We stayed at the DCR between the 18/12 - 22/12.
Highs
- Being offered an upgrade to a premium cabin when we checked in. We didn’t accept, because prefer the layout of the standard 2 bed cabins, but the offer was very nice.
- Our 1st evening on the Sunday. The park was open until 10pm. We’d expected it to be busy, but it was very quiet, and we did a lot of rides (including Dumbo, Buzz, and the Space Rockets) that we usually give a miss because of the lengthy queues. The park also looked beautiful at night. In general, the Park lighting looked much more vibrant and colourful than usual.
- Lazy mornings, followed by breakfast and having the whole pool to ourselves for hours (literally!), before going into Parks. Great to have the pool open all day again (last year they weren’t opening it until 3pm), but not sure how long it will last with 2 lifeguards watching over 1 family for hours!
- Low crowds in the Parks during the whole trip. The longest queue was 30 minutes for Crush.
- Breaking down on Crush, and seeing ‘back stage’. We were all given readmission tickets which meant we could go straight back onto the ride when it was operating again, via a separate entrance.
- As others have said, the staff were fantastic. In general, very friendly and enthusiastic
- Loved the Christmas additions to Small World.
- The kids were great. My eldest took the role of planner, and planned our days very well (much better than I would have done), and there was a minimal complaining about the weather which was a little damp at times!
- My youngest (8 years old) riding Indiana Jones for the 1st time, and loving it. She deserved a little reward for that one:
Lows
- The park via day light. I’ve never seen so many refurbs, closures and break downs. On one day it felt like we were simply walking from 1 closed attraction to another, i.e., The entrance escalator (broken all week) - Thunder Mountain – The Winter Wonderland Show (closed Monday & Tuesday) - The Tree House – The Pirate Boat - Pizza Outpost - The Dragon Under the Castle– Snow White – and Belle's Christmas Village. Thunder Mountain was breaking down constantly (always getting stuck on the same slope), and main characters from rides like Pirates were either not working, or missing completely. Very poor considering it’s the Christmas season.
- The music (or lack it) on Rock n’ Roller Coaster. It did work for 1 ride out of 3, but is it really that difficult to get this sorted properly??
- In general, not really feeling the magic like I used to. Totally self-inflicted as a result of so many visits over the last few years. However, it may be time to take a little break....although I’ve said this a few times before
Highs
- Being offered an upgrade to a premium cabin when we checked in. We didn’t accept, because prefer the layout of the standard 2 bed cabins, but the offer was very nice.
- Our 1st evening on the Sunday. The park was open until 10pm. We’d expected it to be busy, but it was very quiet, and we did a lot of rides (including Dumbo, Buzz, and the Space Rockets) that we usually give a miss because of the lengthy queues. The park also looked beautiful at night. In general, the Park lighting looked much more vibrant and colourful than usual.
- Lazy mornings, followed by breakfast and having the whole pool to ourselves for hours (literally!), before going into Parks. Great to have the pool open all day again (last year they weren’t opening it until 3pm), but not sure how long it will last with 2 lifeguards watching over 1 family for hours!
- Low crowds in the Parks during the whole trip. The longest queue was 30 minutes for Crush.
- Breaking down on Crush, and seeing ‘back stage’. We were all given readmission tickets which meant we could go straight back onto the ride when it was operating again, via a separate entrance.
- As others have said, the staff were fantastic. In general, very friendly and enthusiastic
- Loved the Christmas additions to Small World.
- The kids were great. My eldest took the role of planner, and planned our days very well (much better than I would have done), and there was a minimal complaining about the weather which was a little damp at times!
- My youngest (8 years old) riding Indiana Jones for the 1st time, and loving it. She deserved a little reward for that one:
Lows
- The park via day light. I’ve never seen so many refurbs, closures and break downs. On one day it felt like we were simply walking from 1 closed attraction to another, i.e., The entrance escalator (broken all week) - Thunder Mountain – The Winter Wonderland Show (closed Monday & Tuesday) - The Tree House – The Pirate Boat - Pizza Outpost - The Dragon Under the Castle– Snow White – and Belle's Christmas Village. Thunder Mountain was breaking down constantly (always getting stuck on the same slope), and main characters from rides like Pirates were either not working, or missing completely. Very poor considering it’s the Christmas season.
- The music (or lack it) on Rock n’ Roller Coaster. It did work for 1 ride out of 3, but is it really that difficult to get this sorted properly??
- In general, not really feeling the magic like I used to. Totally self-inflicted as a result of so many visits over the last few years. However, it may be time to take a little break....although I’ve said this a few times before
