Been Back for a week. Here are some notes, hints, and tips that we discovered.

[Jujubee727]

What time did you get to the curb for the 11:00 parade? We are planning on going to the 11:00 parade after we watch the fireworks from the Fantasmic area.

 

[SantaRay]

We're headed to Disneyland on the 15th. Wondering about crowds. How did you think the crowds at Disneyland compare to crowds at WDW during the summer?

 

[alhenton]

Can you tell me what you thought of the Portofino Inn? We are staying there in September

We enjoyed it. It was a nice hotel. We didn't check out the pool or anything but we didn't really have time either. The front desk staff is extremely helpful and nice. The valet staff is nice, but we encountered some miscommunications between them and the front desk, that was ironed out easily. The location was the best part for us. Very easy walk to the park.

 

[alhenton]

What time did you get to the curb for the 11:00 parade? We are planning on going to the 11:00 parade after we watch the fireworks from the Fantasmic area.

We got to the curb at about 10:55. The park had cleared out a ton from the earlier events.
We stayed for the intro to the fireworks at the Fantastic area, but it just didn't feel right. If you have a chance, go to main street for fireworks.

 

[alhenton]

We're headed to Disneyland on the 15th. Wondering about crowds. How did you think the crowds at Disneyland compare to crowds at WDW during the summer?

DCA crowds would even out to EPCOT, AK, and DHS crowds. For the most part, it never feels too crowded although you know there are a lot of people there.
DL and Magic Kingdom can kind of be compared. I would say that MK is more crowded evenly throughout the entire park. Wherever you go, you'll encounter quite a few people, but its fairly easy to get around. With DL, there are some areas that are highly highly congested, but other paths and areas that aren't very crowded at all.
And as crazy as it sounds, I believe the crowds at DL can seem bigger and more congested because the trees and plants around certain areas are more lush, so that gives off a tight, crowded feel.
I hope I explained that well, I can explain further if it is unclear!

 

[HydroGuy]

DCA crowds would even out to EPCOT, AK, and DHS crowds. For the most part, it never feels too crowded although you know there are a lot of people there.
DL and Magic Kingdom can kind of be compared. I would say that MK is more crowded evenly throughout the entire park. Wherever you go, you'll encounter quite a few people, but its fairly easy to get around. With DL, there are some areas that are highly highly congested, but other paths and areas that aren't very crowded at all.
And as crazy as it sounds, I believe the crowds at DL can seem bigger and more congested because the trees and plants around certain areas are more lush, so that gives off a tight, crowded feel.
I hope I explained that well, I can explain further if it is unclear!

I always tells folks that since MK is physically larger with larger walk ways and a larger hub area, it feels less crowded. However, the wait times for rides tend to be significantly longer at MK than at DL. One big contributor to that is that MK has less rides than DL so the rides that are there have more people waiting for them. So it is fair to say that MK is more crowded when it comes to rides. This is basically true across all the WDW parks. Feels less crowded but longer waits for rides.

 

[SantaRay]

DCA crowds would even out to EPCOT, AK, and DHS crowds. For the most part, it never feels too crowded although you know there are a lot of people there.
DL and Magic Kingdom can kind of be compared. I would say that MK is more crowded evenly throughout the entire park. Wherever you go, you'll encounter quite a few people, but its fairly easy to get around. With DL, there are some areas that are highly highly congested, but other paths and areas that aren't very crowded at all.
And as crazy as it sounds, I believe the crowds at DL can seem bigger and more congested because the trees and plants around certain areas are more lush, so that gives off a tight, crowded feel.
I hope I explained that well, I can explain further if it is unclear!

I can understand that thanks for the insight.

 

[SantaRay]

I always tells folks that since MK is physically larger with larger walk ways and a larger hub area, it feels less crowded. However, the wait times for rides tend to be significantly longer at MK than at DL. One big contributor to that is that MK has less rides than DL so the rides that are there have more people waiting for them. So it is fair to say that MK is more crowded when it comes to rides. This is basically true across all the WDW parks. Feels less crowded but longer waits for rides.

Thanks, that makes sense. We don't do many thrill rides, but I'll have to do some this trip. It's my first trip back since '61 or so.

 

[Brer Shay]

Thank you for this review! We're WDW regulars and heading to DL/DCA in two weeks. Had many questions that you've answered. I was particularly trying to figure out the nighttime activities, shows, parades. Your notes are encouraging!

 

[77catwoman]

Thanks for this wonderful post. We are WDW vets and locals heading to DLR in December and your post provoked two questions if you don't mind. First- Is there no app for DL that gives you wait times?
Second- How much is photopass? We are staying at GCH for four nights...five days in the park. I am wondering if it might be a good idea.

TIA!

 

[Mich1218]

Thanks, your itinerary seems similar to ours!

 

[HydroGuy]

Thanks for this wonderful post. We are WDW vets and locals heading to DLR in December and your post provoked two questions if you don't mind. First- Is there no app for DL that gives you wait times?
Second- How much is photopass? We are staying at GCH for four nights...five days in the park. I am wondering if it might be a good idea.

TIA!

No official Disney app. Many unofficial apps like Lines (from touringplans) and MouseWait.

For photopass info see http://www.disboards.com/threads/photopass-superthread.3147673/

 

[77catwoman]

Thank you!

 

[mlnbabies]

We ate at Blue Bayou (lunch was great)

What did you have to eat? We are eating there at the end of Aug. Can you request a certain table? If so which one? It will be just my dh and I.

 

[Jujubee727]

We got to the curb at about 10:55. The park had cleared out a ton from the earlier events.
We stayed for the intro to the fireworks at the Fantastic area, but it just didn't feel right. If you have a chance, go to main street for fireworks.

Do you think we could make it to main street for the fireworks right after fantasmic?? We would love to do this but we weren't sure if we would have enough time in between. We were still planning on watching the fireworks from Main street on a different night but if we could get Fantasmic, Fireworks and Paint the night all done in one night, that would be great!!

 

[alhenton]

What did you have to eat? We are eating there at the end of Aug. Can you request a certain table? If so which one? It will be just my dh and I.

My GF had the salmon, and I had the slow roasted ribeye. Both solid choices. The Gumbo is excellent as well. We didn't request any table so I am not sure if you can or not.

 

[alhenton]

Do you think we could make it to main street for the fireworks right after fantasmic?? We would love to do this but we weren't sure if we would have enough time in between. We were still planning on watching the fireworks from Main street on a different night but if we could get Fantasmic, Fireworks and Paint the night all done in one night, that would be great!!

I think it would depend on where your viewing location is for Fantasmic. If you are yellow, which is what we were and it is on the East side, you may be able to if you move right after the show. There is about 10 minutes between the end of Fantasmic and the beginning of the Fireworks. There are a lot of people moving during this time period, though.
One thing we did was we walked from Fantasmic around to Fantasyland and rode tea cups while the fireworks were going on. It was pretty cool!

 

[alhenton]

Thanks for this wonderful post. We are WDW vets and locals heading to DLR in December and your post provoked two questions if you don't mind. First- Is there no app for DL that gives you wait times?
Second- How much is photopass? We are staying at GCH for four nights...five days in the park. I am wondering if it might be a good idea.

TIA!

We had a Wait time App, but we found that we really didn't use it too much. For one thing, my phone would always die mid afternoon, and another thing is that we didn't want to be running back and forth trying to get to the ride with the shortest line. We just left it up in the air and if we didn't have any FP or show commitment we would just look at the rides we were near, evaluate wait time and go for whatever!
As for PP+. I would say it is worth it. Even though WDW has more PP opportunities, DLR has a lot as well. Even if you take a picture in front of Carthay Circle when you arrive, the pictures will look entirely different at a different hour of the day and with different lighting. Cars Land is the same way. We took multiple photos at the same locations at different hours of the day. It's totally worth it. Ride photos are always fun too!

 

[Laz]

I am just back from a week at DLR. I found that mornings are still the best times to hit both parks. For Example, this past Friday we entered DCA a little after8am and rode RSR single rider 3 time within an hour. We then walked over to Soarin, got a FP, and then waited 20 minutes for TSMM. During the rest of the daytime hours, we made extensive use of FP. I had both the Mousewait app and DL wait app. I found the DL Wait app was a little more up to the minute. However, for me, The best ride wait time/FP times info came from DLR's "Ask Otto" phone number. they give you the number on the park daily activity sheet. Be patient with the ride breakdowns.

 

[Jujubee727]

I think it would depend on where your viewing location is for Fantasmic. If you are yellow, which is what we were and it is on the East side, you may be able to if you move right after the show. There is about 10 minutes between the end of Fantasmic and the beginning of the Fireworks. There are a lot of people moving during this time period, though.
One thing we did was we walked from Fantasmic around to Fantasyland and rode tea cups while the fireworks were going on. It was pretty cool!

We will be in the Blue Bayou reserved area. From the viewing area maps I've seen, I'm guessing we will be buried and have a lot of people getting out before us.