bookgirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2006
- Messages
- 8,944
I did a short trip to DLR this week. 3 days/4 nights only two park days, no park hopper. Had a chill day inbetween. Was supposed to go up to LA for the day, but that didn't pan out, so I just relaxed at the hotel and did a little shopping at DTD.
I had just bought a Annual Pass when the shut down happened, had plans over that next year to be in Cali 3 or 4 times so seemed like a good idea, but of course that all fell away. I felt like I wanted to make a trip out to DL now that it was opened so booked a trip.
Glad to see most people following mask mandates, but social distancing was hit or miss. Also someone tried to pull the mesh mask trick in the Outpost and got called on it almost imediatly. Had to laugh but the CM handled it perfectly.
Turned out to be a great trip. I go more often to WDW and I forget how much I enjoy the smaller parks and more nostaligic feel of the orginal parks.
I did decide to splurge and stay onsite (usually stay on Harbour). I booked a Deluxe View King but there was a snafu with the online checkin and they ended up having to scramble me a room when I arrived. They did bump me up to a higher floor (Premium View?) It was a really nice view of the pool and I actually could see the DVC construction as well so that was interesting.
Staying onsite did enhance this trip. I really enjoyed the scaled down resort as compared to the mostly mammoth onsite options in FL. I am a big fan of POFQ at WDW becuase it is small and honestly the DL Hotel had that same vibe. Also the nostalgia factor was big. I was in the Fantasy Tower, quick access to everything and I was in a corner room. Did end up with two queen beds and oddly I had a room that was configured with a extra vestuble that had the coffee counter and a swinging door closet to the side of the entry hall and you entered the bathroom through a door in that area instead of the bathroom access across from a sliding door closet that you see in many of the Disney Hotels.
I felt like the atmosphere was awesome at the hotel, it was a more personable stay for sure. At so many Disney Resorts they have large grounds, huge staffs, and so many guests that everything is a long walk away, the staff is constantly changing and there are tons of them milling around, and you almost never see the same faces of staff or guests. This was not the case and I would actually stay there again. I thought briefly that I might like to try Grand Californian but I'm not sure now.
The price was pretty good. I did go on a Special Offer. (I originally booked Rack Rate and was actually prepared to pay that but super happy to drop the price nearly $700 on my 4 night stay) Like any Disney onsite stay it's overpriced and you're paying for location. The fact that they are still charging so much when there's construction, no early entry, limited dining and reduced house keeping (tbh I never use housekeeping so that's a toss up with me) is not great but I was okay with the pricing. Staff were friendly and pretty much everyone was going above and beyond (pixie dust and attitude wise). Honestly my one complaint was the showers. Old showerheads with only three settings, all of which were dismal in water pressure. Also the water could not maintain temp so it flucuated constantly, not enough to be a complaint but annoying all the same. (actually think this is a known issue because on my after visit survey there was a question about water pressure/temp and outages)
Park crowds were decent. Not what I would call slow but also not super crowded.
I went to DCA on a Wednesday during the festival. Waittimes were okay. 5-10 on just about all the non-demand rides, 40-60 on the popular but not new attractions, and Webslingers anywhere from 60 to 200 minutes depending on the time of day, but mostly in the 90-120 range.
I was at Disneyland on Friday. Little more crowded, probably due to being Friday. Waits were longish. I had just been to WDW in Nov so I actually did not try to ride either Galaxy Edge ride and the only Mountain I did was the Matterhorn. I did go buy my nephew a lightsaber in GE as an early birthday present since he was drooling over mine. He will probably build one of his own eventually (there's a chance he'll be working for Disney so he's already planning his GE visit LOL), but until then I decided to surprise him. GE was super crowded and I would hate to see what the weekends were like. Yikes.
I mostly rode the classics, because I think the classic rides are better at DLR than WDW and I really love the classics. (I also think Radiator Springs Racers is about 10 times better than Test Track and the Guardians overlay makes a better show than ToT)
I was glad to see the street performers and street shows back and I enjoyed them in both parks.
Food while limited was good except for a few issues
I cancelled my indoor dining reservations. Just decided to do snacks and QS or Mobile pickup.
I ate at Earl of Sandwhich my first night there. (pick up and took back to room) Thought I better get it in while I could (the next day was the last they were open) Got a Earl's Club and it was good, bread was extra fluffy but they do a good sandwich.
I had 'breakfast' (I brought some shelf stable stuff with me to snack on) and coffee in room every morning. I can take or leave most breakfast food so wasn't really concerned about eating actual breakfast. I had wanted Mickey Waffles but that didn't happen. The only place I saw them were the buffets and since I didn't want to do indoor dining, there were no waffles to be found anywhere else. I would think that there would be better QS options for breakfast but not really. Maybe because DTD shops had lots of grab and go options.
I did get beignets and coffee at French Market ( mobile order/ate on patio)on my DL day. They were okay. Really more fry bread then actual beignets but I like fry bread, so very tasty break between Pirates and Haunted Mansion.
I had a Mickey Pretzel with Cheese for lunch. (Cart) I get this every single trip and I love it every single trip. I really like pretzels and plastic cheese and mustard. LOL
Got Popcorn in DL (snack Cart)and it was actually really really bad. Stale and greasy. Don't know if it was because it was preboxed and not one of the actual popcorn carts or if it was just because it was the end of the evening but nope bleck, threw it away.
However I got a Corndog at the Red Wagon right next to the bad popcorn place (mobile order ate on Main Street waiting for fireworks) and it was excellant. Like really good corndog. Freshley cooked and not greasy at all.
I thought I'd end up eating something at the Fesitval in DCA but I didn't. Most of it just didn't appeal to me and lines were medium to long and I just wasn't in the mood.
Funny thing is that I realized at the end of the trip I had basically the same meal (chicken and a starch) for three meals with three different outcomes.
I'll preface by saying that I do have vacations that center around resturants and foodie type stuff, but I also like eating kid's meals and I can fall into that pattern pretty easily. I had 3 different kid's chicken based meals during the trip.
Chicken Strips and Steak Fries at Flo's in DCA
Rice Bowl with Chicken at Tangaroa Grill at DLH
Sauteed Chicken and Potatoes from Napolinis
The Strips and Fries at Flo's were fine. Mobile order/pickup/ate on the patio. Basic breaded chicken, fries were crispy on the outside and fluffy inside , and a bag of 'baby' carrots. DLR carrots way better than WDW carrots. California had actual carrots and not the little matchstick overly watery ones that you get in FL. Solid 7/10
Rice Bowl at Tangaroa Grill. Mobile order/pick up ate in room. I don't expect adult level seasoning on a kids meal but I do expect them to actually salt the food when cooking. It was absolutly not seasoned at all. It was not great. (they give you a teryaki sauce on the side, maybe they thought that would be seasoining enough but if you don't eat the sauce then bad food) Also mostly rice and manybe 3 bites of chicken. Lackluster 3/10
Chicken and Potatoes from Napolini. Mobile order/delivered to lobby/ate in room. This was outstanding. If I had ordered this before I got the rice bowl I would have done Napolini again. Well cooked chicken (it was a thin cutlet and seared), brocolli was vibrant and crisp and the potatoes were cooked all the way through, without over charring the skin, which is sometimes an issue with quartered potatoes. Everything well seasoned but not so seasoned that a kid wouldn't have liked it. I also ordered a cheesecake, but that was not as good as the meal. Slightly overcooked/browned on the bottom and sides, yet not dense and creamy like it should have been. It looked like a baked cheesecake but had the texture of a boxed jello icebox cheesecake. It was odd. 9/10 overall for a great meal and a weird dessert.
Also got an Asian Salad (grab and go from Tangaroa ate in room). It was pretty basic (lettuce/shaved carrots/chowmien noodles/dressing) and the only thing wrong with it was that they put the chow mein noodles directly on the salad and they were damp and not crisp so not a great texture. 7/10
Did stay in DL park to see the fireworks and Mickey's Magic Mix Light Show. The fireworks were cancelled due to wind so that was disappointing but the light show was very cute and the crowd that remained seemed to really get into it and that always makes it a good time for everyone.
Only other thing to talk about was probably the merch. Didn't get a lot. There were some fun things like thermal cups and plushes at the festival but I passed on those. I got a sort of generic sweatshirt and a tshirt. Also, got a pin and a magnet both specific to the DL Hotel. Cast Member in the shop said that they were new. Other than that I just didn't see anything that reached out and grabbed me.
Other in general things:
Used Uber for transport. John Wayne (SNA) $25 dollars on a Tuesday afternoon to the resort, $36 dollars back to the airport Saturday Morning at 6am. Cheaper than a taxi or car. Trip to the resort took about 40 min and the trip to the airport took about 15. Anything after 2pm is pretty much a 30-45 minute ride according to my first driver. Also I didn't realize but I thought surge charging was related to traffic, it's not it's all about the number of drivers. Tuesday there were no other planes landed when we did so plenty of drivers, but the airport was busy with departures early on Saturday so less drivers and the price reflected that.
Disneyland bagcheck/metal detectors are still the most inefficently run system in all of the world. I mean there could be only a few people waiting or 100 and they still moved at the pace of snails. They had 'NO Bag' line signs but never had a no bag line. Also crowd control still not a strong point for DLR in the parks. Lot's of milling about in walkways so that you can't tell where the line starts or where the walk through is.
All in all I really enjoyed the trip, even though it was short, I haven't decided when to visit again. I'm thinking of taking a Disney break but if I go back I think it might be to DLR instead of WDW.
I had just bought a Annual Pass when the shut down happened, had plans over that next year to be in Cali 3 or 4 times so seemed like a good idea, but of course that all fell away. I felt like I wanted to make a trip out to DL now that it was opened so booked a trip.
Glad to see most people following mask mandates, but social distancing was hit or miss. Also someone tried to pull the mesh mask trick in the Outpost and got called on it almost imediatly. Had to laugh but the CM handled it perfectly.
Turned out to be a great trip. I go more often to WDW and I forget how much I enjoy the smaller parks and more nostaligic feel of the orginal parks.
I did decide to splurge and stay onsite (usually stay on Harbour). I booked a Deluxe View King but there was a snafu with the online checkin and they ended up having to scramble me a room when I arrived. They did bump me up to a higher floor (Premium View?) It was a really nice view of the pool and I actually could see the DVC construction as well so that was interesting.
Staying onsite did enhance this trip. I really enjoyed the scaled down resort as compared to the mostly mammoth onsite options in FL. I am a big fan of POFQ at WDW becuase it is small and honestly the DL Hotel had that same vibe. Also the nostalgia factor was big. I was in the Fantasy Tower, quick access to everything and I was in a corner room. Did end up with two queen beds and oddly I had a room that was configured with a extra vestuble that had the coffee counter and a swinging door closet to the side of the entry hall and you entered the bathroom through a door in that area instead of the bathroom access across from a sliding door closet that you see in many of the Disney Hotels.
I felt like the atmosphere was awesome at the hotel, it was a more personable stay for sure. At so many Disney Resorts they have large grounds, huge staffs, and so many guests that everything is a long walk away, the staff is constantly changing and there are tons of them milling around, and you almost never see the same faces of staff or guests. This was not the case and I would actually stay there again. I thought briefly that I might like to try Grand Californian but I'm not sure now.
The price was pretty good. I did go on a Special Offer. (I originally booked Rack Rate and was actually prepared to pay that but super happy to drop the price nearly $700 on my 4 night stay) Like any Disney onsite stay it's overpriced and you're paying for location. The fact that they are still charging so much when there's construction, no early entry, limited dining and reduced house keeping (tbh I never use housekeeping so that's a toss up with me) is not great but I was okay with the pricing. Staff were friendly and pretty much everyone was going above and beyond (pixie dust and attitude wise). Honestly my one complaint was the showers. Old showerheads with only three settings, all of which were dismal in water pressure. Also the water could not maintain temp so it flucuated constantly, not enough to be a complaint but annoying all the same. (actually think this is a known issue because on my after visit survey there was a question about water pressure/temp and outages)
Park crowds were decent. Not what I would call slow but also not super crowded.
I went to DCA on a Wednesday during the festival. Waittimes were okay. 5-10 on just about all the non-demand rides, 40-60 on the popular but not new attractions, and Webslingers anywhere from 60 to 200 minutes depending on the time of day, but mostly in the 90-120 range.
I was at Disneyland on Friday. Little more crowded, probably due to being Friday. Waits were longish. I had just been to WDW in Nov so I actually did not try to ride either Galaxy Edge ride and the only Mountain I did was the Matterhorn. I did go buy my nephew a lightsaber in GE as an early birthday present since he was drooling over mine. He will probably build one of his own eventually (there's a chance he'll be working for Disney so he's already planning his GE visit LOL), but until then I decided to surprise him. GE was super crowded and I would hate to see what the weekends were like. Yikes.
I mostly rode the classics, because I think the classic rides are better at DLR than WDW and I really love the classics. (I also think Radiator Springs Racers is about 10 times better than Test Track and the Guardians overlay makes a better show than ToT)
I was glad to see the street performers and street shows back and I enjoyed them in both parks.
Food while limited was good except for a few issues
I cancelled my indoor dining reservations. Just decided to do snacks and QS or Mobile pickup.
I ate at Earl of Sandwhich my first night there. (pick up and took back to room) Thought I better get it in while I could (the next day was the last they were open) Got a Earl's Club and it was good, bread was extra fluffy but they do a good sandwich.
I had 'breakfast' (I brought some shelf stable stuff with me to snack on) and coffee in room every morning. I can take or leave most breakfast food so wasn't really concerned about eating actual breakfast. I had wanted Mickey Waffles but that didn't happen. The only place I saw them were the buffets and since I didn't want to do indoor dining, there were no waffles to be found anywhere else. I would think that there would be better QS options for breakfast but not really. Maybe because DTD shops had lots of grab and go options.
I did get beignets and coffee at French Market ( mobile order/ate on patio)on my DL day. They were okay. Really more fry bread then actual beignets but I like fry bread, so very tasty break between Pirates and Haunted Mansion.
I had a Mickey Pretzel with Cheese for lunch. (Cart) I get this every single trip and I love it every single trip. I really like pretzels and plastic cheese and mustard. LOL
Got Popcorn in DL (snack Cart)and it was actually really really bad. Stale and greasy. Don't know if it was because it was preboxed and not one of the actual popcorn carts or if it was just because it was the end of the evening but nope bleck, threw it away.
However I got a Corndog at the Red Wagon right next to the bad popcorn place (mobile order ate on Main Street waiting for fireworks) and it was excellant. Like really good corndog. Freshley cooked and not greasy at all.
I thought I'd end up eating something at the Fesitval in DCA but I didn't. Most of it just didn't appeal to me and lines were medium to long and I just wasn't in the mood.
Funny thing is that I realized at the end of the trip I had basically the same meal (chicken and a starch) for three meals with three different outcomes.
I'll preface by saying that I do have vacations that center around resturants and foodie type stuff, but I also like eating kid's meals and I can fall into that pattern pretty easily. I had 3 different kid's chicken based meals during the trip.
Chicken Strips and Steak Fries at Flo's in DCA
Rice Bowl with Chicken at Tangaroa Grill at DLH
Sauteed Chicken and Potatoes from Napolinis
The Strips and Fries at Flo's were fine. Mobile order/pickup/ate on the patio. Basic breaded chicken, fries were crispy on the outside and fluffy inside , and a bag of 'baby' carrots. DLR carrots way better than WDW carrots. California had actual carrots and not the little matchstick overly watery ones that you get in FL. Solid 7/10
Rice Bowl at Tangaroa Grill. Mobile order/pick up ate in room. I don't expect adult level seasoning on a kids meal but I do expect them to actually salt the food when cooking. It was absolutly not seasoned at all. It was not great. (they give you a teryaki sauce on the side, maybe they thought that would be seasoining enough but if you don't eat the sauce then bad food) Also mostly rice and manybe 3 bites of chicken. Lackluster 3/10
Chicken and Potatoes from Napolini. Mobile order/delivered to lobby/ate in room. This was outstanding. If I had ordered this before I got the rice bowl I would have done Napolini again. Well cooked chicken (it was a thin cutlet and seared), brocolli was vibrant and crisp and the potatoes were cooked all the way through, without over charring the skin, which is sometimes an issue with quartered potatoes. Everything well seasoned but not so seasoned that a kid wouldn't have liked it. I also ordered a cheesecake, but that was not as good as the meal. Slightly overcooked/browned on the bottom and sides, yet not dense and creamy like it should have been. It looked like a baked cheesecake but had the texture of a boxed jello icebox cheesecake. It was odd. 9/10 overall for a great meal and a weird dessert.
Also got an Asian Salad (grab and go from Tangaroa ate in room). It was pretty basic (lettuce/shaved carrots/chowmien noodles/dressing) and the only thing wrong with it was that they put the chow mein noodles directly on the salad and they were damp and not crisp so not a great texture. 7/10
Did stay in DL park to see the fireworks and Mickey's Magic Mix Light Show. The fireworks were cancelled due to wind so that was disappointing but the light show was very cute and the crowd that remained seemed to really get into it and that always makes it a good time for everyone.
Only other thing to talk about was probably the merch. Didn't get a lot. There were some fun things like thermal cups and plushes at the festival but I passed on those. I got a sort of generic sweatshirt and a tshirt. Also, got a pin and a magnet both specific to the DL Hotel. Cast Member in the shop said that they were new. Other than that I just didn't see anything that reached out and grabbed me.
Other in general things:
Used Uber for transport. John Wayne (SNA) $25 dollars on a Tuesday afternoon to the resort, $36 dollars back to the airport Saturday Morning at 6am. Cheaper than a taxi or car. Trip to the resort took about 40 min and the trip to the airport took about 15. Anything after 2pm is pretty much a 30-45 minute ride according to my first driver. Also I didn't realize but I thought surge charging was related to traffic, it's not it's all about the number of drivers. Tuesday there were no other planes landed when we did so plenty of drivers, but the airport was busy with departures early on Saturday so less drivers and the price reflected that.
Disneyland bagcheck/metal detectors are still the most inefficently run system in all of the world. I mean there could be only a few people waiting or 100 and they still moved at the pace of snails. They had 'NO Bag' line signs but never had a no bag line. Also crowd control still not a strong point for DLR in the parks. Lot's of milling about in walkways so that you can't tell where the line starts or where the walk through is.
All in all I really enjoyed the trip, even though it was short, I haven't decided when to visit again. I'm thinking of taking a Disney break but if I go back I think it might be to DLR instead of WDW.
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. It's always so helpful to read what others experienced, so thank you!
