A Day in DCA

[China Expat]

My adult son and I had a DCA day on Sunday, Dec. 22. I had not been in DCA for @ 5 years. It was busy, but not painful. We had the premier pass (my son's generous gift). A few notes:

1. You really don;t need to buy the premier pass for DCA as we found the que wait times were still a bit long. At DLP last year we walked on all rides with that level of pass, minimal wait. With single rider at DCA, the wait was the same with the high level pass.
2. Ride breakdowns- never got on Incredicoaster due to constant breakdowns. UGH. Several others up and down.
3. New ride favorites for me: Web slingers and Marvel- had more drops than when it was Hollywood Hotel.
4. World of Color- nice, but it was centered on Inside Out and minimal old Disney.The traditional WOC song was not played.
5. Dinner at Lamplighter Lounge- meh. Will not return. Appetizers served cold. Limited menu. Could not cut or chew most of my prime rib. Two tiny carrots. Not impressed at all.
6. Pixi dust- cast member let us go to front of line on ferris wheel despite not being in the premier pass program. Cast member invited us to enter the reserved section at WOC where we stood right at the railing. The guests around us were awesome and polite. Cast members were hit and miss. Most were just quiet.

We were there 12 hours and had a great day, but along with hits and misses. I do not understand why either park has no stage shows. The Hyperion theater sits there idle. Why?

 

[hardcorestitch]

My adult son and I had a DCA day on Sunday, Dec. 22. I had not been in DCA for @ 5 years. It was busy, but not painful. We had the premier pass (my son's generous gift). A few notes:

1. You really don;t need to buy the premier pass for DCA as we found the que wait times were still a bit long. At DLP last year we waked on all rides with that level of pass, minimal wait. With single rider at DCA, the wait was the same with the high level pass.
2. Rid breakdowns- never got in Incredicoaster due to constant breakdowns. UGH. Several others up and down.
3. New ride favorites for me: Web slingers and Marvel- had more drops then when it was Hollywood Hotel.
4. World of Color- nice, but it was centered on Inside Out and minimal old Disney.The traditional WOC was not played.
5. Dinner at Lamplighter Lounge- meh. Will not return. Appetizers served cold. Limited menu. Could not cut or chew most of my prime rib. Two tiny carrots. Not impressed at all.
6. Pixi dust- cast member let us go to front of line on ferris wheel despite not being in the premier pass program. Cast member invited us to enter the reserved section at WOC where we stood right at the railing. The guests around us were awesome and polite. Cast members were hit and miss. Most were just quiet.

We were there 12 hours and had a great day, but along with hits and misses. I do not understand why either park has no stage shows. The Hyperion theater sits there idle. Why?

It used to have a special attraction there but not anymore. Hyperion recently had a Lorcana event over the summer.

 

[disneychrista]

We were there 12 hours and had a great day, but along with hits and misses. I do not understand why either park has no stage shows. The Hyperion theater sits there idle. Why?

I can't see as being anything other than cost cutting. It certainly wasn't because people weren't going to the shows.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I do not understand why either park has no stage shows. The Hyperion theater sits there idle. Why?

Disney does not want to invest the money needed to get a show going there again. It’s too bad. Hope it changes in the future.

 

[Pluto468]

Thanks for reporting back! I'm glad you had a good trip. I agree about the Hyperion. Hopefully they get another show sometimes in the near future.

 

[LKing]

It used to have a special attraction there but not anymore. Hyperion recently had a Lorcana event over the summer.

Are you referring to the event that was in the Beast's Library (Animation Academy) or something else?
They often hold events in the courtyard outside of the Hyperion but I believe the last event/show inside was Rogers the Musical (2023).

 

[BriannaRuth]

I just got back and agree with you on Lamplight, WOC, and Hyperion. Lamplight has always been one of my favorites, but we went for lunch this time -- the menu was very limited, the service was not just slow but bad (could have just been our server, I guess) and the food was not good. One of our dishes was really bad IMO, when we told the server he acted like he didn't care and I had to insist that it be taken off the check since he clearly wasn't going to do so. Even then he kind of just looked at me without saying anything, so I had to ask him if there was a problem with my request that he do so. Shouldn't have to ask three times for an item that was barely touched to be removed from the bill. Actually we all agreed that in general, the food overall on this trip was not up to par to what we're used to from DL.

I miss the shows at Hyperion for sure.

We do the WOC dessert party every trip and I was underwhelmed by this version. My (adult) kids and husband made the same comments you did, they missed the traditional and the "old Disney." I also did one of the meal packages for Fantasmic and liked it a lot more, even though it's a bit diminished from the old days.