Notes from day 1-3

cndkanga

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jan 25, 2017
Here are my observations and notes from our first three days in the park.
2 adults, 13 year old and 10 year old
Genie+ and DAS

The parks are crowded but using Genie+ has been great at navigating the crowds. The first three days we arrived at the security gates at 7am and the lines were long, almost to the street (the security gates were not open yet). Once the security gates opened the lines moved efficiently. More lining up at the park gates but I think those opened about 7:30. Then lining up at the rope drop, ropes removed at 8am. We opted to do Matterhorn the first day at rope drop and were on the first cars out going from the right side of the hub - walking.

We returned back our hotel for lunch and rest, leaving the parks at about 11:30am and returning to the parks about 5pm for dinner and leaving at about 8pm. We also took frequent breaks in the parks. Good spots for a break:
- behind Harbour Galley
-Top floor of Hungry Bear closest to Galaxy's Edge
-Near the Lion King Theatre (when show isn't playing)

Although we have Genie+ with the photopass, we noticed that the lines for the photopass photographers tended to be long.

We tried for the parade, found a great spot across from the train station beside the reserved section but it was going to be about a 2 hour wait and after about an hour it started to really fill up and that was not going to work for me so we left.

With Genie+ and Das we were able to ride quite a few attractions even with the limited time we are actually in the parks. We have 5 day park hoppers, we hopped the first 2 days but not the third.

I find California Adventure really difficult to navigate crowd wise. I did find a great spot, behind/under the silly swings so spent some time there while others rode some attractions. Avenger's Campus is wall to wall people, and hot! We tried for the spiderman show but it was too hot and crowded so we left. Today, our 4th day, we start again in California Adventure but we've opted to sleep in a bit today as we need a bit of a break from the morning rush. We'll go a bit later and use Genie+ for a couple of attractions.
 
I agree with you about Avenger's Campus being crowded and hot! Perhaps you can try a late breakfast or snack there (I'm like the breakfast shwarma) late morning around the time the shows start. Definitely avoid around lunch time. I almost get heat stroke mid-day there.

If you find the crowds too much, be sure to check out the Animation Academy building for a break. There are several small things to do (Sorcerer's Workshop, Turtle Talk, Animation Academy, Beast's Library). Mickey Philharmagic is across the street and is another fun air conditioned break.
 
Really enjoy this update. Add to your break spots in Disneyland the little monorail covered spot just behind Edelweiss Snacks near the Matterhorn. It's an out of the way place that's nice to sit and have your churro, turkey leg, or frozen apple juice (DD14 wanted a couple of these each day).

The lines at security must be a new thing because I swore the last time we went Christmas 2018, it wasn't an issue. We would chuckle at if we got a super thorough security guard or not checking our bags. I swear the TSA could learn a thing from how thorough some of the Disney security people are.

I hear you on the Photopass lines. It makes me a little anxious when you seem to just be standing there for a while. It's better when you get a random photo like when we were standing near the Millenium Falcon at night and the cast member asked if we had a photo or the time in front of Star Traders where we were asked the same. It was cool to have it be more spontaneous.

Yes on CA being tougher to navigate and Avenger's Campus needing more shade. Trying to remember if Bug's Land had a lot more shade and I believe it did. We watched the Spiderman show from the very back where they bring the characters out because it was the only shade we could find. I wish they posted more specific times for characters as I wouldn't want to have to keep coming back to see particular characters by chance.

We usually tackle CA in a clockwise fashion starting at Pixar Pier, going around it to Little Mermaid, hitting Cars Land, then going to Avenger's Campus. We save Soarin and Monster's Inc for the evening.
 


Thanks for sharing. How has DAS been for you in combo with Genie+?
A game changer! We mostly use Genie + but for rides that aren't part of Genie+ I can now experience and those rides I can't or won't rode the rest can use Genie+ so I'm not waiting forever for them. It feels like we can take a lot more break time in a quiet places without sacrificing attraction riding time.
 
If you find the crowds too much, be sure to check out the Animation Academy building for a break. There are several small things to do (Sorcerer's Workshop, Turtle Talk, Animation Academy, Beast's Library). Mickey Philharmagic is across the street and is another fun air conditioned break.

I love to just sit in the main room of the Animation Academy. It's such a great spot and usually pretty calm in there. It makes for a nice break.
 

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