Just back from 5 nights at DL!

[goofyfordisney]

We just got home from our DL/DCA trip. We arrived late on Thursday, July 21 after driving down the coast to check out Cal Poly and UCSB (my oldest is looking at colleges).

We had a nice drive down--way longer than our usual
5 1/2 hour drive down Highway 5 though!

We stayed at the Anaheim Sheraton--just a few notes: Sweet Sleepers were comfy especially since we were staying for 5 nights! The room was huge--bathroom too small. The hotel was full. We had requested ground floor near pool--got ground floor in Building "F" towards back of hotel. The hotel is currently being painted and it needs it! Pool is in need of severe refurbishing! The water was very warm--wasn't refreshing at all! We only went one day and it was packed with people--never went back again. The shuttle was o.k. Once coming home from the parks mid-day, the shuttle had to leave us and a few other families because the shuttle was full. He came back within 20 minutes to pick us up though. We got kind of tired of taking the shuttle and found it easier to drive ourselves.

The parks: The only thing I can say is : GET THERE EARLY! You will be glad you did! The days we didn't get there before opening, we had a harder time getting around. It was very crowded and HOT!

We have been to DL enough that we know how to work the Fastpass system well, so we didn't have any trouble getting to do the things we wanted to. I feel sorry for the people who don't have any idea how to use the Fastpass system--they spend way too much time in lines!

Because we used the Fastpass system to the fullest, we never waited for any ride or show for more than 15 minutes! In fact, it was a goal of ours NOT to wait for anything longer than 15 minutes! The only thing we waited for longer was the Autopia (40 minutes) and we HAD a fastpass!

We also had great luck at DCA. We just walked on TOT most of the time, not even needing our fastpasses! We saw the Electrical Parade on Sunday night no problem. There are plenty of curbside areas around the San Francisco area of the route--no need to get there early at all!

We saw Fantasmic on Monday night (9:00pm). We decided not to stake out a spot prior to the show like we usually do. Well, the strategy worked fine for us. We just walked over at around 8:45 and found a spot to stand and watch near the walkway by the Disney Gallery. It wasn't the perfect spot, but we didn't have to wait for 2 hours in the heat either! We were able to see the fireworks show at 9:25 also.

We ate at a variety of places in and out of the parks. I was surprised that it was pretty manageable to get food and tables especially since it was so crowded. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get a PS at Goofy's Kitchen on Friday for 12:40--I called at around 10:00 am the same day! We went to ESPN Zone for a late dinner Thursday night--no problem getting in at 9:00 p.m. (we also met up with our friends so there was 8 of us). DTD was packed with people but it was manageable.

Overall, we had a great trip. Five days was a bit long this time mainly because it was so hot and crowded. I think that we are done with off-site hotels for awhile too...I think we would rather go fewer days and stay on-site at the Grand Californian or DLH in the future.

Well, if you have any questions, just ask...

 

[Judy from Boise]

My DH is a Poly grad (Go Mustangs) great school!

 

[Michelle2]

That is awesome that you had such a good time even though it was so hot and crowded. I have some close friends that went about the same time and are still there now. I hope that they had as much luck as you did at not waiting for much.

We are staying at the GC (AAA fastpass), going in mid September and staying just as long (5 days/ 6 nights) and I would love nothing more than to have as good of a time as you guys did (that and not waiting longer than 15 minutes!) So glad to hear it is possible no matter how busy it is!

 

[TheLionKing]

If Judy can put a plug in for Cal Poly, let me put on in for UCSB.

UCSB graduate 1984 and current Santa Barbara resident. Go Gauchos!

It was hot!

 

[LucyKate]

Autopia is the one place that hasn't got fastpass right.

When you return with a fastpass all it does is allow you top join a separate queue which is shoter than the non-fastpass queue. They then alternated between letting people from the two queues join the ride. It was the one place where a fastpass resulted in any sort of delay for us.