Luv Bunnies
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2006
- Messages
- 9,192
Just got home yesterday after spending 5 days in the parks to celebrate DH's 60th birthday! Besides DH and myself, we took our two adult sons, ages 26 and 23. Here's a summary with tips, impressions and lots of opinions:
Planning: We started talking about this trip back in July, but wanted to keep an eye on the pandemic before committing. I booked a hotel for 6 nights (11/19 - 11/25), figuring we could always adjust the dates or cancel if we decided not to go. At the end of October, we decided the trip was on. I'm glad we had that hotel reservation since most of the places along Harbor were fully booked by then. We thought about adjusting the dates to spend only 4 days in the parks, but I found a great offer through my school employees' union. They were selling discounted 4-day park hoppers with a 5th day free. It was too good to pass up and we had the hotel booked, so we went for it!
Hotel: We had a 2-room suite at Anaheim Desert Inn and Suites. We've stayed there several times in the past and it's consistently good for the relatively low price. Our suite had 4 queen beds and 1 1/2 bathrooms. It was nice for the boys to have their own sleeping area with a separate toilet and sink. Our room had a bigger vanity area, as well as a shower. It worked out very well. We arrived around 10:30 on Friday night and self-parking was full. The valet said he would park our car in the garage for no extra charge (beyond the regular parking fee of $15/day). The valets there very friendly and efficient! There was no housekeeping offered, but they did say we could leave our garbage outside the door in the mornings or call for additional towels and other supplies. We brought our own breakfast foods, but I did pick up some of the grab-and-go bags one morning. They contained a small carton of orange juice, a granola bar, Danish and an apple. We usually stay at one of the Harbor hotels, but have stayed over on Katella before. After this trip, I decided that we will always choose one of the closest hotels on future trips. The walk was so easy! I was able to go back and grab jackets for everyone one night when it got chilly. DS26 wanted to sleep in one morning and meet up with us later. It was very easy for him to make his way over (no shuttle or Uber necessary).
Food: In terms of breakfast, we were very glad we brought our own. We like to get into the parks and hit the rides early, and eating first was a big plus. There were long lines for the Starbuck's and pretty much any place that offered breakfast foods and coffee. We spent the prime morning time hitting the rides while the lines were still relatively short. We used mobile order most of the time for meals with no problem. Once we checked in, we never waited more that a few minutes before our food was ready. I did have an issue the other night at Hungry Bear. I ordered food for DS26 and myself (DH and DS23 got corn dogs at Stage Door and met us at Hungry Bear to eat). I had ordered a chicken salad for myself and chicken nuggets for DS. After waiting until our pick-up window opened, hitting the check-in button and waiting for the order to be ready, I was told they were out of salad. The CM offered me a burger or chicken nuggets and fries instead. I can't eat a lot of fried foods, so I had to decline. She said she would give me a refund, which was fine, but then I had no food. I left DS with his food and decided to walk over to Harbor Galley to see if I could eat anything there. It was just after 8:00 p.m. and they were already closed. So I walked all the way to the Golden Horseshoe to get a salad, and all the way back to Hungry Bear to eat it since my family was there. It was a pretty frustrating experience! At DL, we also ate at Alien Pizza Planet (reliable but nothing too special), Red Rose Tavern (I liked their chicken salad and, of course, the Grey Stuff is delicious!), Jolly Holiday (the tomato soup and grilled cheese combo is perfection!)
Over at DCA, we ate at Pym's Test Kitchen for lunch one day. Finding a table was difficult (my method: lurk and pounce), but we later realized there was more seating next to the Hyperion Theater area since Frozen isn't playing. The boys loved the giant pretzel at Pym's. DH and I had the panini sandwich and were a bit disappointed. For $15, you basically get 1/2 of a sandwich and a small pile of greens. The sandwich itself is good, but for the price you really should get two halves. The side of greens doesn't do much to fill you up, so we both left a little hungry. DH and DS tried a few of the dishes from the Festival of the Holidays booths, which they liked. I had already left the park with older DS, so I'm not exactly sure what they had. I had the Iced Churro Toffee Latte from the booth in front of Avenger's Campus. It was amazing!
On DH's birthday, we had a dinner reservation at The Craftsman Bar at GCH. It popped up the day before we left on the app, so I grabbed it. He had loaded nachos, which were good. I had a chicken rice bowl. DS23 had a specialty hot dog and DS26 had chicken fingers off the kids' menu. He's a selective eater and never had a problem ordering off the kids' menus anywhere we went. The waitress gave DH a free birthday sundae, which was nice. They had live music that night (a guitar/vocal duo). They sang Happy Birthday to DH and another guest. Fun experience!
Over at DTD, we had lunch one day at Ballast Point. I had chicken tacos, DH and DS23 had burgers, DS26 had pretzel bites. Ballast Point takes reservations through Open Table rather than the DL app, so it was easier to book. From our table, we had a view of the Uva Bar and thought it looked like a relaxing place to eat. We looked up the menu on the app and found there was a reservation available for the next day at 1:30. We grabbed it! I had a salad there, the guys had more burgers and chicken strips. It was nice to leave the crowded parks and have a few quieter meals at DTD. We plan to do that more often on future trips.
Lines and Rides: DS26 has autism and uses a DAS. He gets very anxious in close proximity to strangers, and is especially sensitive to being bumped or touched by people he doesn't know. Without the DAS, he would have refused to wait for most rides, so it was really helpful to him. The parks were definitely crowded, but not the most crowded we've ever seen. We've had trips in the past where you could barely get through some of the choke points (New Orleans Square near Pirates, the walkway between Teacups and Canal Boats) and they had CMs stationed to keep traffic moving. This trip, we only saw CMs doing traffic control during parades and fireworks. During the day, you could get through the crowded areas easily enough. The best time to hit the rides is just after rope drop. It's essential to get there early since the lines really start building after about an hour. We would go in each morning with a strategy (Indy first one day, Fantasyland another day, etc.). We basically walked onto Midway Mania twice in a row one morning, since most people seemed to head straight to Avenger's Campus.
We were able to get a boarding group for Rise on our first day (11/20). When they switched to a regular queue (on Mon 11/22), the line was consistently long, anywhere from 75 to 180 minutes. A few times we saw it loop back though Galaxy's Edge all the way to Hungry Bear. We did notice that the posted wait times were rarely correct. We waited for Guardians a few times (DS26 doesn't like to ride that one so the rest of us waited in the regular queue). Once it was posted at 50 minutes and we made it into the collector's office after just under 20 minutes. We boarded an elevator about 10 minutes later.
Masks and CMs: For the most park, CMs were keeping a close eye on indoor mask wearing. They were stationed at the entrances to rides with boxes of masks for guests who needed them. Retail CMs were watching as people entered stores and reminding people to put them on. I am pretty vigilant about wearing my mask, but accidently walked into Pooh Corner with mine pulled down. I quickly got a reminder to pull it up! I've seen a few posts here lately about CMs being cranky, unfriendly, distracted, etc. We didn't experience that at all. For the most part, the CMs were friendly, efficient and very helpful. We interacted with a lot of guest services CMs while making DAS return times. They were all very nice. I did notice a few people being less than polite to CMs, not greeting or acknowledging them before rattling off questions or comments, not saying thank you, just being kind of rude. In those cases, the CMs might be less than friendly. We had only positive interactions. I think it's a case of "you get what you give." CMs have a lot to deal with between mask enforcement, long lines and obvious under-staffing. We saw a lot of new CMs being trained, so hopefully they can get staffing levels up through the holidays.
Summary: We had a great trip! We rode everything we wanted, multiple times. Rise is amazing. Webslingers is fun. The holiday decorations were beautiful. DH had a great birthday. I hope Genie+ comes out soon and that it helps with the wait times. We might just have to go back next year, but not until the credit card recovers from its workout!
Planning: We started talking about this trip back in July, but wanted to keep an eye on the pandemic before committing. I booked a hotel for 6 nights (11/19 - 11/25), figuring we could always adjust the dates or cancel if we decided not to go. At the end of October, we decided the trip was on. I'm glad we had that hotel reservation since most of the places along Harbor were fully booked by then. We thought about adjusting the dates to spend only 4 days in the parks, but I found a great offer through my school employees' union. They were selling discounted 4-day park hoppers with a 5th day free. It was too good to pass up and we had the hotel booked, so we went for it!
Hotel: We had a 2-room suite at Anaheim Desert Inn and Suites. We've stayed there several times in the past and it's consistently good for the relatively low price. Our suite had 4 queen beds and 1 1/2 bathrooms. It was nice for the boys to have their own sleeping area with a separate toilet and sink. Our room had a bigger vanity area, as well as a shower. It worked out very well. We arrived around 10:30 on Friday night and self-parking was full. The valet said he would park our car in the garage for no extra charge (beyond the regular parking fee of $15/day). The valets there very friendly and efficient! There was no housekeeping offered, but they did say we could leave our garbage outside the door in the mornings or call for additional towels and other supplies. We brought our own breakfast foods, but I did pick up some of the grab-and-go bags one morning. They contained a small carton of orange juice, a granola bar, Danish and an apple. We usually stay at one of the Harbor hotels, but have stayed over on Katella before. After this trip, I decided that we will always choose one of the closest hotels on future trips. The walk was so easy! I was able to go back and grab jackets for everyone one night when it got chilly. DS26 wanted to sleep in one morning and meet up with us later. It was very easy for him to make his way over (no shuttle or Uber necessary).
Food: In terms of breakfast, we were very glad we brought our own. We like to get into the parks and hit the rides early, and eating first was a big plus. There were long lines for the Starbuck's and pretty much any place that offered breakfast foods and coffee. We spent the prime morning time hitting the rides while the lines were still relatively short. We used mobile order most of the time for meals with no problem. Once we checked in, we never waited more that a few minutes before our food was ready. I did have an issue the other night at Hungry Bear. I ordered food for DS26 and myself (DH and DS23 got corn dogs at Stage Door and met us at Hungry Bear to eat). I had ordered a chicken salad for myself and chicken nuggets for DS. After waiting until our pick-up window opened, hitting the check-in button and waiting for the order to be ready, I was told they were out of salad. The CM offered me a burger or chicken nuggets and fries instead. I can't eat a lot of fried foods, so I had to decline. She said she would give me a refund, which was fine, but then I had no food. I left DS with his food and decided to walk over to Harbor Galley to see if I could eat anything there. It was just after 8:00 p.m. and they were already closed. So I walked all the way to the Golden Horseshoe to get a salad, and all the way back to Hungry Bear to eat it since my family was there. It was a pretty frustrating experience! At DL, we also ate at Alien Pizza Planet (reliable but nothing too special), Red Rose Tavern (I liked their chicken salad and, of course, the Grey Stuff is delicious!), Jolly Holiday (the tomato soup and grilled cheese combo is perfection!)
Over at DCA, we ate at Pym's Test Kitchen for lunch one day. Finding a table was difficult (my method: lurk and pounce), but we later realized there was more seating next to the Hyperion Theater area since Frozen isn't playing. The boys loved the giant pretzel at Pym's. DH and I had the panini sandwich and were a bit disappointed. For $15, you basically get 1/2 of a sandwich and a small pile of greens. The sandwich itself is good, but for the price you really should get two halves. The side of greens doesn't do much to fill you up, so we both left a little hungry. DH and DS tried a few of the dishes from the Festival of the Holidays booths, which they liked. I had already left the park with older DS, so I'm not exactly sure what they had. I had the Iced Churro Toffee Latte from the booth in front of Avenger's Campus. It was amazing!
On DH's birthday, we had a dinner reservation at The Craftsman Bar at GCH. It popped up the day before we left on the app, so I grabbed it. He had loaded nachos, which were good. I had a chicken rice bowl. DS23 had a specialty hot dog and DS26 had chicken fingers off the kids' menu. He's a selective eater and never had a problem ordering off the kids' menus anywhere we went. The waitress gave DH a free birthday sundae, which was nice. They had live music that night (a guitar/vocal duo). They sang Happy Birthday to DH and another guest. Fun experience!
Over at DTD, we had lunch one day at Ballast Point. I had chicken tacos, DH and DS23 had burgers, DS26 had pretzel bites. Ballast Point takes reservations through Open Table rather than the DL app, so it was easier to book. From our table, we had a view of the Uva Bar and thought it looked like a relaxing place to eat. We looked up the menu on the app and found there was a reservation available for the next day at 1:30. We grabbed it! I had a salad there, the guys had more burgers and chicken strips. It was nice to leave the crowded parks and have a few quieter meals at DTD. We plan to do that more often on future trips.
Lines and Rides: DS26 has autism and uses a DAS. He gets very anxious in close proximity to strangers, and is especially sensitive to being bumped or touched by people he doesn't know. Without the DAS, he would have refused to wait for most rides, so it was really helpful to him. The parks were definitely crowded, but not the most crowded we've ever seen. We've had trips in the past where you could barely get through some of the choke points (New Orleans Square near Pirates, the walkway between Teacups and Canal Boats) and they had CMs stationed to keep traffic moving. This trip, we only saw CMs doing traffic control during parades and fireworks. During the day, you could get through the crowded areas easily enough. The best time to hit the rides is just after rope drop. It's essential to get there early since the lines really start building after about an hour. We would go in each morning with a strategy (Indy first one day, Fantasyland another day, etc.). We basically walked onto Midway Mania twice in a row one morning, since most people seemed to head straight to Avenger's Campus.
We were able to get a boarding group for Rise on our first day (11/20). When they switched to a regular queue (on Mon 11/22), the line was consistently long, anywhere from 75 to 180 minutes. A few times we saw it loop back though Galaxy's Edge all the way to Hungry Bear. We did notice that the posted wait times were rarely correct. We waited for Guardians a few times (DS26 doesn't like to ride that one so the rest of us waited in the regular queue). Once it was posted at 50 minutes and we made it into the collector's office after just under 20 minutes. We boarded an elevator about 10 minutes later.
Masks and CMs: For the most park, CMs were keeping a close eye on indoor mask wearing. They were stationed at the entrances to rides with boxes of masks for guests who needed them. Retail CMs were watching as people entered stores and reminding people to put them on. I am pretty vigilant about wearing my mask, but accidently walked into Pooh Corner with mine pulled down. I quickly got a reminder to pull it up! I've seen a few posts here lately about CMs being cranky, unfriendly, distracted, etc. We didn't experience that at all. For the most part, the CMs were friendly, efficient and very helpful. We interacted with a lot of guest services CMs while making DAS return times. They were all very nice. I did notice a few people being less than polite to CMs, not greeting or acknowledging them before rattling off questions or comments, not saying thank you, just being kind of rude. In those cases, the CMs might be less than friendly. We had only positive interactions. I think it's a case of "you get what you give." CMs have a lot to deal with between mask enforcement, long lines and obvious under-staffing. We saw a lot of new CMs being trained, so hopefully they can get staffing levels up through the holidays.
Summary: We had a great trip! We rode everything we wanted, multiple times. Rise is amazing. Webslingers is fun. The holiday decorations were beautiful. DH had a great birthday. I hope Genie+ comes out soon and that it helps with the wait times. We might just have to go back next year, but not until the credit card recovers from its workout!
. Glad you had fun!
