Last minute tips?

[bk7700]

Hi everyone! I wanted to say thank you for all of the great advice so far. Tomorrow is the day!! First time trip to DL/DCA. Staying at GC. Family of 4 with 2 teens. Will probably get Genie + for at least 2 days...maybe all. Dec 22nd-26th (22nd and 26th are partial days for traveling). I promise to be back with a trip report!

So.....please hit me with your best tips for first timers! (Including not-to-miss treats)

 

[DizMe]

I highly recommend the adults enjoy a Holiday Spice (name of drink) at Hearthstone Lounge in GCH. Go early if possible (11 or so) to get a good table.

I don't know if you want to spend much time at the hotel, but there's a really nice open lounge (just a sitting area--doesn't serve food or drink) on the 3rd floor overlooking the lobby. There are coffee tables, couches, and chairs (including rockers) and it's a great place to enjoy a snack, drink, and conversation, so if you're coming back from the parks and not ready to go to bed, it's a comfortable, pretty, and relatively quiet place to talk. We met friends there and had a thermos of our own beverages plus cookies and other goodies and did a gift exchange.

 

[bk7700]

I highly recommend the adults enjoy a Holiday Spice (name of drink) at Hearthstone Lounge in GCH. Go early if possible (11 or so) to get a good table.

I don't know if you want to spend much time at the hotel, but there's a really nice open lounge (just a sitting area--doesn't serve food or drink) on the 3rd floor overlooking the lobby. There are coffee tables, couches, and chairs (including rockers) and it's a great place to enjoy a snack, drink, and conversation, so if you're coming back from the parks and not ready to go to bed, it's a comfortable, pretty, and relatively quiet place to talk. We met friends there and had a thermos of our own beverages plus cookies and other goodies and did a gift exchange.

Thanks!! Sounds like a wonderful spot if we need to take a breather from the crowds.

 

[JavaDuck]

I recommend a raspberry macaron from Jolly Holiday Bakery in DL and a corn dog from Corn Dog Castle in DCA. Have a great trip.

 

[bk7700]

I recommend a raspberry macaron from Jolly Holiday Bakery in DL and a corn dog from Corn Dog Castle in DCA. Have a great trip.

Sounds delicious- thanks!

 

[V.I.N.CENT.]

If you like Mexican, go to Rancho del Zocalo near Big Thunder for a meal. Quick service, great food and particularly pretty atmosphere at night. Also, birthplace of the Dorito!

 

[V.I.N.CENT.]

Watch the fireworks near Small World. more space and the projections on Small World are nice.

 

[mdmost]

If you've never seen it, the Flag Retreat on Main Street at 5pm is great.

Go inside Sleeping Beauty's Castle on the left side to see the exhibit telling the story. Not as cool as the dragon under the castle in Disneyland Paris but still pretty unique.

If you're walking towards Splash Mountain and Winnie the Pooh near Haunted Mansion, walk to the right of the Harbor Galley quick service restaurant for a fun little path that has a great view of the Splash Mountain drop.

Jolly Holiday is our go to breakfast place.

 

[jason417]

For Genie+, focus on getting the more popular rides first (Toy Story and Guardians in DCA; Indiana Jones, Space Mountain, and Haunted Mansion in DL). The rest are fairly easy, at least that’s been our experience. In the evening you can get nearly immediate return times for Buzz, Star Tours, and Autopia. The line for small world gets longer at night and that’s also when the LL passes start going faster.

 

[bk7700]

These are all great - thank you all!!

 

[boscoj]

Since you are staying at the GC, if you are into the Mickey sugar cookies buy the ones in the lobby. One of the CM's told us that even though they are the same ones sold in the park, since they are the located closest to the bakery that makes them, they are the freshest...

 

[rihardxl200]

If you've never seen it, the Flag Retreat on Main Street at 5pm is great.

I appreciate this tip because the flag retreat ceremony is one of my favorite things to do for the last day of my visits. I just want to point out that the flag retreat happens at different times throughout the year though. Current flag retreats are happening at 3:30pm, but you can find the correct flag retreat ceremony time for your visit date by checking the show schedule in the Disneyland app.