Back from DLR

[Momrow]

My family spent 5 nights at the GCH from Aug 28 - Sept 2. I received so many tips from the boards, here are my thoughts

- We all loved the GCH . Last year we stayed at the Marriot, which was very nice, but being onsite can't be beat, IMO, especially with young children who walk.
- I travelled with my dh and 2 dd's, who are 4 and 10.
- My 4 year old did not use a stroller .
- We hit the parks early and returned around lunch to the hotel. We swam, napped, etc. and went back to the parks early evening.
- If you have a young dd, if you go to the Princess Faire at the Coronation time you can meet 6 princesses - 3 standing in line (ours were Tiana, Mulan, and Belle) and then the 3 who were in the ceremony (Cindy, Snow White, Aurora)
- The whole family enjoyed Goofy's kitchen, we went for dinner. In 2009, we did Minnie's and Ariel's - we all enjoyed Goofy's more.
- My dd's were fine at Napa Rose, but we did not stay for dessert. I would estimate that half the tables had children.
- We did picnics for WOC. Meals were good, plenty of tables for eating. We returned at 7:30 for a 7:45 return and there were many in line already. We had yellow. We stood directly behind the "box" where the preshow host/dancer stood. Not crowded there at all. I spoke with someone who was watching the show for the 8th or 9th time for tips.
- The only poor planning I did was that we missed Fantasmic as it only showed on Saturday and Sunday. Our picnics were for Sunday and we had travelled Saturday. I considered going to Fanstasmic on Sunday and then going for FP's for WOC on another day, but decided against it. My 4 year old is still giving me a hard time for missing F! .
- A couple of nights I put my younger dd to bed and then hit the parks until 11 with my 10 year old - we rode many rides without fastpasses or waiting from 9:30-11:00.
- Food was expensive. I budgeted $40 for breakfast, $50 for lunch, $30 for snacks, and a variable amount for dinner (between $60 and $250). You could definitely do it for less, but mostly ate onsite. We went to Garden walk for PF Chang's happy hour (thanks to the tips here!) it was delicious and less than half the price of Goofy's.
- After DLR, we spent 2 nights at the Hyatt Huntington Beach, I recommend this hotel for those who like the Beach.

Again, thanks to all who provided such invaluable advice!!!

 

[PinkBudgie]

Thanks for the mini report! I've been hearing there have been issues with F! anyway, so maybe it was good you didn't spend time waiting for it. There's always next time. Glad you had a good time! Did your kids have any trouble seeing WOC from your spot?

 

[Momrow]

That's right, I think there were issues with F! that weekend. Kids had no problems seeing, they were right at the rail. We were directly behind the wheelchair section on the second yellow level.

 

[Judy from Boise]

Good for you and your DD for walking! Glad you had a nice trip.

 

[Yukonjack]

My family spent 5 nights at the GCH from Aug 28 - Sept 2. I received so many tips from the boards, here are my thoughts

- We all loved the GCH . Last year we stayed at the Marriot, which was very nice, but being onsite can't be beat, IMO, especially with young children who walk.
- I travelled with my dh and 2 dd's, who are 4 and 10.
- My 4 year old did not use a stroller .
- We hit the parks early and returned around lunch to the hotel. We swam, napped, etc. and went back to the parks early evening.
going for FP's for WOC on another day, but decided against it. My 4 year old is still giving me a hard time for missing F! .
- A couple of nights I put my younger dd to bed and then hit the parks until 11 with my 10 year old - we rode many rides without fastpasses or waiting from 9:30-11:00.

I did this too when we were there last Sept. My wife and I took turns staying at the hotel in the evening when the two daughters (3 and 5) were in bed, so that my 15 yr old son could have more time at the parks. That was really a lot of fun to do, and my son really enjoyed it.

Since we had smaller kids, we would do the same as you. We would hit the parks early, go back to the hotel for lunch/naps/swimming, then go back to the parks until dinner time. Works great when you can stay so close at the GCH!

Glad you had a great trip. I will have to look into the PF Chang's happy hour.

 

[PineapplePrincessCA]

- If you have a young dd, if you go to the Princess Faire at the Coronation time you can meet 6 princesses - 3 standing in line (ours were Tiana, Mulan, and Belle) and then the 3 who were in the ceremony (Cindy, Snow White, Aurora)

When is the Coronation time?? I didn't know they still did this!

 

[Momrow]

I had budgeted for a rental stroller, but did not mention it to dd, who never asked for one. I knew that if I had brought one she would have insisted to bring it. We used up the stroller budget for pins, which my husband recently discovered

And my dd really loved being at the parks without her little sister, it made for some tough mornings but totally worth it. My dh took little dd to Storytellers for breakfast which she loved.

I forgot to include transportation. We flew to LAX, my friend told me not to make any reservations for a shuttle because they would be available. We were going to take the Grayline shuttle but ended up taking Prime Time. There were 8 in the shuttle, we were stop #2, the first was at the Sheraton. Professional service, no texting driver!

We rented a car at Alamo Downtown Disney, drove to the beach and dropped it off at LAX with no extra charges.

 

[Momrow]

When is the Coronation time?? I didn't know they still did this!

It's on the schedule, we were there at 11:15. My dh sat and watched the ceremony while little dd waited, lots of little girls in line with us.

 

[Anj]

Thanks for your comments! We have 3 little ones, and once the middle one was very tired and went back to hotel with DH. Oldest, youngest and I stayed until late (youngest had a huge midday nap) and we had a fab time going from ride to ride.