ironband74
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2018
- Messages
- 1,365
Day One: December 27 starting in DCA
I went and did recon at 0615 to see what the esplanade situation would look like. At that time there was one family lined up at DCA, and a couple families lined up at DLR. I don't know if I just never noticed the Extra Magic Hour entrances labeled as such at DCA or if that is new since the last time since I usually avoid mornings with Extra Magic Hours, but there was one entrance to the far left of the entry that was labeled as a standard entrance. I made a mental note that for tomorrow 0615 would be a good time to get in line for our Magic Morning, since in the time it took to go to Starbucks and back, the line had grown quite a bit.
I ran back to the hotel (BWPPI) to alert the family that we were go and to have my wife put in the mobile Starbucks order, then I grabbed my two sons (bagless people) and headed back to security. We breezed through the "Guests without Bags" security line and made a beeline for Starbucks to get our mobile order. It took a few minutes to get ready, but once we had it we headed to the DCA entrance and the single line formed behind the far left gate.
My wife, daughter, and daughter's boyfriend joined us about 0700. About 15 minutes after the EMH crowd was let in, they closed a couple of adjacent gates and converted them to standard entry. We didn't bother moving since we were second family in line for one of the existing lines.
We finished our food as certain members of my family questioned why we were here so early for an 0800 open. I explained that typically they would let us in at 0730 and that before the park officially opened we would probably be able to ride Soarin'. A few minutes before 0730, the gates opened and we were able to exchange our printed paper tickets for cardstock ones and get our pictures taken, then at 0730 we entered the park.
As we walked towards Soarin', I bought MaxPass for the day on the app and booked us a fastpass for Incredicoaster for 0800-0900.
We walked on to Soarin', but opted to wait one round to sit the family in B1. Still, we finished well before 0800, then walked past the Grizzly Rapids and Redwood Challenge trail to the rope drop for Pixar Pier.
At rope drop, we headed to Midway Mania as I booked a fast pass for RSR which came in at 0930. Following Midway Mania we walked on to the Pixar Pal-a-Round to swing with Emile, and then went for our first ride on Incredicoaster.
After Incredicoaster as we headed for Cars Land, we decided to visit Ariel in her Undersea adventure to calm my 9 year old's nerves. We then waited 20 minutes (while doing trivia on the Play app) at Luigi's to have a nice holiday dance.
After that, we had a few minutes before our RSR reservation, so we shopped around a little at Sarges before getting into line. As we got in line, I booked a fastpass for Guardians for about 1035.
RSR took us through the paint shop (in 6 rides I've never gotten the tires. Hopefully I can break my streak tomorrow?), but we won our race.
After RSR, we intended to do Monsters Inc. before Guardians. The wait was 30 minutes though. We could have done it, but after polling the family they decided they'd rather shop and take a potty break before we broke out. We did so, and as we got on Guardians I pulled another pass for Incredicoaster between 1130 and 1230. It was a bit of a feat, though, since the app started acting up and didn't want to find my tickets and reservations. I assume the servers were under heavy load. Fortunately I had my wife and son also set up on the app, so between the three of us we got it done.
Upon finishing Guardians we took a minute to grab some delicious pickles and apples and drinks from one of the street vendors, then did a little more shopping as we waited for our Incredicoaster passes to activate. Before we hopped on for our second ride, I snagged some Matterhorn passes for 1600.
After that it was a little more shopping as the crowds began to become really apparent. I got an alert on the app that Disneyland was very busy today and encouraging folks to come to DCA for Festival of the Holidays. No surprise there!
We then met up for an 1310 reservation for lunch at the Wine Country Trattoria for a relaxing sit-down lunch. Everyone was pretty worn out and the food and drink were just what we needed before we headed back to the hotel for an afternoon nap. As we ate I grabbed fast passes for Haunted Mansion Holiday at 1900.
We have reservations for the Fantasmic on the Go Hungry Bear Package at 1815, so the evening plan is to head into DL at 1600, ride Matterhorn, maybe ride Jungle Cruise or Winnie the Pooh or just hang out, get our dinner, ride Haunted Mansion, then go get in line for Fantasmic and eat dessert from...somewhere. Watch Fantasmic, Watch the Fireworks from there, and, just for kicks, I just pulled a Splash Mountain FP for 2130 which we may or may not use (I'll ask the family when they wake up from their nap.)
And that's how I do my first day on one of the most crowded days of the year. Shout out to Disneyland Daily's DCA plan for helping me pull this together.
I went and did recon at 0615 to see what the esplanade situation would look like. At that time there was one family lined up at DCA, and a couple families lined up at DLR. I don't know if I just never noticed the Extra Magic Hour entrances labeled as such at DCA or if that is new since the last time since I usually avoid mornings with Extra Magic Hours, but there was one entrance to the far left of the entry that was labeled as a standard entrance. I made a mental note that for tomorrow 0615 would be a good time to get in line for our Magic Morning, since in the time it took to go to Starbucks and back, the line had grown quite a bit.
I ran back to the hotel (BWPPI) to alert the family that we were go and to have my wife put in the mobile Starbucks order, then I grabbed my two sons (bagless people) and headed back to security. We breezed through the "Guests without Bags" security line and made a beeline for Starbucks to get our mobile order. It took a few minutes to get ready, but once we had it we headed to the DCA entrance and the single line formed behind the far left gate.
My wife, daughter, and daughter's boyfriend joined us about 0700. About 15 minutes after the EMH crowd was let in, they closed a couple of adjacent gates and converted them to standard entry. We didn't bother moving since we were second family in line for one of the existing lines.
We finished our food as certain members of my family questioned why we were here so early for an 0800 open. I explained that typically they would let us in at 0730 and that before the park officially opened we would probably be able to ride Soarin'. A few minutes before 0730, the gates opened and we were able to exchange our printed paper tickets for cardstock ones and get our pictures taken, then at 0730 we entered the park.
As we walked towards Soarin', I bought MaxPass for the day on the app and booked us a fastpass for Incredicoaster for 0800-0900.
We walked on to Soarin', but opted to wait one round to sit the family in B1. Still, we finished well before 0800, then walked past the Grizzly Rapids and Redwood Challenge trail to the rope drop for Pixar Pier.
At rope drop, we headed to Midway Mania as I booked a fast pass for RSR which came in at 0930. Following Midway Mania we walked on to the Pixar Pal-a-Round to swing with Emile, and then went for our first ride on Incredicoaster.
After Incredicoaster as we headed for Cars Land, we decided to visit Ariel in her Undersea adventure to calm my 9 year old's nerves. We then waited 20 minutes (while doing trivia on the Play app) at Luigi's to have a nice holiday dance.
After that, we had a few minutes before our RSR reservation, so we shopped around a little at Sarges before getting into line. As we got in line, I booked a fastpass for Guardians for about 1035.
RSR took us through the paint shop (in 6 rides I've never gotten the tires. Hopefully I can break my streak tomorrow?), but we won our race.
After RSR, we intended to do Monsters Inc. before Guardians. The wait was 30 minutes though. We could have done it, but after polling the family they decided they'd rather shop and take a potty break before we broke out. We did so, and as we got on Guardians I pulled another pass for Incredicoaster between 1130 and 1230. It was a bit of a feat, though, since the app started acting up and didn't want to find my tickets and reservations. I assume the servers were under heavy load. Fortunately I had my wife and son also set up on the app, so between the three of us we got it done.
Upon finishing Guardians we took a minute to grab some delicious pickles and apples and drinks from one of the street vendors, then did a little more shopping as we waited for our Incredicoaster passes to activate. Before we hopped on for our second ride, I snagged some Matterhorn passes for 1600.
After that it was a little more shopping as the crowds began to become really apparent. I got an alert on the app that Disneyland was very busy today and encouraging folks to come to DCA for Festival of the Holidays. No surprise there!
We then met up for an 1310 reservation for lunch at the Wine Country Trattoria for a relaxing sit-down lunch. Everyone was pretty worn out and the food and drink were just what we needed before we headed back to the hotel for an afternoon nap. As we ate I grabbed fast passes for Haunted Mansion Holiday at 1900.
We have reservations for the Fantasmic on the Go Hungry Bear Package at 1815, so the evening plan is to head into DL at 1600, ride Matterhorn, maybe ride Jungle Cruise or Winnie the Pooh or just hang out, get our dinner, ride Haunted Mansion, then go get in line for Fantasmic and eat dessert from...somewhere. Watch Fantasmic, Watch the Fireworks from there, and, just for kicks, I just pulled a Splash Mountain FP for 2130 which we may or may not use (I'll ask the family when they wake up from their nap.)
And that's how I do my first day on one of the most crowded days of the year. Shout out to Disneyland Daily's DCA plan for helping me pull this together.
