DCA update - October 15 visit

[cyclenut]

I know there are a lot of threads about the construction at DCA and all the things going on over there. My wife and I spent several hours there on Saturday, October 15, and I thought I would share my first-hand personal experience.

No surprise as has been mentioned before, when you enter the gate you are directed down a long walkway between Soarin' over California on one side and World of Disney in DTD on the other. You actually enter the park near a service gate that connects DTD to DCA and at the edge of the PP Hotel. The walkway is clean and there are plenty of signs and fences to keep you from feeling like you are walking down an alleyway, but it is impossible to notice that you are. They tell you to keep left. That is not something we are used to in the good ole' USA. They do this to try and prevent a bottle neck at the entrance plaza. They would do much better if the swapped the entrance and exit gates. If you don't know what I mean about this, don't worry ... those that have been there will understand and it is just a little detail that I think Disney could do to improve the flow of guests down this corridor.

Once in the park we headed to Soarin' for fastpass and then over to GRRR. The entire main entrance plaza is blocked out for construction, but you can still go to either the left or the right. I didn't seem bothered by this at all. We headed over to GRR then on around to Goofy's Sky School, followed by Lunch at the new Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta place the Toy Story Mania and on around by Ariel's Grotto. The entire area is free from any signs of actual construction activity.

When we came down through the warf area we would see Cars Land and underway and stopped by the Blue Sky Cellar for a peek. We then headed down the main corridor where we continued to see the Cars Land construction fence. As we neared Bugs Land the main street area was fenced off and we could go to the left or the right. Left took you back toward Soarin' and to the right you could go through Bugs Land to Hollywood area (OK ... we didn't actually go that way ... so I could be a little bit off here ... but that is what it looked like to me).

I've heard about DCA being a real mess with all the construction. Frankly, I didn't think it was that bad. In fact, it seemed much better than the last time I was there just as the Golden Gate bridge was coming down. I'm really pretty surprised that they were able to find a way to make the park so enjoyable with the entire main entrance plaza torn up for construction.

One thing I did notice was that aside from the Duffy picture place and the sales of the ghost popcorn bucket, there were few signs of Halloween anywhere in DCA.

Let me know if you have any specific questions and I'll try and answer them for you.

 

[cyclenut]

Here is a picture I took with my camera-phone of the Buena Vista street model. The model is under glass and there is a reflection at the top of someone (don't know who) and at the very top is another display.

 

[ArchOwl]

Thanks for the update! I am also amazed at how they keep the park open during this massive construction. My only real problem with DCA right now is that during busy times (I was last there over Labor Day weekend) it can get super crowded. The walkways especially through Bugs Land were so tight at times you ground to a halt. Even the walkways over by GRR got super crowded at times. Combine that with the long walkway to get in/out that was crammed with people, we didn't go over to DCA that much our last visit.

I know there is not much Disney can really do about that, there is simply not enough space with the huge construction site sitting in the middle of the park. I am very excited to see DCA once it opens back up and there is space for folks to move around.

 

[HydroGuy]

I am able to handle all the DCA construction walls because I am sure the final result will be a huge improvement.

 

[rentayenta]

Just looks like we'll have to spend most of our time at Disneyland.

 

[iKristin]

I am so excited to see the finished result Especially with the new Walt/Mickey statue. It's going to be a huge improvement from what did exist.

 

[cyclenut]

Just looks like we'll have to spend most of our time at Disneyland.

I did not experience any crowd related issues at DCA yesterday. I can see how crowds might become a problem but I'm talking about mid-day on a Saturday in very good weather. My whole point was that this park really is worth a visit right now, in spite of the construction.

 

[gabsandalex]

DL got so crowded yesterday afternoon that we escaped to DCA for some breathing room! Grabbed a FP for Goofy's Sky School, played games on the boardwalk and hit some rides. Aside from the long entrance walk, we have no real complaints at all! We stayed for a few hours and then headed back to DL for fireworks and fantasmic.