

The rides at Disneyland

Disneyland Park is split up into different areas (colour coded to help you not get lost). If you’re not with kids you can probably avoid Mickey’s Toontown. We walked all the way there to find it was mostly for pretty young kids. It was a long walk there and back so kind of wasted time. We also did that later in the day so already tired at that point.

One of the rides I wanted to do the most was Indiana Jones Adventure. I’ve loved those movies since I was a kid. This was one of the first places we went to. We got our FASTPASS, and while we were waiting, we took the Jungle Cruise. It was a kind of lazy river boat ride, probably more for kids. One of the original park rides from 1955, it was still a good way to kill some time. Indiana Jones though, was amazing. It took a while to weave around the barriers to get to the front of the line, but it was worth it. The ride was exciting and brings back all those memories of the movies. 

Between FASTPASS time slots we walked around Sleeping Beauty’s castle and walked through the endless supply of gift shops in the park. We then did the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad which was a lot of fun, if not a little rickety. I think this was our shortest wait of the day too.

Lunch Break and the Disneyland parade

There are lots of places to eat in Disneyland. Let’s face it, they are never going to be cheap, and they’re not all the best quality either. Most are cafeteria style places but you just need a quick stop to fuel up and get moving with the rest of the day. In a land of burgers and giant turkey legs, I just needed something passable as vegetarian. We ended up at Rancho del Zocalo in Frontierland for burritos, which was enough for me.

After lunch we wandered back to the central point of the park around the Disney/Mickey statue and saw the big Disneyland parade. Every Disney character you can imagine was there, led by Mickey and Minnie, and it was fantastic. Up until this point we had been too busy running from ride to ride that we hadn’t really seen any of the characters. The parade was about as Disney as you can get!

Tomorrowland to the Bayou

Tomorrowland is where you’ll find more of the space related, and some newer rides. We spent a lot of time here. I’m not a big Star Wars fan but even I have to admit that Star Tours was a good ride. Space Mountain might be the best ride though. Such a good roller coaster, it was amazing. From Tomorrowland also take the Disneyland Monorail, a really cool ride around the park so you can see everything.

Walking back through the park we then went to New Orleans Sqaure. Originally heading in search of the Pirates of the Caribbean, we settled for a stroll through the streets of New Orleans and some beignets. Mickey shaped, powdered sugar dusted, light and fluffy beignets were probably the best thing in my afternoon. If you’re tired from a day of walking around the park but someone suggests walking to New Orleans Square, don’t pass it up.

California theme parks character meets

Walking back up Main Street we took a look in the many shops along the way. In one of them, we found a bakery so naturally I had to get a Mickey cookie and some candy. It’s unbelievable how many Mickey Mouse shaped snacks you can ingest in one day, but the sugar rush will keep you going.

Every time we saw a character I thought about getting my photo with them. Usually a rush of kids would put me to the back of the line, and the “am I too old for this?” thoughts would keep me there. But nothing was going to stand between me and Pluto. He’s my favorite Disney character and when I saw him posing for photos I made my way up. I think my face says it all.

I loved my day at Disneyland. It is one of the more wholesome of the California theme parks. The day was long as there’s so much to see, like sensory overload (and sugar overload). I was really excited about getting to see Universal Studios though. Book your private transfer to Anaheim through Viator.

Universal Studios, Hollywood

Disneyland was fun. It was iconic and wholesome (no alcohol is served in Disneyland Park). It was full of wide-eyed kids, and adults who were thrown back to childhood with every character or ride they encountered. But it was time for our next of the California theme parks. Universal Studios. It was big, bold and Hollywood all the way. I loved it.

Getting there, tickets and all the boring stuff

Again it depends on where you are staying in Los Angeles, because it’s such a hugely spread out city. There is a Metro station stop at Universal City, and a shuttle service you can take to the main entrance for Universal Studios. That’s what we did. But then at the end of our day we we took an Uber because it had been a long day and I couldn’t be bothered figuring out transit.

Unlike Disneyland you do have to pay extra to get front of line passes for Universal Studios. I wasn’t really sure what to do. But we were going on a Thursday in February so I took a chance that it wouldn’t be too busy, and opted for just general tickets. As it turned out the gamble paid off. We saved about $150 on two tickets, and we didn’t wait longer than about 15 minutes for any ride. Well, one exception – the Studio tour was a long wait, probably about 40 minutes. We lucked out, but if you’re going on a weekend or at a busier time of year you might want to invest int he front of line pass. We bought our General Admission tickets in advance from Viator to save time.

Harry Potter mania

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter had been open for less than a year when we went. It was the busiest of any other area in the California theme parks we’d visited. Everything I read online told us to head there straight away so we wouldn’t be disappointed. As a huge Harry Potter fan, I’m so glad we took that advice because it did get much busier later in the day. Charging through Universal Studios to Hogsmeade we encountered the Hogwarts Express. Stopping for a quick photo, we then hurried along to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.

We made our way through the castle, passing all of the castle’s famous inhabitants and all of the rooms you’ve read about. The ride itself was amazing. With your feet dangling, you are following Harry on a journey around the castle (inside and out) and meeting a whole host of magical creatures. Our first ride made me think it couldn’t get any better, but Universal Studios doesn’t disappoint.

We went to Ollivanders to check out the wand choosing ceremony, made a stop at Honeydukes for some sweets and did some shopping at Dervish and Banges. I was well and truly in my element.

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Love Harry Potter? Read about the Harry Potter beer festival I attended in Seattle.

Life finds a way…

My favourite movie is Jurassic Park. I saw it for the first time when it was released. I was 10 years old and I think my Mum is still mad at my Dad for taking me to it and downplaying what kind of movie it was. And that was it, I’ve loved dinosaurs ever since. So now we’re at Universal Studios, the next stop had to be the Jurassic Park ride. With a Steven Spielberg signed cement block and plaque outside the ride, I was already giddy. We got onto this ride in so little time that we did it twice. It was so good. At the end when you check out the photos of everyone’s face as the T-Rex tries to eat you, mine is the only one with a grin from ear to ear.

Unfortunately this ride just closed so I’m glad I got to experience it when I did. In 2019 they will be opening a Jurassic World ride in an attempt to keep the rides relevant to the changing franchise.

Transformers, Mummies and Zombies

After Jurassic Park we went on the Revenge of the Mummy ride. At one point on the ride you encounter a million “beetles” rushing towards you. As with any bugs I immediately lifted my feet to get away from them. But someone thought of that and behind your feet there were little hanging rubber strips that would tickle your feet. Mini-freak out over, I was then thrown for a loop when the ride almost hit a wall, then started the whole thing again in reverse. Such an amazing ride.

With our fair share of thrilling rides, we made our way back towards where we first entered the park, stopping to say “Hi” to Megatron along the way. We ended up in Atlanta, at the start of the Walking Dead attraction. Entering a deserted hospital seemed like a great idea until we got inside. We came out the other side with a few more grey hairs and a little less colour in our cheeks. This ain’t Disneyland anymore. Grabbing some food along the way, we quickly set out to explore the rest of the park.

Springfield to Amity Island

Although we didn’t make time for a beer at Moe’s Tavern, we took a walk through Springfield to meet some of the Simpson’s characters. Leaving Bart, Krusty and co. we queued up for for too long to take the Studio Tour. But it was really worth the wait. The tour takes about an hour taking you from set to set, past the dressing room of Alfred Hitchcock, through the Streets of New York, and past the Bates Motel. We stopped for a quick fight between King Kong and a dinosaur, and experienced an earthquake and a flash flood. Then we watched in horror as Jaws tried to attack the beautiful town of Amity Island, only to end up in a fiery ball of flames.

The tour was really well done, and gets you fully immersed in the movie set experience. You’ll probably end the ride a little shaken and a little damp, but definitely glad you went. As you make your way around the tour, you’ll see movie posters everywhere. All from movies made by Universal, and many from your favourite movies.

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A butterbeer for the road

The studio tour took up a good chunk of the afternoon. We had walked around the park so many times, and taken a lot of rides. Although we hadn’t done all the rides and could have spent more time, I think I it was time to go. We stopped at Hogsmeade one more time to say goodbye. The Three Broomsticks pub was pretty full, but luckily there was a cart outside selling butterbeer. The most sickly sweet, but delicious drink you could ever have, butterbeer has to be a meal in a glass. Make sure you share it, because you probably won’t be able to drink the whole thing yourself. It’s delicious though.

We walked through to the park entrance, and then checked out some of the dozens of shops outside the park. We went to a restaurant on the main street and had a good meal. It had been a long day with not a lot of food, so I was really in need of something. The traffic getting out of Universal, even at 7pm was nuts. Maybe the metro would have been a better idea.

California theme parks – Disneyland or Universal Studios?

That’s the big question. Well some people seem to be very divisive on this, like a theme park version of Coke or Pepsi (Coke all the way). They are very different places. Disneyland is classic and family friendly, iconic and nostalgic. Universal is new, shiny, bold and beautiful. But why should you have to choose. They are both amazing theme parks, and if you’re in Los Angeles for a number of days, why not do them both? Start planning your trip to Los Angeles here.

Having a new found excitement for amusement rides after visiting these California theme parks, I would love to visit Orlando and do the other versions of these parks. I would definitely go back to them both again. Universal for me probably has more to do and see that I would be interested in, but I still love anything Disney and it really is one of the places you can just be happy all day long. Especially with the FASTPASS. Buy your front of line tickets to Universal here for your own California theme park adventure.

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please leave a comment below or share it on social media. Which of these parks did you enjoy the most? What were your favorite attractions?