Congo Queen
DLand Devotee Since 1966
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2012
- Messages
- 799
My family of four visited Disneyland August 13th through the 17th and had a great time despite Anaheims heat wave (daytime temps in the mid 90s and plenty humid). We dressed for the weather, drank gallons of water, and got the heck out of the parks and into the hotel pool between 1pm and 6pm. But the single biggest factor that made the heat endurable was Carsland. Its not just a beautifully themed and immersive land, its also a giant magnet in the morning pulling in so many guests that rides in any other DL or DCA land had, in our experience, short or no waits before 10:30am or 11am. With 7am EMH arrival we had almost four hours of unbelievably short lines for most things outside of Carsland. It was wonderful. I hadnt had that much fun running up to the turnstile and jumping into ride vehicles since the 1970s when my uncle used to take us to Disneyland Firemans Night.
Here are highlights:
1) Check-in at DLH: On other sites, Id read some v negative reviews on the check-in experience for DLH so I was apprehensive. Our experience was not only efficient it was one of our best Disney magic moments of the trip. The Fantasy tower lobby is marvelously full of Disney fun (the tea cup chairs, the animated vintage park map, the black and white photos of Walt and various celebs). My family oohed/ahhed our way up to the check-in counter.
A front desk CM named Debbie called me over after about a 2 minute wait wherein my DS, DD, and DH floated away to check out rest of the hotel. Debbie welcomed me and asked when last Id visited DLH. I told her itd been about 17 years (back when DH was only my BF and before the kids.) She said, Lets make this return visit extra special. She clucked at my reservation for the cheapest parking lot view room, and said she could do better. She offered me a complementary upgrade to pool view in either Fantasy or Frontier tower. I thanked her profusely, chose Fantasy, and expected wed to have to return later to access the room (it was only 1pm), but she said it was ready right away. Hoorah! Then she asked, Would your daughter like to come behind the counter and check you in? Ill make her an official Junior Cast Member. Oh yes! I speed dialed DH and urged immediate return to front desk. My nine-year-old daughter (who loves playing teacher or office at her desk at home) was ushered behind the security gate and up to the CMs side of the counter. Debbie instructed her how to scroll through computer screens, how to countersign our various documents, then how to give us the spiel on pool hours, EMH, hotel parking, etc. DD took it all v seriously, using her best penmanship and straightening stray papers at Debbies post. Debbie congratulated her and gave her an official Junior Cast Member badge, a Minnie ears hat and an 8x10 of the Fab Five autographed by all of them. My daughter was beaming. We all thanked Debbie and walked on air from the front desk to the elevators and up to our room.
Here is a shot of DD checking us in
And here is the view from our upgraded room
2) DLH Overall Experience: This is great hotel. Id been skeptical b/c if we can afford on-property accommodations we stay at GCH. But I was motivated to try DLH b/c GCH room/bed configuration no longer works for us. DS is 15 and too tall for the bunk-beds at GCH, and he cant get any sleep sharing a queen w/ his sister. At DLH they have rooms w/ two queens and a daybed, and this was dandy. Everyone had a comfortable sleeping arrangement (day bed was perfect for a 9 year-old), and there was no downgrade in quality IMHO. The DLH rooms are quiet, clean, charming w/ Disney touches, and appointed with high quality linens and fixtures. DLH room felt slightly bigger than our usual rooms at GCH as well. The giant cereal box shape of DLH towers means you dont have to navigate down long long turning corridors to get from pool/lobby to your room like at GCH. And the two waterslides at DLH are so fun; plus you have easy access to the retro cool Trader Sams Tiki Bar. I would certainly stay at DLH again. The only drawback (and its not insignificant) is the walk to the esplanade or into DCA; its a hike. The monorail is close to DLH and helps a bunch if you are going into DL, but if you want to enter DCA for EMH you have to get your carcass out to the esplanade, and its not a short walk (especially in the heat.) GCH still wins on location (especially when emerging from GRR soaking wet and looking for a quick change).
Here's a shot of DD and DS in DLH room w/ light up head boards that play WYWUAS
3) DLH Pool Cabana Experience: This was our first time renting a cabana, and we loved it. We reserved it for our check-in afternoon b/c we did not want to go into the parks until it cooled at sunset. Afternoon cabana rental is from 2pm to 6pm and cost $110.00. It took about 1 minute to get from our 4th floor Fantasy tower room to the pool (we popped down the elevator, out the lobby back door walked a few feet to the pool entrance and immediately to our left our cabana welcomed us.) An attendant arrived right away and gave us a tour of all the amenities inside (tv, safe, frig stocked w/ bottled water, basket of folded fresh towels, fruit plate, telephone for ordering drinks and other food) and outside there were two chaise lounge and a sun umbrella. We set the tv to a resort radio channel playing Disney music and ordered lunch while the kids went crazy in the pools. Lunch was swiftly delivered from Tangaroa Terrace (good food w/ Asian, Polynesian flair) and everyone enjoyed their various bar orders (smoothies for the kids and beers for mom and dad). Then we all hit the waterslides, getting tips from the CMs on how to go as fast as possible (launch yourself from sitting position at the top, lay down on back immediately and lift up your bottom slightly so only your shoulders and lower leg are touching). We had a blast. The cabana was a v nice refuge in the heat and by about 4:30pm my son was so tired he stretched out inside and took a 90 minute teenage nap. The rest of us read, did crosswords and planned our first evening in the parks. The cabana was the perfect transition from the hustle bustle of air travel to being in a chillaxed vacation state of mind.
Looking out at pool from inside the cabana
4) BVS and Carsland are Awesome: Wow they did a great job in this most recent phase of fixing DCA. Both BVS and CL are lush w/ design. Every tiny detail has been art-directed -- every doorknob, light fixture, flower, window display, queue railing, and costume (i.e., in Luigis, CM mechanic costume cap is worn with bill forward, in MJJ all the caps are worn bill to the back). These are immersive environments that transport you to a fancifully specific place and time (just like Adventureland or Frontierland). You step onto BVS or Route 66 and you are in a movie staring you in that world. Both have fantastic period and theme specific music streaming day and night. (Do I miss the tired and too loud song loop from the old Sunshine Plaza? No I do not!) The signage alone in each land is remarkable (the knockout neon in CL and the multi-layers of unique street and business signage in BVS).
There is plentiful street entertainment specific to each as well. One morning while sitting on a bench on BVS we noticed a policeman dressed in period costume was having a heck of a time reading the Buena Vista Bugle (the local paper.) Hed gotten a piece of gum stuck on his finger and was subsequently tearing his newspaper to shreds in an attempt to read it. No one else seemed to be noticing much, but my DD had honed in on it so we sat and watched the Keatonesque comedy/drama unfold. It was a good 7 to 8 minutes of silliness that seemed to be played out just for our benefit. At the end, he came over and introduced himself as Officer Blue to my DD and let her wear his hat. Take your time in each of these environments, and you will be rewarded with many delights.
As for the CL rides, I liked them all best a night. We rode both MJJ and Luigis our first night in the parks (MJJ wait was 15 min and Luigis 35 min at about 10pm). MJJ and Luigis have popcorn lights strung across the ride platforms which adds a nice twinkle to these fun rides. And of course much has already been written about RSR at night a true E ticket w/ plenty of excitement for everyone, and the lighting at night is gorgeous.
Here a shot of DD and the policeman
Luigi's at night
And sample impressive signage in CL
5) EMH/RSR FP Experience: We did EMH Tues through Friday. On Tues morning I woke family up (with some difficulty) at 6am, and w/ best efforts got to the esplanade DCA gate at 6:45am. This meant we were about 30 people back from the front of the line with about eight lines holding same number of people. By 7am there were another 25 people behind us. When the CMs started letting people through (checking hotel keys for EMH) I asked if RSR was running, but no one knew. We walked with purpose among substantial crowd to CL and none of the CMs along Route 66 knew if RSR was running. We waited in a long RSR ride line that stretched well outside the line queue alongside Flos and Ramoness at end of Route 66. After about 10 minutes in this line it approached a CM in RSR costume who was able to tell us that ride was down, and he didnt know when it would be up. So we got out of line and out of CL b/c it was crowded and wed already done Luigi and MJJ night before. We scooted down to TSMM where we were able to walk right on. It was about 7:30am by that point, and I wanted to make sure I was in RSR FP line so I went back FP machine queue while family walked on TSMM again, CS and then Soarin. The EMH FP line was still v reasonable at 7:35am, and I could have waited until much closer to 8am to get in it. (But 8am is the witching hour as that is when the giant general visitors RSR FP line is merged with EMH FP line.) FP distribution was supposed to start at 8am but they had some problem with the machines and it took an extra 10 15 minutes for the line to start moving. I had RSR FP by 8:20am with a return time of 11am. (We saved them for night time though.)
My take away from this experience was to modify the EMH plan Wed through Friday. All I needed to ensure was that I was in the RSR EMH FP line by 7:50-7:55am. We would avoid CL altogether during EMH (do CL at night instead) and enjoy v low crowds in rest of the parks b/c you could never be sure if RSR was up or not first thing. So Wed morning we did EMH in DL and due to total lack of crowds, we were able to ride pretty much all of FL by 7:40am. It was amazing fun. I then high-tailed it over to DCA while family did Nemo and Matterhorn twice. I got to DCA front gate at 7:45am which means they had already let general visitors in to hold them at rope drop at CCT. But I showed my room key to the entry CM, and he gave me a big slip of yellow paper that said I was EMH. When I got to the crowd at CCT I swung to the right where CMs were letting EMH people with that yellow paper through so they could still enjoy last 15 mins of EMH. I got in line for RSR FP at 7:50am. This time FP machines running fine, and I had my RSR FP by 8:01am with a 9am return time. I hopped back to DL and joined my family where we had romping good time collecting FPs and riding rides with no crowds until midday (used all FPs at night).
On Thurs we entered DL via Monorail about 7:05am and walked on 5 rides before going over to DCA at 7:40am. DH waited in RSR FP line while kids and I did TSMM, CS, GFS, Mermaid. DH had RSR FP by 8:05 am and we hopped back to DL for more fun (and again collected all FPs for use at night). Friday we were tired and didnt get out of hotel until 7:30am and went straight to DCA. Since it was our last morning we wanted to enjoy it together as a family so skipped RSR FP line and instead went to PP and rode TSMM back to back twice without getting out of ride vehicle, CS, Mickeys Fun Wheel, SSS, GFS, JJ, and visited the Blue Sky Cellar all before 10am. Awesome. Hopped back to DL for last couple of hours of our trip (we had requested late check out at noon at hotel). But DL was pretty hot and crowded Friday midday and so after 2 more rides, happy and exhausted, we bid farewell to HPOE and took Monorail back to hotel.
Waiting in EMH line that first Tues morning
See no one is in line behind us at Storybook
Happy family having fun during EMH. Thanks Walt!
Here are highlights:
1) Check-in at DLH: On other sites, Id read some v negative reviews on the check-in experience for DLH so I was apprehensive. Our experience was not only efficient it was one of our best Disney magic moments of the trip. The Fantasy tower lobby is marvelously full of Disney fun (the tea cup chairs, the animated vintage park map, the black and white photos of Walt and various celebs). My family oohed/ahhed our way up to the check-in counter.
A front desk CM named Debbie called me over after about a 2 minute wait wherein my DS, DD, and DH floated away to check out rest of the hotel. Debbie welcomed me and asked when last Id visited DLH. I told her itd been about 17 years (back when DH was only my BF and before the kids.) She said, Lets make this return visit extra special. She clucked at my reservation for the cheapest parking lot view room, and said she could do better. She offered me a complementary upgrade to pool view in either Fantasy or Frontier tower. I thanked her profusely, chose Fantasy, and expected wed to have to return later to access the room (it was only 1pm), but she said it was ready right away. Hoorah! Then she asked, Would your daughter like to come behind the counter and check you in? Ill make her an official Junior Cast Member. Oh yes! I speed dialed DH and urged immediate return to front desk. My nine-year-old daughter (who loves playing teacher or office at her desk at home) was ushered behind the security gate and up to the CMs side of the counter. Debbie instructed her how to scroll through computer screens, how to countersign our various documents, then how to give us the spiel on pool hours, EMH, hotel parking, etc. DD took it all v seriously, using her best penmanship and straightening stray papers at Debbies post. Debbie congratulated her and gave her an official Junior Cast Member badge, a Minnie ears hat and an 8x10 of the Fab Five autographed by all of them. My daughter was beaming. We all thanked Debbie and walked on air from the front desk to the elevators and up to our room.
Here is a shot of DD checking us in
And here is the view from our upgraded room
2) DLH Overall Experience: This is great hotel. Id been skeptical b/c if we can afford on-property accommodations we stay at GCH. But I was motivated to try DLH b/c GCH room/bed configuration no longer works for us. DS is 15 and too tall for the bunk-beds at GCH, and he cant get any sleep sharing a queen w/ his sister. At DLH they have rooms w/ two queens and a daybed, and this was dandy. Everyone had a comfortable sleeping arrangement (day bed was perfect for a 9 year-old), and there was no downgrade in quality IMHO. The DLH rooms are quiet, clean, charming w/ Disney touches, and appointed with high quality linens and fixtures. DLH room felt slightly bigger than our usual rooms at GCH as well. The giant cereal box shape of DLH towers means you dont have to navigate down long long turning corridors to get from pool/lobby to your room like at GCH. And the two waterslides at DLH are so fun; plus you have easy access to the retro cool Trader Sams Tiki Bar. I would certainly stay at DLH again. The only drawback (and its not insignificant) is the walk to the esplanade or into DCA; its a hike. The monorail is close to DLH and helps a bunch if you are going into DL, but if you want to enter DCA for EMH you have to get your carcass out to the esplanade, and its not a short walk (especially in the heat.) GCH still wins on location (especially when emerging from GRR soaking wet and looking for a quick change).
Here's a shot of DD and DS in DLH room w/ light up head boards that play WYWUAS
3) DLH Pool Cabana Experience: This was our first time renting a cabana, and we loved it. We reserved it for our check-in afternoon b/c we did not want to go into the parks until it cooled at sunset. Afternoon cabana rental is from 2pm to 6pm and cost $110.00. It took about 1 minute to get from our 4th floor Fantasy tower room to the pool (we popped down the elevator, out the lobby back door walked a few feet to the pool entrance and immediately to our left our cabana welcomed us.) An attendant arrived right away and gave us a tour of all the amenities inside (tv, safe, frig stocked w/ bottled water, basket of folded fresh towels, fruit plate, telephone for ordering drinks and other food) and outside there were two chaise lounge and a sun umbrella. We set the tv to a resort radio channel playing Disney music and ordered lunch while the kids went crazy in the pools. Lunch was swiftly delivered from Tangaroa Terrace (good food w/ Asian, Polynesian flair) and everyone enjoyed their various bar orders (smoothies for the kids and beers for mom and dad). Then we all hit the waterslides, getting tips from the CMs on how to go as fast as possible (launch yourself from sitting position at the top, lay down on back immediately and lift up your bottom slightly so only your shoulders and lower leg are touching). We had a blast. The cabana was a v nice refuge in the heat and by about 4:30pm my son was so tired he stretched out inside and took a 90 minute teenage nap. The rest of us read, did crosswords and planned our first evening in the parks. The cabana was the perfect transition from the hustle bustle of air travel to being in a chillaxed vacation state of mind.
Looking out at pool from inside the cabana
4) BVS and Carsland are Awesome: Wow they did a great job in this most recent phase of fixing DCA. Both BVS and CL are lush w/ design. Every tiny detail has been art-directed -- every doorknob, light fixture, flower, window display, queue railing, and costume (i.e., in Luigis, CM mechanic costume cap is worn with bill forward, in MJJ all the caps are worn bill to the back). These are immersive environments that transport you to a fancifully specific place and time (just like Adventureland or Frontierland). You step onto BVS or Route 66 and you are in a movie staring you in that world. Both have fantastic period and theme specific music streaming day and night. (Do I miss the tired and too loud song loop from the old Sunshine Plaza? No I do not!) The signage alone in each land is remarkable (the knockout neon in CL and the multi-layers of unique street and business signage in BVS).
There is plentiful street entertainment specific to each as well. One morning while sitting on a bench on BVS we noticed a policeman dressed in period costume was having a heck of a time reading the Buena Vista Bugle (the local paper.) Hed gotten a piece of gum stuck on his finger and was subsequently tearing his newspaper to shreds in an attempt to read it. No one else seemed to be noticing much, but my DD had honed in on it so we sat and watched the Keatonesque comedy/drama unfold. It was a good 7 to 8 minutes of silliness that seemed to be played out just for our benefit. At the end, he came over and introduced himself as Officer Blue to my DD and let her wear his hat. Take your time in each of these environments, and you will be rewarded with many delights.
As for the CL rides, I liked them all best a night. We rode both MJJ and Luigis our first night in the parks (MJJ wait was 15 min and Luigis 35 min at about 10pm). MJJ and Luigis have popcorn lights strung across the ride platforms which adds a nice twinkle to these fun rides. And of course much has already been written about RSR at night a true E ticket w/ plenty of excitement for everyone, and the lighting at night is gorgeous.
Here a shot of DD and the policeman
Luigi's at night
And sample impressive signage in CL
5) EMH/RSR FP Experience: We did EMH Tues through Friday. On Tues morning I woke family up (with some difficulty) at 6am, and w/ best efforts got to the esplanade DCA gate at 6:45am. This meant we were about 30 people back from the front of the line with about eight lines holding same number of people. By 7am there were another 25 people behind us. When the CMs started letting people through (checking hotel keys for EMH) I asked if RSR was running, but no one knew. We walked with purpose among substantial crowd to CL and none of the CMs along Route 66 knew if RSR was running. We waited in a long RSR ride line that stretched well outside the line queue alongside Flos and Ramoness at end of Route 66. After about 10 minutes in this line it approached a CM in RSR costume who was able to tell us that ride was down, and he didnt know when it would be up. So we got out of line and out of CL b/c it was crowded and wed already done Luigi and MJJ night before. We scooted down to TSMM where we were able to walk right on. It was about 7:30am by that point, and I wanted to make sure I was in RSR FP line so I went back FP machine queue while family walked on TSMM again, CS and then Soarin. The EMH FP line was still v reasonable at 7:35am, and I could have waited until much closer to 8am to get in it. (But 8am is the witching hour as that is when the giant general visitors RSR FP line is merged with EMH FP line.) FP distribution was supposed to start at 8am but they had some problem with the machines and it took an extra 10 15 minutes for the line to start moving. I had RSR FP by 8:20am with a return time of 11am. (We saved them for night time though.)
My take away from this experience was to modify the EMH plan Wed through Friday. All I needed to ensure was that I was in the RSR EMH FP line by 7:50-7:55am. We would avoid CL altogether during EMH (do CL at night instead) and enjoy v low crowds in rest of the parks b/c you could never be sure if RSR was up or not first thing. So Wed morning we did EMH in DL and due to total lack of crowds, we were able to ride pretty much all of FL by 7:40am. It was amazing fun. I then high-tailed it over to DCA while family did Nemo and Matterhorn twice. I got to DCA front gate at 7:45am which means they had already let general visitors in to hold them at rope drop at CCT. But I showed my room key to the entry CM, and he gave me a big slip of yellow paper that said I was EMH. When I got to the crowd at CCT I swung to the right where CMs were letting EMH people with that yellow paper through so they could still enjoy last 15 mins of EMH. I got in line for RSR FP at 7:50am. This time FP machines running fine, and I had my RSR FP by 8:01am with a 9am return time. I hopped back to DL and joined my family where we had romping good time collecting FPs and riding rides with no crowds until midday (used all FPs at night).
On Thurs we entered DL via Monorail about 7:05am and walked on 5 rides before going over to DCA at 7:40am. DH waited in RSR FP line while kids and I did TSMM, CS, GFS, Mermaid. DH had RSR FP by 8:05 am and we hopped back to DL for more fun (and again collected all FPs for use at night). Friday we were tired and didnt get out of hotel until 7:30am and went straight to DCA. Since it was our last morning we wanted to enjoy it together as a family so skipped RSR FP line and instead went to PP and rode TSMM back to back twice without getting out of ride vehicle, CS, Mickeys Fun Wheel, SSS, GFS, JJ, and visited the Blue Sky Cellar all before 10am. Awesome. Hopped back to DL for last couple of hours of our trip (we had requested late check out at noon at hotel). But DL was pretty hot and crowded Friday midday and so after 2 more rides, happy and exhausted, we bid farewell to HPOE and took Monorail back to hotel.
Waiting in EMH line that first Tues morning
See no one is in line behind us at Storybook
Happy family having fun during EMH. Thanks Walt!
