The Magic is Back - Share your Experience! Superthread

[SoCal_Figment]

Had a lovely but exhausting visit yesterday.

Took uber from our house and arrived at Harbor at 7:30. Even with picking the "wrong line" for both bag check and entering DL we were on Pirates at 830. HM wasn't running so we did Thunder Mountain (15 min) and Smugglers run (15 min)before lines built up. Over to small world (20 min), got virtual group for Indy and ordered dole whip for around 2pm. Did Autopia (20 min)and then checked in for 11:50 cafe orleans reservation.

I'd been stalking the app all day the prior day hoping to snag a cancelled reservation for cafe Orleans, and being lucky enough to get one turned out to be the pixie dust we needed. Our table was ready on time, and we walked by cranky, desperate, hungry people who were begging CMs for help getting food. It's a bad scene over there with the pirates and HM madness and all the people trying to get food and find a place to eat it. We had monte cristo's, now smaller but with fries. My son had mac and cheese kid's meal with a mint julep (it's an option on the kid's meal). Scored boarding group 183 at noon, a relief since we'd never been able to get a group and ride in 2020.

Headed off to Indy, we waited in the 40 min line and then the ride broke down so we took screenshots of our virtual Q codes. We were starting to feel the heat and slowed down considerably for the rest of the day. Did Tiki room. I should have checked in for our dole whips at the start of the show and they would have been ready at the end. Instead we went over to frontierland to look for a table while we waited. There's awesome shaded ones in front of the shooting gallery.

Indy was a 15 minute wait when we went back. We did the riverboat. Then we sucked it up and went to SM, even though the app said 65. I figured a posted time of 65 would keep people away, and when we got there, the "end of the line" person was just at the entrance to the building. I guessed it would be 45 min, and it was. This line is mostly shaded and is probably the most comfortable long line to wait in anyway.

My son wanted to leave by this time (4:30), but we were going to ride ROTR, we were going to hang in there! We did Peter Pan, since a 30 min wait for that is a treat, and again, the line is mostly shaded and pleasant, letting you linger over an often-overlooked corner of the park (wishing well/snow white grotto).

We headed to Galaxy's edge to wait it out for an hour. Got a booth outside Docking Bay 7, which is a great place to eat your food (from somewhere else) and rest. Did some shopping and the cute scavenger hunt "guide to animals " activity they have. It's like a jr. ranger booklet for Galaxy's Edge. ROTR was a long wait (technically, we'd been waiting 16 months). But it was an amazing ride, and my son was glad we'd insisted on sticking around for it.

We could have done HM on the way out, with about a 35 min wait, but everyone was done. We left at 7.

The only rides we skipped due to lines were Splash and HM. We could have gone on anything else except the carousel (and train) for a less than 30 min wait at some point during the day.

We had a much better experience than I expected. Arriving early and having a plan for lunch were the main reasons we averted disaster. Snack stand lines were a little long, but not too bad. We only got snacks after 2pm. Mobile order and Cafe Orleans were good experiences.

 

[dieumeye]

Just want to say we had a great visit today. And specifically that I felt like all our CM interactions were awesome.

I know there have been some complaints about CMs here since the parks reopened, but I experienced only exemplary CM service and attitude today.

Leading up to my visit today, I was a little worried that we might run into a lot of less than positive situations (inaccurate wait times, mobile order problems, grouchy CMs, missing churros, etc) but none of that happened.

I will say that I think getting to the park early - Harbor line at 6:30am - helped start the day off right. We were still a ways back from the front of the line, but got in relatively smoothly and quickly. However, the line that grew behind us looked insane. I can see how people that show up later and have to wait in that line (and this be all the later into the park) might get frustrated.

No real point to this post other than I had a great day in the parks and wanted to put some good vibes out.

 

[Pookie9922]

Just want to say we had a great visit today. And specifically that I felt like all our CM interactions were awesome.

I know there have been some complaints about CMs here since the parks reopened, but I experienced only exemplary CM service and attitude today.

Leading up to my visit today, I was a little worried that we might run into a lot of less than positive situations (inaccurate wait times, mobile order problems, grouchy CMs, missing churros, etc) but none of that happened.

I will say that I think getting to the park early - Harbor line at 6:30am - helped start the day off right. We were still a ways back from the front of the line, but got in relatively smoothly and quickly. However, the line that grew behind us looked insane. I can see how people that show up later and have to wait in that line (and this be all the later into the park) might get frustrated.

No real point to this post other than I had a great day in the parks and wanted to put some good vibes out.

We also had a great day today! Got in line on harbor side about 7:15 and was in park and on millennium falcon before 8:30.
We rode MF twice, then BT and were in line for pirates before the park was even supposed to open.
The rest of the day was great! All wait times were consistent with posted time or about 5-10 min quicker. With the exception of Snow White. It said 25 and it was at least 45 (about 4:00 I think)
The park didn’t feel crowded to me at all. Most wait times were under 45 all day. Snow White was the longest we waited all day.
I really felt like people who are complaining about it being crowded hadn’t gone before fast pass days or had never gone on an actually busy day. This was nothing!

 

[wonderfuller]

This board was so helpful to me with my planning just wanted to give some highlights of my trip. I went with just my husband, we left our three year old at home with grandma.

Arrival times: we arrived at the harbor entrance between 7:40 and 7:50 each day and got into the parks at ~8:20 each day and rode our first ride practically walk on (IJ in Disneyland, RSR on our DCA day but did wait ~15 minutes for that).

Covid precautions: wearing masks wasn't so bad (we lucked out that temperatures were lovely while we were there). I quickly drank sips of water in lines to stay hydrated and nobody ever had a problem with it. What we LOVED was the social distancing in lines and having ride vehicles to ourselves. It felt more intimate and less overwhelming getting to experience practically every ride just the two of us (and smugglers run was so cool!). Also, people were pretty good about distancing in lines, with a few exceptions. I'm going to have trouble going back to normal and riding rides with random people when covid is over.

Lines: I am an avid FP/Maxpass user and I was not looking forward to those not being an option. We waited in several lines that were 45-50 minutes which I never would have done on previous trips. However, with social distancing it wasn't bad at all. My husband and I have a 3 year old and never get to talk to each other uninterrupted so we appreciated all the time together with nothing to do but talk. And no one breathing down our necks in line was great. I definitely noted that Disney has really tried to create shade in a bunch of places where there didn't used to be, in long lines, and seating areas etc. That was nice. Most of the the rides we rode had 10-20 minute waits. We waited in ~45 min lines for space, guardians, splash, and smugglers run, but rode every other "big ride" with a wait less than 20 minutes. We probably rode thunder mountain 5 or 6 times. The wait time was always reasonable for it. In general wait times were fairly accurate or just a tiny bit underestimated. We got to do the stairs for Haunted Mansion (twice!), which cut the wait time down substantially and was super awesome. The parks were crowded, but pretty much what I expected from reading trip reports before we went. However, you could always find a place SOMEWHERE in the parks (away from lines), with practically nobody in it, which has never happened in my previous Disneyland trips. That was pretty cool.

ROTR: We lucked out and got to ride all 3 days. The first two days boarding began a few hours after park opening, and we really had to plan our days around the ride as our boarding time got pushed out which was annoying. On our last ride, the group behind us on for the interrogation room was huge, so somehow we got the interrogation room and the ride vehicles completely to ourselves. It was so amazing. My husband loves Star Wars so he was super stoked.

Avengers Campus: We were there opening day, but went to Disneyland first (we are not Marvel people). We did score a noon boarding pass for webslingers, but it was the last BG called for the day. I tried to get into the campus a few minutes before our group was called so that we could see the rest of the land before the park closed but that was a no go. I was so glad I made my husband ride GoG the previous day before the campus opened! It was a gigantic mess when our boarding pass was called. No social distancing whatsoever and chaos. I saw a lot of suits trying to get the line under control. We waited close to an hour, and were pretty exhausted by this time, but it was worth it to ride the ride on opening day. We thought the ride was really fun but will never wait more than 20 minutes for it again. By the time we got off the ride it was 9:45, so we looked around the campus quickly, but of course wasn't much we could do. It was cool being in DCA so long after closing tho! Also, that evening before our boarding group was called we rode like 10 rides in 2 hours. Wait times were AMAZING, especially after the previous days having horrible wait times in DCA.

Food: we don't usually do many sit down meals but this trip I went all out after hearing issues with mobile orders. We ate at Cafe Orleans, Carthay, Cove Bar (edit: I meant Craftsman Bar), Uva Bar, and Lamplight lounge. Every meal was a lovely break with decent food. We were blown away by the quality of the food at the Craftsman Bar (also we got super comfy seats there).

Cast members: every cast member we encountered was fantastic. I did, however, hear quite a few cast members who thought they were out of earshot of guests complaining or counting down til their end of shift. But they are human.

Sorry, that was really long. Overall we had an absolutely fantastic trip. No complaints here, except sore feet and sad to be home.

 

[pharmama]

Food: we don't usually do many sit down meals but this trip I went all out after hearing issues with mobile orders. We ate at Cafe Orleans, Carthay, Cove Bar, Uva Bar, and Lamplight lounge. Every meal was a lovely break with decent food. We were blown away by the quality of the food at the Cove Bar (also we got super comfy seats there).

sounds like you had an awesome trip! Quick question- I thought the Cove Bar closed when they converted that whole location into Lamplight Lounge. Is it back or located somewhere else? What did you eat there that was so good? Thanks!

 

[wonderfuller]

sounds like you had an awesome trip! Quick question- I thought the Cove Bar closed when they converted that whole location into Lamplight Lounge. Is it back or located somewhere else? What did you eat there that was so good? Thanks!

Oops I called it the wrong thing, sorry! I meant craftsman bar!

 

[downinit]

Saturday was day 3 of my three day PH, with the first two days last weekend. The day started off quite well, as we managed to snag group 11 for ROTR, thanks to 5G (the hotel WIFI was atrocious, but T-Mobile gave me 30 Mbps from my room). We walked over to the Harbor entrance from the nearby HIX, behind the Doubletree, arriving around 7:10. We slowly toured the entrance plaza via the seemingly endless serpentine line and found ourselves inside Disneyland around 8:10. Our first stop was Space Mountain, where we waited for the ride to start operating at 8:30, perched in queue in front of the doors to the Captain EO experience. A short while after 8:30, we found ourselves on a trip to Space Mountain, in row 1 again (one of the many perks of social distancing).

Upon descending the mountain, we promptly headed next door to Star Tours for another quick queue. While in line for ST, we got the notification to head over to Rise. In what can only be described as a geeky serendipity, our StarSpeeder 1000 trip ended up transporting us to Batuu, quite fitting since our next stop was indeed Batuu, the DL version. The biggest benefit to an early boarding group is the absolute dearth of a standby line, allowing us to practically walk on to ROTR. We then proceeded to Smugglers Run, a ride I general avoid as it is just not very good, but the standby was advertised as 5 minutes when we passed by on the way to ROTR. Of course, it was now reading 40 minutes, and line actually snaked through the GE backlot, out of sight to anyone who dares to get in line outside of the Falcon. It was an interesting experience to go back into that area, which would be a great event space for a party, and is definitely promising in that it is large enough to accommodate a future ride in the next expansion. I found myself wishing for a Tron City-esque dance party with DJ Rex and MC Jar Jar Binks(OK, not really either of them, but definitely a DJ dance party). I didn't time it, but at least the line kept moving at a decent clip, so it was mildly bearable.

My only other big to-do for the day was Splash Mountain, as I wanted to ride it one last time before it gets re-themed. When we first went over to the end of the Splash line after completing our Smugglers Run, the CM informed us that the line was temporarily closed, as it had become too long. She gave some BS spiel about coming back in 30 minutes, which I knew was bad advice, as the standby time was only 45 minutes. We just hung out near the exit to Haunted Mansion instead, and it reopened about 10 minutes later, after the line became considerably shorter. Had we actually waited 30 minutes, the line would have been full-length and cut-off again.

In the first three hours after the park opened, we had managed to ride Space Mountain, Star Tours, ROTR, Smugglers, and Splash, as well as securing a boarding group for Indy. Definitely a great accomplishment in my book, especially for a busy Saturday morning. We then proceeded to pick up my mobile order at Tropical Hideaway (you definitely want to place the orders very early as the time slots go fast). It took about 20 minutes for them to actually prepare the order after arriving, but I finally got my souvenir tiki bowl and spork. Fortunately, T-Mobile provided a pretty strong signal here, as well, so we were able to score boarding group 108 to Web Slingers. There was quite a chorus of cheers from the entire TH area as the clock struck noon, so we were not alone in our good fortune. The Tiki Gods were clearly not angered by our presence. Our Indy boarding group came up while finishing off our loco moco bao and dole whip. With the BG, Indy was also practically walk-on. We had some time to kill before my 1:20 BB lunch reservations, so we headed over to FL for a date with my favorite amphibian and a circus train trip.

I had only been to BB once in 20 years, but was beckoned back by the promise of alcohol. Just as soon as we polished off our gumbo appetizer, we were informed that we need to evacuate due to a fire alarm. We then wasted the next 30 minutes standing outside loitering in front of Cafe Orleans, which was the only building were I could actually see/hear an alarm going off. Eventually, we were reseated at BB. They stated that they were going to clear all the tables and start over, which was a bit ambiguous, as I was about 3/4 the way through my hurricane. In the end, I had to ask for another hurricane, and they had the audacity to charge me for the second drink. We got absolutely nothing in exchange for our inconvenience, and I even lost a not-quite-finished overpriced cocktail, to top it off. I thought about complaining, as I felt that they should have provided some kind of compensation for such an intrusive and lengthy inconvenience (I would have been happy with getting the replacement drink comp'd or even a free dessert, but we did not get so much as an apology from the staff). Needless to say, I will stick with Carthay for my Disney dining experiences in the future, as they always provide a great experience with far friendlier service and markedly better food/drinks/ambiance.

We then proceeded to CA Adventure, by way of the Tiki Room. Much to my dismay, the incredible and irreplaceable Tiki Maynard was standing outside of the tiki room after we completed our show. I was quite relieved to see that he is still alive and well (and working the Tiki Room), as I had not seen him in my two prior trips. But I was upset I missed out on his intro, as it really does elevate the experience by a considerable margin when he delivers his delightful deadpan show.

Upon arriving at CA, we had just enough time to check out the backstage Marvel Shop in Hollywood before being alerted that Spider was ready for queuing. There was no line to enter Avengers Campus for people with a Spider boarding group, so we entered AC quite easily. The actual queue for WS, however, was actually quite horrendous. I really had no expectations for this ride, as I knew practically nothing about it and did not actually expect to even get a boarding group at all. The queue actually has a very large hidden section, in the backlot of AC, which you do not even see until you are well inside the normal queue. The line is also dreadfully slow, unlike ROTR and Smugglers. The ride itself is...well, let's just say I found it to be remarkably similar to Midway Mania, only infinitely less enjoyable. I'm sure many will love it...and I will love riding other rides while those people are waiting in line to ride it.

Avengers Campus was every bit what I expected it to be, which is to say that it was a place I have very little interest in returning to. I do love that they have shawarma, especially from carts that don't require mobile ordering. There are actually two carts. One in front of Web Slingers, with a very long line, and one in front of the Hyperion theater, with absolutely no line and tons of space for dining. Personally, I would trade it all for Heimlich's Chew Chew, but I am sure that I am in the minority. On the plus side, another bar with mobile ordering is right up my alley.

We also had reservations for the Legacy AP alfresco terrace, where I had the fabulous Pizza Oom Mow Wow bloody mary (complete with an actual slice of pizza as garnish). All the cocktails have an interesting backstory related to the history of the park. The service here was absolutely outstanding, just as it was last Sunday on our first visit. We closed off the night with a walk on for Ariel and Goofy's Sky School. As an extra special night cap, we were even waved into a post-9PM boarding of Emotional Whirlwind. The other rides were already shutting down, but the CM here were gleefully waving us aboard.

I definitely miss the freedom of an AP, but having a three day PH and booking hotels (I only live 30 minutes away) definitely made it feel like a real vacation. I have no idea when I will return, but I was very happy to just barely slip in before the mask requirements and social distancing rules go away. Reduced capacity was definitely a special experience, having rides to ourselves and standby lines that almost never went over 30-40 minutes was a big plus.

 

[miksicnarf]

My family (2 adult sons, 1 daughter-in-law, 2 toddler granddaughters) and I spent the day at the parks yesterday, 6/5. 3 of us tried for RotR boarding group at 7:00am, we all got through but 1 son was first, got bg 46. Oldest son and his family arrived first and had already ridden their go-to kiddies rides in DL--carousel, small world and Dumbo--at least 4 times before my other son and I arrived. I'm used to AP and FP, so the waiting was a lot for me. Queues extend into hidden areas so just when you think you're close to the ride entrance, you turn a corner and encounter another 1/2 mile of queue. I rode RotR twice, using child swap. At noon we all tried for a Web Slingers bg, this time the other son got through first...but he didn't have all our tickets linked on his app so 2 of us were left out. He got bg 106. It seemed like everyone around us in the park was celebrating, they all got boarding groups. We ate at Tomorrowland Terrace with mobile ordering, long wait to pick up food.
At DCA the line to get into Avengers Campus for those without a bg was massive. I mostly did kiddie rides with the grands, sons did Incredicoaster several times with minimal wait. Guest Relations was able to add my son and I to the Web Slingers boarding group with no problem. When our group was called we walked into the Campus, no wait. But the line for WS was massive and took well over an hour. We used child swap again, son rode twice. I'm neither a Star Wars nor Marvel fan so this is my unbiased opinion--Galaxy's Edge and RotR is far superior to Avengers Campus and Web Slingers.
Near the end of the night oldest son and family went back to DL for a last cruise on small world; 2nd son rode Radiator Springs, then we both rode Soarin' before closing the night back in DL with Haunted Mansion.
All in all we did almost everything we wanted. As a lifelong fan of the parks, both DL and WDW, I believe that was the first time I opened and closed them. We're DVC members and usually stay overnight, take breaks, use FP and never wait in long queues. So this was a different visit but we're very grateful to be back.

 

[kristensideaoffun]

We got back last night from our trip. We went into our Saturday and Sunday park days with low expectations, especially after we found out that our daughter’s favorite ride would not be accessible unless we got into Avenger’s Campus. But we ended up having an amazing time!

We checked into the Grand around 1pm and were told we should hurry down to the pool and put ourselves on the waitlist. I sent my daughter down and there ended up being no wait, so she got to hang out in the pool while I was stuck on a work call in the room until 3:30 then I joined her at the pool. My husband arrived by train (he had to work a full day) at around 7:30 and we all went to dinner at Naples. After dinner, we got dessert from Hearthstone and got everything ready in our room for an early morning.

The next day, we woke up at 6:15am, got ready to go, snagged a boarding group for RotR (12), and then headed down to Craftsman Grill. The line to get into DCA through the GC entrance stretched all the way to Storytellers and as we passed by, we noticed the security gates were down and there was no security or Hoag (temperature) personnel there yet. After a quick breakfast, we headed toward the DTD security entrance at around 7:40. At this point, I still didn’t see any security personnel and the line for DCA went to the lobby doors. When we got to the DTD entrance, there was no line for security. We got through quickly and got into a line being held outside La Brea. As soon as we got in line they let the line into the Esplanade. We hurried over to the DL entrance and were the second group in line. They let the Harbor entrance in between 7:50-7:55. I didn’t notice when people started coming in from Mickey & Friends. They opened the gates at 8am and started letting people in at around 8:10. We went first thing to guest services were we got our daughter a DAS pass. GS explained that it was their goal to have most rides open by 8:30am. Space Mountain wasn’t open yet but that’s what our daughter wanted on her card, so he gave us a later return time and we headed over to Haunted Mansion.

The rest of our day went like this:
HM
PotC
BTMRR (all before 9am)
RotR (our BG was called before 9am)
Indy (got in the VQ around 9:30)
SM
Autopia

Dole Whip break and attempted to get WS BG. Got an error message saying our whole party had to be in the park (it said 2 out of 3 of our party wasn’t ). Went to GS to get GotG return time while my daughter and husband were on Star Tours. I asked about the WS error message and ended up with a little Pixie Dust and a WS boarding group. We then headed back to the hotel for a lunch and pool break. There was a waiting list at around 1pm when we got to the pool, so we ordered food to go from Craftsman and headed to our room to eat, get changed, and relax. We got a text to return to the pool at around 2pm. Daughter and I hung out at the pool while my husband napped in the room. We returned to DCA at around 4:30 when there was about 20 minutes left on our WS BG. Our BG ended up being called in less than 5 mins.

The rest of our day:
-WS
-GotG (bought drink for husband from Pym’s with an immediate return time while husband and daughter were on ride)
-looked around AC
-dinner at Carthay
-Monsters
-Shopping
-Mater’s (walk-on)
-Luigi’s (walk-on)
-Watched the Sh-Boom
-RSR
-Goofy’s (I went on Ariel while daughter and husband rode Goofy)
-GR
-Back to Hotel

The next day, we tried for WS at 7am but no luck. Had breakfast at Craftsman. We noticed the DCA line was much shorter when we walked by. Plus, the security gates were up and security and temp taking personnel were out, although they weren’t letting people through yet. Finished breakfast at 8am and were in DCA by 8:10.

The rest of our day went like this:
Before 9am
-IC 4x’s in a row
-TS
-EW
-SS (daughter rode twice)
After 9am
-Goofy
-Ariel
-Shopping
-Soarin
-GotG

At noon, we tried again for WS but no luck. Went to lunch at Lamplight. I asked if we could not be seated at a high top table, as I need a seat where I can have my feet on the ground. I am 8 1/2 months pregnant and just can’t sit in a high chair without my feet on the ground to support me and my giant belly. I was told they could not guarantee any seating and of course ended up being seated at a high top table. I ended up having to stand for most of the meal because sitting was pretty unbearable. We were also very disappointed to be seated upstairs way in the back close to the store with no view of anything. We usually have such great service at LL, but the service was terrible on top of it. Our server was super grouchy and didn’t check on us at all once she took our order. Someone else brought us our food and drinks and we had to flag her down to get her to take our payment. These were the only less than positive CM interactions we had of the whole trip. All the other CMs we encountered were really nice and seemed genuinely happy to be there.

The rest of our day:
-GR
-park hopped to DL
-Pinocchio (walk-on)
-Peter Pan
-Mr. Toad (2 min wait)
-Teacups (walk-on)
-Alice (did all these FL rides in under an hour)
-RR
-I headed back to the hotel to hang by the pool because I was DONE. Husband and daughter went on Smuggler’s Run and Splash Mountain and were out of the park by 4pm. There was a waitlist for the pool so I hung out in the lobby while my daughter and husband went shopping in DTD. By the time they were done, I still hadn’t received a text to return to the pool, so we decided to call it a day and head home. We finally received the text about 30 minutes after we got on the road.

Overall, it was a great trip! We saw lots of characters. My favorite was watching Tigger in a grass planter trying to catch bugs in a butterfly net. We were able to continue our tradition of celebrating our daughter’s birthday at DLR, and got in one last quick vacation as a family of 3 before I have the baby.

Feel free to ask me any questions about our trip!

 

[briggscreek]

We got back last night from our trip. We went into our Saturday and Sunday park days with low expectations, especially after we found out that our daughter’s favorite ride would not be accessible unless we got into Avenger’s Campus. But we ended up having an amazing time!

We checked into the Grand around 1pm and were told we should hurry down to the pool and put ourselves on the waitlist. I sent my daughter down and there ended up being no wait, so she got to hang out in the pool while I was stuck on a work call in the room until 3:30 then I joined her at the pool. My husband arrived by train (he had to work a full day) at around 7:30 and we all went to dinner at Naples. After dinner, we got dessert from Hearthstone and got everything ready in our room for an early morning.

The next day, we woke up at 6:15am, got ready to go, snagged a boarding group for RotR (12), and then headed down to Craftsman Grill. The line to get into DCA through the GC entrance stretched all the way to Storytellers and as we passed by, we noticed the security gates were down and there was no security or Hoag (temperature) personnel there yet. After a quick breakfast, we headed toward the DTD security entrance at around 7:40. At this point, I still didn’t see any security personnel and the line for DCA went to the lobby doors. When we got to the DTD entrance, there was no line for security. We got through quickly and got into a line being held outside La Brea. As soon as we got in line they let the line into the Esplanade. We hurried over to the DL entrance and were the second group in line. They let the Harbor entrance in between 7:50-7:55. I didn’t notice when people started coming in from Mickey & Friends. They opened the gates at 8am and started letting people in at around 8:10. We went first thing to guest services were we got our daughter a DAS pass. GS explained that it was their goal to have most rides open by 8:30am. Space Mountain wasn’t open yet but that’s what our daughter wanted on her card, so he gave us a later return time and we headed over to Haunted Mansion.

The rest of our day went like this:
HM
PotC
BTMRR (all before 9am)
RotR (our BG was called before 9am)
Indy (got in the VQ around 9:30)
SM
Autopia

Dole Whip break and attempted to get WS BG. Got an error message saying our whole party had to be in the park (it said 2 out of 3 of our party wasn’t ). Went to GS to get GotG return time while my daughter and husband were on Star Tours. I asked about the WS error message and ended up with a little Pixie Dust and a WS boarding group. We then headed back to the hotel for a lunch and pool break. There was a waiting list at around 1pm when we got to the pool, so we ordered food to go from Craftsman and headed to our room to eat, get changed, and relax. We got a text to return to the pool at around 2pm. Daughter and I hung out at the pool while my husband napped in the room. We returned to DCA at around 4:30 when there was about 20 minutes left on our WS BG. Our BG ended up being called in less than 5 mins.

The rest of our day:
-WS
-GotG (bought drink for husband from Pym’s with an immediate return time while husband and daughter were on ride)
-looked around AC
-dinner at Carthay
-Monsters
-Shopping
-Mater’s (walk-on)
-Luigi’s (walk-on)
-Watched the Sh-Boom
-RSR
-Goofy’s (I went on Ariel while daughter and husband rode Goofy)
-GR
-Back to Hotel

The next day, we tried for WS at 7am but no luck. Had breakfast at Craftsman. We noticed the DCA line was much shorter when we walked by. Plus, the security gates were up and security and temp taking personnel were out, although they weren’t letting people through yet. Finished breakfast at 8am and were in DCA by 8:10.

The rest of our day went like this:
Before 9am
-IC 4x’s in a row
-TS
-EW
-SS (daughter rode twice)
After 9am
-Goofy
-Ariel
-Shopping
-Soarin
-GotG

At noon, we tried again for WS but no luck. Went to lunch at Lamplight. I asked if we could not be seated at a high top table, as I need a seat where I can have my feet on the ground. I am 8 1/2 months pregnant and just can’t sit in a high chair without my feet on the ground to support me and my giant belly. I was told they could not guarantee any seating and of course ended up being seated at a high top table. I ended up having to stand for most of the meal because sitting was pretty unbearable. We were also very disappointed to be seated upstairs way in the back close to the store with no view of anything. We usually have such great service at LL, but the service was terrible on top of it. Our server was super grouchy and didn’t check on us at all once she took our order. Someone else brought us our food and drinks and we had to flag her down to get her to take our payment. These were the only less than positive CM interactions we had of the whole trip. All the other CMs we encountered were really nice and seemed genuinely happy to be there.

The rest of our day:
-GR
-park hopped to DL
-Pinocchio (walk-on)
-Peter Pan
-Mr. Toad (2 min wait)
-Teacups (walk-on)
-Alice (did all these FL rides in under an hour)
-RR
-I headed back to the hotel to hang by the pool because I was DONE. Husband and daughter went on Smuggler’s Run and Splash Mountain and were out of the park by 4pm. There was a waitlist for the pool so I hung out in the lobby while my daughter and husband went shopping in DTD. By the time they were done, I still hadn’t received a text to return to the pool, so we decided to call it a day and head home. We finally received the text about 30 minutes after we got on the road.

Overall, it was a great trip! We saw lots of characters. My favorite was watching Tigger in a grass planter trying to catch bugs in a butterfly net. We were able to continue our tradition of celebrating our daughter’s birthday at DLR, and got in one last quick vacation as a family of 3 before I have the baby.

Feel free to ask me any questions about our trip!

Yay, it sounds like you have a great trip! Do you feel like staying at the Grand gave you a significant advantage in getting in the parks early? I'm trying to decide whether to go for it or just stay somewher along Harbor.

 

[PirateBrigade]

Yay, it sounds like you have a great trip! Do you feel like staying at the Grand gave you a significant advantage in getting in the parks early? I'm trying to decide whether to go for it or just stay somewher along Harbor.

Based on what I've been reading (we stayed at GCH last month), I can enter the security line via GCH much later than someone coming in via Harbor and still enter the parks at the same time. So yes, there's a benefit (I left my room at 8am, and was a few people back from the turnstyles by 8:15am), but Harbor folks can overcome this by showing up very early--I've seen people post arriving between 6:30am-7:15am--these are likely the folks I saw coming in first through Harbor security.

 

[pennym]

Personally, I would trade it all for Heimlich's Chew Chew,

Yes! This!

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

We got back last night from our trip. We went into our Saturday and Sunday park days with low expectations, especially after we found out that our daughter’s favorite ride would not be accessible unless we got into Avenger’s Campus. But we ended up having an amazing time!

We checked into the Grand around 1pm and were told we should hurry down to the pool and put ourselves on the waitlist. I sent my daughter down and there ended up being no wait, so she got to hang out in the pool while I was stuck on a work call in the room until 3:30 then I joined her at the pool. My husband arrived by train (he had to work a full day) at around 7:30 and we all went to dinner at Naples. After dinner, we got dessert from Hearthstone and got everything ready in our room for an early morning.

The next day, we woke up at 6:15am, got ready to go, snagged a boarding group for RotR (12), and then headed down to Craftsman Grill. The line to get into DCA through the GC entrance stretched all the way to Storytellers and as we passed by, we noticed the security gates were down and there was no security or Hoag (temperature) personnel there yet. After a quick breakfast, we headed toward the DTD security entrance at around 7:40. At this point, I still didn’t see any security personnel and the line for DCA went to the lobby doors. When we got to the DTD entrance, there was no line for security. We got through quickly and got into a line being held outside La Brea. As soon as we got in line they let the line into the Esplanade. We hurried over to the DL entrance and were the second group in line. They let the Harbor entrance in between 7:50-7:55. I didn’t notice when people started coming in from Mickey & Friends. They opened the gates at 8am and started letting people in at around 8:10. We went first thing to guest services were we got our daughter a DAS pass. GS explained that it was their goal to have most rides open by 8:30am. Space Mountain wasn’t open yet but that’s what our daughter wanted on her card, so he gave us a later return time and we headed over to Haunted Mansion.

The rest of our day went like this:
HM
PotC
BTMRR (all before 9am)
RotR (our BG was called before 9am)
Indy (got in the VQ around 9:30)
SM
Autopia

Dole Whip break and attempted to get WS BG. Got an error message saying our whole party had to be in the park (it said 2 out of 3 of our party wasn’t ). Went to GS to get GotG return time while my daughter and husband were on Star Tours. I asked about the WS error message and ended up with a little Pixie Dust and a WS boarding group. We then headed back to the hotel for a lunch and pool break. There was a waiting list at around 1pm when we got to the pool, so we ordered food to go from Craftsman and headed to our room to eat, get changed, and relax. We got a text to return to the pool at around 2pm. Daughter and I hung out at the pool while my husband napped in the room. We returned to DCA at around 4:30 when there was about 20 minutes left on our WS BG. Our BG ended up being called in less than 5 mins.

The rest of our day:
-WS
-GotG (bought drink for husband from Pym’s with an immediate return time while husband and daughter were on ride)
-looked around AC
-dinner at Carthay
-Monsters
-Shopping
-Mater’s (walk-on)
-Luigi’s (walk-on)
-Watched the Sh-Boom
-RSR
-Goofy’s (I went on Ariel while daughter and husband rode Goofy)
-GR
-Back to Hotel

The next day, we tried for WS at 7am but no luck. Had breakfast at Craftsman. We noticed the DCA line was much shorter when we walked by. Plus, the security gates were up and security and temp taking personnel were out, although they weren’t letting people through yet. Finished breakfast at 8am and were in DCA by 8:10.

The rest of our day went like this:
Before 9am
-IC 4x’s in a row
-TS
-EW
-SS (daughter rode twice)
After 9am
-Goofy
-Ariel
-Shopping
-Soarin
-GotG

At noon, we tried again for WS but no luck. Went to lunch at Lamplight. I asked if we could not be seated at a high top table, as I need a seat where I can have my feet on the ground. I am 8 1/2 months pregnant and just can’t sit in a high chair without my feet on the ground to support me and my giant belly. I was told they could not guarantee any seating and of course ended up being seated at a high top table. I ended up having to stand for most of the meal because sitting was pretty unbearable. We were also very disappointed to be seated upstairs way in the back close to the store with no view of anything. We usually have such great service at LL, but the service was terrible on top of it. Our server was super grouchy and didn’t check on us at all once she took our order. Someone else brought us our food and drinks and we had to flag her down to get her to take our payment. These were the only less than positive CM interactions we had of the whole trip. All the other CMs we encountered were really nice and seemed genuinely happy to be there.

The rest of our day:
-GR
-park hopped to DL
-Pinocchio (walk-on)
-Peter Pan
-Mr. Toad (2 min wait)
-Teacups (walk-on)
-Alice (did all these FL rides in under an hour)
-RR
-I headed back to the hotel to hang by the pool because I was DONE. Husband and daughter went on Smuggler’s Run and Splash Mountain and were out of the park by 4pm. There was a waitlist for the pool so I hung out in the lobby while my daughter and husband went shopping in DTD. By the time they were done, I still hadn’t received a text to return to the pool, so we decided to call it a day and head home. We finally received the text about 30 minutes after we got on the road.

Overall, it was a great trip! We saw lots of characters. My favorite was watching Tigger in a grass planter trying to catch bugs in a butterfly net. We were able to continue our tradition of celebrating our daughter’s birthday at DLR, and got in one last quick vacation as a family of 3 before I have the baby.

Feel free to ask me any questions about our trip!

That is really too bad about your Lamplight experience. It is so unlike Disney to say “sorry, you’re out of luck we won’t accommodate you” when you have a special request with a good reason for asking!

Can I ask how you rode GotG on your second morning despite not getting a WS BG that day?

 

[ComeToSocialize]

Trip Report: We had a great 3 day trip from Friday 6/4 to Sunday 6/6. We didn't go specifically for Avengers, but it was a nice plus that it lined up with the weekend that worked for us.

Hotel: Stayed at Courtyard by Mariott, Theme Park Entrance. Normally we stay at GCH, but with no EMH and shortened park hours making it less likely we'd nap and come back, we couldn't justify it. We enjoyed a couple hours at the waterpark Thursday evening. This was a bonus "plus" for us. Hotel is fine, but the walk is just long enough where running back to the hotel is inconvenient (compared to Best Western or GCH). We likely will not stay here again though have no real concerns on it

Boarding Groups: We managed to get ROTR on Friday 7am, but our BG didn't get called until ~1:30pm, so weren't able to try for Spiderman at Noon. On Saturday, we were starting our day at DL and didn't want a repeat of Friday, so didn't go for ROTR at 7. We instead got very lucky to get a ~330pm BG for Spiderman at the Noon drop. This ended up being very lucky... we actually didn't make much about Web Slingers, but really wanted to ride Guardians of the Galaxy, and didn't realize you basically had to get a Webslingers BG to get to GOTG (or can wait in a 5+ hour line to enter avengers campus).
On Sunday, we started day in DCA so went for Web Slingers at 7am, but got shut out (wasn't in a strong enough signal spot in the hotel apparently). We did get Star Wars in the Noon drop for about 6pm, but didn't ride as had to head to airport around then which was a bummer. After having very good luck with BGs (to that point, i had been 5/5 on getting ROTR/WebSlingers when I wanted) Sunday was first real failure on it. Shows that people are learning, and the stay at home lottery is more popular than the get to park at 730am lottery.

Boarding Group / Virtual Queue Takeaway: Overall I don't mind the BG system, and even though things didn't work perfectly as I hoped, it felt fair that we got to ride ROTR and WS once each in 3 days (and would've rode ROTR twice if we hadn't had to leave early on Sunday), but if they still have these 7am BGs in 12 months, i will be disappointed. I expect the WS VQ to be gone in a few weeks anyways. I think the lesson is a VQ makes people think "might as well grab it" even if they don't really care that much about the ride.

Rides: we were going with my parents and younger sister who has some physical challenges (She'd be DAS eligible but we feel like we don't need DAS so just move more slowly) so we didn't go commando style like I would have.

• Friday did Space Mtn, Snow White, Star Tours, Lunch in DTD at Uva Bar, Millennium Falcon, ROTR, Indy (Virtual Queue), Thunder Mtn, Pirates between 10am and 5pm, before heading back to hotel for dinner at Flemings. Longest wait here was probably space mtn at 10am at around 40 min. most were about 60% of posted wait time
• Saturday: did Mr. Toad, Alice in wonderland, Haunted Mansion, Lunch at River Belle Terrace, Splash Mountain, hopped to DCA, Mater's jamboree, Web Slingers, GoTG, Incredicoaster, Toy Story, then dinner at Tortilla Joe's. Roughly 10am to 7pm in the parks. Lines were longer on Saturday, longest were Haunted Mansion and Webslingers at about 45-50 min
• Sunday: DCA day. Did Little mermaid, Goofy, Incredicoaster twice, Toy Story, lunch at Lamplight, Grizzly river and Soarin. Hopped to DL at 3pm and shopped and bought food at Bengal BBQ / Tropical Hideaway

Takeaway: Probably did fewer total attractions than usual, as lack of Maxpass makes us less nimble. However, it was kind of nice to just be able to go on whatever we felt like without worrying too much about strategy. Did just about everything we cared about except Radiator Springs Racers which was always too long

Food: Uva bar was just ok. Fleming's was fantastic but a special treat (mom's birthday dinner). River Belle Terrace was actually our best Disney meal. Tortilla Jo's was fine and Lamplight was just ok as the condensed menu disappointed us. We never had to wait more than 5 minutes after checking in to be seated at any of these.

On the other hand, the counter service situation is a complete disaster with the mobile order system - ordering Bengal BBQ took almost 30 min of waiting start to finish. Even just ordering a cocktail in DCA can be complicated. If you think of mobile order as really just a virtual queue before you get in the actual queue, it makes a little more sense, but this system is just convoluted. We kind of figured it out by the end (keep looking for order times if you don't get what you want, say you're there before you're actually there, and just try to jump in the "order is ready" line before your order is actually ready, as it proabbly will be by the time you get to the front

Experience:

• The biggest thing to get used to was the chaos of all the lines in the walkways and how physically long the lines are. My mom was shocked by how long all the lines were and kept saying "This is going to be a 90 minute line!" but then it ended up being ~25 minutes as the line moves fast. Managing your own reaction to the long visual lines is important... they move fast with no Fastpass and physical distancing. Fantasyland and New Orleans Square are really the worst for this, although the Indy queue was also super confusing and had tons of unnecessary walking outside for what was effectively a walk-on in the end with the VQ.
• The overflow queue areas for some rides like Falcon or Spiderman are... interesting. Kind of backstage areas that I never knew existed. Very confusing paths to follow in warehouse type areas. Was just odd... I felt the most anxious in these portions of the lines
• Loved how the characters would pop up in random places. This was great and I hope they keep it this way, though i know they won't as they need to sell Photopass somehow and meet and greet spots sell picture

Overall, it was great to be back, but i will not go again until the mobile order

 

[kristensideaoffun]

That is really too bad about your Lamplight experience. It is so unlike Disney to say “sorry, you’re out of luck we won’t accommodate you” when you have a special request with a good reason for asking!

Can I ask how you rode GotG on your second morning despite not getting a WS BG that day?

I was honestly pretty shocked and disappointed, but I think it was a lack of training. Both the person I checked in with and the person that took us to our table told me it was their first day.

GotG, my daughter has a DAS pass. They let us enter AC through the exit with a GotG return time so she could ride GotG.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I was honestly pretty shocked and disappointed, but I think it was a lack of training. Both the person I checked in with and the person that took us to our table told me it was their first day.

GotG, my daughter has a DAS pass. They let us enter AC through the exit with a GotG return time so she could ride GotG.

Honestly, it’s not like you were asking for a crazy accommodation. I am sure it could have been managed.
Thank you so much for sharing this! My friend is going this week and it will be the first time they will be using DAS for her son. It is nice to know they can ride this. Do you know how the my handled DAS and WS? I am reading to at the line can take 45-60 minutes once your BG is called?

 

[kristensideaoffun]

Honestly, it’s not like you were asking for a crazy accommodation. I am sure it could have been managed.
Thank you so much for sharing this! My friend is going this week and it will be the first time they will be using DAS for her son. It is nice to know they can ride this. Do you know how the my handled DAS and WS? I am reading to at the line can take 45-60 minutes once your BG is called?

Unfortunately, it sounds like they are less accommodating with the DAS. I think you might have to wait in part of the line and when the line gets to the Fastpass entrance, you tell them you have a DAS and they let you through the FP entrance. It sounds like you might be able to get a return time from GS to bypass the line and be let in directly through the FP entrance. It also sounded like the policy for RotR had changed to this, as well. Both times we were led to the FP entrance by a confused CM that wasn’t sure what the policy was for DAS holders. There we were asked if we went to GS for a DAS return time. We were confused because we thought they were asking if we had gone to GS for the DAS. Then we showed them our daughter’s ticket and they became confused. After them trying to explain what they meant and us trying to reiterate it to them to make sure we understood, they just waved us through the FP entrance. So we think we understand what we have to do next time, but still aren’t 100% sure.

 

[Pookie9922]

My family went Saturday (DL) and Sunday (DCA) and had a great trip! I posted a quick blurb Saturday night but thought I'd expand on it a bit and add DCA thoughts.

Arrival times: Saturday got to DL about 7:15 (Harbor side) and was in park and on rides before 8:30. Sunday got to the lines about 8. We got held up at McDs and tried to find the rest of our party. Explained to a cast member who let us through to find them but it was right as the line started moving and they made it through temperatures before we could catch up. By that time we were stuck where we were in line. Apparently that mistake ruined the day of some cranky lady behind us, who complained non-stop to her husband the whole rest of the line and then tattled on us at the front. That cast member asked for clarification and I explained what happened and he said "ok, have a great day!"

Rides: Saturday (DL) we rode everything we wanted to once plus twice on Millenium falcon and on Big Thunder. We ended up criss-crossing the park (26k+ steps!) to take advantage of shorter lines, but it was worth it. Longest lines we stood in were Snow White (said it was 25, it was not!) and Space Mtn at the end of the day (45). Everything else was 30min or less at the times we went. Usually slightly less than the posted time. The lines all look bad but really move consistently.
Purposefully waited for the virtual queue for Indiana Jones to start up so that was one less line to wait in. Got noon spots (barely!) for RotR. We celebrated and then realized only 4 of the 13 people had a boarding pass. Information promptly fixed it for us. Apparently it's a common problem. phew!! That ride is awesome! Wish I could have ridden it again. One of our group had to use a rider swap and it broke down 3/4 of the way through. It took about 30 minutes to get off the ride. And then didn't come back online in time for her to try again.

Sunday (DCA) - we had too much time at DCA. We had debated about park hoppers and ultimately didn't think the extra $$ was worth it. Looking back I probably would have made the same decision. We just rode everything lots. Did another 26k+ steps. At the beginning of the day we felt like we were chasing low wait times just to have them go up just when we got there. If I had known we'd have so much time, I would have just waited and not worried about it. Rode RSR first thing in the morning. It jumped to 120 minutes and then for most of the day it was 60. We rode at the end of the day when it still said 60, and it was 25 minutes. Rode Incredicoaster about 5 times. Lots of Toy Story Mania. Got 7am spots for WS. I liked it. Glad we got passes because I wouldn't have waited 2 hrs to get into the Avengers Campus. It's neat but small. Only bummers were not taking advantage of Grizzly rapids when we had the opportunity and it was down for the whole afternoon and rushing to go to the last turtle talk but finding it was already at capacity.

DCA felt more crowded to me in the morning than DL had but by the end of the day it was pretty empty.

Food: The mobile orders worked great at DL! We ate at Little Red Wagon and Stage Door Cafe. Hit the button as we were a few minutes away, food popped up as we got there. DCA, not so lucky. We happened to be at AC at lunch and the line was awful to place an order. Shawarma had a huge line. Found another one an hour later after GotG and there was no line. But the food ended up just being okay. Smokejumpers took more than 30 minutes for our food to be ready. Nice cast members though. Let me add a Smore Shake onto my order easy peasy. And my Monte Cristo sandwich was yummy enough to make up for the wait. (Note to the wise, don't ride the incredicoaster after a monte cristo and a smore's milkshake!)
Highlight: The raspberry cheesecake dessert thingy at Terran Treats in Avenger's Campus made my day.

Masks: Bought chiffon masks on etsy. Best decision ever! These were super light and breathable and no foggy sunglasses!

It was so great to be back!! All the cast members were friendly! Seemed like all the guests were happy, other than the one lady who's day I ruined. Oh and the one dad who snapped at my kids for getting 3in closer than 6ft (ironically while his "genius" kid was picking up covid by licking the railings ).

 

[Linkura]

My family went Saturday (DL) and Sunday (DCA) and had a great trip! I posted a quick blurb Saturday night but thought I'd expand on it a bit and add DCA thoughts.

Arrival times: Saturday got to DL about 7:15 (Harbor side) and was in park and on rides before 8:30. Sunday got to the lines about 8. We got held up at McDs and tried to find the rest of our party. Explained to a cast member who let us through to find them but it was right as the line started moving and they made it through temperatures before we could catch up. By that time we were stuck where we were in line. Apparently that mistake ruined the day of some cranky lady behind us, who complained non-stop to her husband the whole rest of the line and then tattled on us at the front. That cast member asked for clarification and I explained what happened and he said "ok, have a great day!"

Rides: Saturday (DL) we rode everything we wanted to once plus twice on Millenium falcon and on Big Thunder. We ended up criss-crossing the park (26k+ steps!) to take advantage of shorter lines, but it was worth it. Longest lines we stood in were Snow White (said it was 25, it was not!) and Space Mtn at the end of the day (45). Everything else was 30min or less at the times we went. Usually slightly less than the posted time. The lines all look bad but really move consistently.
Purposefully waited for the virtual queue for Indiana Jones to start up so that was one less line to wait in. Got noon spots (barely!) for RotR. We celebrated and then realized only 4 of the 13 people had a boarding pass. Information promptly fixed it for us. Apparently it's a common problem. phew!! That ride is awesome! Wish I could have ridden it again. One of our group had to use a rider swap and it broke down 3/4 of the way through. It took about 30 minutes to get off the ride. And then didn't come back online in time for her to try again.

Sunday (DCA) - we had too much time at DCA. We had debated about park hoppers and ultimately didn't think the extra $$ was worth it. Looking back I probably would have made the same decision. We just rode everything lots. Did another 26k+ steps. At the beginning of the day we felt like we were chasing low wait times just to have them go up just when we got there. If I had known we'd have so much time, I would have just waited and not worried about it. Rode RSR first thing in the morning. It jumped to 120 minutes and then for most of the day it was 60. We rode at the end of the day when it still said 60, and it was 25 minutes. Rode Incredicoaster about 5 times. Lots of Toy Story Mania. Got 7am spots for WS. I liked it. Glad we got passes because I wouldn't have waited 2 hrs to get into the Avengers Campus. It's neat but small. Only bummers were not taking advantage of Grizzly rapids when we had the opportunity and it was down for the whole afternoon and rushing to go to the last turtle talk but finding it was already at capacity.

DCA felt more crowded to me in the morning than DL had but by the end of the day it was pretty empty.

Food: The mobile orders worked great at DL! We ate at Little Red Wagon and Stage Door Cafe. Hit the button as we were a few minutes away, food popped up as we got there. DCA, not so lucky. We happened to be at AC at lunch and the line was awful to place an order. Shawarma had a huge line. Found another one an hour later after GotG and there was no line. But the food ended up just being okay. Smokejumpers took more than 30 minutes for our food to be ready. Nice cast members though. Let me add a Smore Shake onto my order easy peasy. And my Monte Cristo sandwich was yummy enough to make up for the wait. (Note to the wise, don't ride the incredicoaster after a monte cristo and a smore's milkshake!)
Highlight: The raspberry cheesecake dessert thingy at Terran Treats in Avenger's Campus made my day.

Masks: Bought chiffon masks on etsy. Best decision ever! These were super light and breathable and no foggy sunglasses!

It was so great to be back!! All the cast members were friendly! Seemed like all the guests were happy, other than the one lady who's day I ruined. Oh and the one dad who snapped at my kids for getting 3in closer than 6ft (ironically while his "genius" kid was picking up covid by licking the railings ).

Great report! You said Shawarma Palace was only "okay"- can you elaborate? I've heard nothing but raves.

 

[Pookie9922]

Great report! You said Shawarma Palace was only "okay"- can you elaborate? I've heard nothing but raves.

It was spicier than I was expecting it to be. I’m a spicy wuss! The sauce was good though. But it was definitely too spicy to share with my kids and at that point of the day we were very hungry because there was nothing else to have at the avengers campus.