Just back from a week in the parks, highs, lows and general tips!

[Danauk]

We got back on Monday from a week in the parks so I thought I would post about general highs, lows and tips rather than do a full trip report.

I'll start with the lows:
There weren't any really, just the weather some days as it rained quite a bit. Oh and the CM's in the photography shop (Flora's Unique Boutique) not really knowing about photopass+ or the new photopass app to help with issues with the app.

Highs:
* Riding Ratatouille twice before 10:40 on day 1 (we grabbed fast passes from the cart at the exit of studio 1 which were valid at 10:30am and then went straight to the ride.)
* Bistrot Chez Remy - a fun meal; the theaming of the restaurant was really good.
* An unexpected VIP tour; we were booked on a tour of the studios but our guide was ill, so we went back the next day and as we were the only people on the tour and knew a lot of the info already it turned into a VIP tour. We recieved some pixie dust in the form of an exit pass for RnRC (as that is my favourite ride) and a voucher for 2 free pins of my choice in the shop as the guide, Jenny, knew I collected pins.
* Meeting up with a family who needed sponsorship for AP's so I got the 3 stamps and renewed my Dream AP for free!
* Spending a day in the parks with my inlaws. My 70 year old MIL loves rollercoasters and has never been to Disney before so she had great fun on all the thrill rides.
* Having the time to do things slowly including taking a boat out on the lake.

Tips:
* The Ratatouille line gets really long (we saw it at over 2 hours quite a few times) so get to the Studios for 9am (remember the gates marked exit still open as entrances so if people are already lined up at other gates use these ones to be one of the 1st people into the parks). Then grab a FP from the Ratatouille cart at the exit of studio 1 so you can then get in line for another attraction.
* Make a reservation for Bistrot Chez Remy; the non reservation line was quite long.
* If you want a decent view of Dreams without camping out for 1 to 2 hours in the hub stand at the railings to the right and behind the show building (the hut near the hub in front of Caseys). We got there 30 minutes before the show on 2 nights and had a decent view.
* If it is raining (like it did quite a bit for us) remember the covered walkways from the top of Main Street to Adventureland and Frontierland. They kept us a little dryer on several days!

Overall we had a great trip; I can't wait to go back for NYE!

 

[RoseBug]

Sounds like a great trip!! We are hoping to be able to use R's EAC for Ratatouille to avoid queues, but we will have hotel FP's too which we can use. Very excited to try it. Is the queue for Crush much quicker now that the Rat is open? I am yet to ride it as the queue is always too long.

We are thinking of booking Chez Remy, are there any characters around at all?

Your Dreams spot is close to ours! We stood on the wall outside Casey's looking over the seating area, we missed a little of the stuff at the left hand side of the castle but had a perfect view for the rest!

So glad you had a good trip, and a NYE one booked too? Super jealous!

 

[Danauk]

The line for Crush was as busy as always! On a few days we got to the Studios for opening, grabbed a Ratatouille FP then headed straight to Crush. Twice we were able to do Crush, RC racer and Ratatouille using the FP before 10:40! The lines for both Crush and Ratatouille at that time were both around 90 minutes long!

We didn't see any characters around Ratatouille, but there were groups of musicians out which were nice to listen to. There were several of these in the Disneyland park too.

 

[tennisfan]

Sounds like you had an amazing trip, it's awesome that your 70 old MIL loves thrill rides

 

[kizzabel]

Sounds like a fab trip and great that the rain didn't disrupt you too much. NYE will be so atmospheric! What a lovely place to spend it
Thanks for sharing x

 

[jillrobinson]

Sounds like a great trip, glad your MIL enjoyed the coasters

 

[cdsmiler81]

What a great trip!

Fast passed for Ratatouille at the exit to Studio 1?? Were the fast pass machines not working?

C x

 

[Gertie100]

Going to be a pain here - my memory is failing me slightly although we only visited last year...where is the exit to Studio 1?

 

[Danauk]

The fast pass machines by the ride don't seem to be working yet, they remained covered up the whole week. There were CM's stood by the machines but every time we walked past they just seemed to be answering questions not actually handing out fast passes.

When I say the exit of Studio 1 I mean you walk through Studio 1 (the building you have to walk through to get into the park once you have been through the turnstiles). Then as you exit you will see the Partners statue in front of you, the cart was behind that on the right hand side. It only stayed there a little while until the passes were given out, the cart was gone by 11am.

 

[Suzanne1979]

These are very useful tips for our trip in September, thank you !

 

[Ware Bears]

Glad you had a great time and am very impressed at your MIL!