Your first time in DCA

[Noogie]

My husband and I lined up at 4:30 am (on Main Street in Disneyland) to go to the opening of DCA. We got to meet some of the original Mouseketeers (being a Lawrence Welk show fan, I had my picture taken with Bobby Burgess) and got his autograph and also Buddy Ebsen's autograph. I remember going on Grizzly Rapids and it was a very cold day and I got soaked. I was freezing all day, but it was fun. How many times will I get to be at the opening of a Disney theme park? It has very special memories for us. We've always loved DCA since we were there at its grand opening. My favorite rides are TOT and Soarin' Over California.

[Grumpy38]

My firt time I was 19 years old. The park had not yet opened and we were staying at the California Grand my brother and I raced in when we could early entrance and did Screaming we loved it of course. Then we went to the Mali Boomer. We thought this was a free fall ride little did we know it was a reverse free fall. Then we realized this park was geared toward my age group at the time. The rest of the morning we spent on Screaming, Mali Boomer, And GRR. We of course spent some time in Disneyland that afternoon. That evening we returned and there was no line for GRR, mind that is in part due to the fact that it was December. So we rode GRR 13 times, after the 13th time we raced back to the hotel to change, where our family took countless pictures of the soaked boys. It was a great time. The last ride we did that trip was Soaring which left a great taste in our mouth. Little did we know that nothing would be updated or made better except for Tower. Nor did we realize that 7 years later we would be family men who wanted more family rides not as much thrill. First experience Awesome then the slide down the mountain occured.

[Mr_Incredible]

Hopefully my first time to DCA will be early next year. Yes, I said 'will be' since the last time I was at the DLR was almost eight years ago (it'll be 8 full years in two weeks and a day), back when DCA was still a construction site.

[Brain Toad]

My first and only time was in June of 06. It was my first time back at Disneyland in more than 10 years. I had heard some of the bad talk of DCA, but not enough to go in with a negative outlook. I enjoyed it just fine, I never expected it to be near what Disneyland was, but I still had a good time. I was confused about certain theming choices and we never did spend a whole day there. We meant to spend our entire 2nd there, but ended up going back to Disneyland after an afternoon break. The best part of DCA for me was seeing the Electrical Parade, which I missed terribly in the 10 years I was gone, especially since I wasn't there for the last days.

[sunrider]

the first time i was there..TOT was under construction.my friend turned me on to its tough to be a bug..and while i enjoyed the show iall i thought after exiting this interactive 3d film on steroids(blows HISTA away).i looked back and said to my friend.."Thats a great attraction to bad its stuck hidden.if they arent careful it wouldgo the way of the country bears..
loved screamin,loved soarin ,grizzly river run was good to,i didnt get thethrill of rideing superstar limos..(but later i rode monster inc and found out that they basicly replaced superstar with that),over all i enjoyed the park..not as much as disneyland of course,but it was diffrent...kind of 6 flags meets santa cruz..

[NYMO]

I visited DCA just a few months after opening, and I left rather satisfied and impressed..

We didn't check out much while there, completely skipping Bountiful Valley Farm (or it's a bug land now) and the entire Wharf area..
heck, I didn't even go on anyParadise Pier attractions (except jumpin jellyfish strangely.. oh, and the sunwheel) or even GRR..
(never been on screamin or grizzly river run until, gee, this year actually!)

What we did do was the Animation building (great place overall in my book, but with the replacement of the animation show with mushu, it gets a couple points off now, but sorta redeems itself with crush.. kinda..), Muppet*Vision (back when the screens above the main one actually showed fireworks, also first time on it since i haven't been to wdw at the time), the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail (had loads of fun there), the bizzare Eureak! parade (walking golden gate bridge, enough said), Golden Dreams (wonderful potrayal of california history), and lastly, Soarin', which remains my most favorite Disney attraction ever.


I felt that the park had some potential, but overall, I had fun, and that's what matters the most (keeping in mind i was on the way to becoming a teenager back then.. wow, it's really been that long?)..

[sailerm]

June 2005 was my first (and probobly only) visit to DCA.
If this park had been built by Six Flags in Iowa, it may have been deserving of better praise, but given it's location and pedigree it falls short in almost every aspect in my mind. We were in Walt's park most of the morning, until the crowds became overbearing as the 50th had just kicked off. We decided to go have a look-see at DCA to avoid the afternoon rush. Needless to say lack of shade or decor drove us back to the real Disneyland.

We were there just long enough to see Muppet Vision 3D, and Tower of Terror

[PumpkinKing!]

My first visit was a preview night befor it opened to the public I believe. I went in said hi to a friend rode one ride. Yeah I wasnt a fan back then... actually for a long time. I grew to love it because it was less crowded, my friends and I saw its potential and at times prefer it to DL.

[RenMan]

We still love it. The reason we got AP's was because of DCA. I would not by one just for DL.

I can't imagine feeling that way, but I think it's great that there are people who do. You know, I think it's pretty near impossible to judge the park out of the context of it being right next door to the granddaddy of all theme parks, the center of the theme park universe! My assessment agrees with most of those here, that DCL lacked the alluring, immersive theming that we really want to find, but I have to admit that I was really impressed by Soarin'. In fact, I might have to admit that it's my favorite of all the Disney rides/attractions I've ever been on. It helps that I too was on the first row for my first ride. I also really like the animation building, and the Alladin show is really well done.

I had already been pre-disposed to dislike the park before I even showed up. It's hard to guess what I would have thought if I had known nothing going into it. One thing's for sure: I certainly wouldn't have liked Paradise Pier with or without the pre-conditioning.

I think Uzmati summed it up pretty well:

DL is classic and fantastic and I'll always love it but it's a park from a different time hbuilt by a different class of dreamer how wouldn't be restricted by cost and technical dificulties, simply overcome them. DCA was built by limited dreamers on a limited budget more to increase quarterly profits than actually entertain so, yes, it has it's flaws.

I think if I had ever stayed in the GCH, I'd be more predisposed to think good thoughts of the sister park. Here's another thought: how enchanted would we be with Oct. 1955 Disneyland if we were there after all the TV hype it had received? Obviously the theming is better, but there wasn't near as much to do as there is now.

If DCA were near me to where I could go easily, I'd be there all the time. Put it another way, I wouldn't want to visit DLR without being able to enter DCA. I love all of the sheepish admissions of fondness for the park by people who didn't know they were supposed to hate it!

My first time in DCA was during one of the previews for corporate partners. And our very first ride was Superstar Limo.

You know, they goofed pretty badly to put Superstar Limo so close to the entrance.

[The Disneylander]

First time in 2004, ToT had not yet opened, but was doing soft openings. I quite enjoyed it, absolutely adored Soarin-and still do. Went on GRR, everything at the Pier, the Hyperion Theater, and Muppets. Oh yeah, Tough to be a Bug also.

I have, and always will, like DL over DCA. However, DCA does have its own merits. It's just sad to think about what could've been.

[IdahoMike]

[quote=GhostHost2;2067563]I thought the Playhouse Disney building caught on fire when it was the ABC Soap Opera Bistro. Anyone have more details on this fire?

We were standing in line for Playhouse Disney when you could smell smoke, and all of a sudden flames started shooting out of the message board on the outside of the building, and they shut it down for quite a few days, so I know there was at least one fire while it was Playhouse Disney. Not sure if there was another fire when it was the Soap Opera Bistro.

[Nancy Carey]

My first visit was in the Spring of 2004. I had read lots about how awful DCA was, so my expectations were low-- but I liked it okay. I think the Hollywood section is really cute and my kids love Bugsland. I don't like Paradise Pier anymore than the rest of you, but Soarin' is also one of my favorites. I have lived in California all my life and I LOVE CA! So there is part of me that likes DCA for all of the tributes to CA, a state I am proud to call my home.

As far as my first visit itself? We went there on the last day of our trip and the weather had reached over 100 degrees. We were there for the first time with our kids who were 3 and 1 1/2 at the time, so scorching weather, tired feet and little kids who didn't have much to do meant we cut our trip short and didn't spend more than a few hours in the park. I think all visits since then have had nowhere to go but up! As time has passed we have found more to enjoy in the park, but we are never there for more than part of a day-- we reserve most of our time for my home away from home-- Disneyland!