Just got back...fun times and a few questions

[SpaceMan5]

We just got back from Disneyland. We stayed 5 nights at the BWPPI and spent 4 days in the parks. The weather was great and for those of us from the Pacific NW it was shorts and t-shirts. I got a kick out of seeing the CMs in their long coats and gloves as I am sure they laughed at seeing us out-of-staters.
This was the first time staying at the BWPPI. I agree with the reviews that it is not a fancy hotel but the rooms were clean and comfortable and you cannot beat the location. The breakfast that is included with your room was fine and was just enough to get you fueled up for the day. It was also nice that I was able to bring food back to the room for those that wanted to sleep in.
Disneyland was awesome as usually. The crowds were a bit on the heavy side but utilizing the fast passes made things much easier. To name a few of the rides we hit - POTC 10x, Space 4x, Buzz 5x, Indy 2x (kept breaking down), Star Tours 3x, BTMRR 5x (while we were on the ride Friday night the fireworks were going off, way cool). Since we spent the majority of our time here we were able to do some of the rides/attractions that we may have missed out on during previous trips due to time/refurbs. Some of these were the canoes, exploring Tom Sawyers Island, Columbia sailing ship and even riding the fire engine down Main St.
The churros and corn dogs, A+. One of my daughters asked if the corn dogs would be like the ones we have at home, frozen and then nuked in the microwave. I assured her they would be much better. I now have a true believer and I imagine that she will not want another corn dog unless it is at Disneyland.
Over at CA we hit the main rides, Soarin 3x, Toy Story 2x, Little Mermaid. I was the only one in our group that rode Soarin. I used the single rider line which saved time. Question - should I be bugged that I noticed groups of 2-3 people who obviously knew each other using the single rider line? Not a huge deal but just an observation and wanted to know what others think. The construction kind of took away from the experience but I realize that it will be much nicer when it is completed. Will this area be finished along with CarsLand opening in June? I have to brag just a bit about my girls. They played the Boardwalk games and won an extra Dumbo. They decided to give it to a little girl who was with her grandparents. The smile on the little girls face was priceless.
All in all it was a great trip and looking forward to going again. I have been a long time lurker and all of your advice has been truly helpful. Thanks

 

[DisneyFreak06]

We just got back from Disneyland. We stayed 5 nights at the BWPPI and spent 4 days in the parks. The weather was great and for those of us from the Pacific NW it was shorts and t-shirts. I got a kick out of seeing the CMs in their long coats and gloves as I am sure they laughed at seeing us out-of-staters.
This was the first time staying at the BWPPI. I agree with the reviews that it is not a fancy hotel but the rooms were clean and comfortable and you cannot beat the location. The breakfast that is included with your room was fine and was just enough to get you fueled up for the day. It was also nice that I was able to bring food back to the room for those that wanted to sleep in.
Disneyland was awesome as usually. The crowds were a bit on the heavy side but utilizing the fast passes made things much easier. To name a few of the rides we hit - POTC 10x, Space 4x, Buzz 5x, Indy 2x (kept breaking down), Star Tours 3x, BTMRR 5x (while we were on the ride Friday night the fireworks were going off, way cool). Since we spent the majority of our time here we were able to do some of the rides/attractions that we may have missed out on during previous trips due to time/refurbs. Some of these were the canoes, exploring Tom Sawyers Island, Columbia sailing ship and even riding the fire engine down Main St.
The churros and corn dogs, A+. One of my daughters asked if the corn dogs would be like the ones we have at home, frozen and then nuked in the microwave. I assured her they would be much better. I now have a true believer and I imagine that she will not want another corn dog unless it is at Disneyland.
Over at CA we hit the main rides, Soarin 3x, Toy Story 2x, Little Mermaid. I was the only one in our group that rode Soarin. I used the single rider line which saved time. Question - should I be bugged that I noticed groups of 2-3 people who obviously knew each other using the single rider line? Not a huge deal but just an observation and wanted to know what others think. The construction kind of took away from the experience but I realize that it will be much nicer when it is completed. Will this area be finished along with CarsLand opening in June? I have to brag just a bit about my girls. They played the Boardwalk games and won an extra Dumbo. They decided to give it to a little girl who was with her grandparents. The smile on the little girls face was priceless.
All in all it was a great trip and looking forward to going again. I have been a long time lurker and all of your advice has been truly helpful. Thanks

Sounds like a fun trip! The single rider line is okay to use for groups of people as long as you understand you'll be separated to fill empty seats. That's how I've always seen it used. Although once, at WDW, I saw people in the single rider line hop over the "fence" to get in the regular queue. They were escorted out of the ride very fast.

 

[bluegrizzlies1]

3 of us last summer didn't want to wait in splash line that was 90 min wait so we did single rider line waited 5 min.

No we didn't get to ride together but we didn't care just wanted to ride and not wait.

I don't see a problem with it sure beats waiting in line.

 

[disney-super-mom]

The single rider line is okay to use for groups of people as long as you understand you'll be separated to fill empty seats.

Yep.


SpaceMan5: Sounds like you had a wonderful trip! Love the part about your girls giving a Dumbo to another little girl with her grandparents - spreading a little Disney magic. What a sweet thing to do!

 

[Disney Dreams]

...I have to brag just a bit about my girls. They played the Boardwalk games and won an extra Dumbo. They decided to give it to a little girl who was with her grandparents. The smile on the little girls face was priceless....

This made me smile. Thank you for sharing. You should be proud of your girls.

Glad you had a great time,
Dreams

P.S. SRL, yeah, sometimes people who know each other will chose to go that route. As long as they know they won't sit together, there's no issue. They are each riding single.

 

[awdsmama]

Sounds like a wonderful trip!! So were you down there while we all got snow up here in the Pac NW? I cant wait for our trip and awesome weather too. The idea of an outdoor swimming pool in March is foreign to an Oregonian

 

[DryCreek]

Our stay was from February 23rd to the 28th. We had 5 day park-hopper passes, and used the park-hopping to our advantage!
We also stayed at the BWPPI. It was a good room for a great price, and you just couldn't beat the convenience. My wife agreed that it was about the same length of walk from our usual room in the Alligator Bayou section of POR to the main lobby or bus stop, but you were in the plaza between the parks instead of waiting for the bus.

Still, the unexpectedly large crowd levels soured her view of DL vs. WDW.
We still had a pretty good time though. We just had to adapt and use our crowded park strategy that seems to apply to almost every park we've been to.

 

[lalasmama]

Another Pac NW family who was at DL last week We got home last night.

I have to admit, I loved teasing the Portlanders about the weather. We had one day of rain (Monday), and the rest of the time, DD and I were in capris, t-shirts, and sweaters in the evening. It was nice to come back and have a sunny day in Portland after leaving DL on such a beautiful day!

I was a bit surprised by the crowds... I thought the crowds were predicted to be a 2/10 to 4/10 most days (other than Leap Day), and, I dunno it just seemed so busy to us... I mean, we did hit an attendance record from what I heard on Leap Day (yay!), but the other days surprised me!

 

[SpaceMan5]

Thanks for the feedback on the single rider line etiquette. Good to know for the next trip.

 

[tdashgirl]

Ahhh - some of my favorite DLR experiences - BTMRR during the fireworks and the magical corn dogs & churros. They are the BEST.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

The churros and corn dogs, A+. One of my daughters asked if the corn dogs would be like the ones we have at home, frozen and then nuked in the microwave. I assured her they would be much better. I now have a true believer and I imagine that she will not want another corn dog unless it is at Disneyland.

You need to bake your dogs ~ won't be as good as Disney's but far better than nuked.

Question - should I be bugged that I noticed groups of 2-3 people who obviously knew each other using the single rider line? Not a huge deal but just an observation and wanted to know what others think.

Well ~ we often SR as a group *mostly Indy & Goofy's Sky school - we don't expect to sit by each other so I don't see anything wrong with it

My comments are above.

 

[kelmac284]

That's really sweet that your girls did that with the dumbo. Mine did something similiar this past trip and it really made all of us feel good. We went to the Minnie breakfast at Plaza and they give the kids each a balloon. Well it not only was the beginning of our day but we were leaving that day on the plane. So we KNEW it would be a pain to carry them around and couldn't take them home on plane so I told the girls to each pick a child they would like to give their balloons to. I let them go up to the child and it was fun to watch the reactions of the kids and the parents!! Made us feel good to spread some magic as well.

Glad you had a nice time!!

 

[tdashgirl]

so I told the girls to each pick a child they would like to give their balloons to. I let them go up to the child and it was fun to watch the reactions of the kids and the parents!! Made us feel good to spread some magic as well.

love this also

 

[SpaceMan5]

Hey Kelmac284 -That was a really nice thing for your girls to do...sometimes the simplest gestures can have a big impact...

 

[BryANDJessMom]

Hi...just an FYI, some of you mentioned you were surprised by the large crowds in February. Many schools in northern California have a mid-winter break. This year it was Feb 18-25. (it is always the week of presidents day).

I am glad you all had a good time! We aren't going again until September...

 

[kelmac284]

Thanks space. As I am sure the same occurred with you all it really made us feel good to do that. To put a smile on someone's face and esp in this day and age with so much selfishness and cruelty it really felt good to do something unexpected. Tis better to give than to receive and it really brings a smile. Just a simple gesture but brings happiness to others.

We love to give away our fast passes too if we can't use them and get a lot of looks from people and during the year of a million dreams they gave out those tink pins where you get one and there is one to give to someone else to pass on the magic. We had a lot of fun with that too.