Back from early June trip - random thoughts

[arichau]

Hi all,

I love reading these types of posts from people so I thought I'd try and help someone else out. I was in DL with a group of 8 (4 adults and 4 kids 6-10 years old) Sunday through Friday. We stayed on property and fully used early entry.

DLH - it was not as crowded as it usually is when we have been there in years past and we really enjoyed being able to easily find chairs at the pool in the shade, MUCH quicker poolside service, late checkout. Love this hotel!

Security - WHOA! This was amazing. We never waited for security ever in 6 days. Loved it. Max there were two groups in front of us. This was all times of the day and night (we used the one right by the DLH into DTD)

Peter Pan - I love this ride but it was one of the few we didn't go on. Just not willing to wait 45 minutes and that's what it was every time I looked (including Magic Morning) I know I could have arrived at the parks 45 minutes before magic morning started but that's just the same as waiting 45 minutes in line to me. This is the only ride that the line waiting is so crazy. Pirates was much longer than years past but we could always find a time to find is more 25 minute-ish. Had I been in the parks right before closing I would have jumped in line to Peter Pan - but I wish there was something they could do for this ride to decrease the wait.

Stitch - my daughter kind of randomly fell in love with Stitch during her trip to DL last summer and we were so happy to see SO MUCH Stitch merchandise everywhere!

Jedi Show - we did this a few years ago and someone handed us a photopass at the end. No one did that this time but we accessed photopass photos a few days later from the camera shop.

Last minute Night Parade & Fireworks - our crew is not interested in sitting and waiting for a long time for this. And none of us were thrilled (or felt good about) trying to save a huge spot. One night 2 adults and 2 kids got super lucky and found a rather large empty spot in front of the Main Street Railroad Station where the first few rows were kids sitting down so our kids could stand and see everything. Not sure if some people left? We found the spot 5 minutes before it started. A couple even came in after us and didn't infringe in anyone else's space. One other night we had dinner at the Jolly Holiday right before the parade and just watched it from our table. Could only see the top 1/2 of the parade and fireworks were partially obstructed but we could see the projections on the castle and it was a comfortable spot. Worked great for our situation!

Avengers show - we had several kids do this and they enjoyed it. Would I ever watch it again? Probably not. And I have seen the Jedi show many times without knowing any of the kids in it. But it wasn't as bad as some reviews I have read and again, my kids loved it. But I don't feel like you would me missing out if you skipped it either. I don't regret doing this show at all.

Black Widow meet and greet was fun and well done. Loved that there was a roped off area to wait in line for Zootopia characters. Worked really well. Overall, character app info was correct and helpful. Once The Queen was replaced by Mary Poppins I noticed. Line to meet Frozen characters was SO SLOW - just be aware. Once you're in the building you are practically there though. Bummer that Spiderman and Captain America don't start meeting until 2:30pm - wish that started earlier. Never thought about this one at the right time.

For the dance off that happens right in front of Guardians I really wish they would install a small stage so it's easier to see Star Lord and Gamora from far away. It is VERY easy to see Groot from far away. So if you want to see well you'll need to get there early I think. We were in line for Animation Academy (since the Animation Building is closed the entrance to Academy is right across from the Frozen play line) when the dance party started and when we got out were able to get our photo with Groot. This was in the morning. We had seen a monster line the day before later in the day. The line is to the left of Guardians if you are looking directly at the ride. They handle that line really well - what was weird is that they told us it would be 30-45 minutes and it was about 10 minutes. I could see there were only a few groups in front of us so I have no idea why they gave us (and the people in front of us) such a wrong estimate. Meeting Groot was definitely a highlight!

Guardians Ride: I got a walk-up fastpass about 15 minutes before early entry started on Monday. Wednesday the ride was shut down during early entry but I got fastpasses at about 9:45am when it opened (long line but moved fast). And my son and I waited about 30 minutes during early entry on Friday in the standby line. It is very hard (maybe impossible) to see all of the "artifacts" in the line without standing in the stand-by line FYI.

This ride was a hit with everyone but it did completely freak out my 10 year old niece the first time she went on it. She had been on Tower of Terror in Florida the year before and loved it. Guardians she thought was much scarier. I definitely thought it was more intense than the DL TOT. I hadn't read much about the actual ride mechanism changing so this was a surprise - good to give everyone a heads up! My niece asked repeatedly to go on it again and she was all smiles the second around.

We were able to ride RSR twice during early entry before getting Guardians fastpasses one day. Twice on this trip my husband and I ended up on cars on RSR where the audio didn't work. REALLY changes the ride (in a bad way). When we told CMs they immediately put us back on for a second ride. What we finally realized is if you can't hear a revving engine when you are putting on your seatbelt let them know right away to take that car out of rotation! One CM sadly put people in one of that cars with bad audio - she was a bit flustered I think about what to do. It was so odd this happened twice to us (different colored cars too)

I have celiac and have always been so thankful I have so many options at DL for Gluten Free food. But I had to wait super long for my food at several places. In one case everyone was practically done before I even got my food. And at The Red Rose Taverne the cashier couldn't figure out how put in the Beast Burger gluten-free and I ended up with a regular cheeseburger which was a bummer since I had never been there and wanted to try something other than a regular burger. My wait for food was really long there and Jolly Holiday. Not so bad at Galactic Grill. Just keep in mind if you have allergy orders they may take over twice as long to come out as regular food.

Grad nights - I didn't notice a change in crowds between Grad nights and non-Grad Nights (Tuesday and Wednesday were Grad nights) and I had zero issues with grads behaving badly. We do time thrill rides early in the day always so I think this makes it have less of an impact on us.

It was a fantastic trip and I am so impressed with the crowd control they do at DL. Not an easy job - or one I'd like to have!

 

[chickapin parterre]

thank you for writing....could you please share how you timed your magic morning, what time did you arrive at the gate, how far back were you on rope drop, at what time did you walk thru the castle, what were the wait times for other fantasylnad attractions during the 45 min PP. Thank you. I really intrigued by the whole PP wait time, that if folks know it is a long wait, how do they make the decsion to get in line or pass.

 

[ErinF]

Sounds like you had an awesome trip!! Thanks so much for your mini report. We will be in the parks starting June 22nd so it's really valuable to know how things have been happening so close to our own trip. I especially liked hearing your parade/fireworks experiences. My kids, especially my oldest who has special needs, do not like to sit and wait for the parades or fireworks so we don't often see them. And my oldest will not be able to stand still for the whole fireworks show, so I like the idea of getting a table at Jolly Holiday to watch them, even if they are partially obstructed. I have a feeling we'll have to get pretty lucky to nab a table at the right time, but at least it's a possibility.

 

[arichau]

thank you for writing....could you please share how you timed your magic morning, what time did you arrive at the gate, how far back were you on rope drop, at what time did you walk thru the castle, what were the wait times for other fantasylnad attractions during the 45 min PP. Thank you. I really intrigued by the whole PP wait time, that if folks know it is a long wait, how do they make the decsion to get in line or pass.

We entered the park 1-15 minutes after the 7am Magic Morning. So we were not there for rope drop. By the time we made it to PP the sign said 50 minutes. In years past we have been there for rope drop and the line was already 30 minutes because we were not near the front. So if you got there earlier it would be better obviously. Usually we can find a time during out trip PP dips below 30 minutes - this was not that trip for us.

Almost everything else in Fantasyland (I didn't check Matterhorn) was a very short wait. Alice was maybe 15 minutes? If PP isn't an option we go for Alice, Dumbo, Storybook (if there's no line), love to walk on Pinocchio and Snow White, and Mr. Toad was quite short as well. If we are there for another early morning we will do Nemo if it's a walk-on (which it was for us) even tough the ride itself is so long.

 

[arichau]

Sounds like you had an awesome trip!! Thanks so much for your mini report. We will be in the parks starting June 22nd so it's really valuable to know how things have been happening so close to our own trip. I especially liked hearing your parade/fireworks experiences. My kids, especially my oldest who has special needs, do not like to sit and wait for the parades or fireworks so we don't often see them. And my oldest will not be able to stand still for the whole fireworks show, so I like the idea of getting a table at Jolly Holiday to watch them, even if they are partially obstructed. I have a feeling we'll have to get pretty lucky to nab a table at the right time, but at least it's a possibility.

Last year we did the Aladdin Night Parade meal and that was also great (having a reserved section). We ate at the Aladdin Oasis rather than taking it to go and it was so lovely in there. Nice shade, fun decor, and almost empty! We didn't do that this year because we had a few other reservations and in general we try to not have too many reservations to work around. It's also hard to know when the kids will have a night they can stay up late or when they just need to get back to the hotel. Last year the fireworks didn't happen due to wind and that was also a bummer - but luckily that doesn't happen with the night parade!

I think some Jolly Holiday tables would work, many would not. We weren't on the upper deck. That looked much more promising for the parade FYI so check that out

 

[chickapin parterre]

thank -you, I am trying to explore if my waiting is 60 mins or 15 mins. I arrive at the gate at 45mins before gate opening, enter at 30 mins onto rope drop, I am touching the rope at the castle, though not on Main Stet, then completed PP at 7:15. My hypothesis is that the 60 min wait in the esplanade, Main street/castle is better than the 40 min wait in the chains. It is my favorite ride, even though I only ride it once each day. Whereas I ride splash and in the mine car three times in a row, in the same seat, so absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all, we need all the thimbles we can muster.

 

[arichau]

thank -you, I am trying to explore if my waiting is 60 mins or 15 mins. I arrive at the gate at 45mins before gate opening, enter at 30 mins onto rope drop, I am touching the rope at the castle, though not on Main Stet, then completed PP at 7:15. My hypothesis is that the 60 min wait in the esplanade, Main street/castle is better than the 40 min wait in the chains. It is my favorite ride, even though I only ride it once each day. Whereas I ride splash and in the mine car three times in a row, in the same seat, so absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all, we need all the thimbles we can muster.

I totally agree a rope drop wait is better than the wait at the actual ride. Especially the PP line which is out in the sun and really squished. And you're not "wasting" Magic Morning time at rope drop. It's just too early and too much extra waiting for my crew. I think this was the first time I have been to DL and have not gone on PP. I really love it! I kept thinking I would stay in the parks late one night to get on it but that just never worked out. Tons of other stuff DID work out this trip though - so I guess I'll just have to go back to DL to experience PP soon - haha!

 

[squeezle]

I have celiac and have always been so thankful I have so many options at DL for Gluten Free food. But I had to wait super long for my food at several places. In one case everyone was practically done before I even got my food. And at The Red Rose Taverne the cashier couldn't figure out how put in the Beast Burger gluten-free and I ended up with a regular cheeseburger which was a bummer since I had never been there and wanted to try something other than a regular burger. My wait for food was really long there and Jolly Holiday. Not so bad at Galactic Grill. Just keep in mind if you have allergy orders they may take over twice as long to come out as regular food.

Thanks for sharing your experiences! I have food allergies so I always appreciate knowing how the different restaurants handle these special orders.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Thanks for sharing your experiences! I have food allergies so I always appreciate knowing how the different restaurants handle these special orders.

Depending on the allergy or special food need in question, the kitchen may need to prepare the items in a totally separate "clean" area to avoid cross contamination. This means that the food isn't pre-prepared and modified (e.g. pick the onions off a burger), but that it is made fresh at the time of ordering. At TS places, this isn't so noticeabe. The food for the whole group will come out pretty much at the same time. But at CS places, this can create quite a wait while one of the chefs makes a dish to order. We usually have DH order an appetizer of some kind to cover the wait so that we can eat our entree/s together.

 

[squeezle]

Depending on the allergy or special food need in question, the kitchen may need to prepare the items in a totally separate "clean" area to avoid cross contamination. This means that the food isn't pre-prepared and modified (e.g. pick the onions off a burger), but that it is made fresh at the time of ordering. At TS places, this isn't so noticeabe. The food for the whole group will come out pretty much at the same time. But at CS places, this can create quite a wait while one of the chefs makes a dish to order. We usually have DH order an appetizer of some kind to cover the wait so that we can eat our entree/s together.

That makes sense. I am allergic to wheat (not celiac, but an actually allergy), peanuts, and I am lactose intolerant so it an get a little tricky sometimes. But it nice to know what to expect so we can plan accordingly. Thanks