Thoughts and Observations from DLR Trip This Week

[HydroGuy]

• DW and I visited this week for 3 1/2 days - stayed at BWPPI which was just right as usual

• June gloom was in force Monday and Tuesday - the highs were in the low 70's (22 C) and people were wearing sweatshirts even mid-day. Wednesday and Thursday were nicer and sunnier.

• Grad nights - we scheduled around them so they were a non-issue for us. The grad nights were Wednesday and Friday. We went on Mon-Tue-Thurs. I snuck into DL for a couple hours Wed night but did not notice anything different from Mon-Tue

• Crowds - wow, the crowds. Monday and Tuesday were just about as crowded as I have ever seen it. POTC at 50 minutes! That line was crazy! CA Screamin at 50 minutes? Really? Matterhorn at 50 minutes? BTMRR crowds late into the evening of 45 minutes rather than dropping off to 10-15 minutes? By Thursday the crowds at DL and DCA looked much more normal to what I have experienced in the summer in recent years and it was much more tolerable. But Mon-Tue were just crazy.

• Peter Pan - I was the third person to PP Monday morning but it had a late start - they said "15 minutes" - so I moved on. Came back at 8:15 and it was still not open. Checked at 8:20 after riding Mad Tea Party and the line was 30 minutes long! So we missed that. Always a bummer when you put in the time to get to the gates at 7:20AM to make it to PP and still miss out on it. We never got to ride it this week.

• We have a new favorite restaurant at DLR - Steakhouse 55. Never dined there before even though we stayed at the DLH two years ago. We also did CCR this trip and decided we will never go back there again. We did Napa Rose two years ago but Steakhouse 55 topped that for us. Wow, what a great place.

• New Frozen show - we saw it Thursday 2:35 show. Very well done and definitely exceeded our expectations. As others have said you cannot compare it to Aladdin as they are too different but it is a worthy replacement. We got the Frozen FP at around 9AM. We were planning for a 7:30AM arrival to the DCA queue and to get Frozen FPs at 8AM, but DW started coming down with a cold and we had a late start. Our experience with arrival was much like others - the FP said to return at 1:35PM but we came back around 1:15. The CMs kept discouraging people from gathering but people gathered anyways. We were aggressive in getting into the line and near the front. They are definitely doing sections for the FPs - we had mezzanine - and they would not allow you to switch. We asked about switching to Orchestra. We ended up in the mezzanine front row near center - which was a great view but right above some lighting which put off a lot of heat that rose right up to us and was a bit uncomfortable. We won't sit there in the future.

• One ride on Splash Mountain on our first day right before our afternoon break. Since it was so cool out the standby line was 5 minutes long all the way until like 10:30AM. We got FPs and rode around 1:30PM. I was in front and DW in second seat - and we got soaked as if we had jumped into a pool - and that was before the big drop at the end! It was kind of nice to be completely soaked before the big drop because we did not care at all about getting sprayed on the big drop! We headed back for our break and got into some dry clothes. We decided not to go for GRR this trip LOL.

• The single rider line on Matterhorn Security line was just not very worthwhile - standby was 25 minutes one night around 9PM and I waited 20 minutes in SR

• The recently added cushions to Matterhorn do make what was a very uncomfortable ride into something tolerable.

• CA Screamin is always fun at night but with the 9PM WOC they close Screamin at 8:30PM. I got in the SR line around 8:20PM and was on the last train of the night Thursday night right around 8:30PM.

• We finally got to see Maynard at the Tiki Room! What a treat!

• OK, Soarin' Over the World opened yesterday (Friday June 17) and we planned to catch that first thing in the morning and then catch our afternoon flight home. Sadly, a dear family friend passed away and a memorial service was held yesterday morning in SoCal. We were already there in SoCal and thus it was easier to make it to the memorial than if we were home in Colorado. But it did mean missing the ride. At this point I do not see us being back to DLR until July 2017 (D23 Expo). But we are talking about a trip to China possibly in October-November and we are thinking about including Shanghai DL in the trip - so maybe we will catch it there.

• DL and DCA are just so beautiful - the parks are in great shape and it occurred to me (again) how well done all the changes to DCA were

• CMs - we had a number of special encounters which stood out above previous trips. And no bad CM experiences (which are rare for us in the first place). From Mark in DTD, John at the Jolly Holiday Bakery, Linda at the Blue Bayou, and Martin at Steakhouse 55, the CMs were just awesome. Plus Maynard!

 

[ADLFAN]

Sounds like you had an awesome trip!

What didn't you enjoy about Carthay Circle?

We did breakfast at Steakhouse 55 and loved it, dinner is on my to-do list!

 

[HydroGuy]

What didn't you enjoy about Carthay Circle?

We know CCR is high end but so is Napa Rose which we liked. We did not care for the CCR menu - not much looked very good to us - and what we ordered was so-so. The pasta chicken I got was pretty good. My DW's mushroom quiche she did not like. The servers took it off our bill and we did not ask them to do that. But in general we just did not enjoy it. I am not saying it is bad or others will think it is bad. We just did not think we wanted to go back. Everything about Steakhouse 55 made us want to go back.

 

[KCmike]

Great report.
We have had two experiences at Steakhouse 55 over the years. One great like yours and one just so so. Both were for dinner.
I think the significant closures of the train and other areas really makes the crowds more dense in other parts of the park.
Did you get to do Hyperspace Mountain?

 

[tefrench]

Thanks for the review! We were at Steakhouse 55 for our 20th anniversary on Wednesday night and loved it. Everything was delicious. We had a great server, and enjoyed the whole experience (minus the amuse bouche or whatever you call it).

 

[HydroGuy]

Did you get to do Hyperspace Mountain?

Yes we did that Monday morning. Only had time to ride it once. I think I like the regular Space Mtn better but it does get repetitive. So HSM and GGSM I welcome.

 

[HydroGuy]

Thanks for the review! We were at Steakhouse 55 for our 20th anniversary on Wednesday night and loved it. Everything was delicious. We had a great server, and enjoyed the whole experience (minus the amuse bouche or whatever you call it).

We were Thursday evening. We missed you by one night! My DW was a little uptight about how we were dressed in "park clothes" (e.g., shorts and tees). There was a mix there of dress levels for sure.

 

[pittypat]

We know CCR is high end but so is Napa Rose which we liked. We did not care for the CCR menu - not much looked very good to us - and what we ordered was so-so. The pasta chicken I got was pretty good. My DW's mushroom quiche she did not like. The servers took it off our bill and we did not ask them to do that. But in general we just did not enjoy it. I am not saying it is bad or others will think it is bad. We just did not think we wanted to go back. Everything about Steakhouse 55 made us want to go back.

I agree completely about CCR. We went there several years ago and the food was fantastic. We went this past December and it was so-so to terrible. Of the three of us, no one even finished their meal. And the service was poor as well. We were so disappointed since our first visit was great. But we'll never go back there either.

 

[disneymum58]

We had a pretty bad experience at CCR end of February. At first they brought me a meal I hadn't ordered. Eventually they brought out the salmon I had ordered but it was served almost raw. I sent it back, but by the time I got a new plate, my son had already finished eating. Talking with the manager got us an extra FP, but no apology or taken off the bill. It was incredibly difficult to find a server to get their attention to get the manager. I had already eaten a bite or 2 of the first salmon without noticing! Yuk!
We will never go back there to eat.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Glad to see you and your wife had an overall good trip, Trey. (see you at D23!)

 

[Skiton]

Interesting, we were there in May and thought CC was wonderful. Food was great and service was outstanding. We also enjoyed Steakhouse 55, but did not think the food was nearly as good as Napa Rose or Carthay. Out of curiousity, did you order steak? We are also from Colorado and thought my DH's steak wasn't nearly as good as what we're used to getting here at home.

 

[HydroGuy]

Interesting, we were there in May and thought CC was wonderful. Food was great and service was outstanding. We also enjoyed Steakhouse 55, but did not think the food was nearly as good as Napa Rose or Carthay. Out of curiousity, did you order steak? We are also from Colorado and thought my DH's steak wasn't nearly as good as what we're used to getting here at home.

I had the Filet Mignon at SH55 and DW and the prime rib. We both thought the steaks were great. Plus the sides, the bread, the drinks and the creme brulee!

 

[Indiana Scott]

Post's like this are so nice.
It's been raining here for days but today is finally sunny. So I sit down in my favorite dent in the couch with my coffee (Disney cup, of course) and sign in to DIS and find threads like this. The details of this post take me away to the parks as I picture all the little nuances, smells and memory triggers.
Thanks for posting HG!

 

[Disney127]

Thanks for your review! DD and I have reservations at Steakhouse 55 for our upcoming trip, looking forward to trying this restaurant. We do like CCR but thought that we would try something different. Steakhouse 55's menu looks more appealing to us than CCR.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

Always enjoy your observations, sounds like a great overall trip. SH55 is one of our favorites, we almost always have our get away breakfast there and have enjoyed a few steak dinners there as well. We have passed on CCR the last two years after back to back bad meals in 2014. Might have been just bad luck on our part, probably give it a go again some day.

 

[tanyaegangibson]

It does sound like a great trip! DH loves SH55--it's his fav DLR restaurant besides the Chef's Counter at Napa Rose. The kids and I like it, but we slightly prefer CCR. (When the kids and I go without DH, they always like CCR as their special last-night meal, whereas DH would rather skip CCR altogether.) I agree that the service is hit-and-miss, but I think the kids and I just love the ambiance of CCR more, particularly because we like sitting outside on the balcony and hearing the sounds of DCA (and, if we time it right, watching the fireworks from there). Both kids love fish, and CCR has been great about taking an adult fish dish, putting more kid-friendly sides with it, and/or splitting it for the kids.

 

[PHXscuba]

Great observations as always. I also found Peter Pan down the morning in May when I had so carefully planned to be there first. Never got to ride it either, so I still haven't seen it since they re-did it last year.

My brother and his wife (big Disneyland fans) live in Shanghai and got to attend the Shanghai DL soft opening a week before opening. They had been only so-so- excited beforehand (they visit the States and DL often) but my brother said the park was amazing and "well exceeded expectations." I am scheming to get myself over there in the next couple years!

PHXscuba