Just back from first trip-a quick note.

cruizincathi

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jun 2, 2011
Just got back from a girls trip-me and my 2 college aged daughters-and our first time to Disneyland(3/17-3/22). We stayed club level at DLH and had 4 day passes(no hopping).

DLH-we loved our room!! 9th floor of Adventure Tower. I had heard complaints that DLH is “ not Disney enough”. I disagree. The room was large and tastefully Disney decorated. We overlooked the pool. Never heard noise from construction unless we were poolside, and even then, it wasn’t a problem. People bothered by the noise must live in a VERY quiet neighborhood. We had a cabana one day. It was nice to not have to deal with chairs by the pool. We used the E Ticket lounge daily. Several mornings, we did not have breakfast so we could get to the parks early, but on days we did have breakfast, it was good. Mickey waffles, deviled eggs, cereals, etc. Midday food was always the same-chips/salsa, pretzels, veggies/dip, Uncrustables, etc. It was good but a change up would have been appreciated. Dinner options change daily and were awesome! We only had dessert 1 night and there were soooo many choices. Yum! They have a nice selection of alcoholic beverages that are included and available any time the loung is open. We really enjoyed the view- and the fridge of sodas an juice!

Parks-we did 2 days at each park. We did the early entry days at each park, stayed until around 11am and then went back to the hotel until 6ish. The parks were quite busy and we were glad to go early before it hit too bad, and leave midday. We did not have park hoppers and did not feel like we missed out on anything but extra walking. We did have MP and this is a lifesaver. We rode headliners 3-4 times each day by managing FP. As a first timer, I did not have any difficulty figuring the system out. We had fairly steady rain on Thurs and this did not diminish the crowds at all. We were going to use mobile ordering but you have to charge it too a credit card. I was charging everything back to our room, so we did not end up using it. We were able to grab sodas, water, and snacks from the lounge to take to the parks daily. This saved us from those desperate food purchases and we only ate our “splurges” like Dole Whip and churros.

Entertainment-We did F! The first night with Hungry Bear pkg. Good food and good seats. We arrived at 8:20 for 9:00 show and were allowed to sit on the stairs, so elevated above the crowd. Stayed for MMM but were disappointed there were no fireworks (did watch them later in the week from E Ticket lounge). We did WoC dessert party the next night. So much food! It was worth every penny to have seats to sit on after a long day of walking. We also did the Napa Rose chef counter experience. I had heard people complain that they seemed to get the same food being served in the restaurant. Having never eaten at NR, I’m not sure if that was the case, but regardless, the food was amazing! None of us got the same dish in any of the courses. I have a seafood allergy but both of my girls are very adventurous and all 3 of us left stuffed and satisfied with the meals we were served.

Overall, I wouldn’t change anything. While I am not made of money, I am of an age where I’m willing to spend a little more money to get more bang for my buck and for convenience. I would stay club level again as I feel that the extra cost of the room was easily made up by the number of snacks, meals and drinks we enjoyed there-and we only had to ride the elevator up to access it. I would not do park hoppers unless I only had 1-2 days at the park. MP is a must unless you want to spend your day waiting in lines. The dinner packages are worth the prices to be able to sit vs stand!
 
Thank you for sharing your experience! Sounds like a fantastic trip and I am happy to hear that the FP system is easy to navigate for a first timer! Can I ask about this:

MP is a must unless you want to spend your day waiting in lines.

Are there always long lines for the FP machines?
 
Friedela: Not the OP, but I didn't see lines for FP machines on our trip last weekend. I think the convenience of MP is that you don't have to walk all over the park (or hop) when you want a FP. If you prioritize E ticket FPs like my family does, then MP makes it SO EASY to grab GOTG FP right when my FP window opens, even while you're about to walk onto Splash (as opposed to waiting until you finish Splash and then walking back to GOTG to physically pull a FP). You should read Skyegirl's really helpful MP thread. It's not pinned for some reason, but I can bump it up for you.

Cruizincathi: sounds like a great trip! I agree, as I get older, it's worth it to me to save money to splurge at DLR on experiences like Napa Rose, Blue Bayou, etc. and convenient access to WOC and Fantasmic. We did Wine Country Trattoria for WOC, but next time we go, I'm definitely going to do the Dessert package so we can sit!
 
I am of an age where I’m willing to spend a little more money to get more bang for my buck and for convenience.

I enjoyed reading your trip report. It's always nice to read about a great first timer's experience at DLR. DH and I like to add one or two extras to our trips as well. The WOC Dessert Party is our favorite.

What were your favorite attractions?
 


I never really saw lines for FP, but I wasn’t really looking, either. The lines I refer to are those folks without MP who miss out on FP. On our first day at DCA, we rode RSR 3 times and never waited longer than 15 min. FP were gone by 10 am and the standby line was 180 min most of the afternoon. I would have been miserable to wait 3 hrs for a 5-7 min ride! Same happened with GotG. FP gone 2-3 hrs after the park opened. The longest line we waited in all week was to ride the monorail back to DLH at supper time

As for our favorite attractions, we rode everything once in both parks. At DL, our favorite was BTMR. At DCA, hands down, RSR but we also rode Toy Story Mania at least 4 times each day we were there. I have neck issues so can’t really ride roller coasters too long, and GotG is off limits for me. My girls have sort of outgrown big roller coasters, so rode them once, but not important to repeat.
 
Wow! Sounds like a great tip! And it sounds like you invested the money for the right things to make the trip even better! Awesome!

Staying club level some day would be a dream of mine, but if I come to think about it this might mean I won’t stop eating and would just hang out there and eat more or less the whole day...:mickeybar:drinking1 I don’t think I would even need park tickets...:rotfl2: I guess I’ll have spend my money for dinner packages instead. (Thats a great bang for the buck in my opinion as well) Staying at the DLH without visiting the parks wouldn’t do it I guess:rotfl:

Thanks for your trip report. I really enjoyed reading it!
 


Just to add for anyone reading - you do not need to have MaxPass to get fast passes - you can still get fast passes the old fashioned way by going to the fast pass distribution machines for all the rides offering them - MaxPass is much more convenient but it did sound like the OP thought MP is the only way to get fast passes so wanted to make sure this was mentioned.

Also, fast passes can run out for certain attractions earlier in the day but if they run out then they are gone for both MaxPass users too.

Glad you had a great trip!
 
... You should read Skyegirl's really helpful MP thread. It's not pinned for some reason, but I can bump it up for you...

I agree that MP thread is super helpful! And it is a pinned (!) -- you can find it in the Newbie Information sticky, in the list of HydroGuy's tips: HydroGuy Tips Compilation. So anytime you need to find it/link it, just go there -- saves time over trying to use the search bar.
 
- MaxPass is much more convenient but it did sound like the OP thought MP is the only way to get fast passes so wanted to make sure this was mentioned.


I knew you could still get FP by running around the park gathering them from the machines. My point was that MP saves the time and energy of running around, plus allows you to plan ahead and manage your day so you do not risk having to wait in a 3 hour long stand by line. Those were the lines I was referring to. I heard many people complaining as they watched us FP riders stroll past them to the front of the line-wondering what they missed. My guess is that they either were unaware of MP or weren’t willing to pay that price. I know $15 per person is not cheap, but one 3 hour long wait would be enough to make me rethink that!
 

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