We arrived bright and early on Jan 26th (read 6:45 am) dropped our bags at the Bellman and did early check in. Although I had given the names and age of our teenage guest on the reservations (2 adults and 1 (teenager) 15) to member services as well as the fact we were celebrating the 15th birthday on the reservation with member services, the front desk did not seem to have any record of any of this information. We also were told that Villa rooms were the last rooms ready at the hotel "due to taking extra magic to clean" and the room would be ready between 4pm and 5pm. We were sent a text message at almost exactly 4pm that our room was ready. The room was clean , however, they could use some better lighting. Since we were using the pull out bed and had registered for 3 guests at the time we made the reservation 7 months ago , I expected we would have extra blankets for it. We did not. The one extra blanket provided in the closet wrapped in plastic was soiled. It appeared as if a previous guest had used it and put it away and housekeeping did not check to see if it was clean. To their credit, we called to the housekeeping and they switched out the blankets and resolved the issue quickly within about 20 minutes. We had studio villa 1520 which is ground floor with a view of the fenced wall between the hotel and DCA, over near the Goofy's Sky School. I liked being on the first floor, I was a bit bummed by the view though, oh well. The Grand Cali entrance into DCA was also closed for refurbishment starting Monday Jan 27th not sure how long that is going to be closed.
The pools at DGC were all open and really clean, well cared for, with plenty of lifeguard staff, however, no cocktail service that I saw (maybe due to off season?) I texted my hubs to bring me a drink
We had 7 am early magic hours on Sunday at DCA this was great! There were very few folks in the park, and we were able to ride Tower of Tower back to back in the same car , only 5 riders , that was a highlight! Radiator Springs Racers was closed all day Tuesday and until noon on Wednesday. Luckily, we had gotten plenty of rides in on Sunday/Monday. We loved the Carsland area and enjoyed DCA in general. They were showing World of Color at 815pm, however, we missed it every night. Not sure exactly why, we just never saw it. O, we also got two free Churro Cones right near closing at the Cozy Cone, she was closing down and had just made them. Lucky us, they were delicious.
Splash moutain and Thunder Mtn Railroad were notable closures at Disneyland, as was It's a small World. Overall crowds were low with no really long wait times except at Peter Pan and some other Fantasyland rides. I agree, the castle seemed small compared to the one at Magic Kingdom. We had fun on the Disneyland Railroad, Star Tours, Space Mtn , and Pirates. The Dole Whip stand near the TIKI ROOM is/was closed for refurbishment so there was no where to buy a Dole Whip in all of Disneyland, disappointing. We had a great lunch at the New Orlean's Cafe Sunday, thankfully we had a reservation, they were busy. The service was excellent there and we all enjoyed our meals!!! We had the Crescent City Salad with Salmon, Veggie Ragout with blackened chicken, 3 Cheese Monte Cristo and pomme frites! The berry compote with the cristo was awesome.
There are lots of closed off areas in the New Orleans Square due to refurbishment of CLUB33. We also saw several "Disney suits" around this area everytime we were in it.
In general, I enjoyed the parks and the Grand Cali was beautiful, however, it was missing some of that "Disney Magic."
The pools at DGC were all open and really clean, well cared for, with plenty of lifeguard staff, however, no cocktail service that I saw (maybe due to off season?) I texted my hubs to bring me a drink
We had 7 am early magic hours on Sunday at DCA this was great! There were very few folks in the park, and we were able to ride Tower of Tower back to back in the same car , only 5 riders , that was a highlight! Radiator Springs Racers was closed all day Tuesday and until noon on Wednesday. Luckily, we had gotten plenty of rides in on Sunday/Monday. We loved the Carsland area and enjoyed DCA in general. They were showing World of Color at 815pm, however, we missed it every night. Not sure exactly why, we just never saw it. O, we also got two free Churro Cones right near closing at the Cozy Cone, she was closing down and had just made them. Lucky us, they were delicious.
Splash moutain and Thunder Mtn Railroad were notable closures at Disneyland, as was It's a small World. Overall crowds were low with no really long wait times except at Peter Pan and some other Fantasyland rides. I agree, the castle seemed small compared to the one at Magic Kingdom. We had fun on the Disneyland Railroad, Star Tours, Space Mtn , and Pirates. The Dole Whip stand near the TIKI ROOM is/was closed for refurbishment so there was no where to buy a Dole Whip in all of Disneyland, disappointing. We had a great lunch at the New Orlean's Cafe Sunday, thankfully we had a reservation, they were busy. The service was excellent there and we all enjoyed our meals!!! We had the Crescent City Salad with Salmon, Veggie Ragout with blackened chicken, 3 Cheese Monte Cristo and pomme frites! The berry compote with the cristo was awesome.
There are lots of closed off areas in the New Orleans Square due to refurbishment of CLUB33. We also saw several "Disney suits" around this area everytime we were in it.
In general, I enjoyed the parks and the Grand Cali was beautiful, however, it was missing some of that "Disney Magic."
