DLR recap...notes for planners

[guynhawaii]

Aloha,

My family and I (Wife, daughter-14 and son-13) recently enjoyed 13 PMs (11 days in the parks) at DLR (stayed at DLH Adventure Tower 8th Floor with view of DTD) (23 Jun - 05 Jul). Being a planner, I spent a lot of time planning and coordinating the entire logistics of the trip. As always, I learned something new during the trip and filed mental notes as lessons learn. As previously stated in an earlier thread of mine, this was my first trip with teenagers. Naturally interests change as well as sleeping habits. Fortunately I read some previous posts from HydroGuy so I was mentally prepared to make changes in my planning. For the first time (due to age) we didn't do any BBB for my daughter. A&E was definitely not in the plans. The kids were more into commando style operations while my wife was more into the relaxation mode. Fortunately everyone was flexible enough to make it all work. Lessons Learn and insight as follows:
1. Sunday was a great day to be in the parks. Both of our Sundays (especially 5 July) were the lightest days of the week. It was confirmed with my conversations with various CMs and the DLH Front Desk (Sunday is the biggest moving day of the week during the summer). On July 5, we completed the entire park (didn't do ToonTown) by lunch. The rides were either walkon or we used FP (Indy especially).
2. DCA Touring. Because of RSR breaking down often and being a big crowd magnet, we did RD (EMH and non-EMH days) and walked on the folowing without an FPs....TSM first (2 rides) followed by Screamin (2 ea), Soarin, Paradise Pier and GRR (2 ea). We did RSR and ToT using FPs. RSR was two each. Unfortunately, ToT only had two of six serviceable elevators during our visits which resulted in one ride.
3. Lilly Belle. Got in line first thing at RD to get a 9:30 AM reservation. Enjoyed the history and knocked out a DLR bucket list item.
4. Mark Twain Pilot House. Despite my best efforts, unable to enjoy a Pilot House ride this trip. Was told by the CMs that the Pilot House was full (a lie), then was told it was reserved for VIPs. Guest Services were no help...spin doctors who differed to the CM Lead of the ride. The CM said it was the Skippers choice on who can ride in the Pilot House. After that, I quit trying. It was no problem during our 2012 visit.
5. Fantasmic BB package. if within your budget, strongly recommend it. Sit to the far right as possible to enjoy the fireworks afterwards.
6. PTN parade. Unless you want to sit on the curb staring NLT 5:45, recommend the 11 PM parade.
7. Cove Bar. My family's favorite DCA restaurant. Relaxing view with good food.
8. CCT. It just didn't rock my family. Personal preference I guess. We went to lunch and it just didn't appeal to my family. Great service and nice atmosphere. Menu is rather limited.
9. BB. Enjoyed a pair of fantasmic dinner packages. My family's favorite place to dine.
10. Steakhouse 55. My family loved the food. Enjoyed a breakfast and dinner. However, in my opinion, the dinner was over priced. The breakfast is highly recommended. Service and food was outstanding.
10. Park planning. If you have the time and budget, recommend to take a break from the parks during any lengthy stay. Perhaps go to the parks for three consecutive days followed by a day off before resuming the parks again. Prevents park burnout and makes the visits more enjoyable.
11. AMC Theatre. Expensive but the most luxurious and clean movie theater with the largest screens I have ever seen.
12. DLH Pool. If you go during the summer, earlier the better to obtain a chair. Very busy with not enough chairs. Generally all chairs were full by 1 PM.
13. FPs. Due to the que design and/ or loading capacity, in my opinion, not all FPs are created equal. FPs for Splash, HM, and BTMRR were especially fast. However, FPs for Space MTN, Indy and RSR were not.
14. Alamo and National. National Rental Car shares location (at least for vans) with Alamo located at DTD at the AMC Theater. Obtained a great rate ($50/day) for a van.
14. VIPs. Brittney Spears and her entourage (brother, sister-in-law, two sons, nanny, nephew (?) and body guards stayed on the 7th Floor of Adventure Tower during the first week of July. Very, very humble and polite. Made my wife and daughter's trip! We ran into their party often either at the pool or to/from the parks. One of the pair of body guards is the size of a NFL linebacker with the attitude of Winnie the Pooh. They were escorted by a Disney VIP CM when touring the parks. Brittney's pair of sons were well behaved and nice to everyone. I was happily surprised by their (BS's entourage) demeanor.

 

[calilou]

Fun trip report! So glad you had a great time! Loved the part about Brittney Spears' visit. I saw several pictures of her and her group on a FB site and wondered where she stayed, etc. Always fab to hear when celebs are cool.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

I enjoyed your tips. I read some of your earlier posts too. Our dates overlapped yours. We stayed at Hojo from June 27-July 5. Our park days were June 27, June 28, and June 30-July 4. My sons are aged 13 and 15. I agree that sleeping patterns definitely are different with teenagers, but we get to go to DLR several times a year, so we just chose not to make early morning a priority this time and instead focused on nighttime stuff, shows, and good use of fastpass. We didn't have EMH. We didn't make rope drop a single morning, a first for us, but we still got everything we wanted to do done many times. We managed to get there a few minutes after opening one morning and before nine most other mornings.

Did you mean Carthay Circle restaurant with CCT? If so, our family agrees with yours. We tried it finally for our first time. We did lunch too. The menu is so limited, and we knew that those weren't our typical types of foods but we wanted to try something really different for us. The service and atmosphere were fine. The food was interesting and none of us disliked our entrees, but none of us were wowed either.

We love the Steakhouse 55 breakfast and have wanted to try dinner, but the price always holds us back. Your comments seem to back up this opinion.

We did the PTN at 11 PM for our first viewing so we could get a great spot without a 3 hour wait. We enjoyed the parade so much though that we decided it was worth it to crowd onto Main Street for the 8:30 parade one night. We found that if we weren't fussed about sitting or being up front, it wasn't really difficult to grab a spot near the flagpole hub around 30-40 minutes before the parade.

Agree with you about Space and Indy fps sometimes taking a while (still usually cuts plenty of time off the standby wait), but our experiences with RSR have generally been that it's a really quick fastpass. That was our experience once again this past trip. RSR fastpass can get really backed up and take a bit longer though if it has been down frequently and/or for lengthy periods, and it sounds like maybe you had the bad luck to experience days like that?

Our family also enjoys watching a movie at the DtD AMC theater. We watched Inside Out this trip. I've got a tip about the pricing. Buy some AMC gold tickets in advance. I know they are available at costco.com and through entertainment.com for members. There may also be other places that offer them if you aren't members of either. Ticket price breaks down to around $8.50 each on costco.com (you have to buy e-ticket 4 pack or hard ticket 10-pack), and the DtD location doesn't charge surcharges for regular 2D movies. There is an upcharge for 3D and IMAX.

 

[MommyJKM]

Happy to hear you had a great time!!

BTW: I worked with Britney Spears a lot in the early 2000's when I worked for Star Magazine and to this day she still sends our family a Holiday card...just a sweet girl who was sadly pimped out by her parents and left to dry once they made their money off her. I'm so happy she's found her way (you notice her parents were on that trip with her, nor will you often see them vacationing with her) and is making good decisions.

 

[CassieF]

Sounds like a great trip!

I do have some insight on the wheelhouse...it is pilot's choice (unless they are training, then no one goes up, and they don't always take someone up) as there would get such a backlog of people waiting, 3-4 or more at a time, which is an hour to hour and a half or more wait. Supposedly it is now back to drivers choice and ends up being a bit of magic to get it. Usually the greeter is the next driver so it never hurts to ask...