Imdboss
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2014
Instead of doing a full blown trip report I thought I would just write about things I think might be helpful to others in this forum as this is the only one I tend to follow. In no particular order:
The family: me, DH, DS6, DD11, my mom (has muscular dystrophy so rented a w/c at DL) and my stepdad
Flew from SEA to SNA on Saturday 8/22, landed at 3pm, claimed bags, in car (Lansky's) at 3:20, arrived at Worldmark at 3:40 to drop off my parents, then Embassy Suites S at 3:50 for us.
Return trip was Fri 8/28, we all got picked up at Worldmark at 5:30, arrived at SNA at 5:45pm. The airport was eerily empty!
Embassy Suites S: the hotel is older, had some issues during our stay, the staff was responsive though. DH is almost diamond status w/ Hilton, he called Hilton Honors to state his concerns thinking we would get 5k points, they got hotel manager on line and he gave us a credit for 1 night! Next time we will stay at DoubleTree even though it's more expensive or we'll try the new Homewood Suites. We don't need super fancy but do prefer nicer accommodations.
Getting to DL: Embassy uses a 3rd party shuttle. $5 per adult and $2 per child. There are two other hotels on each side of them (Hampton Inn & Hilton Garden) that also use this shuttle. It has a p/u spot right outside the entrance and goes straight to DL, no other stops. I loved this! From the time we left hotel to the time we were IN the park it was only 15 minutes. They leave hotel at 15 and 45 after the hour and leave DL on the hour and half hour. They were always on time to the minute.
We usually go in Oct but the crowds have just gotten so busy over the years we tried Aug this year. The crowds were in fact much lower but the heat and humidity was too much for us during the day. We would head back to the hotel around 2 then return to the park around 5 to get out of the peak heat.
Aug/Oct pros/cons: Aug heat, yes we've had hot days in Oct but it would only be for a few hours a day, in Aug it was hot from 10-6. Aug crowds were lower. Oct has longer park hours. So with larger crowds in Oct but the longer hours I think we still did about the same amount of rides in more enjoyable temps
Food: finally tried the bbq chicken baked potato from Harbor Galley, it was delicious, will definitely have that every trip. Had dinner at Rancho Del Zocalo, DH and I shared the enchiladas with the steak on top, very good and plenty for sharing.
Cove Bar: first I'll say that DH and I met waiting tables so we are very understanding with wait staff. The service was HORRIBLE. That said the lobster nachos were delicious but I'm not sure I'd go back based on the service. We also ate at CO to get our Monte Cristo fix and the service there wasn't all that great either.
On day 4 DS lost his lanyard with 13 pins on it. We thought he left it in my mom's room during our afternoon break so didn't realize it was lost until that night. After searching everywhere the last place to check was DL lost and found the next morning and it was there!!! Such a relief and nice to know there are honest people out there. Still have no idea how he lost it since he wouldn't take his off during rides like DD would but I'm thinking it was possibly at lunch in CO.
Paint the Night: WOW, Disney outdid themselves with that one!!! It was so worth it to get a good spot and wait for that. We saw the 8:30 parade on Thurs. We got a spot at 7 right behind a bench. It was perfect and I'd choose that spot again. We were at the benches that are in front of Plaza Inn and faces the Friends statue. Shortly after we claimed our area people were filing in so I'm glad we got there when we did. I'd say find your spot at 6:45 to ensure there are places still available. Behind a bench was nice because you don't have anyone standing in front of you.
We didn't watch the fireworks, DS is terrified of them. One night we went into a store when they started and he found a little corner behind some clothes so he was fine. A CM started talking to him and got him to come out, she kept him distracted the entire time, it was super sweet!
New Disneyland App: it was super convenient however I couldn't get the wait times to refresh so I would have to close it out and reopen it every time I wanted updated times. I heard someone else saying they did the same thing.
All in all we had a fantastic trip, I can't wait to go back as usual. However I think next up is a Disney Cruise so it might be two years before we return, sigh.
Well that turned out pretty lengthy. I'm happy to answer any questions!
The family: me, DH, DS6, DD11, my mom (has muscular dystrophy so rented a w/c at DL) and my stepdad
Flew from SEA to SNA on Saturday 8/22, landed at 3pm, claimed bags, in car (Lansky's) at 3:20, arrived at Worldmark at 3:40 to drop off my parents, then Embassy Suites S at 3:50 for us.
Return trip was Fri 8/28, we all got picked up at Worldmark at 5:30, arrived at SNA at 5:45pm. The airport was eerily empty!
Embassy Suites S: the hotel is older, had some issues during our stay, the staff was responsive though. DH is almost diamond status w/ Hilton, he called Hilton Honors to state his concerns thinking we would get 5k points, they got hotel manager on line and he gave us a credit for 1 night! Next time we will stay at DoubleTree even though it's more expensive or we'll try the new Homewood Suites. We don't need super fancy but do prefer nicer accommodations.
Getting to DL: Embassy uses a 3rd party shuttle. $5 per adult and $2 per child. There are two other hotels on each side of them (Hampton Inn & Hilton Garden) that also use this shuttle. It has a p/u spot right outside the entrance and goes straight to DL, no other stops. I loved this! From the time we left hotel to the time we were IN the park it was only 15 minutes. They leave hotel at 15 and 45 after the hour and leave DL on the hour and half hour. They were always on time to the minute.
We usually go in Oct but the crowds have just gotten so busy over the years we tried Aug this year. The crowds were in fact much lower but the heat and humidity was too much for us during the day. We would head back to the hotel around 2 then return to the park around 5 to get out of the peak heat.
Aug/Oct pros/cons: Aug heat, yes we've had hot days in Oct but it would only be for a few hours a day, in Aug it was hot from 10-6. Aug crowds were lower. Oct has longer park hours. So with larger crowds in Oct but the longer hours I think we still did about the same amount of rides in more enjoyable temps
Food: finally tried the bbq chicken baked potato from Harbor Galley, it was delicious, will definitely have that every trip. Had dinner at Rancho Del Zocalo, DH and I shared the enchiladas with the steak on top, very good and plenty for sharing.
Cove Bar: first I'll say that DH and I met waiting tables so we are very understanding with wait staff. The service was HORRIBLE. That said the lobster nachos were delicious but I'm not sure I'd go back based on the service. We also ate at CO to get our Monte Cristo fix and the service there wasn't all that great either.
On day 4 DS lost his lanyard with 13 pins on it. We thought he left it in my mom's room during our afternoon break so didn't realize it was lost until that night. After searching everywhere the last place to check was DL lost and found the next morning and it was there!!! Such a relief and nice to know there are honest people out there. Still have no idea how he lost it since he wouldn't take his off during rides like DD would but I'm thinking it was possibly at lunch in CO.
Paint the Night: WOW, Disney outdid themselves with that one!!! It was so worth it to get a good spot and wait for that. We saw the 8:30 parade on Thurs. We got a spot at 7 right behind a bench. It was perfect and I'd choose that spot again. We were at the benches that are in front of Plaza Inn and faces the Friends statue. Shortly after we claimed our area people were filing in so I'm glad we got there when we did. I'd say find your spot at 6:45 to ensure there are places still available. Behind a bench was nice because you don't have anyone standing in front of you.
We didn't watch the fireworks, DS is terrified of them. One night we went into a store when they started and he found a little corner behind some clothes so he was fine. A CM started talking to him and got him to come out, she kept him distracted the entire time, it was super sweet!
New Disneyland App: it was super convenient however I couldn't get the wait times to refresh so I would have to close it out and reopen it every time I wanted updated times. I heard someone else saying they did the same thing.
All in all we had a fantastic trip, I can't wait to go back as usual. However I think next up is a Disney Cruise so it might be two years before we return, sigh.
Well that turned out pretty lengthy. I'm happy to answer any questions!
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I think I am going to have more foods to try than days in the park 
