BriannaRuth
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 29, 2012
- Messages
- 2,164
Just returned from a six night stay, August 8-14, one night at PPH and five at the GCH. I'll do a trip report with photos later, but here are a few initial thoughts for those leaving soon:
DCA EE:
We had our first EE at DCA on Sunday, August 10. DCA scheduled to open at 9, so EE was at 8. We took the "secret exit" from the GCH to DTD to the gates rather than taking the GCH-DCA entrance as I read that was the thing to do. We arrived at bag check at around 7:25 and there were maybe 10 people in front of us. Bag check opened at 7:30 and we were then very close to the front at the gates. They opened the gates at 7:50; we went towards Condor Flats as we wanted to on TSMM first.
On our way in, we passed a LOT of people coming from the GCH entrance headed the other way; evidently, they did some sort of early bag check there or something because it was a LOT of people at once. There was a rope at GRR, so we stopped there and they let everyone into the park from there at 8. When we arrived at Paradise Pier, a CM was there letting everyone know TSMM was down. It stayed down until after 9. We were at Goofy's when it came back up and never did ride because it immediately had a 60 minute wait.
We had our second EE on Wednesday, August 13. Again a 9AM regular opening with an 8AM EE. Because I saw so many people coming in from the GCH-DCA entrance before, we decided to try that rather than going to the gate. However, when we got downstairs at about 7:30, the line was so long that I couldn't even see the end of it as we approached the DCA-GCH entrance from the Napa Rose elevators. That kinda freaked me out, so we decided to head to the gate instead.
Arrived about 7:40, passed through bag check and joined the line at the gate about 25 people back. They opened the gates about that time. We headed towards Condor Flats again in hopes of getting on TSMM, again seeing a ton of guests walking in from the GCH at the same time we did. We were held near GRR for maybe 10 minutes, then they walked us from there to Paradise Pier. We were held at Paradise Pier until 8.
Went straight to TSMM, which was closed again, but the CM said they were just doing final checks and showed us where to wait. We were about 6th in line for TSMM. After about 10 minutes, I noticed other guests leaving after speaking with the CM instead of joining the line. Waited a few minutes then asked her what was going on. This time she told me they found a problem during final check and they didnt know when the ride would be up, but it would NOT be within the next few minutes. This was so frustrating! I couldnt believe they let us just stand there in line without telling us the status of the ride had changed. This was at about 8:15. What a waste of EE time!
So the takeaway: In my opinion, TSMM was even more unreliable for EE than RSR. Two out of two with no luck. In addition, in retrospect I think we should have tried the GCH-DCA entrance rather than the gate since we were going to TSMM. They were somehow able to process a TON of people through that line first thing on EE day on both days, and the crowd waiting near GRR was not large.
RSR EVENING FPs:
On Sunday , 8/10 (DCA EE day), we checked the RSR FP area at about 10 in hopes of getting an evening FP, but returns were still mid-afternoon (around 4:30). I got some dill pickle popcorn and sat at Cozy Cone for a while, then went back at 10:30 and they were around 6. I returned again at 11:10 and they were 6:45, so I waited. Pulled 7:25-8:25 FPs at about 11:30, so Id estimate RSR FPs were available until at least noon.
DL EMH:
We did DL EMH two or three times during our stay and it went well each day. We did Fantasyland and were able to get everything done that we wanted to, with the exception of one day when the Matterhorn line looked too long after we went on PP and Alice. We were at the park early (at least 30 minutes before opening) and were within 10 back at the gate each day, however. One day we were first at our gate and were chosen to open the park!!
WAIT TIME APPS:
The info on the Lines app was incorrect re: RSR FPs. I nearly had a heart attack when I checked it at 11:07 and it said all RSR FPs were gone. I ran over from the Cozy Cone and found they were giving out 6:45 FPs at that time. Evidently even the FP info the day of is only projections, not actual. I also used Lines to create a touring plan while in the park and found their projected wait times were often too short, causing us to get behind. MouseWait wasnt updated often enough to be of any significant use. In the end, we did our own thing and used Otto to get wait times when needed, which worked well.
ALADDIN:
After reading several times that there were no bad seats for Aladdin, I confidently had my family sit all the way at the back of the orchestra level so we could get out quickly. Bad choice. The overhang from the mezzanine level totally blocked our flying carpet view. Dont sit so far back that the mezzanine is over your head and you should be fine. Great show, though!
GCH:
We had room 4442 at the GCH. This is right by the secret exit, which was REALLY convenient in the mornings, but a heckuva walk back from DL in the evenings. The walk from the GCH-DCA entrance to the room wasnt bad. Decent view of Condor Flats, and the GR mountain. Couldnt see much of GRR itself due to trees. We could see the construction work going on for the 300 wing/DCA entrance area to our right, but were not bothered by any noise or otherwise inconvenienced by it.
Overall a great trip!
DCA EE:
We had our first EE at DCA on Sunday, August 10. DCA scheduled to open at 9, so EE was at 8. We took the "secret exit" from the GCH to DTD to the gates rather than taking the GCH-DCA entrance as I read that was the thing to do. We arrived at bag check at around 7:25 and there were maybe 10 people in front of us. Bag check opened at 7:30 and we were then very close to the front at the gates. They opened the gates at 7:50; we went towards Condor Flats as we wanted to on TSMM first.
On our way in, we passed a LOT of people coming from the GCH entrance headed the other way; evidently, they did some sort of early bag check there or something because it was a LOT of people at once. There was a rope at GRR, so we stopped there and they let everyone into the park from there at 8. When we arrived at Paradise Pier, a CM was there letting everyone know TSMM was down. It stayed down until after 9. We were at Goofy's when it came back up and never did ride because it immediately had a 60 minute wait.
We had our second EE on Wednesday, August 13. Again a 9AM regular opening with an 8AM EE. Because I saw so many people coming in from the GCH-DCA entrance before, we decided to try that rather than going to the gate. However, when we got downstairs at about 7:30, the line was so long that I couldn't even see the end of it as we approached the DCA-GCH entrance from the Napa Rose elevators. That kinda freaked me out, so we decided to head to the gate instead.
Arrived about 7:40, passed through bag check and joined the line at the gate about 25 people back. They opened the gates about that time. We headed towards Condor Flats again in hopes of getting on TSMM, again seeing a ton of guests walking in from the GCH at the same time we did. We were held near GRR for maybe 10 minutes, then they walked us from there to Paradise Pier. We were held at Paradise Pier until 8.
Went straight to TSMM, which was closed again, but the CM said they were just doing final checks and showed us where to wait. We were about 6th in line for TSMM. After about 10 minutes, I noticed other guests leaving after speaking with the CM instead of joining the line. Waited a few minutes then asked her what was going on. This time she told me they found a problem during final check and they didnt know when the ride would be up, but it would NOT be within the next few minutes. This was so frustrating! I couldnt believe they let us just stand there in line without telling us the status of the ride had changed. This was at about 8:15. What a waste of EE time!
So the takeaway: In my opinion, TSMM was even more unreliable for EE than RSR. Two out of two with no luck. In addition, in retrospect I think we should have tried the GCH-DCA entrance rather than the gate since we were going to TSMM. They were somehow able to process a TON of people through that line first thing on EE day on both days, and the crowd waiting near GRR was not large.
RSR EVENING FPs:
On Sunday , 8/10 (DCA EE day), we checked the RSR FP area at about 10 in hopes of getting an evening FP, but returns were still mid-afternoon (around 4:30). I got some dill pickle popcorn and sat at Cozy Cone for a while, then went back at 10:30 and they were around 6. I returned again at 11:10 and they were 6:45, so I waited. Pulled 7:25-8:25 FPs at about 11:30, so Id estimate RSR FPs were available until at least noon.
DL EMH:
We did DL EMH two or three times during our stay and it went well each day. We did Fantasyland and were able to get everything done that we wanted to, with the exception of one day when the Matterhorn line looked too long after we went on PP and Alice. We were at the park early (at least 30 minutes before opening) and were within 10 back at the gate each day, however. One day we were first at our gate and were chosen to open the park!!
WAIT TIME APPS:
The info on the Lines app was incorrect re: RSR FPs. I nearly had a heart attack when I checked it at 11:07 and it said all RSR FPs were gone. I ran over from the Cozy Cone and found they were giving out 6:45 FPs at that time. Evidently even the FP info the day of is only projections, not actual. I also used Lines to create a touring plan while in the park and found their projected wait times were often too short, causing us to get behind. MouseWait wasnt updated often enough to be of any significant use. In the end, we did our own thing and used Otto to get wait times when needed, which worked well.
ALADDIN:
After reading several times that there were no bad seats for Aladdin, I confidently had my family sit all the way at the back of the orchestra level so we could get out quickly. Bad choice. The overhang from the mezzanine level totally blocked our flying carpet view. Dont sit so far back that the mezzanine is over your head and you should be fine. Great show, though!
GCH:
We had room 4442 at the GCH. This is right by the secret exit, which was REALLY convenient in the mornings, but a heckuva walk back from DL in the evenings. The walk from the GCH-DCA entrance to the room wasnt bad. Decent view of Condor Flats, and the GR mountain. Couldnt see much of GRR itself due to trees. We could see the construction work going on for the 300 wing/DCA entrance area to our right, but were not bothered by any noise or otherwise inconvenienced by it.
Overall a great trip!
