AngPNW
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2016
- Messages
- 42
We spent Weds, Thurs & Fri in the parks last week! Arrived Tuesday evening for our stay at Paradise Pier. Pleasantly surprised, given all the reviews. We were put in room 1302 with a wonderful view of DCA. Given that PP is undergoing some renovations, we were allowed to show our room key to walk through GCH for access to DTD and DCA. We were also given the option of using Disneyland Hotel pools (they use a golf cart to take you over). We loved the access to DCA via GCH. What a treat to not have to wait in the lines at the main gate. The down side to PP we did feel: the beds aren’t as comfy as Disneyland Hotel, no food options on property (besides the self-service snacks) & yes, the elevators could take a bit. We utilized mobile order for Starbucks (using their app) in DTD to pick up on our walk to DL. We used Doordash for breakfast a couple other mornings. There is also the option of mobile ordering food to be delivered from DTD to PP.
Now, onto other observations:
Use the mobile order in the DL app for food in the parks! I can’t believe how many people don’t do this. We saw plenty standing in long lines just to order food. It’s so much faster to order from your phone, then walk to the pick-up window at the time you choose. Do not waste time in a long line if the place you want food at does mobile orders.
Genie+, LL, ILL all worth every penny for our family this trip. We missed Rise last visit due to the long lines and no Genie+ options. This time we went in with intentions to pay for ILL and we walked right onto the ride with it while standby posted a 2 hour wait! For us, it was worth it to maximize our time. We definitely felt spoiled by having LL. My advice is to do as much as you can via standby when the park opens (we arrived around 8:15) and save LL’s for when the lines get a little longer later in the day.
Food & Wine Festival made DCA busy. The lines to pick up food at those kiosks can get pretty long. Our last night in the park, my husband ordered a couple items from one of them and the line to pick up was easily 50 people deep. The CM told him he could come back later when the line was shorter to retrieve our food. Fine by us, we went on some rides and kept checking back to see if the line was shorter. It never was. We ended up not getting our food because rides took priority, given we have 2 kids and it was our last night. We were only out $16, but what a bummer because we were looking forward to trying these dishes. Lesson learned. Order early and wait in line the first time.
Overall we had a great time again! It just went by too fast!
Now, onto other observations:
Use the mobile order in the DL app for food in the parks! I can’t believe how many people don’t do this. We saw plenty standing in long lines just to order food. It’s so much faster to order from your phone, then walk to the pick-up window at the time you choose. Do not waste time in a long line if the place you want food at does mobile orders.
Genie+, LL, ILL all worth every penny for our family this trip. We missed Rise last visit due to the long lines and no Genie+ options. This time we went in with intentions to pay for ILL and we walked right onto the ride with it while standby posted a 2 hour wait! For us, it was worth it to maximize our time. We definitely felt spoiled by having LL. My advice is to do as much as you can via standby when the park opens (we arrived around 8:15) and save LL’s for when the lines get a little longer later in the day.
Food & Wine Festival made DCA busy. The lines to pick up food at those kiosks can get pretty long. Our last night in the park, my husband ordered a couple items from one of them and the line to pick up was easily 50 people deep. The CM told him he could come back later when the line was shorter to retrieve our food. Fine by us, we went on some rides and kept checking back to see if the line was shorter. It never was. We ended up not getting our food because rides took priority, given we have 2 kids and it was our last night. We were only out $16, but what a bummer because we were looking forward to trying these dishes. Lesson learned. Order early and wait in line the first time.
Overall we had a great time again! It just went by too fast!
