PRE-TRIP REPORT - A Disney Anniversary - DLR, UOR and WDW w Star Wars Galaxy's Edge- Sept/Oct 2019

[DLo]

following along. looking forward to reading more

 

[RachelleBeaney]

following along. looking forward to reading more

Happy to have you here!

 

[Mickey.MAC]

Thanks for joining in. It is fun to fly around the world but I do sometimes wish I was closer to Disney. Australia is such a long way from anything Disney related. I had someone from the US tell me once that Hong Kong would be my "local" park because it was really close to Australia. I had to try an explain it's still an 8 hour flight from us here in Perth! I hope my plans for Galaxy's Edge end up being awesome. There is so much up in the air at the moment about what to expect with crowds etc so I will be updating this pre-trip report once Galaxy's Edge opens and I have a better idea of what kind of plan MAY work best.

I cannot wait to visit Australia, everyone in my family has went there but not me! Thanks for sharing!

 

[RachelleBeaney]

I cannot wait to visit Australia, everyone in my family has went there but not me! Thanks for sharing!

I do hope you get here someday. It's a great country

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Universal Studios Florida Planning - Dining

So we are only at Universal Studios Florida and there are SO many good dining options now. However, there are two restaurants at the resort that we have visited before (one a few time) and always want to try again! The first is Mythos. The food here is fine (and when I say fine, it's good standard fare but nothing fancy) but the theme of the restaurant is really what we LOVE. It's like there isn't a straight wall inside the entire place. Plus if you sit out on the back veranda you get fantastic views of the parks lagoon.

As I have a gluten intolerance I do try and avoid gluten when I'm away. I say avoid because when I'm on holidays I like to treat myself, and just take over the counter drugs to cope with it! I can handle small amount of gluten (in sauces etc) but try avoid more concentrated version (like bread or pasta) etc. It's been 4 years since we've been to the US parks, and after a quick glance at the Mythos menu I'm excited to discover that the majority of the burgers and sandwiches come in a gluten free option! I hope this kind of thing has become standard across all the Orlando parks because it will be a HUGE help to me (I always love to get a burger when I can because they have a GF option).

The second restaurant we are excited to re-visit is Cowfish. We ate here on our trip in 2015 and LOVED it. I can't wait to try the loaded truffle fries and makimono again! And maybe a bento box! I love Japanese and I love burgers and this kind of fusion food is super exciting to me. I also remember the quality of the food being AMAZING the last time we visited. And oh so delicious! That being said we ordered wayyy too much food last time, so I think we will take a tapas approach to the restaurant this way, ordering small items or things we can share so we can try a little bit of everything.

Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Disneyland Planning - Bookings

So we have yet to book our tickets for Disneyland but have secured our accommodation. As Jared travels a lot, and uses hotels.com to book his accommodation, we had two free nights we could use to save some money at Disneyland on this trip. We will be staying at the Anaheim Discovery Inn and Suites on Katella Avenue (West). I've never actually stayed on Katella Avenue before. We've either stayed in South Harbour Boulevard or at one of the official Disneyland hotels. We really wanted to get a room at one of the South Harbour Boulevard hotels because they are a lot closer to the parks, but since we last went to Disneyland 4 years ago the prices of rooms at these places has shot sky high! Even the most basic motel type places (which is all we were looking for). It is disappointing because the walk from the place we wanted to stay was literally 5 minutes walk and now we are looking at around 20 minutes. Their website says it's a 10 minute walk to Downtown Disney, and a 12 minute walk to Disneyland but I think that's quite a fast pace!

The walk may be a little less if we cut through the Grand California lobby. We did this when we stayed at the Paradise Pier hotel and it saved around 5 minutes or so. Perhaps a little dodgy if we aren't staying there but still, avoiding excess walking is always a good idea as far as I'm concerned - and the lobby is public, anyone can go sit in there! So we are by no means as close as I would have liked. However that is the price you pay for getting the room a bit cheaper! I know 20 minutes isn't really that long a walk either, it's more that at the end of a long day at Disneyland on our feet it sounds like a bad idea!

We had a bit of a freak out when we booked the room. There was a great deal, which on top of our 2 free nights mean't the room was very cheap. However hotels.com had the "only one room left at this price" warning when I discovered the rate. I found the rate just before I was about to leave work for the afternoon and once I got in the car Jared and I both decided we should just book the hotel there and then to be sure. However, his free nights were not working so we had to pull over to the side of the road so he could call Hotels.com and book over the phone! It was a bit crazy but we got the last room, so that was something! I'm glad we booked when we did because only a few weeks later the opening dates for Galaxy's Edge were announced so I'd hazard a guess that rooms for the second half of 2019 are now booking out even quicker!

Has anyone stayed at the Anaheim Discovery Inn and Suites and could let me know what the walk to the park was like, and if the rooms were comforable (we don't care if they are fancy we just want a comfy place to sleep we aren't at the parks!)

The reason we haven't booked our tickets yet is a very exciting one! After pricing the cost for 9 days (i.e. 2 x 5 day park hoppers, plus 2 x 4 day park hoppers - all with Maxpass) we worked out it would be slightly cheaper to buy annual passes! And of course with an annual pass you get the perk of getting dining and merchandise discounts that help with costs too! We haven't bought the annual passes yet because we just wanted to wait and see, after the opening of Star Wars land, if the annual passholder block outs would change. So far we only have one block out when we are there, at Disneyland on the first Saturday of our visit. That's fine, we will just go to DCA that day, but it the block outs change and there are any days we can't get into at least one of the parks then in no longer becomes worth it because we'd have to pay for another day ticket and it's no longer cheaper. Does anyone know how likely it is that the block out calendar will change between now and when we visit? We are looking at the Deluxe Annual Passes.

There is also a possibility that Jared will be going to NAM (the American Music Trade Show) in January 2020 which is held at the Anaheim Convention Centre! We figure if he does (and his flights are covered, and part of our accommodation is covered) then we can easily use our annual passes to head back to the parks in January 2020, perhaps even with our niece who we said would be old enough for the Disney parks at 9 (she turns 9 in mid-January 2020). This is not a sure thing but if it does end up happened it means we will get to re-visit Disney just a few months after our trip in September/October which I'd be super happy about!

Annual Passholders, if you have any thoughts or feedback about the perks of annual passes or any tips, please let me know. We've never done it before so I want to know if there is anything I should know. Oh, and yes, we will be getting Maxpass with our annual pass.

Continued in Post...

 

[Lesley Wake]

The walk may be a little less if we cut through the Grand California lobby. We did this when we stayed at the Paradise Pier hotel and it saved around 5 minutes or so. Perhaps a little dodgy if we aren't staying there but still, avoiding excess walking is always a good idea as far as I'm concerned - and the lobby is public, anyone can go sit in there! So we are by no means as close as I would have liked. However that is the price you pay for getting the room a bit cheaper! I know 20 minutes isn't really that long a walk either, it's more that at the end of a long day at Disneyland on our feet it sounds like a bad idea!

Unfortunately this isn’t allowed anymore. Even for guests at PPH. They have security on the sidewalk and turn back anyone who isn’t staying there.

Does anyone know how likely it is that the block out calendar will change between now and when we visit? We are looking at the Deluxe Annual Passes.

If they’ve already announced the dates, then they won’t change those. They would get an uprising on their hands!

Annual Passholders, if you have any thoughts or feedback about the perks of annual passes or any tips, please let me know. We've never done it before so I want to know if there is anything I should know.

Hmm, so you have mentioned the main ones-discounts. You’ll get photos with the Maxpass add-on. During special events they have AP corners which usually involve a button or sticker or something, and a photoshop. Sometimes a character meet. But that changes and you don’t really know beforehand.

A couple Halloween parties get AP discounts but usually just some at the very beginning of the season so I don’t know if that will apply for you.

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Unfortunately this isn’t allowed anymore. Even for guests at PPH. They have security on the sidewalk and turn back anyone who isn’t staying there.


If they’ve already announced the dates, then they won’t change those. They would get an uprising on their hands!


Hmm, so you have mentioned the main ones-discounts. You’ll get photos with the Maxpass add-on. During special events they have AP corners which usually involve a button or sticker or something, and a photoshop. Sometimes a character meet. But that changes and you don’t really know beforehand.

A couple Halloween parties get AP discounts but usually just some at the very beginning of the season so I don’t know if that will apply for you.

That's a bummer about the Grand Californian! It was such a convenient shortcut! Oh well. It's frustrating that you can't just get into Downtown Disney from Disneyland drive as we have to go out of way and loop around so we can walk over it again (surely they could build a small set of steps or walkway up to the overpasses over the road)! I suppose once we've done Main Street a few times we could catch the Monorail in to avoid walking from Downtown Disney. We've never done that so that would be an experience and get us into the park saving our legs a little!

Thanks for the heads up that the dates won't change, I feel more confident now knowing we only have 1 day blocked out and only at Disneyland.

Yes looking forward to the dining discounts particularly. Every little bit helps. I was aware we'd get photos included with Maxpass which is an awesome perk. I've also just discovered that Fantasmic and World of Color Fastpasses have recently been added to Maxpass, which is a huge plus for the system too.

Thanks again for your help and info, it really is appreciated.

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Disneyland Planning - Crowd Levels

It's really hard to predict what kind of crowd levels we will experience at Disneyland. Galaxy's Edge will have been open for 4 months by the time we visit, but it will likely still be hugely busy. There is also the question of when Rise of the Resistance will open (anyone have any thoughts on that and if it will be open by early October) and how that will effect crowds.

All predictions also point to the rest of Disneyland Resort crowds ramping up because of Galaxy's Edge as well! I have my crowd predictions from Touring Plans, which are still helpful regarding the kind of crowds normally expected at that time of year (which are low - middling) but of course, Galaxy's Edge changes everything. I'm hoping that as it opens, and in the months preceding it's opening I can get a better idea of the kind of crowds I'll face and the wait times as well.

Anyway, for what it's worth, here's what is currently predicted in terms of crowds:



Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Disneyland Planning - Itinerary and Maxpass

So as I mentioned above we are planning to get annual passes since we will be spending 9 days at Disneyland Resort, and this is the cheaper option. We will be adding on the Maxpass option. I really feel like it's good value for money as it includes all photos taken in the parks. Plus I like the idea of being able to have a short head start over people trying to rush for that first Fastpass of the day. And lastly, I'm lazy and I like the idea of being able to book Fastpasses without going anyway, while I'm in line, while I'm at lunch or while I'm on the loo (just wondering - has anyone actually ever done that with Maxpass! ).

We plan to use our own data in the parks because I don't really want to rely on park wifi too much. I have no idea if it's improved in the 4 years since we were there, but I'm going to guess not. Luckily, our carrier Vodafone allow us to use our standard plan on international roaming for only an extra $5 per day. We have 18G data per month so I'm hoping this will carry us over our time at Disneyland.

I had to do a bit of research on Maxpass, since I've never used it before. For those of you who haven't either here's what I discovered about it's use:

• You can start making Maxpass selections once you have scanned your park ticket into the park for the day, through the Disneyland App
• You can make Maxpasses for either park no matter which park you are located in when making the booking
• If Disneyland opens an hour earlier than DCA you can make Maxpasses for DCA, even though it's not yet open, after you scan your park ticket into Disneyland
• Once you have scanned your park ticket for the day you can make Maxpasses even if you leave the Disneyland Resort area. This was a great surprise to me and exciting, as we can book Fastpasses while resting in the afternoons at our hotel, if need be
• World of Color and Fantasmic have recently been added to Maxpass as Maxpass options. They were the only 2 paper Fastpasses we were going to be required to get and having them without Maxpass definitely frees up time!

Those of you who've used Maxpass, is there anything else significant that I should know about it? I vaguely remember reading somewhere that you have to take note of your "you can get your next Maxpass at X" time because it doesn't show on your Maxpass bookings, but does appear when you make the booking. Am I recalling this correctly or did I make this up in my mind (I can't find where I read it)? Also, those of you who have annual passes and use Maxpass, how do you link your annual pass tickets into the Disneyland App or account? Does it automatically link if you purchase while signed into your account? (these may be dumb questions but am just trying to work out how it all works!)

Anyway, Maxpass is going to be a huge help to use hopefully beating the Galaxy's Edge crowds. The other thing we will be doing is AVOIDING the park with early entry first thing in the morning as we don't have access to it. And of course, we will be showing up an hour before opening to try and beat Star Wars crowds and at least have a reasonable wait time for one of those two attractions first thing in the morning. There are still two unknowns for me here though:

• Whether or not Rise of the Resistance will be open by early October. I've heard a lot of speculation that it will be open around June when the "reservation" or as some are calling it "soft openings" are done. Others are speculating it has huge problems and could be delayed a few months. Disney's wording "later in 2019" is super =vague and annoying though and I know I will be super disappointed if I don't get to see this attraction when we visit. So fingers crossed it is open (also if anyone has heard any rumours about it's opening I'd love to hear them)
• When Disney will add Fastpass to the new attractions. I have a theory that they MAY do this once Rise of the Resistance opens. Or that Rise of the Resistance will open with FP but Millenium Falcon may not have it for a while. I'm aware the Falcon attraction has a pretty low hourly capacity, so this makes sense to me. But who knows!

I've pretty much made all my plans RE galaxy's edge under 2 assumptions. 1, that Rise of the Resistance will be open and 2, that neither attraction will offer Fastpass. So of course they may change if ROTR doesn't open, or if one or either of the attractions get Fastpass queues before we visit.

Anyway, onto the Itineraries. We are visiting over 9 days so there are quite a few. Any Disneyland locals, please let me know if you think I've missed anything important that I should be including. FYI there are plenty of "classic" Disney attractions that we don't feel are worth repeating (I'm sorry Disney purists). I'm fairly certain we've done every attraction at least once, bar the Finding Nemo Subs, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor and The Enchanted Tiki Room (I don't know why, but these attractions have never appealed to me). Oh, forgot to mention, our friends Todd and Kim will be joining us at the parks from Monday 7 October - Wednesday 9 October)

One other thing, does anyone know if the Incredicoaster still has a standalone FP option (i.e. it's not tied to the regular system). It used to when it was California Screamin' and when Disneyland only offered paper Fastpass, but I'm not sure if this is the case anymore?

Itinerary - Thursday, 3 October 2019 - DCA (evening only)

ESTIMATED HOURS: DCA: 8:00am - 10:00pm

• Rest until dinner time
• Watch the Sh-Boom Lights turning on in Carsland
• BLUE HOUR NIGHT PHOTOS - Carsland, DCA

Itinerary - Friday, 4 October 2019 - Disneyland (morning) - DCA (evening)

ESTIMATED HOURS: Disneyland: 8:00am - 7:00pm, DCA: 8:00am - 10:00pm

• Arrive at park 1 hour before opening
• Peter Pan's Flight - Get Space Mountain FP
• Alice in Wonderland
• Storybook Canal Boats
• Mad Hatters Tea Party
• Space Mountain (with FP) - get Indiana Jones FP
• Matterhorn
• Indiana Jones (with FP) - Get Big Thunder Mountain FP
• 11:45am showing of Mickey and the Magic Map
• Big Thunder Mountain (with FP)
• REST - 1:00pm - 4:30pm
• DINNER: Wine Country Trattoria
• BLUE HOUR / NIGHT PHOTOS - DCA

Itinerary - Saturday, 5 October 2019 - DCA (All Day)

ESTIMATED HOURS: DCA: 8:00am - 10:00pm

• Arrive at DCA 30 minutes before opening
• Radiator Racers - Get Guardians of the Galaxy FP
• Toy Story Midway Mania
• Ride Guardians of the Galaxy (with FP) - Get Soarin FP
• Ride Grizzly River Run
• Ride Soarin (with FP) - Get Incredicoaster FP
• The Little Mermaid
• Silly Symphony Swings
• Incredicoaster (with FP)
• LUNCH: Pacific Wharf Cafe
• REST - 1:30pm - 4:30pm
• DINNER: Carthay Circle
• SUNSET/ BLUE HOUR/ NIGHT PHOTOS - DCA

Itinerary - Sunday, 6 October 2019 - Disneyland (evening only)

ESTIMATED HOURS: Disneyland : 8:00am - 12:00am

• MORNING REST
• DINNER: Blue Bayou
• SUNSET / BLUE HOUR / NIGHT PHOTOS - Disneyland (and Galaxy's Edge)

Itinerary - Monday, 7 October 2019 - Disneyland (ALL DAY)

ESTIMATED HOURS: Disneyland : 8:00am - 10:00pm

• Todd and Kim will be joining us from today for 3 days - Arrive at Disneyland 1 hour before opening
• Rise of the Resistance
• Millennium Falcon
• Explore Galaxy's Edge - Get Big Thunder Mountain FP
• Ride Splash Mountain (SR)
• Ride Big Thunder Mountain (with FP)
• LUNCH: Cafe Orleans
• REST - 2:30pm - 4:30pm
• DINNER: Galactic Grill
• SUNSET / BLUE HOUR / NIGHT PHOTOS - Disneyland

Itinerary - Tuesday, 8 October 2019 - Disneyland (ALL DAY) - Mickey's Halloween Party night

ESTIMATED HOURS: Disneyland : 8:00am - 6:00pm - Halloween Party to 12pm, DCA : 8:00am - 9:00pm

• Radiator Racers - Get Guardians of the Galaxy FP
• Grizzly River Run
• Guardians of the Galaxy (with FP)
• Toy Story Midway Mania - Get Incredicoaster FP
• Incredicoaster - Get Soarin FP
• Pixar Pal-A-Round
• Ariel's Undersea Adventure
• LUNCH: Paradise Garden Grill
• Soarin (with FP)
• REST - 1:30pm - 4:30pm
• Mickey's Halloween Party from 5pm - DINNER: Carnation Cafe
• Indiana Jones (SR)
• Space Mountain
• Big Thunder Mountain
• Splash Mountain (SR)
• Cadavar Dans on Rivers of America - 8:00pm
• Fireworks - 9:30pm
• Frightfully Fun Parade - 10:30pm

Itinerary - Wednesday, 9 October 2019 - DCA / Disneyland (Day) - Disneyland (evening)

ESTIMATED HOURS: Disneyland : 8:00am - 11:00pm, DCA : 8:00am - 10:00pm

• Arrive at Disneyland 1 hour before opening
• Rise of the Resistance
• Haunted Mansion Holiday - Get Star Tours FP
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Splash Mountain
• Star Tours (with FP)
• To DCA - Photos
• LUNCH: Flo's V8 Cafe
• Photos DCA
• Frozen - Live at the Hyperion - 2:20pm
• Photos Disneyland
• Dapper Dans - 4:30pm
• DINNER: Galaxy's Edge - Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo
• SUNSET / BLUE HOUR / NIGHT PHOTOS - Disneyland

Itinerary - Thursday 10, October 2019 - DCA / Disneyland (Day) - Disneyland (evening)

ESTIMATED HOURS: Disneyland : 8:00am - 12:00pm, DCA : 8:00am - 10:00pm

• Arrive at DCA late - about 10:00am
• Get Radiator Racer's FP
• Ride Indiana Jones (SR)
• Ride Space Mountain - Get Star Tours FP
• Ride Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasers
• LUNCH: Hearthstone Lounge
• Star Tours (with FP)
• Watch Main Street Pianist
• Radiator Racers (with FP)
• Day Photos - Disneyland
• DINNER: River Belle Terrace
• SUNSET / BLUE HOUR / NIGHT PHOTOS - Disneyland

Itinerary - Friday, 4 October 2019 - Disneyland / DCA (Day)

ESTIMATED HOURS: Disneyland : 8:00am - 12:00pm, DCA : 8:00am - 12:00pm

• Arrive at Disneyland 1 hour before opening
• Rise of the Resistance - Get Radiator Racers FP
• Space Mountain
• Indiana Jones (SR)
• Splash Mountain (SR) - Get Soarin FP
• Radiator Racers (with FP) - Get Grizzly River Run FP
• Soaring (with FP)
• Incredicoaster (SR) - Get Matterhorn FP
• Grizzly River Run (with FP)
• LUNCH: Plaza Inn - Get Haunted Mansion FP
• Matterhorn (with FP)
• Haunted Mansion (with FP)
• Star Tours
• DINNER: Hungry Bear Restaurant
• 6:30pm - meet transfer at hotel and head to airport

Continued in Next Post...

 

[Lesley Wake]

Those of you who've used Maxpass, is there anything else significant that I should know about it? I vaguely remember reading somewhere that you have to take note of your "you can get your next Maxpass at X" time because it doesn't show on your Maxpass bookings, but does appear when you make the booking. Am I recalling this correctly or did I make this up in my mind (I can't find where I read it)? Also, those of you who have annual passes and use Maxpass, how do you link your annual pass tickets into the Disneyland App or account? Does it automatically link if you purchase while signed into your account? (these may be dumb questions but am just trying to work out how it all works!)

There is an AP option to purchase a year of Maxpass. It should be available when you purchase your pass! Definitely worth it!

The rules for pulling a new pass are:
-get a FP that can be used in less than 30 minutes: you can pull a new FP in 30 minutes OR when you use the previous one.
-get a FP that can be used in 30-90 minutes: you can pull a new one when the window opens for the existing FP, you don’t need to have used that FP yet.
-get a FP that can be used later than 90 minutes: you can pull a new one in 90 minutes.

You can hold FPs at the same time, but you can’t have them for the same rides.

One other thing, does anyone know if the Incredicoaster still has a standalone FP option (i.e. it's not tied to the regular system). It used to when it was California Screamin' and when Disneyland only offered paper Fastpass, but I'm not sure if this is the case anymore?

Nope, they are all connected now. The single rider line is also not so much a hidden secret anymore so you can’t really count on it to save time. But it’s totally worth it to ask for the front row!

Get Space Mountain FP

There is a single rider line now for Space Mountain! You enter thru the exit. A lot of people don’t know about it so it ends up being a really short wait. And odds are pretty good that you could end up in the same rocket as your DH because it’s too hard to pull people from further in the line to fill up the rockets. I was once on a rocket where all 6 spots were taken by SRs!

Matterhorn also has a SR line-you enter thru FP line. It is definitely shorter than Standby, but may or may not be faster than FP depending on how they are filling up bobsleds with riders.

• Mickey's Halloween Party from 5pm - DINNER: Carnation Cafe

• Indiana Jones (SR)

• Space Mountain

• Big Thunder Mountain

• Splash Mountain (SR)

• Cadavar Dans on Rivers of America - 8:00pm

• Fireworks - 9:30pm

• Frightfully Fun Parade - 10:30pm

The Halloween Party is now in DCA. It’s called Oogie Boogie Halloween Bash. Should be interesting!

And don’t forget to ride Guardians at night too. In Halloween they switch it up so the ride experience is different: Monsters After Dark. Super fun!

 

[tlcdoula]

What a great adventure you have planned!!! We are from the west coat of Canada and I have been tossing the idea around of doing both coasts late in 2020.... I can't wait to read along.

 

[RachelleBeaney]

What a great adventure you have planned!!! We are from the west coat of Canada and I have been tossing the idea around of doing both coasts late in 2020.... I can't wait to read along.

Thanks for joining in. I would LOVE to visit the West Coast of Canada (and Canada in general). I have a friend whose from Calgary and she's constantly talking it up (but since I've seen photos I don't really need much encouragement). Hopefully I'll get there one day.

Both coasts is a bit of a natural thing for us to do. We are coming so far and when going to Orlando we have to transit back through LAX to come back to Australia anyway, so it really doesn't take that much more to do both coasts. We were originally only going to do Disneyland but there were so many things at Disney World that we've not seen since our last trip we had to do both!

There is an AP option to purchase a year of Maxpass. It should be available when you purchase your pass! Definitely worth it!

The rules for pulling a new pass are:
-get a FP that can be used in less than 30 minutes: you can pull a new FP in 30 minutes OR when you use the previous one.
-get a FP that can be used in 30-90 minutes: you can pull a new one when the window opens for the existing FP, you don’t need to have used that FP yet.
-get a FP that can be used later than 90 minutes: you can pull a new one in 90 minutes.

You can hold FPs at the same time, but you can’t have them for the same rides.

Nope, they are all connected now. The single rider line is also not so much a hidden secret anymore so you can’t really count on it to save time. But it’s totally worth it to ask for the front row!

There is a single rider line now for Space Mountain! You enter thru the exit. A lot of people don’t know about it so it ends up being a really short wait. And odds are pretty good that you could end up in the same rocket as your DH because it’s too hard to pull people from further in the line to fill up the rockets. I was once on a rocket where all 6 spots were taken by SRs!

Matterhorn also has a SR line-you enter thru FP line. It is definitely shorter than Standby, but may or may not be faster than FP depending on how they are filling up bobsleds with riders.

The Halloween Party is now in DCA. It’s called Oogie Boogie Halloween Bash. Should be interesting!

And don’t forget to ride Guardians at night too. In Halloween they switch it up so the ride experience is different: Monsters After Dark. Super fun!

Thanks for the heads up RE the FP return times and the single rider lines. I'm bummed that people know about single rider lines now because in the past they've saved us HEAPS of time! Why are people getting smart! Thanks for the heads up about the Space Mountain SR line though. That will be helpful I'm sure.

I didn't know the Halloween Party moved over to DCA as well. I wonder what type of offerings are going to be over there and whether I need to re-consider my strategy for that night!

We are going to get the AP with Maxpass so we will have access to it for the whole trip. And noted about Guardians at night as well.

Again, thanks so so so much for all your tips, help and advice! I really appreciate it!

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Walt Disney World - Planning Update

So Disney World dropped the news this week that Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood Studios will have extra magic hours every day of the week during our trip.

Part of this is good news - extra hours in the park is always good. However, part of me in nervous because they have never had extra magic hours at every park (basically, sorry EPCOT), every day - so I'm guessing that means they predict HUGE crowds during this time.

The other thing that sucks is just how early we are going to have to get to the parks to try and rope drop them. Hours at MK and AK are from 7:00am, which is early enough when you account for the idea of getting to the park 30 minutes early (at 6:30am). Hours for DHS are 6:00am - 9:00am! So we will have to show up at 5:30am that morning! Soooo early!

This means our DHS day will likely start at 5:00am after potentially only 5 hours of sleep (we are at EPCOT taking pics the night before) and, as this is the day we travel, will end at around midnight when i predict we will finally get to our accommodation at Disneyland Resort. The rest of the trip is not too bad but that day, seriously worried about it! Oh well, we have the whole next day to rest so powering through is the plan.

I am hoping (and I know it's a naive hope but I will still hope it) that Disney have made the EMH for DHS SO early because they anticipate some guests won't want to get up that early to rope drop the park, and it will spread the crowds out a bit. I'm also hoping that the large number of guests that have young kids will decide to avoid rope drop at that hour of the day (like I said, probably naive but I'm still hopeful).

There is one HUGE positive to having early entry at DHS from 6:00am though....SUNRISE! The sunrise in Orlando that time of year is about 7:15am apparently. I'm hoping this means we can catch the sunrise in Galaxy's Edge. IF we are still in line for the Falcon at that time I'm totalling getting Jared to use the toilet pass they will offer so he can leave the line and come back. My hope though, and this has been rumoured, is that the Falcon has an 100% virtual queuing system based on when you show up at the ride. It's rumoured they are doing this so people at Disneyland can actually explore the land during those 4 hour reservation windows Disney have given out (for 31 may - 24 June). I hope this is the case, because it would basically be like FP but for the entire ride (and for everyone involved). Though I'm not counting on it so the toilet pass is a good second option! Still, we've never been in a Disney park during sunrise before so this would be a great experience to have (and I really hope we aren't in the Falcon queue while it's happening).

Also, because we are going to DHS so much earlier we now have time to go to Disney Springs on our last day. I'm really excited about this because I haven't seen it since it was Downtown Disney and I'm looking forward to getting in a some shopping at World of Disney!

UPDATED 7/05/2019 - And I've just heard that AK will be open until 9pm rather than 8pm which I'm HUGELY happy about!

Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Disneyland Planning - Tickets Update

Hi DISfriends. Sorry for the long delay between posts, I've been pretty busy plus I have been waiting for Galaxy's Edge info to unveil before I start putting down in writing how I plan to plan for that (oh how I wish they'd just announce when Rise of the Resistance will open so I'd know one way or the other if it will be open when we visit! Anyway have any insider info on that??).

Anyway, an update on our Disneyland tickets. As you'll be aware from my previous posts we were planning to get annual passes as that was going to be cheaper than buy 9 days worth of park hopper tickets (2 x 5 day park hoppers and 2 x 4 day park hoppers). This was going to cost us about $2600 AUD (with Maxpass) which is a huge amount of money, but this was a little cheaper than buying park hopper tickets for 9 days (with Maxpass). The annual passholder discounts also mean't the annual pass was worth it over 9 day park hoppers. I won't lie, I was super excited about being an annual passholder too.

However, in the process of researching a few things before we bought the annual passes we discovered that Disneyland offer a 10 day park hopper ticket for Australian and New Zealand residents only! Apparently some of you on the DISBoarder's are familiar with this. We checked the boards to check the validity of the ticket because it seemed SO CHEAP compared to the US park hopper ticket prices. It's $1320 AUD for both of us for the tickets, so $660 per ticket. The cost of the 5 day park hopper from Disneyland's website (in AUD) is $1136.00 so it's only $200 more for double the amount of days. The fact it works out to $66.00 AUD per day (approx 45 USD per day) will no doubt make a few of you US DIS'er jelly!

We will then need to factor about $450.00 for Maxpass, which we can only purchase once we've collected the tickets (Disney basically provides a ticket voucher so you have to collect your tickets upon arrival at Disneyland). So the total cost is about $1770.00 as compared with $2600 annual passes, so much much cheaper!

We booked these tickets through Magical Mouse Holidays (an Australian based Disney Travel Agent) and they apparently get the tickets through Qantas' travel arm (though we couldn't find the tickets directly through Qantas). So it all sounds reputable. I was disappointed to learn that I wouldn't be an annual passholder but we just couldn't justify the extra $800.00ish for the 10% food and dining discounts (we don't plan to spend that much at the resort!).

Anyway, Australian travels keep this in mind if you plan to visit Disneyland for an extended period of time...it's a great saving!

Continued in Next Post...

 

[Lesley Wake]

I have been waiting for Galaxy's Edge info to unveil before I start putting down in writing how I plan to plan for that (oh how I wish they'd just announce when Rise of the Resistance will open so I'd know one way or the other if it will be open when we visit! Anyway have any insider info on that??).

Don't know if you've been following my EPIC trip report, but I just added all my SWGE photos and experiences, which you are welcome to check out! You guys are going to get sooo many great photos - plenty of details and just amazingness!

For RotR, I wish I had some sort of inside info. Based on the limited info I do know, there were some issues but they've come up with a solution to them. I don't know what the solution was or how long it will take to implement, and I don't think any info we've heard yet is really reliable. I am leaning toward it being open before the end of the year, don't know yet if that will be before or after your trip though!

However, in the process of researching a few things before we bought the annual passes we discovered that Disneyland offer a 10 day park hopper ticket for Australian and New Zealand residents only! Apparently some of you on the DISBoarder's are familiar with this. We checked the boards to check the validity of the ticket because it seemed SO CHEAP compared to the US park hopper ticket prices. It's $1320 AUD for both of us for the tickets, so $660 per ticket. The cost of the 5 day park hopper from Disneyland's website (in AUD) is $1136.00 so it's only $200 more for double the amount of days. The fact it works out to $66.00 AUD per day (approx 45 USD per day) will no doubt make a few of you US DIS'er jelly!

Definitely jealous! And you wouldn't have to worry about that blackout day issue.

we don't plan to spend that much at the resort!

Wait until you get to Galaxy's Edge!

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Don't know if you've been following my EPIC trip report, but I just added all my SWGE photos and experiences, which you are welcome to check out! You guys are going to get sooo many great photos - plenty of details and just amazingness!

For RotR, I wish I had some sort of inside info. Based on the limited info I do know, there were some issues but they've come up with a solution to them. I don't know what the solution was or how long it will take to implement, and I don't think any info we've heard yet is really reliable. I am leaning toward it being open before the end of the year, don't know yet if that will be before or after your trip though!

Definitely jealous! And you wouldn't have to worry about that blackout day issue.

Wait until you get to Galaxy's Edge!

Thanks Lesley, I will definitely hop on over to your TR to check out Galaxy’s Edge. I was home sick with a horrid flu the first day of the media preview and was made to feel slightly better by watching a live stream of the media event (from the time the media were allowed in to walk around). It was great, helped me feel like I got to witness that moment in history myself!

I just wish Disney would announce something about ROTR. The latest rumour I’ve heard is that they’ll announce at D23 which is in late August, and that they’ll open at the same time on both coasts. I’ve also heard that they are still trying to implement the fix they’ve come up with and people are doubtful it will open before the very end of the year. Either way I’d just like to know so I can either temper my disappointment or plan accordingly! Oh well, I didn’t expect Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure to be open when we visit but it is so that’s a win!

And yes, these 10 day park hoppers for Aus/NZ residents are amazing! And no block outs as you say! I’m still a little sad I won’t get to call myself an annual pass holder but hey, this is a win too!

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Star Wars Galaxy's Edge Planning

So I've watched the "soft opening" (for lack of a better word) reservation period for Disneyland like a hawk, trying to work out how best to plan our visit to Galaxy's Edge. I've also been hugely impressed at how Disney has been managing crowds, tweaking things as they go and how they've put new processes in place for Savi's and Olga's starting Monday, when the area opens to the general public.

I've also been greedily lapping up footage of Galaxy's Edge and marvelling at it's beauty. During the first day of the media previews I was at home sick with a terrible flu. I felt so awful, but was able to watch the grand opening LIVE through various YouTube Disney streaming channels (Fresh Baked Disney and then later, for the official opening, Disney's own live stream). I absolutely love technology! It was so great to feel part of the opening of a huge part of Disneyland history, even though I couldn't be there in person. I am also very jealous of all of you who were there on opening day, and during the reservations but in a way am also happy it get to give it a bit of time to try and work out how crowds will work and how I will try combat them.

The big unknown for our visit is still Rise of the Resistances opening. I read an article the other week which had put odds to likely opening months from August - December. August had the best odds (3-1) with late September/early October the next best (6-1). I know I shouldn't get my hopes up but I really am hoping! I've also heard rumours there may be soft openings for Annual Passholders. If this is the case, and we go during these soft openings, I will kick myself slightly for not getting the annual passes. Though Jared, who is always practical, reminds me we'd be essentially paying an extra $1000 for the privileged of seeing Rise of the Resistance (if the AP previews happen to be on when we go). We will be visiting with our friends who are annual passholders, I wonder if there are any circumstances where APs can bring guests to these kinds of things?

Anyway, it's all just theoretical at the moment....but I do really wish Disney would just hurry up and announce when they will open it (I'm not great at patience as it turns out and if I'm going to be disappointed I want to get that out of the way well and truly before the trip!)

I've had a bit of a play around with my Touring Plans as well and here's what I'm thinking for Galaxy's Edge

Friday 4 October
I'm hoping to try and time things so we can get a boarding window from 5pm. I'd like to take night photos in the area this evening. It will be interesting to see how quickly boarding windows fill up and whether or not we can time this. It will also be interesting to see if boarding windows will be used each day for every time slot in that day, or if later in the day they won't be required (I know it's probably more likely to be the first option). Either way we will just have to work out how to get in later in the day so we can stay for the evening and take our night photos. I wonder if I don't have a booking window that they'll let me in if I promise I don't plan to do anything or add to any lines, just wander and take pictures (yes I know that's wishful thinking).

Monday 7 October
Our friends Kim and Todd will be joining us today so I thought it would be really cool to enjoy Galaxy's Edge with them. This is how I'm planning to do things Day 1 of touring:

• Get a Booking for Savi's Workshop first thing. It's still unclear to me if the bookings for Savi's will be available from 7am whether or not you are already in the park (having scanned your park ticket). I'm more hoping it is a case of from 7am each morning the reservations open on the app and it's first in, first served. We plan to arrive at the park at 7am but it doesn't open until 8am so I guess we will be in the same boat as everyone if they hold off offering reservations until park open. I also don't know how the reservations will work. Can you pick a time, will you get whatever time they are up to....I'm hoping for an early afternoon time slot but we will see how we go!
• Ride Rise of the Resistance (IF it's open). This I plan to rope drop...It's rumoured to be an almost half an hour experience which is enough time in itself!
• Ride Millennium Falcon. I am expecting lines to already be at 1.5 hours by this point but having already done it together at DHS (we will rope drop it there as we really don't expect ROTR to be open when we visit WDW's version of Galaxy's Edge) we will use the single rider line to try help cut down on the wait. Anyone who rode single rider during the reservation period, could you tell me, what was the standby wait and how long did single rider take you?
• Build a Driod at the Driod Workshop. I want to make a BB unit....
• Take Photos area Galaxy's Edge until lunch time
• Savi's later in the afternoon

Wed 9 October
Our friends Kim and Todd will still be us, so I'm not sure if they'll join us for a second day in Galaxy's Edge but hopefully they will

• Get a Booking for Olga's. Same unknowns here as with the Savi's booking. Hoping for early afternoon timeslot. I'm aware we have to check in 20 minutes early for Savi's and Olga's so hoping that will work with our plans.
• Ride Rise of the Resistance (IF open)
• Ride Millennium Falcon (SR if necessary)
• Find some characters and try some snacks

Fri 11 October

• Ride Rise of the Resistance (IF open)
• Ride Millennium Falcon (SR if necessary)
• Check out shops and do Galaxy's Edge photopass shots and other photos (with lightsaber and Droid)

Anyway, I've assigned three mornings and one evening (plus whatever times we get Savi's/Olga's bookings) so I hoping that I have allowed myself enough time to do everything I want.

I am also hoping that the boarding system won't be required first thing. I'm hoping if we arrive early enough each day to rope drop the area we can get in before the area "reaches capacity" so we don't have to bother with a boarding pass except the day we wish to go in the evening.

Obviously things are still so unknown, so I will have to keep my eye on things as the area opens to the public Monday.

I have created my photomaps for the areas though, thanks to the footage and photos appearing (and the size of the area) I've a pretty good idea what places I want to photograph (day and night).

UPDATE: Had posted an enquiry in the SWGE Superthread about the Olga's and Savi's reservations and the responses I've got are that reservations become available each day, for that day, from 7am, regardless of if you are in the park or not...That's what I'd hoped for!

Continue in Next Post....

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Star Wars Galaxy's Edge Planning
So most of you probably already heard but if you didn't, the official dates for Rise of the Resistance opening on both coasts have been announced, and it's not good news for us! Opening December 5th at WDW and 17 January 2020 at Disneyland! I have no idea why, with construction being so much further ahead at Disneyland, it will be opening there later. I can only assume whatever the issues with the attraction the fixes required will mean they have to tear up a lot of what they've done already.

I was pretty heartbroken this morning because this was the thing I was most looking forward to about visiting Star Wars Galaxy's Edge. The attraction itself sounds like it will be a new step up in terms of technology and experience, so of course I'm super sad we won't get to experience it. That being said, I hope this means Galaxy's Edge crowds continue to be reasonably quiet, because it sounds like (if trends keep up) we will have an easy time of it touring the rest of Galaxy's Edge.

I am grateful that Disney decided to announce opening dates instead of keeping everyone guessing though. Now that I know I won't be able to experience it I have months to get over my disappointment and get excited for the other things Galaxy's Edge has to offer. And I have a reason to plan a quick trip back. Hopefully we can do a short trip in the next year or two (perhaps taking my niece who we promised we'd take once she turned 9, which will be next year).

Anyway, moving on from the disappointment another couple of exciting Disney Trip related things happened this week. Firstly, I decided to get creative and make Disney Anniversary t-shirts for Jared and I. I'd seen a couple of similar tees on Etsy, but they were so expensive for basic tees with iron on decals so I decided, hey I could do that myself. I actually like my designs better too! The first designs I did had Jared's T-Shirt design printed on a black tee and mine on white:




However, when we went to actually make the t-shirts last weekend the white decal just looked dirty and it didn't really work. Also, my sister (who was helping us as she's made these type of iron on decal tees before) accidentally ironed over one of the words and ruined it! Lucikly the t-shirt itself only cost $2.00, so no real waste there, and we had more of the iron on printing paper so we decided to make my design to go on a black tee and try again:



Anyway, we haven't quite got to making my black tee yet, but here is Jared in his (he is pulling the weirdest face - not sure why!):



Anyway, I did end up finding a few t-shirts from Glitter Ever After, thanks to the suggestion and inspiration of the fantastic Lesley. I hope you don't mind too much that I also bought the fantastic t-shirt you wore to opening day of Galaxy's Edge, but it was so great I couldn't resist. I also bought another t-shirt that sums up exact how I feel about the Disney parks! (Once again - sorry for the dodgy pics - I had just got home from a long day at work and literally tried them on in the kitchen because I couldn't wait!




So that's it for now, this might be my final post before the actual trip report commences. We are now at 77 days until we arrive at WDW and our adventure begins! Hope to see you all over on my trip report page (once I start that). I'll make sure to leave a link here to it once I start it...

And thanks for coming along on this planning journey!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Anyway, I did end up finding a few t-shirts from Glitter Ever After, thanks to the suggestion and inspiration of the fantastic Lesley. I hope you don't mind too much that I also bought the fantastic t-shirt you wore to opening day of Galaxy's Edge, but it was so great I couldn't resist. I also bought another t-shirt that sums up exact how I feel about the Disney parks! (Once again - sorry for the dodgy pics - I had just got home from a long day at work and literally tried them on in the kitchen because I couldn't wait!

Of course! It looks great on you!

When I heard the news today, first I got very very annoyed (the whole opening WDW first then DL, which got me on a rant of how they prioritize Florida not California, yadda yadda). Then I realized your trip wouldn’t let you see it! That totally sucks! But yeah, more inspiration for a return trip!

If you do want to attempt a Dismeet out here, let me know! But I also know time is precious and you have plans with your cruise family so definitely don’t want to muck up any plans! Anyways-feel free to reach out via PM!