Congo Queen
DLand Devotee Since 1966
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2012
Quick report from my fun-filled family vacation July 6-11. Stayed again at DLH and loved it. A few things to pass on:
· Fantasmic: The dinner package sections for BB and RBT are one section now. People with tix from both dinner venues get to sit in the premium spot right against the railing and dead-center on ROA. I did BB dinner package on a Tuesday 7/7 for 9pm show and there was plenty of room even though the section had all the RBT and BB people. More people could have found unobstructed and seated spots right up until the show started. We arrived one hour before show time and got a seat right against the railing. (I actually prefer to sit back a bit so as not to have to peer through the railing but my 12-year-old wanted to be as close as possible.) The cost of the RBT dinner is less than BB, and if I do this again in the future, I am definitely saving the dough and going to RBT. And I am not going to fret about being there super early for F!– finally paying a premium means much less waiting which is what I have always wanted and never received out of the WOC dinner package and the old F! dessert package. FYI- the whole NOS area is pretty crowded and hard to traverse any time after 6pm so we avoided it all together the rest of the week in the evening.
· Fireworks and PTN Parade: We saw the fireworks and PTN parade twice each. The first time was on Tuesday when we watched fireworks right after F! by staying put in our spot at ROA. It was OK view (nice to sit, not crowded, easy to stay in same place), but you miss out on all the charming and more immersive imagery that is going on over at the hub and on Main Street. Then same night, after fireworks were over, we took our time walking over to hub. It was crazy w people flooding out of Dland, but we found a place right across from the Matterhorn to sit for an hour and wait for the 11pm PTN. We had the nice BB F! cushions so that helped and we had a front row seat. We were getting pretty tired, but all worth it as we had a wonderful view of PTN which is a pretty fun parade. Both my kids (18 and 12) loved it. Later that week on Friday we watched the 9pm PTN parade from our table at Plaza Inn (having just eaten a mound of delicious fried chix). The view was not great, but we stood up and looked between the gaps in the hedges and saw enough to make a satisfying second viewing. We then surged into Main Street once PTN ended to find a position for the fireworks. We were in the street between the hub and Coke Corner. It was hard to see w so many tall people in front of us (we are all under 5’4’’) but were able to see OK. The castle light show was amazing, and we all loved when the Matterhorn turned into Mt Wannahockaloogy. When I go back next I am going to really strategize on getting a better fireworks view.
· EMH/MM: For Dland, EMH/MM is really, really worth getting up early for. From 7am to 11am is the only pleasant time of day in terms of crowds. From noon on it just gets more and more unbearable. Main Street and ROA are crazy crowded from 6pm – 11:30pm with the various shows and CMs channeling people through one-directional roped alleys. DCA on the other hand was much easier to navigate all day, much less stressful in terms of crowds. EMH/MM in DCA is good to do too if you want several back to back no-waiting rides on TSMM or Screamin. But if you want to sleep a bit more DCA is still pretty great throughout the later morning hours – for example at 9am we were able to walk on RSR by using the single rider line.
· Matterhorn Single Rider: This is no longer a guaranteed short wait. CMs working the line are trying their very best to prioritize loading people from standby, even if it means reaching way back into the line to find the final few they need. CMs used to quickly turn to single rider line to fill the final slots– no more. That means as a single rider you can stand there for a good 15 to 20 mins before getting into a sled (which is still much better than the 50-60 min standby line). Just be prepared and keep smiling as the CMs seem to find the scowling single riders even more invisible.
· Peter Pan: They did a really nice job on the refurb. It is still the ride to hit first thing on your MM/EMH. We did this twice (getting to the Dland gates about 30 min before EMH/MM opening ) and both times we walked w purpose to PP and were able to ride it with a 5-7 minute wait. Then we were ahead of the wave, able to walk on Alice, Dumbo, and all the other Fantasyland rides.
· Fantasmic: The dinner package sections for BB and RBT are one section now. People with tix from both dinner venues get to sit in the premium spot right against the railing and dead-center on ROA. I did BB dinner package on a Tuesday 7/7 for 9pm show and there was plenty of room even though the section had all the RBT and BB people. More people could have found unobstructed and seated spots right up until the show started. We arrived one hour before show time and got a seat right against the railing. (I actually prefer to sit back a bit so as not to have to peer through the railing but my 12-year-old wanted to be as close as possible.) The cost of the RBT dinner is less than BB, and if I do this again in the future, I am definitely saving the dough and going to RBT. And I am not going to fret about being there super early for F!– finally paying a premium means much less waiting which is what I have always wanted and never received out of the WOC dinner package and the old F! dessert package. FYI- the whole NOS area is pretty crowded and hard to traverse any time after 6pm so we avoided it all together the rest of the week in the evening.
· Fireworks and PTN Parade: We saw the fireworks and PTN parade twice each. The first time was on Tuesday when we watched fireworks right after F! by staying put in our spot at ROA. It was OK view (nice to sit, not crowded, easy to stay in same place), but you miss out on all the charming and more immersive imagery that is going on over at the hub and on Main Street. Then same night, after fireworks were over, we took our time walking over to hub. It was crazy w people flooding out of Dland, but we found a place right across from the Matterhorn to sit for an hour and wait for the 11pm PTN. We had the nice BB F! cushions so that helped and we had a front row seat. We were getting pretty tired, but all worth it as we had a wonderful view of PTN which is a pretty fun parade. Both my kids (18 and 12) loved it. Later that week on Friday we watched the 9pm PTN parade from our table at Plaza Inn (having just eaten a mound of delicious fried chix). The view was not great, but we stood up and looked between the gaps in the hedges and saw enough to make a satisfying second viewing. We then surged into Main Street once PTN ended to find a position for the fireworks. We were in the street between the hub and Coke Corner. It was hard to see w so many tall people in front of us (we are all under 5’4’’) but were able to see OK. The castle light show was amazing, and we all loved when the Matterhorn turned into Mt Wannahockaloogy. When I go back next I am going to really strategize on getting a better fireworks view.
· EMH/MM: For Dland, EMH/MM is really, really worth getting up early for. From 7am to 11am is the only pleasant time of day in terms of crowds. From noon on it just gets more and more unbearable. Main Street and ROA are crazy crowded from 6pm – 11:30pm with the various shows and CMs channeling people through one-directional roped alleys. DCA on the other hand was much easier to navigate all day, much less stressful in terms of crowds. EMH/MM in DCA is good to do too if you want several back to back no-waiting rides on TSMM or Screamin. But if you want to sleep a bit more DCA is still pretty great throughout the later morning hours – for example at 9am we were able to walk on RSR by using the single rider line.
· Matterhorn Single Rider: This is no longer a guaranteed short wait. CMs working the line are trying their very best to prioritize loading people from standby, even if it means reaching way back into the line to find the final few they need. CMs used to quickly turn to single rider line to fill the final slots– no more. That means as a single rider you can stand there for a good 15 to 20 mins before getting into a sled (which is still much better than the 50-60 min standby line). Just be prepared and keep smiling as the CMs seem to find the scowling single riders even more invisible.
· Peter Pan: They did a really nice job on the refurb. It is still the ride to hit first thing on your MM/EMH. We did this twice (getting to the Dland gates about 30 min before EMH/MM opening ) and both times we walked w purpose to PP and were able to ride it with a 5-7 minute wait. Then we were ahead of the wave, able to walk on Alice, Dumbo, and all the other Fantasyland rides.
