Sunday - DCA - From Open to Close - Mini-Report

[sharksfinatic17]

I was visiting my DD who is a graduate student at USC, and we decided last minute Saturday night to head to DCA to celebrate her birthday (since she will still be at school on her actual birthday). I have never ever done a trip with zero planning, but never say never.

Sunday my DD and I decided to spend our day at DCA. We arrived at the Mickey and Friends Parking Garage at 7:30 AM. As we were getting out of the car, I placed our Starbuck's order. Once we got down to the tram area, we decided to walk instead of taking the tram. The line was long - well, this turned out to be the right decision as I placed my order at the wrong Starbuck's. I thought I placed our order at the one closest to the parks, but luckily my daughter suggested we check the one that we were walking past because there it was. The walk wasn't too bad, but we know we would take the tram back at the end of the day.

We got the gates at 7:45 and there was no line, so we walked right in. I purchased MaxPass immediately and made our first FastPass for Toy Story Mania. We also decided to walk away from the crowd and walked towards Soarin'. On our way, we grabbed FastPasses for World of Color. We got Blue. I didn't really care what color section we were assigned because I know that we were going to be riding rides until close and then head over to World of Color.

The following is what we did during our very full day:
8:00 AM
Toy Story Mania - MP
Incredicoaster - MP
Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters
Radiator Springs Racers - MP
Mater's Junkyard Jamboree
Guardians of the Galaxy - Hit Me with Your Best Shot - MP
Soarin' Around the World - MP
11:00 AM
We sat down and grabbed some snacks from the Food and Wine Festival, enjoyed the Red Car Trolley News Boys, and using the Disneyland app, grabbed a dinner reservation at Lamplight Lounge
Guardians - Born to Be Wild - MP
Monsters, Inc.
Turtle Talk with Crush
The Pixarmonic Orchestra
Incredicoaster - MP
Toy Story Mania - MP
3:30 PM
Adorable Snowman Frosted Treats - 1/2 lemon and 1/2 vanilla soft serve - yum!!!!
The Little Mermaid
Blue Sky Cellar - Pixar Pier
5:25 PM Lamplight Lounge - dinner - Lobster Nachos, Cocktails, and Donuts - Yum!
Guardians - Burning Love - MP
Radiator Springs Racer - MP
The Bakery Tour
Incredicoaster - MP
Guardians of the Galaxy - Free Ride - waited in line
World of Color - We arrived at 9:45 PM and stood right above the desert party. In the past, I have researched and researched what color ticket is the best, what time to get there, etc. After today, unless we are doing the Dessert Party, this will be what I do from now on as our location was great.

After World of Color, we decided to do some shopping at the World of Disney and then headed to the tram. We had to wait about three minutes for a tram and then headed back to the parking garage.

We had such a great day. I wouldn't hesitate to do non-park hopper for a single day ticket again. Until this trip, I thought I would always want a park hopper, but we were already paying a premium price, so I decided against it. Now if I was going to be there for multiple days, I would still want a park hopper ticket. We walked 28,055 steps which equaled 12.66 miles.

Any questions, please ask!

 

[agamble]

Fun! Pretty amazing you got a different song every Guardians ride.

 

[sharksfinatic17]

Fun! Pretty amazing you got a different song every Guardians ride.

I agree regarding the songs. As the day went on, we kept wondering if we would get a repeat song. Guardians is my DD's favorite ride, so it was just so much fun!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... as I placed my order at the wrong Starbuck's. I thought I placed our order at the one closest to the parks, but luckily my daughter suggested we check the one that we were walking past because there it was...

We have a friend who gets confused about this every time! The Starbucks by WOD (the larger one closer to the parks) is Starbucks Downtown Disney. The smaller one (by the Lego Store, on the DLH end of DTD) is Starbucks Downtown Disney West II. (NB This is a different name than it had before it closed and came back -- the "II" was added for some reason -- CMs don't know why.)
So glad you and your DD had a great day in DCA!

 

[Tinkerbell19672]

Thanks so much for posting this! I’m taking my daughter and not doing hoppers either. Guardians is our favorite, been on it tons of times but never had the Pat Benatar version so our goal is to get that one Good tip on WOC too!

 

[sharksfinatic17]

We have a friend who gets confused about this every time! The Starbucks by WOD (the larger one closer to the parks) is Starbucks Downtown Disney. The smaller one (by the Lego Store, on the DLH end of DTD) is Starbucks Downtown Disney West II. (NB This is a different name than it had before it closed and came back -- the "II" was added for some reason -- CMs don't know why.)
So glad you and your DD had a great day in DCA!

I didn't know there were two Starbuck's, so it was a bit of a surprise. Because I did no pre-research for this trip, I wasn't as prepared for this day as I would normally have been. I didn't even make our dinner reservations until 11 am while eating one of our snacks. Goes to show that tons of planning or zero still can equal a great day at DCA. MaxPass and the Disneyland app are game changers!

 

[sharksfinatic17]

Thanks so much for posting this! I’m taking my daughter and not doing hoppers either. Guardians is our favorite, been on it tons of times but never had the Pat Benatar version so our goal is to get that one Good tip on WOC too!

My DD went to DCA on the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend last year, so she was sure we could fill up our entire day there. After looking at the price and knowing how many times she would want to ride Guardians, I decided no hopper. Now if I was there for three days or more, I might purchase hoppers due to the fact that I get those tickets from Last Minute Travel, and they are discounted quite a bit. Have a great trip!

 

[agamble]

I agree regarding the songs. As the day went on, we kept wondering if we would get a repeat song. Guardians is my DD's favorite ride, so it was just so much fun!

It is my daughters favorite too. She would ride it over and over if she could.

 

[Eve & Wall-e]

Sounds like you had a great time! On my last visit we had the donuts at Lamplight Lounge also. I thought they were really good.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... Because I did no pre-research for this trip, I wasn't as prepared for this day as I would normally have been. I didn't even make our dinner reservations until 11 am while eating one of our snacks. Goes to show that tons of planning or zero still can equal a great day at DCA. MaxPass and the Disneyland app are game changers!

Your experience is a great example of how being flexible and going with the flow can still result in a magical day at DLR!

 

[sharksfinatic17]

Your experience is a great example of how being flexible and going with the flow can still result in a magical day at DLR!

I agree with the caveat that knowing how to use the Disneyland app and MaxPass was essential to maximizing our day.