July 2025 Trip Report

[OlliePop27]

My family is just back from a quick Colorado trip to escape the Texas heat, so I will finally get to my July 4th DLR trip report!

It was myself, my spouse, two kids, sister's family with two kids, and my two 69 year old parents.

We did 4 park days with hoppers and LLMP. More to come!

 

[OlliePop27]

BACKGROUND and DAY 1

This trip was originally supposed to occur in November 2025, but we had to move the trip up to July because of other obligations. It ended up working out better for many reasons, not least of which being that we LOVE July! It is our favorite month to go. This year we visited July 2 - 7 with park days on the 3-6. We had a 2 and 6 year old with us, then my sister's family had a 9 and 11 year old.

All of us stayed at the Tropicana, which we have grown to really enjoy. It's incredibly convenient and we choose a suite with multiple rooms. We flew from DFW to SNA on the morning of July 2nd. Easy and uneventful flight as usual. We are very fortunate to have about 8 nonstop flights per day to SNA!

When we arrived around 9:30 am the marine layer was still thick. Temperatures the entire trip hovered with highs right around 80 degrees.

When we landed, we met my parents who flew in at the same time from Denver two gates down - how convenient! My sister’s family was flying in later to LAX.

We rented car from National and headed off to Huntington Beach. Spent about 1.5 hours there from 11:00-12:30. It was amazing and totally worth the effort to spend some time at the ocean to start the trip. We have been fortunate this year to visit the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific!

We headed off to DLR after calling Tropicana to confirm our rooms were ready early. Checked in about 1:30. Got Walmart delivery about 2:30, stroller delivery about 3:00, and returned car about 3:30 on Katella. When my sister's family arrived around 4:00, we walked to Downtown Disney and shopped at World of Disney and Star Wars Trading Post. Checked into Goofy’s Kitchen at 5:25 for 5:45 dinner. Waited until about 6:00. Great dinner and walked back to Tropicana for bedtime and to get ready for our first park day the next morning.

 

[Tinkaboo]

Sounds fabulous...what a great start! No hiccups anywhere! Can't wait to read the rest!

 

[OlliePop27]

Day 2 - Thursday, July 3rd

Everyone was up around 6:00 am local because of the time difference (coming from Central time). We all met outside our rooms at 7:15 and left for DL, which was EE that day. There was no wait at security or to enter the parks. This was my first experience with the new entry gates and I think they are awesome!

We waited to the right of the hub to head to FL past Matterhorn. Closures this trip were Matterhorn and Star Tours.

We did Alice, even with EE it was only about a 7 minute wait. We did Snow White and Toad. Next we ran into Pinocchio and Genie on our way to Toontown. Small World was down. We had gotten an MEP from Tiana’s being down and booked Small World for after Toontown. We did Minnie’s House, Mickey’s House, the play fountain and Goofy’s yard. We did Roger Rabbit then Runaway Railway. My sister, who went to Hollywood Studios last year, was in shock that at 9:30 you can literally walk onto Runaway Railway! We then did Small World because it opened back up.

We then headed over to Haunted Mansion and then did Big Thunder with LL. We then watched the DL Band and did Space Mountain with LL. We then headed all the way over to Incredicoaster with LL. We then headed back for a rest at the hotel around 1:00. We headed back to the park around 4:45 and watched Better Together from near Hyperion.

We then went back to DL to do Pirates and then Rise, which had a 25 minute posted wait and we waited 15 to the first preshow! My wife, mom, and youngest did Pooh while the rest of us did ROTR. Some of the group then did Falcon with LL, while me, my wife, mom, and youngest did some stuff in FL. I don’t remember the order of everything, but I know we did Buzz before finally heading back to the hotel around 8:30. Some in the group stayed later.

What a great day! Extremely light crowds and very easy LLMP booking. This was a $180 ticket day and Believe was not blocked. I thought about coming back into the park after putting the kids to bed around 10:30, but I opted not to given 3 more days and nighttime entertainment the next 3 nights.

Up next - July 4th!

 

[iHEARTflorida]

You had EE staying at Tropicana ?

 

[BriannaRuth]

I'm thinking they must not have entered DL until regular entry since they left the Tropicana at 7:15 and still had to wait at the hub for entry into FL. Hopefully he'll be back to tell us more

Day 2 - Thursday, July 3rd

This was my first experience with the new entry gates and I think they are awesome!

Can you elaborate on the new entry gates?

 

[OlliePop27]

I'm thinking they must not have entered DL until regular entry since they left the Tropicana at 7:15 and still had to wait at the hub for entry into FL. Hopefully he'll be back to tell us more



Can you elaborate on the new entry gates?

Correct, we leave the hotel 7:15-7:20 and head right into the park. We then walk down to the "holding area" which at DL is by the hub and at DCA depends on where you are going (usually by the waterfall or down in Hollywoodland. This means we are usually in the park in our "waiting spot" by 7:30. If you show up to the park for an 8:00 am open at 8:00, you are actually late! We enjoy the waiting. We sometimes put on sunscreen, play games, talk, eat some grab and go breakfast. It's a really fun time actually!

This ensures we are near the "front" of the rope drop crowds to hit the ground running when the parks open at 8:00! If it's an EE day, the hotel guests go into the park through their access points, but we usually go to the park opposite EE.

The new entry gates are really cool! I have MagicBand+ so we scan on the right side of the gate. The first time you go they take your picture, then that picture is used the rest of the length of ticket. The next time the scanner matches your face to the picture. It's SUPER fast except for the initial picture taking time. You line up, it matches your face, then the double-door plastic gate opens! Very cool! And it easily fits strollers and wheelchairs so it's a lot easier than the old manual gate in the middle.

 

[LKing]

The new entry gates are really cool! I have MagicBand+ so we scan on the right side of the gate. The first time you go they take your picture, then that picture is used the rest of the length of ticket. The next time the scanner matches your face to the picture. It's SUPER fast except for the initial picture taking time. You line up, it matches your face, then the double-door plastic gate opens! Very cool! And it easily fits strollers and wheelchairs so it's a lot easier than the old manual gate in the middle.

I wish they had separate entrances for guests who are scanning/tapping in for the first time. It takes so much longer in the morning than later in the day.

 

[OlliePop27]

I wish they had separate entrances for guests who are scanning/tapping in for the first time. It takes so much longer in the morning than later in the day.

Agreed! There were at least 3 instances we were stuck behind people who blocked a line for 5-10 minutes. People were eventually forced out of the line because they likely had sham tickets, the wrong ticket type, or the other park. They should have separate lines PLUS move these people out of the way faster.

 

[OlliePop27]

I will hopefully get back to the trip report soon. I'm off on another work trip this week, and then school starts next week, so there's a lot going on!

My travel schedule this year has been pretty robust, along with intense work while not traveling! But I love my job and work from home full time, so I don't mind!

Travel this year so far

• January - Colorado (family)
• March - Toronto (work)
• March - West Palm Beach and Orlando/WDW (family)
• March - Washington, DC (work)
• April - New York (work)
• May - Phoenix (work)
• May - Houston/Galveston (family)
• June - London (work)
• July - Orange County/DLR (family)
• July - Colorado (family)
• August - Colorado (work)

 

[LKing]

I will hopefully get back to the trip report soon. I'm off on another work trip this week, and then school starts next week, so there's a lot going on!

My travel schedule this year has been pretty robust, along with intense work while not traveling! But I love my job and work from home full time, so I don't mind!

Travel this year so far

• January - Colorado (family)
• March - Toronto (work)
• March - West Palm Beach and Orlando/WDW (family)
• March - Washington, DC (work)
• April - New York (work)
• May - Phoenix (work)
• May - Houston/Galveston (family)
• June - London (work)
• July - Orange County/DLR (family)
• July - Colorado (family)
• August - Colorado (work)

Wow, you're busy! Hopefully you're earning enough frequent flyer miles for your next Disney trip!

 

[BriannaRuth]

The new entry gates are really cool! I have MagicBand+ so we scan on the right side of the gate. The first time you go they take your picture, then that picture is used the rest of the length of ticket. The next time the scanner matches your face to the picture. It's SUPER fast except for the initial picture taking time. You line up, it matches your face, then the double-door plastic gate opens! Very cool! And it easily fits strollers and wheelchairs so it's a lot easier than the old manual gate in the middle.

That does sound more efficient! Are you still scanning your MagicBand every day, or are they matching your face to your picture without it? When you say you scanned on the right side of the gate, is there a different gate entrance for those who have MagicBands?

 

[LKing]

That does sound more efficient! Are you still scanning your MagicBand every day, or are they matching your face to your picture without it? When you say you scanned on the right side of the gate, is there a different gate entrance for those who have MagicBands?

This is a picture from the GCH entrance, but all entrances are the same now. See the round disc on the side of the metal stand? That's where you tap your MB. You tap everytime you enter. Your picture will show up on the screen, the CM will greet you and the gate will open. If you want to use the bar code on your phone, you put it on the top of the metal stand with the bar code facing up, just under the screen. There is a bar code scanner at the bottom of the screen.

The first time you enter, you tap your MB or scan your bar code, the camera will pick up a pic of your face and it will appear on the screen. You tap on your picture to save it and the gates will open for you to enter.