Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[ConnecticutNonna]

Hi all! I just upgraded my family to a 1 bedroom suite CL at BC for 8/18 to 8/25. I did this mostly for space to spread out with the kids for 8 days. The Club level is an added perk. I have been trying to find info and room #s for these. Not much luck. Does anyone know where, what floors these rooms are located and have recent pictures?

Also, I haven't been contacted by the signature services team (I hope I'm saying that right) yet like guest services told me I would be. Should I be doing that? Thanks!

We stayed CL at BC, and SS never reached out to me. I did email them 3 different times prior to our stay and received
emails back. If you haven't heard, do reach out to them.

 

[mickeynut1]

Thank you. Have a great time

Thanks!

Sorry if this was asked.... but we are traveling with friends who are not staying CL, if I use the texting service for FPS while we are there- for extra FP, can they book our friends as well if they are linked in MDE? Hope that’s makes sense.

Thanks.

I don't think they will, but I don't know for sure. Bumping your post in hopes that others will be able to give a definite answer .

Enjoy your stay - I can't wait for your review. I hate that we have to wait until August.

Thank you! I am very excited as it's my first BWI stay and I can't wait to experience the CL that gets such rave reviews. I will definitely post about my stay when I return .

I can't believer it's May already and while August seems a ways off, it's not that far away and will be here before you know it. Enjoy the rest of your planning .

 

[GoGoBeans]

I was so excited! Then I looked at the dates - we're there June 10-21. This is possibly the best thing we have ever done at Disney!

Would you mind sharing what you loved so much about it? And if you’ve done both, how lines were for this in comparison to MNSSHP. While we totally loved MNSSHP and wait times were less than normal, the park wasn’t empty.

There’s a DAH night available during one of our stays. Debating between doing this or the MK EMH night. Obviously the EMH night would be a lot cheaper.

 

[ninafeliz]

Would you mind sharing what you loved so much about it? And if you’ve done both, how lines were for this in comparison to MNSSHP. While we totally loved MNSSHP and wait times were less than normal, the park wasn’t empty.

There’s a DAH night available during one of our stays. Debating between doing this or the MK EMH night. Obviously the EMH night would be a lot cheaper.

Sorry, busy times here and I can read disboards on my phone but it’s hard to answer from my phone! I will try to reply later today or tomorrow- but I will say I would do DAH I’m a heartbeat- the only thing that might make me think twice was if your kids were all too young to stay up at all. Even then I would be tempted... and would probably try it regardless just for the experience even if I didn’t ride much. Lines were nonexistent when we did DAH, it was the first round they did in spring 2016 I think? We haven’t done MNSSHP in a few years, but the lines were much better during DAH. Decent, but nothing like DAH. For DAH the park was nearly empty. I’ll try to expand later, sorry if this is choppy or has typos!

ETA way better than regular EMH. We tried to reproduce it by doing EMH from 10-12 the trip after we did DAH and while we still had fun it was barely a comparison.

 

[PolynesianBlueJay]

Hi all, I am staying, first time alone, at the Yacht Club Regatta Club. I was wondering if anyone has stayed here before with a gluten allergy?

 

[TheFloatingBear]

Would you mind sharing what you loved so much about it? And if you’ve done both, how lines were for this in comparison to MNSSHP. While we totally loved MNSSHP and wait times were less than normal, the park wasn’t empty.

There’s a DAH night available during one of our stays. Debating between doing this or the MK EMH night. Obviously the EMH night would be a lot cheaper.

I haven't done MNSSHP in a long time, probably a good 8 years or so, so I can't help much in line comparison, but I did DAH in January. When we did MNSSHP, we were doing it more for the atmosphere, special parade and such, DAH is all about the rides! I did it with just my eleven year old daughter on her dance trip and we loved it! It wasn't an "empty" park, but it was so pleasant walking around! I love walking around MK at night anyway - I love the lights, the cooler temps, etc. I loved walking around and not having to negotiate around crowds! I enjoyed taking snack breaks too and just enjoying the park at night. I think it will be popular in the summer so I'm wondering if they will creep up the numbers - I hope not!

We did a lot of rides, although I don't have my list handy...I feel like given other circumstances, we could have gotten a lot more done - she's a bit of an early bird, for starters, but more of it was that it was a short trip with the dance focus, so we did park time with her friends in the morning. On a family trip, I could have managed that better so she would have been more rested to take advantage of DAH, but I needed to work with what I had! Ours was a 8-11pm. If it was a 9-12, I'm not sure it would have been "worth" it to us because of the limitations I just mentioned, but under different circumstances (summer - it was definitely chilly our night, which can also be energy draining), rest in day, etc), I might try the 9-12 or 10-1 (not sure if there are any of those in this round?).

I say all this just in speaking to DAH vs night EMH comparison. DAH will of course be less crowded, but I can't remember your kids' ages so their endurance, so to speak, is definitely a factor when considering the paid vs free option!

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

I'm not @ninafeliz
BUT, I can tell you, we had the MOST fun doing this.
We have done both Early Morning Magic (MK and HS) and DAH, and DAH wins hands down.
Estimates put the total number of peeps in the park at around 2,000, don't know if that's true or not.
But we were able to circumnavigate the entire park, visit EVERY single attraction that we wanted
and had time left over to shop our way out Main Street and grab a Starbucks snack prior to exiting.
We rode HM 3 times, 7D twice and BTMRR twice. The only mountain we did not do was Splash
as it was really, really cold the night we went in March. (Winter jacket and gloves cold, lol)
We were let in early, but I can't remember what time. At least 2 hours. (maybe 6 - 6:30 ish?)
We even saw Talking Mickey on our way out with only 2 families in front of us.
Again, I can't say how absolutely great this was.
Hoping they have it again when we go in February 2019.
Sparkle on,
NonnaT

Thank you so much for this information. We are late night people - especially now that the kids are older. This will be perfect for us. We always did the EMH at MK when it was open to 2am or 3am - those days are gone (free). It was always close to empty.

I think we are going to do it - the only issue is we need to get there a day earlier - not like that is a real problem. I just have to check with everyone's schedule.

Thanks again.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

Thank you! I am very excited as it's my first BWI stay and I can't wait to experience the CL that gets such rave reviews. I will definitely post about my stay when I return .

I can't believer it's May already and while August seems a ways off, it's not that far away and will be here before you know it. Enjoy the rest of your planning .

So excited - the planning is almost as fun as going! Have a blast. Tell Anita and Lorenzo we said hello.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I haven't done MNSSHP in a long time, probably a good 8 years or so, so I can't help much in line comparison, but I did DAH in January. When we did MNSSHP, we were doing it more for the atmosphere, special parade and such, DAH is all about the rides! I did it with just my eleven year old daughter on her dance trip and we loved it! It wasn't an "empty" park, but it was so pleasant walking around! I love walking around MK at night anyway - I love the lights, the cooler temps, etc. I loved walking around and not having to negotiate around crowds! I enjoyed taking snack breaks too and just enjoying the park at night. I think it will be popular in the summer so I'm wondering if they will creep up the numbers - I hope not!

We did a lot of rides, although I don't have my list handy...I feel like given other circumstances, we could have gotten a lot more done - she's a bit of an early bird, for starters, but more of it was that it was a short trip with the dance focus, so we did park time with her friends in the morning. On a family trip, I could have managed that better so she would have been more rested to take advantage of DAH, but I needed to work with what I had! Ours was a 8-11pm. If it was a 9-12, I'm not sure it would have been "worth" it to us because of the limitations I just mentioned, but under different circumstances (summer - it was definitely chilly our night, which can also be energy draining), rest in day, etc), I might try the 9-12 or 10-1 (not sure if there are any of those in this round?).

I say all this just in speaking to DAH vs night EMH comparison. DAH will of course be less crowded, but I can't remember your kids' ages so their endurance, so to speak, is definitely a factor when considering the paid vs free option!

Here’s your list if you need it: https://www.disboards.com/threads/o...all-dates-added.3634161/page-80#post-58742310

 

[GoGoBeans]

I haven't done MNSSHP in a long time, probably a good 8 years or so, so I can't help much in line comparison, but I did DAH in January. When we did MNSSHP, we were doing it more for the atmosphere, special parade and such, DAH is all about the rides! I did it with just my eleven year old daughter on her dance trip and we loved it! It wasn't an "empty" park, but it was so pleasant walking around! I love walking around MK at night anyway - I love the lights, the cooler temps, etc. I loved walking around and not having to negotiate around crowds! I enjoyed taking snack breaks too and just enjoying the park at night. I think it will be popular in the summer so I'm wondering if they will creep up the numbers - I hope not!

We did a lot of rides, although I don't have my list handy...I feel like given other circumstances, we could have gotten a lot more done - she's a bit of an early bird, for starters, but more of it was that it was a short trip with the dance focus, so we did park time with her friends in the morning. On a family trip, I could have managed that better so she would have been more rested to take advantage of DAH, but I needed to work with what I had! Ours was a 8-11pm. If it was a 9-12, I'm not sure it would have been "worth" it to us because of the limitations I just mentioned, but under different circumstances (summer - it was definitely chilly our night, which can also be energy draining), rest in day, etc), I might try the 9-12 or 10-1 (not sure if there are any of those in this round?).

I say all this just in speaking to DAH vs night EMH comparison. DAH will of course be less crowded, but I can't remember your kids' ages so their endurance, so to speak, is definitely a factor when considering the paid vs free option!

Thank you and @ninafeliz for your posts. Sounds awesome. There will be 8-10 of us going and the kids are all early teens. They prefer to sleep in and stay up late so the late hours are perfect for us. One of our best MNSSHP memories is looping BTMRR years ago. Started out all 12 of us and one by one the other parents pealed off and it was just me and six kids. At some point they didn’t even make us get off the train.

Need to get the other families on board. One of them are not onboard with the paid fast passes yet. The kids will want to stick together whatever we do.

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

Would you mind sharing what you loved so much about it? And if you’ve done both, how lines were for this in comparison to MNSSHP. While we totally loved MNSSHP and wait times were less than normal, the park wasn’t empty.

There’s a DAH night available during one of our stays. Debating between doing this or the MK EMH night. Obviously the EMH night would be a lot cheaper.

The lines for EMH are dramatically longer.
For us it was the best park touring we've ever done. (We do NOT consider MNSSHP or MVMCP "touring", we go for so many other reasons)
It was a walk on for everything except 7DMT and BTMRR. Both of those were 10 minute waits.

 

[mickeynut1]

So excited - the planning is almost as fun as going! Have a blast. Tell Anita and Lorenzo we said hello.

I agree, the planning is exciting and I love it almost as much as being there! I have read so much about Anita and Lorenzo on this thread, so hopefully they'll be around. It's a short trip and we are only there a few days, but I'm going to make the most of it and enjoy CL and the resort overall .

 

[ninafeliz]

Would you mind sharing what you loved so much about it? And if you’ve done both, how lines were for this in comparison to MNSSHP. While we totally loved MNSSHP and wait times were less than normal, the park wasn’t empty.

There’s a DAH night available during one of our stays. Debating between doing this or the MK EMH night. Obviously the EMH night would be a lot cheaper.

Ok, I have a few minutes! We did DAH back in May 2016 I believe it was, while we were staying at the YC. It was from 11 PM - 2 AM at that time. We had 2 boys, ages 3 and 6, so when I first heard about it I thought it sounded amazing but figured we couldn't do it given the ages our our kids. However, to my surprise, when I mentioned it to my DH he immediately thought we should do it. I'm the bigger disney fan between the 2 of us, but he is very into paying for exclusivity and no waits, so he thought it sounded great. We actually chanced it and didn't buy tickets until we arrived, because we were upgrading out UCT tickets to APs and wanted to get the rather substantial AP discount. So they day we arrived we walked into Epcot, upgraded our tickets to APs, and bought the DAH tickets. It sounds like that wouldn't work now, as people have caught on to how amazing it is and they are selling out. Back then there were reports of people being given tickets at their resorts, etc. I'm pretty sure our night didn't sell out.

The day of it we made the kids (and us!) take a nap in the room for 2 hours with the blinds drawn, etc They resisted, but it worked and they were able to make it for the event. We went over to the MK in early evening, probably around 7. Interesting fact - we actually ran into Pete on the ferry from the TTC to the MK and said hi. He went that night as well! I was an idiot and said something dumb instead of suave when I was talking to him - it never goes like the scenario in my head . Anyway, we got our lanyard on the way in and I don't really remember what we did specifically up until the event started.

Once 11:00 hit it was amazing! It wasn't quite as empty as the previous reviews had made it sound, but it was definitely sparse. There may have been a few times that there was literally no other person in site, mostly there were just a few people around when you stopped to look. We started in Tomorrowland, my 3 yr old loved Astro Orbiter (which is always so slow to load) and he and I rode it 5 times without getting off. The 5th time it was full, some of the others there were only a few others on it. Another ride I specifically remember is barnstormer, we rode 5 times in a row without getting off and only got off because I didn't want to waste the whole night on small rides. We rode everything we wanted to ride, the only one we didn't hit that I wish we had was Splash Mountain and we could have done that at the very end but my DH just didn't want to do it, he was ready to head back. We never waited more than the next ride on anything. IIRC other than Splash the only rides/attractions we skipped were Country Bears, Philharmagic, treehouse, Tiki room, and meet and greets. We wanted rides more than shows - and we didn't want the kids to sit down and get tired! We did many things more than once. We also had to trade off on the 44" rides, but not a problem without lines. we stopped for ice cream twice, i would have loved to get more for our money but I can only eat so much ice cream (or can mentally only handle so many calories in the middle of the night ) and honestly, with the young kids, it takes too long for them to eat those Mickey Bars and we wanted to ride! I also "made" us get one picture, up by the statue of Walt in the Hub. That probably took 20 min - there was a little wait for that. But I'm so glad we did it, it was at like 1 AM and we were holding a sign that said DAH. It turned out to be some great family pictures.

We didn't ride right up until 2 AM, we were back in Frontierland and just took our time leaving so we were probably getting on the bus at right about 2 AM. I would have stayed and ridden 1-2 more things, but my DH isn't into getting every last minute out of things and was ready to go. The youngest was half asleep by then also. But they both made it. In fact, the 6 year old was awake when we got to the resort, and the 3 yr old woke up again some also. They were troopers. We slept in somewhat the next AM, but it didn't cause any problems with their schedules.

We loved it, and my DH and I agree it's the best thing we've ever done at Disney. We tend to do a lot of upcharge things, like Dessert Parties, EMM at MK and DHS, Fireworks cruises, parsailing, CL extra FPs, etc, and this was the most fun and worth every penny. No waits at all (I really think we never waited more than maybe 2 min at BTMRR and the line never stopped, it was just walking down and being told which stall), and some "free" ice cream .

Our next trip was August of that same year, and since they didn't offer DAH then we tried to "recreate" it by doing the 10-12 AM EMH at the MK. We had the kids nap, etc, and had no problem making it until MN. However, I remember my DS3 wanted to ride Astro Orbiter again, and this time it look maybe 20-25 min of the 2 hrs to do it during EMH, instead of riding 5 times without getting off during DAH. In that time my DH and DS6 rode Space Mountain, and they were only able to ride once. It was much better crowds than the middle of the day, but there were still 20-30 min lines for headliners or slow loaders until maybe 11:30. We were only able to ride a handful or rides in the 2 hours. It was barely comparable to DAH. Still fun, and less lines than daytime or obviously a busy day, but nothing at all like the feel of DAH. DAH just felt special, like you were at something exclusive and had the park to yourself, EMH felt like an evening at the MK. Not a bad thing, but very different feel.

I would't compare DAH to MNSSHP or MVMCP. Those are fun for the holiday feel and special parade, fireworks, etc. The ride lines are pretty short, but we never had time to ride that much if we also wanted to trick or treat, watch the parade, and watch the fireworks. I guess you could buy a ticket with the intent of just riding with short lines, and not doing any of the holiday events, we've just never done that. we don't do every holiday thing - we don't watch the shows, for example, but we still didn't have tons of time to ride. With older kids you might find you have time to watch the parade and fireworks, trick or treat (or get snacks for MVMCP) and still have a decent amt of time for rides, I'm not sure. But I would expect lines more toward EMH lines, not DAH lines.

Hope that helped, wasn't TMI, and wasn't just boring. It made me nostalgic thinking abut it, and excited for our upcoming trip. I REALLY wish DAH was offered earlier in June this year, I would have done it in a second! I guess it was also a long Off topic post for this thread . We were staying CL at the YC when we did it in 2016, does that bring it on topic ?

 

[SL6827]

Sounds as if DAH is worth the money, for now. But when Disney starts increasing the number of tickets allowed to this event, and you know they will, the value will certainly go down. This is certainly something that might be nice to do if you are planning a trip intended on enjoying and relaxing at the resort(s) you are staying, with very little park time planned.

 

[GoGoBeans]

Ok, I have a few minutes! We did DAH back in May 2016 I believe it was, while we were staying at the YC. It was from 11 PM - 2 AM at that time. We had 2 boys, ages 3 and 6, so when I first heard about it I thought it sounded amazing but figured we couldn't do it given the ages our our kids. However, to my surprise, when I mentioned it to my DH he immediately thought we should do it. I'm the bigger disney fan between the 2 of us, but he is very into paying for exclusivity and no waits, so he thought it sounded great. We actually chanced it and didn't buy tickets until we arrived, because we were upgrading out UCT tickets to APs and wanted to get the rather substantial AP discount. So they day we arrived we walked into Epcot, upgraded our tickets to APs, and bought the DAH tickets. It sounds like that wouldn't work now, as people have caught on to how amazing it is and they are selling out. Back then there were reports of people being given tickets at their resorts, etc. I'm pretty sure our night didn't sell out.

The day of it we made the kids (and us!) take a nap in the room for 2 hours with the blinds drawn, etc They resisted, but it worked and they were able to make it for the event. We went over to the MK in early evening, probably around 7. Interesting fact - we actually ran into Pete on the ferry from the TTC to the MK and said hi. He went that night as well! I was an idiot and said something dumb instead of suave when I was talking to him - it never goes like the scenario in my head . Anyway, we got our lanyard on the way in and I don't really remember what we did specifically up until the event started.

Once 11:00 hit it was amazing! It wasn't quite as empty as the previous reviews had made it sound, but it was definitely sparse. There may have been a few times that there was literally no other person in site, mostly there were just a few people around when you stopped to look. We started in Tomorrowland, my 3 yr old loved Astro Orbiter (which is always so slow to load) and he and I rode it 5 times without getting off. The 5th time it was full, some of the others there were only a few others on it. Another ride I specifically remember is barnstormer, we rode 5 times in a row without getting off and only got off because I didn't want to waste the whole night on small rides. We rode everything we wanted to ride, the only one we didn't hit that I wish we had was Splash Mountain and we could have done that at the very end but my DH just didn't want to do it, he was ready to head back. We never waited more than the next ride on anything. IIRC other than Splash the only rides/attractions we skipped were Country Bears, Philharmagic, treehouse, Tiki room, and meet and greets. We wanted rides more than shows - and we didn't want the kids to sit down and get tired! We did many things more than once. We also had to trade off on the 44" rides, but not a problem without lines. we stopped for ice cream twice, i would have loved to get more for our money but I can only eat so much ice cream (or can mentally only handle so many calories in the middle of the night ) and honestly, with the young kids, it takes too long for them to eat those Mickey Bars and we wanted to ride! I also "made" us get one picture, up by the statue of Walt in the Hub. That probably took 20 min - there was a little wait for that. But I'm so glad we did it, it was at like 1 AM and we were holding a sign that said DAH. It turned out to be some great family pictures.

We didn't ride right up until 2 AM, we were back in Frontierland and just took our time leaving so we were probably getting on the bus at right about 2 AM. I would have stayed and ridden 1-2 more things, but my DH isn't into getting every last minute out of things and was ready to go. The youngest was half asleep by then also. But they both made it. In fact, the 6 year old was awake when we got to the resort, and the 3 yr old woke up again some also. They were troopers. We slept in somewhat the next AM, but it didn't cause any problems with their schedules.

We loved it, and my DH and I agree it's the best thing we've ever done at Disney. We tend to do a lot of upcharge things, like Dessert Parties, EMM at MK and DHS, Fireworks cruises, parsailing, CL extra FPs, etc, and this was the most fun and worth every penny. No waits at all (I really think we never waited more than maybe 2 min at BTMRR and the line never stopped, it was just walking down and being told which stall), and some "free" ice cream .

Our next trip was August of that same year, and since they didn't offer DAH then we tried to "recreate" it by doing the 10-12 AM EMH at the MK. We had the kids nap, etc, and had no problem making it until MN. However, I remember my DS3 wanted to ride Astro Orbiter again, and this time it look maybe 20-25 min of the 2 hrs to do it during EMH, instead of riding 5 times without getting off during DAH. In that time my DH and DS6 rode Space Mountain, and they were only able to ride once. It was much better crowds than the middle of the day, but there were still 20-30 min lines for headliners or slow loaders until maybe 11:30. We were only able to ride a handful or rides in the 2 hours. It was barely comparable to DAH. Still fun, and less lines than daytime or obviously a busy day, but nothing at all like the feel of DAH. DAH just felt special, like you were at something exclusive and had the park to yourself, EMH felt like an evening at the MK. Not a bad thing, but very different feel.

I would't compare DAH to MNSSHP or MVMCP. Those are fun for the holiday feel and special parade, fireworks, etc. The ride lines are pretty short, but we never had time to ride that much if we also wanted to trick or treat, watch the parade, and watch the fireworks. I guess you could buy a ticket with the intent of just riding with short lines, and not doing any of the holiday events, we've just never done that. we don't do every holiday thing - we don't watch the shows, for example, but we still didn't have tons of time to ride. With older kids you might find you have time to watch the parade and fireworks, trick or treat (or get snacks for MVMCP) and still have a decent amt of time for rides, I'm not sure. But I would expect lines more toward EMH lines, not DAH lines.

Hope that helped, wasn't TMI, and wasn't just boring. It made me nostalgic thinking abut it, and excited for our upcoming trip. I REALLY wish DAH was offered earlier in June this year, I would have done it in a second! I guess it was also a long Off topic post for this thread . We were staying CL at the YC when we did it in 2016, does that bring it on topic ?

Thank you! That sounds amazingly awesome and not boring at all. You had me chuckling at not being suave with Pete and I’m with you on the bars not being worth the calories. Selective on carbs and if I’m going to do ice cream, you better believe it’s a coffee milkshake.

Don’t you just love the nostalgic memories these trips bring up. Thanks for sharing yours with us. We keep Disney in high rotation because we’ve had so many happy times there. The kids also sucker me with a Disney memory when they’re buttering me up for something. It’s quite funny.

Glad you also enjoyed your YC CL stay too.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

Ok, I have a few minutes! We did DAH back in May 2016 I believe it was, while we were staying at the YC. It was from 11 PM - 2 AM at that time. We had 2 boys, ages 3 and 6, so when I first heard about it I thought it sounded amazing but figured we couldn't do it given the ages our our kids. However, to my surprise, when I mentioned it to my DH he immediately thought we should do it. I'm the bigger disney fan between the 2 of us, but he is very into paying for exclusivity and no waits, so he thought it sounded great. We actually chanced it and didn't buy tickets until we arrived, because we were upgrading out UCT tickets to APs and wanted to get the rather substantial AP discount. So they day we arrived we walked into Epcot, upgraded our tickets to APs, and bought the DAH tickets. It sounds like that wouldn't work now, as people have caught on to how amazing it is and they are selling out. Back then there were reports of people being given tickets at their resorts, etc. I'm pretty sure our night didn't sell out.

The day of it we made the kids (and us!) take a nap in the room for 2 hours with the blinds drawn, etc They resisted, but it worked and they were able to make it for the event. We went over to the MK in early evening, probably around 7. Interesting fact - we actually ran into Pete on the ferry from the TTC to the MK and said hi. He went that night as well! I was an idiot and said something dumb instead of suave when I was talking to him - it never goes like the scenario in my head . Anyway, we got our lanyard on the way in and I don't really remember what we did specifically up until the event started.

Once 11:00 hit it was amazing! It wasn't quite as empty as the previous reviews had made it sound, but it was definitely sparse. There may have been a few times that there was literally no other person in site, mostly there were just a few people around when you stopped to look. We started in Tomorrowland, my 3 yr old loved Astro Orbiter (which is always so slow to load) and he and I rode it 5 times without getting off. The 5th time it was full, some of the others there were only a few others on it. Another ride I specifically remember is barnstormer, we rode 5 times in a row without getting off and only got off because I didn't want to waste the whole night on small rides. We rode everything we wanted to ride, the only one we didn't hit that I wish we had was Splash Mountain and we could have done that at the very end but my DH just didn't want to do it, he was ready to head back. We never waited more than the next ride on anything. IIRC other than Splash the only rides/attractions we skipped were Country Bears, Philharmagic, treehouse, Tiki room, and meet and greets. We wanted rides more than shows - and we didn't want the kids to sit down and get tired! We did many things more than once. We also had to trade off on the 44" rides, but not a problem without lines. we stopped for ice cream twice, i would have loved to get more for our money but I can only eat so much ice cream (or can mentally only handle so many calories in the middle of the night ) and honestly, with the young kids, it takes too long for them to eat those Mickey Bars and we wanted to ride! I also "made" us get one picture, up by the statue of Walt in the Hub. That probably took 20 min - there was a little wait for that. But I'm so glad we did it, it was at like 1 AM and we were holding a sign that said DAH. It turned out to be some great family pictures.

We didn't ride right up until 2 AM, we were back in Frontierland and just took our time leaving so we were probably getting on the bus at right about 2 AM. I would have stayed and ridden 1-2 more things, but my DH isn't into getting every last minute out of things and was ready to go. The youngest was half asleep by then also. But they both made it. In fact, the 6 year old was awake when we got to the resort, and the 3 yr old woke up again some also. They were troopers. We slept in somewhat the next AM, but it didn't cause any problems with their schedules.

We loved it, and my DH and I agree it's the best thing we've ever done at Disney. We tend to do a lot of upcharge things, like Dessert Parties, EMM at MK and DHS, Fireworks cruises, parsailing, CL extra FPs, etc, and this was the most fun and worth every penny. No waits at all (I really think we never waited more than maybe 2 min at BTMRR and the line never stopped, it was just walking down and being told which stall), and some "free" ice cream .

Our next trip was August of that same year, and since they didn't offer DAH then we tried to "recreate" it by doing the 10-12 AM EMH at the MK. We had the kids nap, etc, and had no problem making it until MN. However, I remember my DS3 wanted to ride Astro Orbiter again, and this time it look maybe 20-25 min of the 2 hrs to do it during EMH, instead of riding 5 times without getting off during DAH. In that time my DH and DS6 rode Space Mountain, and they were only able to ride once. It was much better crowds than the middle of the day, but there were still 20-30 min lines for headliners or slow loaders until maybe 11:30. We were only able to ride a handful or rides in the 2 hours. It was barely comparable to DAH. Still fun, and less lines than daytime or obviously a busy day, but nothing at all like the feel of DAH. DAH just felt special, like you were at something exclusive and had the park to yourself, EMH felt like an evening at the MK. Not a bad thing, but very different feel.

I would't compare DAH to MNSSHP or MVMCP. Those are fun for the holiday feel and special parade, fireworks, etc. The ride lines are pretty short, but we never had time to ride that much if we also wanted to trick or treat, watch the parade, and watch the fireworks. I guess you could buy a ticket with the intent of just riding with short lines, and not doing any of the holiday events, we've just never done that. we don't do every holiday thing - we don't watch the shows, for example, but we still didn't have tons of time to ride. With older kids you might find you have time to watch the parade and fireworks, trick or treat (or get snacks for MVMCP) and still have a decent amt of time for rides, I'm not sure. But I would expect lines more toward EMH lines, not DAH lines.

Hope that helped, wasn't TMI, and wasn't just boring. It made me nostalgic thinking abut it, and excited for our upcoming trip. I REALLY wish DAH was offered earlier in June this year, I would have done it in a second! I guess it was also a long Off topic post for this thread . We were staying CL at the YC when we did it in 2016, does that bring it on topic ?

Thank you so much for your in depth review. We are looking forward to doing DAH this summer for the first time.
Thanks again!

 

[GoGoBeans]

Another slightly OT question. I’m wondering if anyone here knows how long the bell ringers and carolers stick around after Christmas Day at the resorts. I understand that the decorations stay around for a few days into the new year, but curious as to when the bell ringers etc end. I would have assumed Christmas Day, although CP went last year through the 30th so perhaps not.

Although the Epcot Festival of Holidays only went to the 30th and I would have assumed those booths could have stayed open a little longer. Perhaps to twelfth night.

 

[bayknox]

Hello we are staying at the YC Cl in June. Just wondering if anyone can tell me what type or brand of wines they serve in the lounge. Thank you in advance!

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

Can someone let me know if DSS still will check for an ADR for you that is not available and then book it with your credit card once one opens? I have done this for our last few trips. I was on with DSS booking other things and then said I needed to check for an ADR and she transferred me and it ended up being to the regular dining reservations number. They said they couldn't help me. I then called DSS back and was on the hold for over 20 minutes. I decided to email them and they said my ADR wasn't available and gave me alternatives for that date. I specifically asked if they could try daily to check if it one opens. I emailed again but didn't get an answer.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Can someone let me know if DSS still will check for an ADR for you that is not available and then book it with your credit card once one opens? I have done this for our last few trips. I was on with DSS booking other things and then said I needed to check for an ADR and she transferred me and it ended up being to the regular dining reservations number. They said they couldn't help me. I then called DSS back and was on the hold for over 20 minutes. I decided to email them and they said my ADR wasn't available and gave me alternatives for that date. I specifically asked if they could try daily to check if it one opens. I emailed again but didn't get an answer.

My experience has been that DSS doing this (repeated checking of ADRs) would be the exception, and not the norm. They tend to work best for “one and done” transactions or tasks, not necessarily “vacation planning” in the sense of always working / looking out for you. YMMV of course.