julieheyer
Crazy for the Mouse!
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2009
We were just at Disneyland on Saturday (second day of the Christmas decor) and loved it! I am a planner, and had lots of ideas of what I wanted our special day to be like, but the day before I came down with a vicious stomach bug! It was awful! We’d planned this amazing visit to DL, my oldest daughter and her bf took the train in for the weekend from college, we drove our 2 babies and teen daughter out to Ca., had our matching shirts all ready to go...and the great Disney planner is sick as a dog! 
But, thankfully, I was somewhat better Saturday morning, and we went! I definitely wasn’t 100%, but still got to go! That factors in to my take homes:
1. MP is good, but definitely not as great as I thought it would be. It was hard for me to get FPs...pushing a double stroller through the park didn’t give me much time to fiddle with the app which was a bit glitchy. But the advantage of being able to get FPs for across the park rocks! I’m sure if I had hoppers and could get them for the other park it would be even better.
2. The photo pass bonus was good! But sadly our pics weren’t very good. The castle photos are practically white they’re so overexposed, and there weren’t many photographers where I hoped to find them - by Goofy and Pluto in Toon town... so my advice is definitely risk the battery drain to check your photos while still in the park and get them redone if you have to!
3. Definitely bring a backup battery charger for your phone, the app drains it a lot plus the photos and videos! It helped so much to have that extra charger.
4. Loosen up a bit on your plans...my focus went from planning it all out, to just making it there! I am sure I missed doing a lot of fun stuff, but in hindsight I’m glad it made me slow down a bit and really focus on seeing DL through the eyes of the little guys! Fitting it all in was less important than savoring their smiles as they met Mickey Mouse etc. oh, that and don’t give up when a ride goes down and you’re already in the queue...both Jungle Cruise and Pooh we’re down but came back relatively quickly and were worth the added wait (Pooh while pressing a penny in between
).
5. Although BTMRR and IJ went down multiple times that day, those multi-experience passes are AWESOME! I never did get to ride them, and gave my Space FP to friends since I didn’t think my stomach could handle it, it was such a lovely day and we got to do so much! Being able to use those “magic passes” was a special way to end the evening!
6. Rope drop is still the best way to do DL with the crowds.
7. Standing down in the middle of main street was the best way to see the fireworks for Christmas! It was easy to find a spot at 9:15, after grabbing coffee/hot chocolate, and the light projection and finale snow were so beautiful there! Just the perfect way to end the day! I usually fight for a spot closer to the castle but this was better.
8. Take a few extra minutes in the morning to meet the characters on Main Street. I wish I’d have done this one. There were lines, but so much shorter than the ones in Toon Town! The only real frustration I had all day was waiting to see MM in Toon town. The wait was listed as 15 min. on the sign, but it was 75 minutes by the time we saw him. It was torture! Perfect storm of no stroller, tired toddler and baby, no where for him to run around and no where to sit! We were all miserable and wouldn’t have chosen to wait that long if the sign had been accurate. Others around us in line made the same observation and let the cast members know.
9. Misc.: The new queue for dumbo was nice! Made the wait seem shorter too. I wish we’d have collapsed the stroller to take it on the train back to see IASM rather than carrying the kids. The projection show at night is just lovely back there. The characters took their time loving on our little ones which really made our day! It was just the sweetest thing!
Ok, if you’ve made it this far I’m impressed! I just wanted to leave my thoughts while they were fresh in my mind. So many of you have been helpful to me over the years in planning our visits...hopefully something I shared will help someone too.
And here are a few photos too
But, thankfully, I was somewhat better Saturday morning, and we went! I definitely wasn’t 100%, but still got to go! That factors in to my take homes:
1. MP is good, but definitely not as great as I thought it would be. It was hard for me to get FPs...pushing a double stroller through the park didn’t give me much time to fiddle with the app which was a bit glitchy. But the advantage of being able to get FPs for across the park rocks! I’m sure if I had hoppers and could get them for the other park it would be even better.
2. The photo pass bonus was good! But sadly our pics weren’t very good. The castle photos are practically white they’re so overexposed, and there weren’t many photographers where I hoped to find them - by Goofy and Pluto in Toon town... so my advice is definitely risk the battery drain to check your photos while still in the park and get them redone if you have to!
3. Definitely bring a backup battery charger for your phone, the app drains it a lot plus the photos and videos! It helped so much to have that extra charger.
4. Loosen up a bit on your plans...my focus went from planning it all out, to just making it there! I am sure I missed doing a lot of fun stuff, but in hindsight I’m glad it made me slow down a bit and really focus on seeing DL through the eyes of the little guys! Fitting it all in was less important than savoring their smiles as they met Mickey Mouse etc. oh, that and don’t give up when a ride goes down and you’re already in the queue...both Jungle Cruise and Pooh we’re down but came back relatively quickly and were worth the added wait (Pooh while pressing a penny in between
).5. Although BTMRR and IJ went down multiple times that day, those multi-experience passes are AWESOME! I never did get to ride them, and gave my Space FP to friends since I didn’t think my stomach could handle it, it was such a lovely day and we got to do so much! Being able to use those “magic passes” was a special way to end the evening!
6. Rope drop is still the best way to do DL with the crowds.
7. Standing down in the middle of main street was the best way to see the fireworks for Christmas! It was easy to find a spot at 9:15, after grabbing coffee/hot chocolate, and the light projection and finale snow were so beautiful there! Just the perfect way to end the day! I usually fight for a spot closer to the castle but this was better.
8. Take a few extra minutes in the morning to meet the characters on Main Street. I wish I’d have done this one. There were lines, but so much shorter than the ones in Toon Town! The only real frustration I had all day was waiting to see MM in Toon town. The wait was listed as 15 min. on the sign, but it was 75 minutes by the time we saw him. It was torture! Perfect storm of no stroller, tired toddler and baby, no where for him to run around and no where to sit! We were all miserable and wouldn’t have chosen to wait that long if the sign had been accurate. Others around us in line made the same observation and let the cast members know.
9. Misc.: The new queue for dumbo was nice! Made the wait seem shorter too. I wish we’d have collapsed the stroller to take it on the train back to see IASM rather than carrying the kids. The projection show at night is just lovely back there. The characters took their time loving on our little ones which really made our day! It was just the sweetest thing!
Ok, if you’ve made it this far I’m impressed! I just wanted to leave my thoughts while they were fresh in my mind. So many of you have been helpful to me over the years in planning our visits...hopefully something I shared will help someone too.
And here are a few photos too
