Just got back... Spring break trip... 3/13 to 3/18 ... Updated 3/30 ( final thoughts)

[LovesTimone]

We went from Sunday March 13th to Friday March 18th... Cast was DH, DD, DGS (7 years old) , and myself...

I thought I write about each main topic, instead of a daily report.. so here's how things went, and my thoughts...

So lets start off with Transportation...

We flew Delta non-stop, from Orlando to Lax... and return flight was non-stop as well.. - $2,300.00... Both planes were full, and over booked, on each flight... they were telling people that all the roll on's were not going to fit, and once it was filled up that they rest of the bags would have to be check, at no cost... which I will say alot of people started taking their roll-ons up to be check...

We parked at the airport... around 20.00 dollars a day... here is a big tip... we used our sunpass for payment and each day we would get a text for the daily charge... I think it was around 118.00 total...

We used "Midwilshuttle" for our car service... great experience, on time, great communication, clean, very nice driver... and above all safe driving... Picked up in a large van, with a booster seat, plenty of room for our luggage, 130.00 plus 25.00 for a 20 minute stop.. so 155.00 plus tip... return trip 130.00 plus tip... Will use them again if we are ever in this part of the country...

My thoughts... I am sooooo glad that we left early, finding a parking spot in the garage was challenging to say the least, around 20 minutes or so and it was a full on mad house in the airport... It took us a hour+ to just check our bags, the kiosk where you print everything several were not working... they had 2 lines, one for check bags, and the other for checking in...lets just say even though they kept making announcements to which line was which... and still people did not listen and were in the wrong line... the bags where stacked up and the poor delta agents were climbing over bags... then on to security which was another line... people not wanting to cooperate, or not prepared... not wanting to take off shoes, or one guy was fit over having to take his electronic's out of his back-pack... then over to airside... by this time we had been at the airport just over 2 hours... and still not air-side... Once over we were starving... DH and I decide on Burger King 20+ minute wait, and DD and DGS went to Starbucks where she waited.. 45+ minutes for a coffee, hot chocolate and a couple of cinnamon rolls... so down to our gate... and it was chaos, 4 of the delta planes where late... they had people waiting since 6:30 am... people were standing on top of each other... We did leave on time... and the flight was good... DH's bag did not make it ..Thank goodness I had split up the clothes between each of our bags, so he had some clothes to change into ... They told us that it would be delivered to our hotel by 6:00 pm, then a couple of emails moving the time back first to 8:00 pm, 11:00 pm, then 2:00 am... and at 4:40 am I got a call from the front desk that our bag had arrived. Yay... and it was all in one piece... so that was really good...

The trip back... okay... LAX is busy, drop the bags, and thru security... was easy peasy... all in all around hour from drop off... We decided on a early lunch,
Jersey Mike's Sub's ... they were really good, and the bread was nice and fresh, DD and DGS went with a burger... sorry can't remember the name of the place... and she said it was really good, it looked like a homemade burger... We did board on time, then they parked us out on the tarmac and the air wasn't working really at all, and people were getting upset .... 25 minutes, it got soooo hot... sooo quick, and with wearing the mask it made it even worse... especially for me because I have asthma... We ended up being around 40 minutes late to Orlando.. any time you travel this kinda thing happens... I'm just glad that we did not have to make a connection...


Getting to and from the park transportation wise, the hotel we stayed at had a free bus that we used... ran every 30 minutes... great perk...

Next up Our Hotel...

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

What an adventure right at the airport! Glad your DH's suitcase finally arrived, but oof - 4:40am is either an extremely late night for you or a very early morning!

 

[LovesTimone]

What an adventure right at the airport! Glad your DH's suitcase finally arrived, but oof - 4:40am is either an extremely late night for you or a very early morning!

OP here...
They called me at 4:40am to tell me it was there..., I will say I went right back to sleep...

 

[LovesTimone]

OP here...

Next Up Hotel

We debated and originally had booked with another hotel, then decided to go with "Majestic Gardens"... for 2 rooms, 2 queens in each room it was 2,100.00... Free shuttles/bus to and from Disneyland...

My thoughts - We had stayed here 10 years ago... and were very pleased with our stay... Originally we had planned to stay somewhere else... Then we decided after really thinking about it and 2 bathrooms were more important than a free breakfast that we most likely would not have really used...

The hotel has had some update's, and the room are large, so you have room to spread out at the end of a long day... Very clean the hotel itself and the room were spotless. The beds were quite comfortable. There was no daily housekeeping. We were told to set our trash in the hallway, call for clean towels... I got lucky one morning, and the housekeeper was in the hallway, and I traded out the towels... Everyone is very nice at the desk.. They have a quick service kinda option in the morning in the store, for some breakfast sandwiches, and above all coffee and such... as well they have a full restaurant and bar which we did eat at twice for breakfast, Which was around 85.00 bucks for 4 of us... it was well prepared and tasty... You could tell that they were understaffed, yet service was still pretty good...

The free bus or shuttle was really nice, no lugging a booster seat around. It ran every 30 minutes to and from the parks, except between 12 and 4 then it was on the hour... They have shuttles, handicap bus that can seat 6 as well as the wheelchair, and 2 school buses... they also have a dedicated drop off and pick up stop at Disney so that made it nice... I will say that in the evening the buses were full.

If we ever head back to Disneyland or this part of the country we would stay here again.

Next up the good stuff... The Parks...

 

[blabbermouth]

Glad you arrived at the airport early, wow! Looking forward to your park report

 

[Sunshiney_Disney_Momma]

Enjoying your trip report so far! I am starting to work on our plans for our first DL trip and your report is very helpful!

 

[LovesTimone]

OP here...

Okay moving on with the good stuff...

We did 4 full days - 2 days in each park... which was perfect for us...
We choose 1 park a day tickets, No park hoppers and No Genie+nor NO Lighting lanes... We got everything that we wanted to do done, and rode some favorite rides a couple of times... The parks were very busy... We are not rope drop commando style and still we did everything that we wanted...

California Adventure - Even though we had been there 10 years ago I really did not remember much about it... Marvel-land is really neat, and there were alot of Characters out and about, Captain America, Thor, Black Window, Black Panther, Spiderman and Loki... Oh and Dr. Stranger which was a kinda little show ... Web Slinger is absolutely so much fun we did get to ride a 3 times.... Radiator Spring for me is the cutest area... and Radiator Spring racers were again a favored ride... Toy Story Midway Mania came in third for us, and we rode this 4 time total, twice each day we visited... the Pixar pier area was just nuts with the amount of people crammed into this area... California Food and Wine was going on, and I will visit this later on... Soarin over California was playing while I was excited to ride, it for us was a complete let down... it was just meh, not good and not bad ... I thought it would really be something over the top, and it wasn't the ride itself (as it is always fun), yet the show at least for me was kinda bland...
I really enjoyed visiting, and we did have a really fun time... yet the park seems so disjointed, like not as much of what I would call transitions between each land, and the planning wasn't really well thought out...

Disneyland - This is where it all started... Riding the classic rides was really fun!!! Standing where Walt stood, and seeing his dreams come true, made me wonder what would he have thought about all the Parks world wide, and his little Mouse... being an international star...
First up Rise of the Resistance is my favorite ride... it was really fun and we did get to ride 2 times... the whole Star Wars area is wonderful... There were a tons of Character in the this around, Chewy and Rey, under the Millennium falcon, Kylo Ren and Storm Troopers... lots of interaction... We did get into Oga's and again I will discuss this later on...
We just happened to stumble upon a cascade of Princess... Cinderella, Aurora, Merida, Tiana, Belle( blue dress) and Gaston, Rapunzel and Finn... It was kinda off the beaten path, and we got lots of pictures and great interaction... Later on we did get to see what I call the mini parades, Mickey, Minnie, Mulan, Pocahontas, Jasime, Anna and Elsa... along with Chip and Dale, Goofy and Pluto... That was a nice moment that we were not expecting... Star tours was really fun, and my DD and I rode Space Mountain just the 2 of us... was like when she was little and it was our favorite ride... I did not remember that 2 sit side by side... so that made that much more fun... Indiana Jones was another of our favorite rides... its like Dinosaurs at AK, only much much better... Alot of fun, all the way around...

My overall thoughts - Just putting this out there and this is just that, my personal opinions and thoughts...
**** Lets start off my talking about the wait times... they are all over the place, So it said 70 minutes standby... for Rise of the Resistance, and we only waited in 30 minutes. Even less for Indiana Jones shown 45 minutes, in the car at the 20 minute mark... Then for some of the other rides it would take alot longer, as in the Millennium faclon ride it showed 45 minutes and DD and DGS waited 70 minutes... so it really flip flops around... I think its all due to how many lightening lane people there are in line...

****I have to say this whole thing with Genie+ and lighting lanes are not all cracked up to be what they are advertised, or what it appears that they are advertising .. We did witness several people getting mad with the fact that they had to have any wait time at all, they expected to just walk on a ride and without any wait at all... One lady over in the Marvel area was absolutely having a full on meltdown with a cast member due to the fact they had to wait. Another lady was over near Buzz Lightyear, and Star tours.... she was on the phone with Disney I presume... I guess demanding her money back, she was beet red in the face, using not Disney friendly language, she was basically yelling just shy of screaming, Everyone standing in this area could hear her... She went on and on about how much money they spent for this option and should not to have to wait a second...As well I did notice that people who were waiting on their lightening lane times would crowd around in front of the ride, and make it hard to pass, and the poor cast members trying to get them to move, several times we noticed other guest kinda hassling the cast member to go ahead and let them in... which was not happening... Another point here, is when we went into ride some of the rides, we would come out and same people waiting for their ride time were still waiting to get in line... So really how much time are you saving by standing around outside the ride waiting to ride?...then the whole thing when they combine the lines, so now both lines are together and still people are waiting... So its not a separate line, it basically just a fast pass that you pay for...

**** Another thing that DH noticed was the fact that they were not running all the ride vehicles, like 1 in ever 4 to 6 ride vehicles... in alot of the rides which bumps up the ride times... Which DH asked a CM and He said " Bro' like that's what they tell us to do, so we do it" So really not understanding why they would only use a few ride vehicles when it would make sense to use all the ride vehicles?

Up next one of the best aspects of Vacation time... Restaurants, snacks... Food!!!

 

[LovesTimone]

OP here...

So I am going to try to get through with all our Table service dinning, then in another post tackle QS and snacks, and California Food and Wine event...

Catal - Downtown Disney - Really great choice for our first meal, on our first night.... We were seated in the little round room like a turret, next to a window and the view of downtown Disney was sooo nice... So since we where there on a Sunday night, they had started what they call Sunday supper entree's and its just what you would think, It reminded me of when I was a kid and we would have dinner at my grandparents house... We decided on the calamari for and appetizer, very well prepared, and not overly salted, breading was light, and a good portion. We tried two of the entrees on the Sunday Supper menu, So DD went with the Chicken Pot Pie, as she said it was a fancy chicken pot pie, and it was very tasty indeed... the chicken was very moist, and the sauce or gravy was very flavorful... I went with the meatloaf, it was paired with mashed potatoes and a veggie, and it was delicious... For me it was a large portion, and DH had to help me with it, He agreed that it was really delicious... DH went with the traditional paella, he said it was good, but they really were quite skimpy with the seafood, and the portion size for the price was not in-line...DGS did a kids burger with fries... he ate all of it, and said it was "pretty good" he's only 7 so I take that as a thumbs up for sure.. I will say that they did have some interesting cocktails... very pricey cocktails... Our server was very very good, and she was on point from start to finish. All in all a great way to start out our vacation, ... 330.00 for dinner and drinks...

Storyteller Buffet- Grand Californian - This was a excellent buffet, all the food was cooked very well, and very tasty, not typical buffet items, The salmon in asparagus cream sauce was a favorite of DH and I. The prime rib was a little to fatty for me, I did try a bite of DH's and it did have a great flavor. I was so happy to see some veggies offered, the Brussels sprouts and potato dish was really really good, as well as the carrot with pomegranates this is something that I am going to try to do at home, my DD who really isn't into veggies loved the carrots... As well I love the fact that they had a very nice assortment of fresh fruit, my DGS loves his fruit... They do bring some options to the table such as the kids chicken fingers with fries, which I though was very smart so that they were nice and hot. I will say that this buffet is one of the best at any Disney property that we have visited... 44.00 dollars per person, the cocktail bill was around 85.00 dollars.. Our server was so nice and funny, we really enjoyed having him serve us. I will say that the hostess was very rude and acted like everyone was bothering her, she maybe should work away from the guest, as this was not the first impression that I would think that any restaurant would want...

Wine Country Trattoria - California Adventure. We were a bit late for this reservation, and the hostess seemed very put out, It was only like 10 minutes, we did apologize... We had a table outside, which the weather was so nice and beautiful breeze. Again with started with the Calamari it was accompanied with Haricot Vert, ( greenbeans) the green beans where my favorite, they were cooked perfectly... it said that it had a pepperoncini aioli which, for me it seemed more in line with a basic remoulade, it was very good and had just a tiny kick of heat, which worked well with this dish... DH and DD both had the chicken parm, DGS had the kids spaghetti no sauce, with broccoli and fruit, I choose the salmon and potatoes this very well done... yet there was this massive arugula salad on top, and it was undressed, which it needed to be simply dressed or more of sauce for the salmon which by the way was a nice pairing for the salmon... around 200.00

I'm going to have to stop at this point, and pick up tomorrow... more dinning, QS and snack and Food and Wine coming up...

 

[xipotec]

I follow this tread with great interest…..thisnis a mirror trip for our early August one.
Except we got G+

 

[LovesTimone]

I follow this tread with great interest…..thisnis a mirror trip for our early August one.
Except we got G+

Op here, Thanks for following along... With Genie+ I think that you really will need to have some sort of plan of how your are going to get the most out of it, as well getting your money's worth with this option.

 

[Peachy0118]

Great thread so far! Thank you for sharing. This is a great way of organizing the details.

 

[blabbermouth]

Looking forward to the rest of your dining reviews! Catal was quite pricy, but I didn't know they'd have a nice view of dtd!

 

[LovesTimone]

OP here...

Back for more dinning... so lets get on with the show...

Cafe Orleans- Disneyland Park - This was our last meal and I wanted it to be in the park... I wasn't really sure about how this was going to be, it did seem to still have a very limited menu ... and turns out it was perfect... We sat outside and it was just starting to get dark, the weather was just beautiful, nice breeze the food was quite good and service was on point from start to finish... So for appetizers DH got a cup of Chicken Gumbo, it was very tasty, I got a bite or two, and I really liked it as it was not to spicy, just enough heat for a sissy like me.. lol and DD and I wanted to try the wild mushroom soup so we split it, so first off its not the most appealing visually it was very tasty tho and all about the mushrooms, we did like it, we both said not sure if we could have eaten a whole cup so sharing it for us work out really well, so if your really not all about the mushrooms I suggest you skip it.. Entree wise here's how it shook out. DH went with the Shrimp and Grits, and it was really good it did have some bread with it... DD went with the Monte Cristo, and fries she said it was really good, but could have skipped the powdered sugar, DGS went with the roasted chicken with veggie and fruit he said" this chicken is really good Mimi, and the broccoli wasn't all mushy" I think I might have a food critic in the making lol , I went with the Roasted half chicken with whipped potatoes and veggies... This was very well prepared, and I will say that the veggies were cooked very nicely, and perfectly seasoned.. This meal was our least expensive table service meal coming in at just around 150.00.

Oga's Cantina - Disneyland Park - I tried for week and weeks to get a ADR for this spot to no avail... however on our last day with were sooo lucky and got in the virtual cue and got a time ... happy dancing went on for sure... So make sure you set up your Disneyland app way in advance, and make sure you know how everything works... just my tiny tip .... So we have been to Oga's a few time at WDW.... This was DD and DGS first trip into Oga's... DGS was like this looks like the movies!! We did get seated at a very large booth with a couple, then again with a family... So be prepared to share the large booths, I know that some people don't like to share a space like this, no issue for us to share... I just love this place, its so cool, whether your a Star Wars super fan or not, this place is worth a look for sure... DH had a couple beers and DD and I each had different drinks so that we could taste more of them... Okay I'm going to say that they kids drinks were gross... DGS said that the blue milk was disgusting, and gross... They did take it off the bill as the server said "we get that alot" it was around 100.00 bucks for our drinks with tip...

Okay now on to the QS option that we tried...


Golden Horseshoe - Disneyland We were starving so we decided to try this spot... Since we were so hungry we did get a order of cheese sticks to share.. DH and DD went with the chicken fingers and fries baskets, I went with the fish and chips, basic Disney quick service fare, everything was hot, and it did hit the spot for our hungry family... and finally DGS went with the kids power pack. I was impressed with the power pack with included Dannon yogurt smoothie in a plastic bottle, a cutie mandarin orange (a whole orange, not sections or in a cup).. package of carrots and package of gold fish, he choose bottled water, they gave him a large bottle as the CM said we have gotten in small bottles in forever... There is an upstairs area for seating as well. Somewhere around 65.00 dollars for the 4 of us

Award Wieners - California Adventure - One night were decided that we needed more than a snack... it was only around 8:00pm and it was hard to find somewhere to eat, alot of the places were well into closing up so that did make it a bit hard to find somewhere to eat... DH, DD and DGS all went with a regular hot dog and filmstrip fries, I just got a order of the filmstrip fries... This Filmstrip fries are really good, I would say they were the best fries that we had... There is seating right around the corner which took a second to figure out... I think it was around 60.00 bucks.

Flo's V8 cafe / Cozy Cones - California Adventure - DH and I ordered for lunch and DD and DGS went to the different Cozy Cones for snacks, they hit the parks really early and had breakfast. DH choose the burger and steak fries, and I went with the Turkey club and steak fries... I will say it was chaos in there, as there was no real line, and the cast member was trying to set up a cue to go through the walk in's and the mobile order line was crazy long with people waiting for food, we just got in the normal line...We got our food and sat down a booth.. Both options hit the spot.. 45.00 ish for us... DD got a churro and DGS a swirl ice-cream cone - they enjoyed them... DD said it was a bit challenging wrangling their food and drink and dodging other guest...

Snacks in both parks - Of course our favorite was Mickey Ice Cream bars... we sat on a bench near thunder mountain, in the shade and just enjoyed the view and the magic... somewhere DD got our grandson a giant pickle which he loved... We found a cart with bagel garlic bread loaf and it was really good and perfect for sharing, along with some type of Donut hole's for DGS. We had planned to get a pop corn bucket which I'm not sure what happened we ended up not getting one...

California Food and Wine festival... This is just what it say's California food and wine, really it should be Food and Wine/Beer festival... There were only around 10 to 12 booths, and some of the QS or carts might offer 1 special item... So first off we really are not into alot of the plant based food which seemed to rule all booths, we did for the sake of keeping an open mind share a few things, and it not successful at all... as DGS put it... GROSS... California sits on the coast and from what we found nothing showcasing all the wonderful seafood, as well there is so many other things that are grown in California nuts like pistachios, almonds and walnuts, Grapes, strawberries, tons of veggies... I think that they are really missing the mark with this... there is so much more that they could offer to showcase the whole state...

Okay that does it for Dinning... Next up shopping for the perfect items to bring home!!!

 

[AUTUMNSAM]

Loving your review!

 

[LovesTimone]

Op here...

So lets move along into the merch... I did make a list for a few things that I wanted..

First up Christmas Ornaments, which I wanted something that was for Disneyland, I was very pleased to find several... I thought that one would be enough, which is funny coming from me... So I did end up with 2 ornaments... one that spelled out Disneyland and the other Mickey and Minnie... I did ask the CM to wrap them up really good which they did... they both made it home safe and sound.

We did end up buying quite a bit of Spider-man stuff... For DGS he really wanted the spider bot, which we did get him. Along with 2 of the small spider bots for gifts for some friends kids... they were over the moon. As well a Webslinger T-shirt and spider-man hat. for gifts.. The shirts were sized strange, he is 7, and wears a 8 to 10 t-shirt normally... the 8 to 10's were cut kinda short... if we moved up a size then it was giant sized...

Star Wars stuff as well- I bought my first Star Wars shirt its really cute... and has my favorite Yoda saying on it... Do or Do not... there is no try... DGS got some actions figures, and some type of collectible for his collection along. Our DD bought some R2D2 mickey ears, and a T-shirt for my DGS along with a Star Wars t-shirt for her DH, and baby Yoda sleep pants for herself... Some how we adopted a Porg that DGS wore on his shirt...

We picked up a Rapunzel collectible doll for a friends little girl...

Another item on the list was a throw blanket for a friend, we found a really good selection... We went with the one that said Disneyland on it, and its really cute.

We also pick up and mister potato head mug for a friend... as he lovesssss potatoes in any form... I kid around with him all the time about being Mister Potato head... LOL .

I did add a charm to my Pandora bracelet of the Disneyland castle...

I wanted just a T-shirt that said Disneyland on it, just a oversized T-shirt to hang-out around the house in ... which was kinda hard to find... We did find one on Main Street. So again the T-shirts sizes really were weird... I went up a size which I am so glad that I did, as once it was washed and dried on low it fits perfectly now... I think my tip here is to really look at the shirts when your buying them... I have to say that spirit jersey have taken over... I really wanted the one that has Tatooine, I loved it but I did not buy it as I would not wear it, living in Fl. there not much call for a sweatshirt .. I wish that they would bring out some T-shirts to go along with the Spirit jersey's..

The last thing was a Disneyland magnet for my fridge...

There was alot of good merch for sure...I did get everything on my list and then some. Lol... I think that by me having the list to look at we did not forget anyone first off, and secondly it help me remember what I wanted...

So next time a few odd and ends, along with my overall thoughts.

 

[LovesTimone]

OP here..

A few odds and ends to share, a few tips and such...

So first up where the bus dropped us off, we could walk out, and cross the street very short and easy walk and there were several restaurants, Denny's, I-Hop, McDonalds, Panera's and several other options... not sure they are any less costly than eating on site or even at your hotel... We had breakfast at the hotel twice, for 4 of us it ran around 85.00 dollars. At I-Hop it was 110.00 for breakfast and we did not eat anything out of the ordinary, plus the service was all over the place. I will say that the portions were quite huge, and well... very wasteful, as there was no way we could have eaten it and honestly we could have shared them easily. So you might want to think about the option of sharing.

Grabbing something late night in the parks was challenging to say the least. We found that around 8:00 ish it seemed that they start closing up. So if your like us, and end up starving and needing more than a snack or dessert option, I would keep this in mind.

Bring a list for souvenirs, who your buying for and what, also make sure to include sizes, if people just want a T-shirt. I did find that the T-shirt sizes were all over the place... so take the time to look at them... really look at the garment and not just what the size marker shows.

Down load the Disneyland app, and get it all set up way before time, and play around with it. So you know how it works, add your credit card ahead of time, so you can mobile order if you so desire, and get in virtual que's such as Oga's. Which we were so lucky to be able to get a time...

So as I wrap up my trip report... We had such a wonderful time just being together. Being able to spend this time together and make all those memories was just priceless..

Wishing you all peace, love and pixie dust...

Thanks for following along...

 

[xipotec]

Did you guys make any ADR's?

 

[LovesTimone]

Did you guys make any ADR's?

Yes we did, for all of the table service... I got what I could, that I knew my family would be okay with... then in the weeks and days leading up, I was constantly checking and rechecking to see if something had come available at a better time frame or a different restaurant... Oga's is the one the ADR I could not secure, and we got lucky and did get in the virtual que line and got a time...


I can not stress enough to keep checking.... the night before we left I was still working on it... even while in the parks, I got a better time for a ADR for the next day...

 

[xipotec]

Yes we did, for all of the table service... I got what I could, that I knew my family would be okay with... then in the weeks and days leading up, I was constantly checking and rechecking to see if something had come available at a better time frame or a different restaurant... Oga's is the one the ADR I could not secure, and we got lucky and did get in the virtual que line and got a time...


I can not stress enough to keep checking.... the night before we left I was still working on it... even while in the parks, I got a better time for a ADR for the next day...

Well I tried this Am at 60 days, seriously...nothing is working.
5/29 had some dates, but 5/30 did not. Thankfully this was a test run.

Seriously confused on what's going on at DL ADR's WDW operated as normal, all restaurants available to book at 60 days....nothing available at DL.

It seems to be just plain broken.

How did the virtual que work at Oga? Similar to ROTR? Join on the APP or at the place?

Thanks for the great post BTW

 

[LovesTimone]

Well I tried this Am at 60 days, seriously...nothing is working.
5/29 had some dates, but 5/30 did not. Thankfully this was a test run.

Seriously confused on what's going on at DL ADR's WDW operated as normal, all restaurants available to book at 60 days....nothing available at DL.

It seems to be just plain broken.

How did the virtual que work at Oga? Similar to ROTR? Join on the APP or at the place?

Thanks for the great post BTW

At my 60 day mark, there was nothing... So I totally understand where you are coming from...

That's why you have to keep at it... try for less popular times to eat... you can always try to modify your ADR time... The restaurants at Downtown Disney are a very short walk out of each park into this area, so don't let that stop you from trying a restaurant in this area.

Okay.. I will do my best to explain... Join on the app once inside the park, you must be close to Oga's, or it will say your out of range or something like this... we stood outside of Oga's and tried and only had to refresh once and then a time popped up it was like 20 minutes and they took us inside in less than 10 minutes...
I will say that we were talking to a CM, and said that lately people are taking up ADR, or getting in the que lines... just to go in look around and take pictures, and leave without ordering any drinks... She said that's why there are so many spots that open up in the virtual que... and you have to keep refreshing... so take this for whats it is, a CM's opinion...