Just back!

[friedela]

We just got back tonight from a great trip! We did 3 days and probably broke every rule on how to do Disney but we have no regrets. To start off with we were not there before rope drop. We would often mosey in right when the park would open. I do not feel like this had any impact on our trip, I felt like it was more easy-going and less stressful not having to wait for an hour with antsy kids before the park opened. We also did 2 days at DCA and only 1 at DL! The kids enjoyed DCA far more so that was how we did it, lol.

We had a few frustrating moments, the first being that when we got our first DAS return time for RSR the Cast Member totally messed it up somehow and we got an earful when we arrived at the ride. We had nothing but issues with that particular ride after that, we also had a fast pass booked as well and also had issues again getting onto it. We weren't sure what happened but thankfully we were let on both times even though we had the correct # of FP's and the correct # of DAS passes. We ended up doing RSR 3 times in total, the kids loved it!

While I didn't feel the Disney "magic" this trip I will say that we had a couple moments that were special. One was that a lady offered to have my kids sit beside her at the front to view the parade, while DH and I were shoved between in the crowds with no view. My kids had a front row seat because of this sweet Grandma, she was amazing! Another moment was when we were standing in line to meet Darth Vader my daughter had a total meltdown because she was terrified to meet him. She was fine standing in line and as soon as we got up to the front she totally panicked. The Cast Member was telling her, "oh yeah, you SHOULD be afraid" etc. etc. which I was not impressed with, especially when she's on the verge of tears. When she burst into tears he then realized that he had stepped the mark and offered to have another CM take us to the front of line to meet Chewy again (we had just met him) so she could get a "special Chewy hug". My DD proceeded to tell Chewy all about her fear of meeting Darth Vader and Chewy knelt down and gave her a really long hug. He gave us some extra time with him which I really appreciated! I have to say that DL is really great with kids with disabilities, we really appreciated that. Also, the DAS pass was a lifesaver, it made for a much better trip for my DD.

The food at DL is SOOO much better than DW. SO much better. Really loved that! Overall a great trip. Oh! And Monday? It was so quiet at DCA! It was actually our nicest park day, we got there when the park opened and it was so nice. We got on a ton of stuff we wanted to do again. So not sure why that would be when Monday's are usually so busy. That wasn't the case for us.

Overall great trip! I can't say that DH and I have any desire to go back, we are looking forward to something more relaxing next time, lol. Hawaii maybe?

 

[avalon451]

So glad you had a good time!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Glad you enjoyed your trip and were able to do DLR your way. That's the way DLR works best: the way that works best for your family!

 

[nkereina]

To start off with we were not there before rope drop. We would often mosey in right when the park would open. I do not feel like this had any impact on our trip

How were the crowds at the gates when you arrived? We are WDW vets and visiting DL for the first time in a week and a half. At WDW, we also mosey in right when the park opens and it works out fine for us. But after seeing some photos of extremely long lines at the park gates over the last two weeks at DL, it's freaked me out and I've been considering arriving early. Did you encounter long lines at bag check or the park gates in the morning? If so, did they move quickly at least?

 

[friedela]

How were the crowds at the gates when you arrived? We are WDW vets and visiting DL for the first time in a week and a half. At WDW, we also mosey in right when the park opens and it works out fine for us. But after seeing some photos of extremely long lines at the park gates over the last two weeks at DL, it's freaked me out and I've been considering arriving early. Did you encounter long lines at bag check or the park gates in the morning? If so, did they move quickly at least?

Not really. Sure there would be a bit of a line, maybe 15 minutes though? It's not that bad We would usually go when the park had either just opened or had already been open for a half hour.

 

[nkereina]

Not really. Sure there would be a bit of a line, maybe 15 minutes though? It's not that bad We would usually go when the park had either just opened or had already been open for a half hour.

Good to know. Thanks! The photos I saw had the line for DL stretched back to the entry gates for DCA. Having never been, I wasn't sure if that's typical, but the comments on the photos I saw led me to believe that was very busy!

 

[friedela]

Good to know. Thanks! The photos I saw had the line for DL stretched back to the entry gates for DCA. Having never been, I wasn't sure if that's typical, but the comments on the photos I saw led me to believe that was very busy!

If you go RIGHT at opening, then yes it'll be backed up because there are people who are waiting in line 60 minutes beforehand. We did have one day where we go there right as the park opened and it was about a half hour wait to get in, the line was stretched at the entry gate. But if you wait say a half hour after the park is opened it won't be nearly as bad. That is what we ended up doing for our last day. To me there is no benefit of getting there super duper early. We still rode everything we wanted to multiple times and don't feel like we missed out one bit.

 

[Mickatie]

How were the crowds at the gates when you arrived? We are WDW vets and visiting DL for the first time in a week and a half. At WDW, we also mosey in right when the park opens and it works out fine for us. But after seeing some photos of extremely long lines at the park gates over the last two weeks at DL, it's freaked me out and I've been considering arriving early. Did you encounter long lines at bag check or the park gates in the morning? If so, did they move quickly at least?

We were there Monday and got there right at park opening and the lines were backed up to DCA. We ended up going to DCA and spent the whole day there. Bag check was probably a 15 minute wait for us from the Harbor Entrance.

 

[agamble]

Glad you had a good trip. We also really LOVE DCA.

 

[friedela]

We were there Monday and got there right at park opening and the lines were backed up to DCA. We ended up going to DCA and spent the whole day there. Bag check was probably a 15 minute wait for us from the Harbor Entrance.

Yeah, this was us too! We were also there Monday and we did DCA (we had planned to in the first place). Wasn't it so nice and quiet? We got on so many rides, most of them only a 5-15 minute wait. My DH was like, "too bad it isn't always like this!". The biggest hassle was weeding through all the people who were waiting in line for DL to open! But once we found the right line we were through in 15 mins too. So I guess it really depends on which days, which parks you are visiting and if that park had a EMM or MM. That will impact crowds too of course.

 

[friedela]

Glad you had a good trip. We also really LOVE DCA.

Yeah, it's awesome! Maybe not as nostalgic, but we don't really care about that anyway, lol.

 

[VonSweets]

We have been Sunday-Wednesday this week and Monday was the worst. We usually walked into the park about 10 am. Monday the security lines were pretty long but we listened to the cast and stayed to the left and got through and into the park in about 20 minutes.

Today, Wednesday, was our last day and when they scanned our tickets they said we had no more days left when we paid for 4 days. So we waited for 15 minutes while the figured it out and they gave us 3 free fast passes per person for our trouble!

 

[friedela]

Today, Wednesday, was our last day and when they scanned our tickets they said we had no more days left when we paid for 4 days. So we waited for 15 minutes while the figured it out and they gave us 3 free fast passes per person for our trouble!

Wow! I wish we'd had that kind of treatment when they messed up our RSR FP's and DAS return times, they screwed it up twice and we were made to feel like it was our fault! That was our very first experience at Disneyland, wasn't a great start to our trip, lol.

 

[luckycharliegirl]

I totally agree with you that DL has better food than WDW. We just got back from WDW last week. We didn't see ONE churro cart!