caribbeandream
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2017
Travelers - one middle aged mom and her almost 15 yo son. We are former Florida residents (and DW park goers) and now live in Texas. This is our third trip to DL in six years but first one that was not a "special event." (Our prior two trips, the parks were decorated for Christmas and the 60th Anniversary celebration.) First time staying off-site.
Transportation - Flew into SNA. What can I say, I love that little airport! I did print out the info with the $29 flat fare from the local taxi company but ended up taking an Uber to our hotel. Checked both Uber and Lyft prices when we we landed and Uber came below $29, even with tip included. It's good to have options.
Lodging - This was our first time staying off-site. (We have stayed at the DLH and the GC before.) Although the Disney "bubble" usually refers to DW, I felt like staying off-site really did make a difference in the overall enjoyment of our vacation. It didn't ruin our vacation, but it definitely wasn't as "magical" as if we had stayed in a Disney resort. As for our hotel, the room at the Dessert Inn was clean but the free breakfast was awful. The hotel was just ok and our stay reminded me that we are *not* park commando travelers and very much enjoy some leisure time at our hotel.
Park hopping / MaxPass - I really, really thought we would park hop because we have done it before. Park hoppers ended up being wasted money this time around. MaxPass, however, is the most amazing thing ever. Even on the Tuesday when the lines were 15 minutes or less we would use MaxPass so we would not have to stand in the sun waiting to get on a ride. The only day we did not use MaxPass was Saturday (arrival day). Unfortunately, we did not make it to the park until past 1:00 pm and there were no more FP for RSR. Still, it was worth having it every day just for the Photo Pass option. I have never purchased Photo Pass before and loved having that option.
Disney Visa cardmember character experience - Now that Photo Pass is included with MaxPass *and* they no longer print a free photo this is no longer a true perk. I was really looking forward to my free 5"x 7" prints and found out that now you just get a free download. Thumbs down.
Disney California Adventure - Loved interacting with the Citizens of Buena Vista Street and seeing the fab five in their DCA outfits. Still love the Five & Dime show. Really miss the Red Car Trolley News Boys. I'm very sad they are not coming back. DS14 also loved the photo ops with the Marvel super heroes. I was glad that we got to ride Soarin' over California. (Still not sure why corporate thought it was a good idea to change it to Soarin' over the World.) DS rode Goofy's Barnstormer so many times I honestly lost count. We rode RSR at night. In fact, other than Buena Vista street, DCA is a park best enjoyed at night after all the neon lights turn on. Since we knew we would arrive too late in the day to score WOC FP I splurged and made dessert party reservations. Not only did I enjoy the bread, cheese, dessert and drink selection, I have decided that I'm just way too old to be on my feet for so long at the end of the day.
Disneyland Park - Fantasmic! at DL rocks! DS keeps watching the videos the took over and over again. I love how DL has Splash and Pooh in a completely different "land." I could not get enough of New Orleans Square - riding the much better versions of PotC and HM, listening to Jambalaya Jazz while enjoying some Mickey shaped beignets, running into Facilier just wandering around, etc. I really, really hope that the powers that be at corporate never, ever do a Fantasyland expansion at DL they way they did in WDW. There is just something special about the og Fantasyland in DL. Tomorrowland, however, was a big disappointment. I saw peeling paint in the FP queu at Astro Blasters and the line Autopia. Also, the neon sign that reads "Tomorrowland" had a letter that was not lit. And don't get me going on the abandoned, and unsightly, People Mover. Overall, Tomorrowland felt more like "the land that corporate forgot." But to finish off on a positive note, our interactions with the face characters was one of the highlights of our trip - Alice and the Mad Hatter, Peter Pan and Tink, the evil Queen from Snow White, and Cruella de Ville. I'm still bummed though that we missed meeting Mary Poppins and Tiana. Next time.
Galaxy's Edge - I grew up with the original Star Wars but I also love the newest trilogy. I approached SWGE as if Batuu were an exotic foreign country and not just another land in a Disney theme park. I took my sweet time exploring this land and taking in all the details. Kylo Ren and the storm troopers are seriously intimidating, and I loved it. We had great interactions with Vi Morandi and Rey. They were amazing. We tried the blue milk and the green milk and loved them both, especially on a really hot day. Even though I will never try the popcorn again (pop corn that tastes like fruit loops is not my thing), it was still a positive experience. I loved interacting to all the "in-character" CMs that manned the shops and food establishments in the marketplace. We had lunch at Docking Bay and drinks at Oga's and would go back again to both. We also got to ride the Millennium Falcon. Did I mention that I GOT TO RIDE THE MILLENNIUM FALCON?!!!!! Yeah, 10 yo me was seriously geeked out.
Overall, we had a great vacation. I had expected to spend more time at DCA and instead kept going back to DL. Most people would tell you that spending three days in DL is overkill. DS and I would disagree. Other than skipping Toontown, we rode every.single.ride and then went back for seconds and thirds to quite a few of them. We explored every land to it's smallest detail. I went to every single shop in the park. We ate at the Galactic Grill, the Red Rose Tavern, the Carnation Cafe and Hungry Bear. We had churros, Mickey-shaped beignets and enjoyed Dole Whips while watching the Tiki Birds. We saw Fantasmic!, the fireworks and the Main Street Electrical Parade. We came home feeling like we did everything. I know we'll definitely be back for the 75th anniversary. We'll see if I can hold off that long without a trip to Disneyland!
Transportation - Flew into SNA. What can I say, I love that little airport! I did print out the info with the $29 flat fare from the local taxi company but ended up taking an Uber to our hotel. Checked both Uber and Lyft prices when we we landed and Uber came below $29, even with tip included. It's good to have options.
Lodging - This was our first time staying off-site. (We have stayed at the DLH and the GC before.) Although the Disney "bubble" usually refers to DW, I felt like staying off-site really did make a difference in the overall enjoyment of our vacation. It didn't ruin our vacation, but it definitely wasn't as "magical" as if we had stayed in a Disney resort. As for our hotel, the room at the Dessert Inn was clean but the free breakfast was awful. The hotel was just ok and our stay reminded me that we are *not* park commando travelers and very much enjoy some leisure time at our hotel.
Park hopping / MaxPass - I really, really thought we would park hop because we have done it before. Park hoppers ended up being wasted money this time around. MaxPass, however, is the most amazing thing ever. Even on the Tuesday when the lines were 15 minutes or less we would use MaxPass so we would not have to stand in the sun waiting to get on a ride. The only day we did not use MaxPass was Saturday (arrival day). Unfortunately, we did not make it to the park until past 1:00 pm and there were no more FP for RSR. Still, it was worth having it every day just for the Photo Pass option. I have never purchased Photo Pass before and loved having that option.
Disney Visa cardmember character experience - Now that Photo Pass is included with MaxPass *and* they no longer print a free photo this is no longer a true perk. I was really looking forward to my free 5"x 7" prints and found out that now you just get a free download. Thumbs down.
Disney California Adventure - Loved interacting with the Citizens of Buena Vista Street and seeing the fab five in their DCA outfits. Still love the Five & Dime show. Really miss the Red Car Trolley News Boys. I'm very sad they are not coming back. DS14 also loved the photo ops with the Marvel super heroes. I was glad that we got to ride Soarin' over California. (Still not sure why corporate thought it was a good idea to change it to Soarin' over the World.) DS rode Goofy's Barnstormer so many times I honestly lost count. We rode RSR at night. In fact, other than Buena Vista street, DCA is a park best enjoyed at night after all the neon lights turn on. Since we knew we would arrive too late in the day to score WOC FP I splurged and made dessert party reservations. Not only did I enjoy the bread, cheese, dessert and drink selection, I have decided that I'm just way too old to be on my feet for so long at the end of the day.
Disneyland Park - Fantasmic! at DL rocks! DS keeps watching the videos the took over and over again. I love how DL has Splash and Pooh in a completely different "land." I could not get enough of New Orleans Square - riding the much better versions of PotC and HM, listening to Jambalaya Jazz while enjoying some Mickey shaped beignets, running into Facilier just wandering around, etc. I really, really hope that the powers that be at corporate never, ever do a Fantasyland expansion at DL they way they did in WDW. There is just something special about the og Fantasyland in DL. Tomorrowland, however, was a big disappointment. I saw peeling paint in the FP queu at Astro Blasters and the line Autopia. Also, the neon sign that reads "Tomorrowland" had a letter that was not lit. And don't get me going on the abandoned, and unsightly, People Mover. Overall, Tomorrowland felt more like "the land that corporate forgot." But to finish off on a positive note, our interactions with the face characters was one of the highlights of our trip - Alice and the Mad Hatter, Peter Pan and Tink, the evil Queen from Snow White, and Cruella de Ville. I'm still bummed though that we missed meeting Mary Poppins and Tiana. Next time.
Galaxy's Edge - I grew up with the original Star Wars but I also love the newest trilogy. I approached SWGE as if Batuu were an exotic foreign country and not just another land in a Disney theme park. I took my sweet time exploring this land and taking in all the details. Kylo Ren and the storm troopers are seriously intimidating, and I loved it. We had great interactions with Vi Morandi and Rey. They were amazing. We tried the blue milk and the green milk and loved them both, especially on a really hot day. Even though I will never try the popcorn again (pop corn that tastes like fruit loops is not my thing), it was still a positive experience. I loved interacting to all the "in-character" CMs that manned the shops and food establishments in the marketplace. We had lunch at Docking Bay and drinks at Oga's and would go back again to both. We also got to ride the Millennium Falcon. Did I mention that I GOT TO RIDE THE MILLENNIUM FALCON?!!!!! Yeah, 10 yo me was seriously geeked out.
Overall, we had a great vacation. I had expected to spend more time at DCA and instead kept going back to DL. Most people would tell you that spending three days in DL is overkill. DS and I would disagree. Other than skipping Toontown, we rode every.single.ride and then went back for seconds and thirds to quite a few of them. We explored every land to it's smallest detail. I went to every single shop in the park. We ate at the Galactic Grill, the Red Rose Tavern, the Carnation Cafe and Hungry Bear. We had churros, Mickey-shaped beignets and enjoyed Dole Whips while watching the Tiki Birds. We saw Fantasmic!, the fireworks and the Main Street Electrical Parade. We came home feeling like we did everything. I know we'll definitely be back for the 75th anniversary. We'll see if I can hold off that long without a trip to Disneyland!
