Alrighty, time for my OBB 9/12 review! This was our first party at
Disneyland Resort, we have done
MVMCP at WDW so we had a vague idea of what to expect from a party (aka the inability to do everything). Normally we skip parties given the cost since we usually have multi day tickets, however this ended up being a bookend on a longer trip and so given we had two park days, it ended up being about the same price to do one regular ticket and a party ticket vs 2-day tickets.
I attended the party with a family member that cannot do thrill/motion rides, so DCA is typically not the best park for us. We mostly planned to do treat trails, the parade, and our only ride goals were RSR and Guardians (for me only of course).
Since I had heard the mix-in can be pretty crazy and lines get long, we decided to get to the park around 3:30 to avoid the rush at 2:30-3:00. This ended up being a great plan as there was no line for security at 3:25ish. The line looked very long to enter DCA on a party ticket, but since it was already open, it moved quickly. It took around 10 minutes, I actually went through the regular entrance with no wait using my magic key to see if Mickey/Minnie were meeting so I could get in line while my companion waited to get in. They were not out at that time (nor did we ever see them before 6:00 in the couple times we passed by).
My companion somehow missed getting a wristband in the chaos of the entrance, lol! Since I needed a wristband anyways we proceeded to the spot near Avengers Campus. There were only a few people there getting wristbands, it was very slick and my companion was able to get her wristband no problem despite having already checked in.
I mobile ordered a drink at Pym’s and we wanted to catch the Avengers Campus shows since my companion had not seen them yet, so we did the 4:00 Spider-Man, 4:10 Avenger’s Assemble, and 4:30 Dr Strange. The park felt plenty crowded but we had no trouble finding “spots” to watch these shows.
We had two multi experience passes from the day prior that converted with an hour of park close at Disneyland so we were able to use those at DCA. We used them on Monsters Inc (standby was 45) and Little Mermaid (standby was 10). Ride wait times on Tuesday were definitely shorter than what I observed in the app on Sunday.
At this point it was about 5:45 so we got some dinner. All the mobile order windows were returning around 6:20 even when refreshing for times so I do recommend securing your window an hour or two in advance if you want to eat before 6:00. We split up and got Boardwalk Pizza and Corn Dog Castle which didn’t have a bad wait. I tried the special dog with peppers and raspberry sauce and it was quite good, and huge!
Time stamps going forward!
6:05 decided to skip the MK freebie bag as the line was LONG. I couldn’t see the entire line, I’d estimate at least 100 people were in it. CM was encouraging people to come back later.
6:09 entered the Paradise Gardens trail (no villain) which was quite short and moved quickly, done within minutes.
6:17 entered the Pixar Pier trail (Sid), this line wrapped back and forth so many times (switched directions maybe 5-6 times) and didn’t move the fastest. This was probably the biggest mistake of the night as I imagine it got shorter later on. Sid was a hoot and you could see/hear him for the entire line at least, so it was entertaining. We did hear him starting to repeat a bit at 6:40 and were done at 6:42. He is incredibly engaging and will talk with everyone that goes by and pose for photos.
We walked by the Lotso line which didn’t look bad, I’d guess maybe 20 minutes it seemed super manageable. Carl from Up had a pretty short line too, probably 10-15 minutes.
I wanted to watch Carsland light up and we passed the San Fransokyo trail and Carsland trail on the way over. Both looked quite long.
6:53 got in line for Vampire Mater, not long, done at 7:00.
7:05 watched Carsland light up for the first time, loved this. They start playing Sh-boom (life could be a dream) which turns into I put a spell on you. Sunset in weather app said 7:03 for reference. We found a spot near Flo’s to watch and it was perfect.
7:08 hopped into RSR line as it went from 40 to 20 during the Carsland lighting. The lighting goes on for a few minutes so we actually booked it into the queue while it was finishing up so we would beat the people who were still watching. Not sure if this always happens but I highly recommend trying this strategy. There was barely a line! We were off the ride by 7:27. When leaving, the line looked like 4x as long and hovered around 45 minutes most of the party, I didn’t check it in the last hour.
We did the Carsland trail (no villain) next with no wait, just a fast moving line.
7:37 entered San Fransokyo (Yokai) line which no longer wrapped around and moved very quickly. I haven’t seen Big Hero 6 so didn’t know anything about him. He looked cool but said maybe one or two lines and mostly stood and stared. We finished by 7:45.
7:48 entered Avengers Campus trail (Agatha) which moved a bit slower. I was super excited to see her but found it just ok, hardly anyone was stopping to watch. We finished at 7:57.
7:59 I got into the Guardians line alone which was listed 13. Got into the next preshow, there was a bit of a line upstairs though. Always wish there was a single rider for this ride! Felt a little lonely on this one, I’m used to riding it solo but being surrounded by groups of friends attending the party together does always make me feel a bit awkward. I was off the ride by 8:19 so still very quick. While the regular version is my favorite for the music, the holiday overlay doesn’t detract much from the fun. I wouldn’t say the overlay is a must do though.
8:20 the parade was going by as I exited Guardians, so I got a nice quick view of a few floats (Jack and Sally, Haunted Mansion).
8:29 entered Animation trail (Oogie Boogie) which didn’t move the fastest, done at 8:38. This was the most confusing queue as there were openings in spots that made it confusing where to walk. It was kinda hot and stuffy since it was indoors!
8:40 entered Hyperion Theater trail (Ernesto de la Cruz) which moved quite quickly, done by 8:46. You can skip the treat trail and basically just walk up to him which was nice, it kept the line moving faster as it was just as good of a photo op. He was fabulous, easily the most impressive costuming.
This is where my companion became too ill to continue, the standing and lines are hard on her and I don’t think we realized how long they would be, and how much wrapping around there was. I was expecting more like MVMCP at WDW where the cookie lines move faster and are shorter (since there are no villains to see) and that was my mistake. I think if we had skipped the Sid line in the hot sun earlier she might have fared better, but at the time I didn’t know how long a line that would be (and it was the longest line by far all night for us). This event is a lot of walking and standing for sure. I saw VERY few people using mobility scooters throughout the night and I don’t think I saw any in the trail lines, they were so tight I’m not sure how they’d even accommodate them with how crowded it was, there’d be lots of ankle bumping and sharp turns for sure.
As we left DCA we walked by Cruella and her line looked pretty similar to the others, probably 10 minutes. There was no line for the Buena Vista trail as we exited, and they were handing out multiple full-size fudge brownie M&Ms. Wish it was skittles!
I walked my companion back to our hotel (Hyatt House) and almost called it quits on the event. I really wanted to watch the parade together, I am not a big parade person especially solo, but thought it would be fun to see together. So I was in a pretty sad mood and almost didn’t head back since it’s about a 15 minute walk, but I decided I still had time to make the parade so I headed back.
9:38 left the Hyatt House and was into the park by 9:54, they only had one entrance open.
I headed towards Little Mermaid as I wanted to grab my MK bag after the parade.
10:00 I found a good spot facing the Little Mermaid along the railing, there were plenty of spots if you were a small party and could squeeze in behind people.
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Area I found a spot, walked up the stairs and against the railing.
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Faced little mermaid!
10:10 Headless Horseman passed, wow, this was amazing to see and is a can’t miss even if you skip the parade.
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10:13 parade started going by with Mickey and Minnie leading, I read somewhere that the horseman goes by 15 minutes before the parade but obviously didn’t find that to be the case.
10:26 parade finished going by with a Cheshire Cat.
Immediately did the Paradise Gardens trail again since I was there and there was no wait.
10:30 no wait for free MK bag, yay!
10:36 It was very congested walking past Grizzly River Run, I almost missed the treat trail entrance (Mother Gothel). No line, just walked through the relatively empty trail, finished at 10:39. Wanted to catch the other couple trails I missed so I didn’t linger to watch her.
10:43 entered Madam Min’s trail near the Avengers Campus with no line, didn’t watch her for long but she sure was funny.
10:46 entered Judge Doom line by Soarin’ and they were still refilling candy. I’m not familiar with him (I’m a terrible Disney fan) but he sure was cool and intimidating even though he didn’t say much while I was there!
10:52 entered Hollywood Backlot trail (Cruella) with no line. She was very cool to see!
I saw Daisy and Clarabelle (no Minnie) and I think the line had long been cut off, I didn’t look too closely.
10:57 entered Oogie Boogie trail once more, they were out of candy and CMs were warning people that Oogie Boogie was leaving exactly at 11:00 which he did. The CMs were chatting amongst themselves (since they had no candy to pass out) and were saying things like “I’m scared of what they’re [guests] gonna do when he [Oogie Boogie] leaves” and “omg they’re gonna fight us” lol.
As I was leaving Madam Mim ran by me, I almost ran into her and laughed and she just giggled manically haha, it was cute.
The trail on Buena Vista as you leave was well stocked, no full size candy anymore though. No real lines, just a few people deep per station to wait behind.
Phew! There you have it! Had we not had to leave, I think we might have had a chance to do Villain’s Grove as well. I never checked the wait time since it was low on our priority list.
Overall I had fun but you definitely need to decide what you want to prioritize. Lines were far shorter later in the event and next time I think I’d rather watch the first parade and do trails during the latter half of the party when it’s cooler and a little less crowded. There were maybe 4-5 stations per trail and you got 2-3 candies or 1 item like chips or goldfish or apples/carrots. Definitely bring a tote bag to dump your candy in. Far more chocolate than fruity candy, I prefer the fruity candy so that’s a downside for me!
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I might post some photos later but may get lazy, figured the time stamps might help some people plan a bit (and learn from my mistakes haha). Hope this helps.
So yummy, thanks!
. I've also heard some people were using it to carry their water bottle. I'd be worried putting too much weight in it, but it's great for popcorn!
