We just got back from 5 nights at the DLH. I am mostly a lurker here, but thank you so much for the amazing advice I got from all of you. We had 4 kids with us aged 4, 7, 8, and 9 and four day park hopper tickets. Our rooms were adjoining, I loved this! Made it so easy. One of the rooms had a day bed and that was fabulous. We were in the parks Thursday - Sunday. I brought an umbrella stroller for the 4 year old. It was small enough to weaved in and out of crowded spaces but big enough to store some belongings underneath.
We were at the early entry (or is it magic morning?) every morning and this really paid off. We did so much in the mornings that we were happy to rest and swim in the afternoons when the parks were hot and crowded. We went back to the parks around dinner time or a bit after each day. Between that and using fast passes we didn't wait longer than 20 minutes or so for any ride. The pool had great cocktail / food service and it was so very nice to enjoy a cocktail by the pool after a long day at the parks.
One idea I got from these boards was to get to the main gates right as the park is opening for magic morning. By the time we got there we didn't have to wait in line because everyone was already walking inside, but we were still there right at opening. I loved how this worked!!
We ate at Earl of Sandwich so many times. It is right outside the DLH and is good food for a very reasonable price. There is enough on them menu that we didn't get sick of eating there. Although I didn't use it, I did download their App so we could have ordered ahead of time. We ate on their patio several times and also brought food back to the hotel to eat around the pool. It was good for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
We did dinner at Goofy's Kitchen one night. While I know this is all about the characters and not about the food, I really thought the food was awful. Very disappointing. But the characters were great and the kids loved it, of course.
We had breakfast at Flo's V8 cafe one morning, it was pretty marginal and I would not go back. I thought the breakfast at the Mexican restaurant in DLR was better. We had lunch one day at Carnation Cafe and it was great. We also had one dinner at Tortilla Jo's in downtown disney and it was very good.
We probably could have skipped Goofy's kitchen because we saw so many characters in the parks and the kids got a ton of autographs. The Disneyland App was so useful to see where the characters were. We were also thrilled to see a lot of characters around the DLH. One afternoon alone we saw Pluto, Goofy, Chip, and Dale at the hotel.
One of the little girls with us lost her purse that had her autograph book in it. I called guest services at the DLH to help us find it. When it was not found they sent a new autograph book + pen up to our room with a nice card and the book had about 15 character autographs in it!! Amazing service for sure.
On Friday we saw the 11:30 showing of Frozen. I didn't get the fastpasses until around 10:00 AM and was very happy that we were still able to get them for the 11:30 show. We also saw World of Color that night. We had yellow fastpasses. We didn't show up until about 15 min before the show started and were still able to find a place to stand and it was great. There was no way the kids could have waited around forever after a long day so that was great for us.
On Saturday we went to the 7:00 soundsational parade at DLR. The crowds were light considering it was a busy weekend at the parks. We got a prime bench in front of the railroad station at 6:15 and could have even come later than that. I was shocked.
On Sunday we saw Mickey and the Magical Map. While it is short (maybe 20 minutes at the most) it was a wonderful, high quality show. We got there early and lined up, but it was not necessary b/c there were many open seats. I highly recommend it.
I ordered Oofos flip flops for the trip and they were AMAZING. They are like tennis shoes on the bottom but flip flops on the top. We walked 20,000+ steps each day and my feet really did not hurt!
On Monday morning we were ready to head north on I-5 to get home. I didn't want to leave too early and hit traffic. We left the DLH around 10:00 AM and it was perfect. Very little traffic getting up to and then out of LA.
Thanks again for all of the help in planning our trip.
We were at the early entry (or is it magic morning?) every morning and this really paid off. We did so much in the mornings that we were happy to rest and swim in the afternoons when the parks were hot and crowded. We went back to the parks around dinner time or a bit after each day. Between that and using fast passes we didn't wait longer than 20 minutes or so for any ride. The pool had great cocktail / food service and it was so very nice to enjoy a cocktail by the pool after a long day at the parks.
One idea I got from these boards was to get to the main gates right as the park is opening for magic morning. By the time we got there we didn't have to wait in line because everyone was already walking inside, but we were still there right at opening. I loved how this worked!!
We ate at Earl of Sandwich so many times. It is right outside the DLH and is good food for a very reasonable price. There is enough on them menu that we didn't get sick of eating there. Although I didn't use it, I did download their App so we could have ordered ahead of time. We ate on their patio several times and also brought food back to the hotel to eat around the pool. It was good for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
We did dinner at Goofy's Kitchen one night. While I know this is all about the characters and not about the food, I really thought the food was awful. Very disappointing. But the characters were great and the kids loved it, of course.
We had breakfast at Flo's V8 cafe one morning, it was pretty marginal and I would not go back. I thought the breakfast at the Mexican restaurant in DLR was better. We had lunch one day at Carnation Cafe and it was great. We also had one dinner at Tortilla Jo's in downtown disney and it was very good.
We probably could have skipped Goofy's kitchen because we saw so many characters in the parks and the kids got a ton of autographs. The Disneyland App was so useful to see where the characters were. We were also thrilled to see a lot of characters around the DLH. One afternoon alone we saw Pluto, Goofy, Chip, and Dale at the hotel.
One of the little girls with us lost her purse that had her autograph book in it. I called guest services at the DLH to help us find it. When it was not found they sent a new autograph book + pen up to our room with a nice card and the book had about 15 character autographs in it!! Amazing service for sure.
On Friday we saw the 11:30 showing of Frozen. I didn't get the fastpasses until around 10:00 AM and was very happy that we were still able to get them for the 11:30 show. We also saw World of Color that night. We had yellow fastpasses. We didn't show up until about 15 min before the show started and were still able to find a place to stand and it was great. There was no way the kids could have waited around forever after a long day so that was great for us.
On Saturday we went to the 7:00 soundsational parade at DLR. The crowds were light considering it was a busy weekend at the parks. We got a prime bench in front of the railroad station at 6:15 and could have even come later than that. I was shocked.
On Sunday we saw Mickey and the Magical Map. While it is short (maybe 20 minutes at the most) it was a wonderful, high quality show. We got there early and lined up, but it was not necessary b/c there were many open seats. I highly recommend it.
I ordered Oofos flip flops for the trip and they were AMAZING. They are like tennis shoes on the bottom but flip flops on the top. We walked 20,000+ steps each day and my feet really did not hurt!
On Monday morning we were ready to head north on I-5 to get home. I didn't want to leave too early and hit traffic. We left the DLH around 10:00 AM and it was perfect. Very little traffic getting up to and then out of LA.
Thanks again for all of the help in planning our trip.
We also loved the service at the DLH. I do agree, the characters at Goofy's are so replicated throughout the parks, on both Main St. And Buena Vista St. plus in Toontown. It did save a bit of time in lines to meet them in the parks, but the kids in our group still ended up with multiple signatures from Minnie, Chip, and Dale somehow.
