Our First Trip to DL/DCA: GCH, Strategies and a Mini Food Report!

[Mich123]

Hi All,

Just back from five days at DL/DCA and thought I’d do a mini trip report of sorts, focusing on GCH, ride and park strategies and a quick food review. I am a huge Disney fan and I love trip planning almost as much as the trip. This was our first family trip to DL. I had first visited in the late 70’s as a teenager—yup, do the math, I’m in my 40’s now! To plan for our adventure and my family’s first trip to DL, I reviewed these boards extensively (Many THANKS to HydroGuy for his primer and to all of the DIS posters out there who answered my newbie questions!), and read the Passporters and Unofficial Guide to DL.

The cast: Me, the Disney fan. DH, a reluctant Disney fan who always drinks the water and becomes a true fan once he steps foot in a park. DD14, not a fan of crowds, but loves the rides. DD11, a fan of Disney as well who loves the art and the adventure, as long as it’s at her pace, which is not too fast.

The basics: We stayed at the Grand Californian from August 22nd to August 27th . I’d investigated where to stay and hemmed and hawed, wondering if it was worth the expense. Ultimately, the stay three days get two days free offer won me over and allowed us to choose the more expensive hotel. We also had 5 day passes, with the same buy three days get two free offer. We went to the park five days and spent our Wednesday at Huntington Beach where we were clobbered, absolutely clobbered, by the highly energized post swell waves and wind.

I did all my booking through AAA, which proved to be worthwhile with the perks—free lanyards and pins (gave the lanyards away, gave the pins to DD11 to trade—a value of about $28) and a discount card that allowed us to save about $50 on our meals (10% off at Uva Bar and Catal, Tortilla Jo’s and Ralph Brennan’s). I also used our Disney Visa for 10% off at Steakhouse 55.

So, where to next?? The Grand Californian! Stay tuned!

 

[lulubelle]

Sounds great so far, Michelle.
Can't wait to read more!

 

[Mich123]

Sounds great so far, Michelle.
Can't wait to read more!

Thanks for the encouragement! More soon!

 

[Mich123]

In my planning, I had felt completely lost in picking a hotel. I started planning in March 2010 and I’d had recommendations for non-Disney hotels within walking distance and I’d read everything I could about Paradise Pier, the Disneyland Hotel and DCH. I was seriously stuck until Disney came out with the stay three days, get two days free offer. It was the perfect incentive! We booked at DCH and it turned out to be the best decision of the trip.

What a beautiful hotel! It’s so big, but it didn’t feel huge, it was warm and inviting and abuzz with activity. Service was excellent. When we checked in at about 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, August 22nd, the CM worked really hard to find us a clean room so we could go to our room right away. That was much appreciated! While I checked in, my kids hung out by the great room and DH parked the car. A word about parking: if you don’t want to do valet at $17 A DAY , parking across the street is totally manageable. There’s a parking garage and you can pick up/drop off your family at DCH.

One thing I noticed immediately was the great room at DCH. I’ve been to other Disney hotels with similar great room areas—Animal Kingdom Lodge, the Vero Beach DVC, Wilderness Lodge—this one was different in that people actually hung out in the great room. There was a piano player playing in the mornings and afternoons, an area where the kids could hang out and watch movies and the lounge was right around the corner so drinks could be had. It was a comfortable spot to read a book and, while it was busy, you could always find a seat. Nice!

So we headed up to our room and were delighted to see the bunk beds and all the space in our standard view room. I’d requested the bunk beds and our check in took a little longer to find the clean bunk bed room, but it was absolutely worth it. I’d note that the beds are a little shorter than twin beds, so the CM did ask me the height of DD14. At 5’4”, she’s probably as tall as you’d want to be in that bed. She loved it, in the words of Goldilocks, it was “just right”! I think the room may be smaller than Deluxe hotels at WDW, no convertible couch or seating are, but there was a lovely little balcony and seating area outside the patio door and the bunk had a trundle. You could actually fit four kids in this room with the trundle, pack ‘n play and bunk bed. We mostly used the balcony to dry our clothes and we did see the monorail go through the courtyard a few times. I had been worried that it would be really loud (our room was next to the area where the monorail goes through), but it wasn’t noticeable and didn’t disturb anyone’s sleep.

One of the amenities I enjoyed most was the supply of H2O spa supplies. Refreshed daily, this was a nice little luxury.

[An aside: I realize that I start to compare to WDW in the next paragraph and I just can’t help myself. I told my kids not to do it. I read HydroGuy’s stern warning. It’s unavoidable. I also think it’s helpful to DL newbies like me who have experienced the World, so I’m keeping it in!]

After we unpacked we headed to DL. That’s when the magic began! The beauty of DCH (especially after having stayed at WDW and experiencing the joys of the buses, monorails, taxis and boats) is that it is so accessible to DL and DCA. It was amazing. Out the back door to Downtown Disney and about two short blocks to DL. Out the side gate and directly into DCA. It’s fantastic! I don’t think we’d even consider staying anywhere else when we go back. We loved it. We ditched the backpack and bags that we usually carry to parks at WDW because it was just so easy to pop back to the room to change if we needed to. We could wake up later and still get to the parks early. We even experienced a rope drop. Crazy!

 

[Maddie2]

An aside: I realize that I start to compare to WDW in the next paragraph and I just can’t help myself. I told my kids not to do it. I read HydroGuy’s stern warning. It’s unavoidable. I also think it’s helpful to DL newbies like me who have experienced the World, so I’m keeping it in!

Yes, please keep it in! We've been to WDW 3x and I am looking at a possible Jan or Feb 2011 trip to DL. I was there as a teen as well - 1982 as I recall, and would like to take our DS16 and DS13 there. DH is a reluctant Disney traveler and has said he will not return to WDW, but I'm thinking that I just might get him to DL. The clock is ticking on traveling with kids for us as college is just a couple years away for DS16. Quick question .... do you think 3 park days are enough??

Keep writing! Can't wait to read more!

 

[Mich123]

Quick question .... do you think 3 park days are enough??

I think three park days would be fine--I'm guessing it should be less crowded (as long as it's not President's week). And by less crowded, I mean less crowded by DL/DCA standards, not by WDW standards.

We actually went three days + two evenings.

Sunday: arrived, went to DL after dinner
Monday: DL and DCA
Tuesday: DCA
Wednesday: Huntington Beach, then DCA after dinner without the kids who were too tired!
Thursday: park hopped relentlessly, I believe we had at least five hand stamps by the end of the day.

I was worried about the timing, too. We have done two family trips to WDW which were 10 and 11 days. My family does not like to be rushed! Everyone but me prefers to sleep in and take it all in at a relaxing pace. Not me! My dream is to do the "Dumbo or die" plan recommended by the Unofficial Guide which is all the rides in one day! At any rate, I have no takers on my plan, so they humor me and from time to time we do my little agendas (which is my attempt to go on as many rides as possible based on all the advice I read on these boards and in the tour books).

 

[Jonesie]

Michelle,

Loving your trip report so far...Can't wait for the next installment!

 

[tdashgirl]

Nice job! Can't wait to hear more

 

[Mich123]

Loving your trip report so far...Can't wait for the next installment!

Nice job! Can't wait to hear more

Thanks for reading! Strategies are up next!

 

[Mich123]

So our first strategy happened by accident. Yep, after all the research and reading, it was a complete and total (and happy!) accident. Our first afternoon, after checking in and settling in to GCH, we headed out to DL (OF COURSE!). Had to see DL, had to go on Space Mountain. Sure, we did the Fastpass, but the kids could not be convinced to wait until later, no, they had to wait on the 40 minute line. But that’s what you do, right? So we did and of course we loved it. Space Mountain was awesome! The new cars, the inside theming, the music—it was just awesome. Now, I have not been on the rehabbed Space Mountain at WDW, but if the rehab has left WDW’s Space Mountain pretty much the same as it was before, the DL Space Mountain is a little different. One other DL/WDW difference I’ll point out is the waiting areas. At WDW, it seemed to me that there were more indoor waiting areas, while at DL we found ourselves waiting outside much of the time. Could it be because the weather is more temperate or is it just my perception? Not sure.

Back to the first strategy. After Space Mountain, we did Buzz Lightyear because we just love that ride and because the wait was just 20 minutes. Then, dinner at Ralph Brennan’s in Downtown Disney, about a seven minute walk from DL (more on that later). After dinner, we headed back to DL to use the Fastpass for Space Mountain. It was about 9:20 p.m. How do I know that? Because everyone was lining up to see the fireworks. So we took the advice of the Unofficial Guide and decided to see how long the line for Nemo was. FIVE MINUTES. Seriously. Of course we jumped into that line. Great ride (I remember 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea, so for me it was really nostalgic). Then onto Space Mountain with no wait because we had Fastpasses. Then Buzz Lightyear again…because there was no line. After that, the kids wanted to go on the Matterhorn (“What’s that BIG mountain??”, they asked). So we walked around and found the entrance…10 minute wait. WOW, we were in shock. What’s next, Big Thunder Mountain. Wait time? I think it said 15 minutes, but it was really about 8 minutes. Most of the time was spent walking through the empty queues. Crazy! Then we went to Pirates, because for me, I’m not at a Disney Park until I ride Pirates. And for this we walked right on and had our very own boat. We were delirious at this point. After two trips to the World where 40 minute minimum lines were the norm (both times during President’s Week), we just couldn’t believe it.

Now, this was not the slowest week of the year at DL, not by far. School hadn’t started in CA and there were groups of campers at the park. In addition, on Monday, AP holders were allowed in and I was really worried about that because I’d read on these boards that there could have been high attendance. I’m not sure what the attendance actually was, but line waits were completely manageable. We loved it.

So, Strategy #1: Visit the Parks at night if you can and go on the rides!

 

[Mich123]

The next strategy is not a new one, in fact, it is oft recommended by the guidebooks, but it’s one we have never tried at WDW because…we had already spent ½ an hour to get to the park and we’d only been on two rides so far...can you guess the strategy??

Strategy Two: Leave the park in the afternoon and sit by the pool!

Crazy! So we’d never ever considered this strategy at WDW. Never. But at DL on Monday, our first full day, we found that we’d been on a lot of rides (remember the Sunday night ride mayhem?) and we were hot and tired. And since GCH was RIGHT THERE, we thought, “Why not go to the pool?”.

It was awesome! The pools are beautiful and warm, the chairs are oh so comfy and there’s pool side drink service. What’s not to like? Our only challenge was finding chairs, but we always did. A couple times we just found two and then, pac man style, we acquired more as people left or we moved when others opened up. We ended up going to the pool every day, which is just shocking for us and we loved it. The day we went to Huntington Beach, we were happy to get back so we could sit by the pool!

We also loved the drinks and the nachos. The drinks were great (you did have to flag down a server sometimes, but they always did come through for us), we ordered the mixed drinks (margaritas, rum and cokes, Long Island iced tea) and my kids liked the sweet tea (since we don’t have that in the Northeast). We also ordered glasses of ice water to go with our drinks and this was never a problem. A very good thing considering how hot it was and how strong the mixed drinks were—you definitely need the water.

I need a new paragraph to talk about the nachos. They were delicious! We ordered them every day! The Unofficial Guide lists them as a favorite snack, but we didn’t realize that until after we’d tried them independently. They deserve the rating. We ordered chicken most days and beef the last day (as recommended by the Unofficial Guide), I preferred the chicken, but the beef was good, too. The chips were fresh flour tortilla chips with melted cheese and shredded cheese sprinkled on top, too, tomatoes, olives, jalapenos, guacamole and sour cream. YUM! You can also get the nachos at Whitewater Snacks and you don’t have to be a hotel guest to get them. I think it’s worth the trip.

 

[tdashgirl]

Yes, the nachos were a hit for us when we stayed at the GCH in June! The portion is generous and everything tastes fresh and very high quality. It's a perfect pool snack. We ordered it from WWS almost everyday.

 

[Mich123]

The portion is generous and everything tastes fresh and very high quality. It's a perfect pool snack. We ordered it from WWS almost everyday.

I agree, the perfect pool snack. And, everything tastes better when it's delivered to you poolside! One order was enough for all four of us. We did consider getting two orders our last day, but that would have been far too much!

 

[Mich123]

So this isn’t the craziest or maybe even the most unique strategy, but it worked for us. Strategy Three: Go to the parks after you’ve been to the pool, while you’re still in your bathing suit and cover up!

On our last full day, we realized that we hadn’t gone on Splash Mountain and that we wanted to go on Grizzly River Run again. The problem was, no one wanted to commit to getting wet. Sure, we loved Grizzly River Run the first time, but we had gotten absolutely soaked and the idea of walking through the park soaked or having to get changed just didn’t appeal to us as we considered going on the ride the next day and the day after. So, here’s what we did. We went on rides all morning at DCA and DL on our last day (by the end of the day we had at least 5 hand stamps!) and just before we left each park in the morning, before going to back to the hotel for our afternoon swim, we obtained Fastpasses for both Splash Mountain and Grizzly River Run. Then, after we went swimming at the pool, we headed out to DL to go on Splash Mountain (which, by the way, was excellent! It seemed different from WDW’s version, but just as long—the inside part of the ride was great.). Just so you know, if you are sitting in the first three seats, you will get SOAKED! I was in the fourth seat and I was just splashed. After riding Splash Mountain, we then park hopped to DCA and rode Grizzly River Run. And then we were all soaked!

After that, we went back to the hotel and showered and changed for dinner. We chose to go on Grizzly River Run second because it was closest to the hotel. I’d also note that we didn’t look like complete goofballs in our swimsuits, we did have cover ups and t-shirts or surf shirts to “camouflage” our plan! We were much, much more comfortable, though, than we would have been if we were in our regular clothes and sneakers (we wore flip flops, too).