Thoughts for my plan please

[TiggerNZ]

Hi there

wonder if some of you super, lovely experinced DL'ers could comment on my plans please

Ok here goes

18th Dec - arrive LAX 10.30am, transfer etc, then check-in HoJos - nap possibly

Head to DCA around 3pm, check out a few rides
4.45pm get a space for Pixar Parade and snack from Corn Dog castle
5.15pm - Parade
then rides until 9pm when park closes

Quick walk back to HoJos to watch Fireworks from Balcony, probably getting snack on way back, or Mimis take-out

19th Dec (Friday) DL Day

Goofys Kitchen Breakfast - prob 8am
Then Park all day - various rides/santas round up etc
3.00pm - get space for parade
3.30pm Christmas parade
7.00pm Cafe Orleans for dinner
9.00 Fantasmic and 9.25 Fireworks or 10.30 Fantasmic depending on tiredness
stay in park as long as we last

20th Dec (departure from LAX at 8.40pm)

Mimis breakfast
head to DCA for 12.10pm Aladdin
Lunch at Taste Pilots Grill then rides etc until shuttle picks us up.

Any thoughts/suggestions? Thanks

Am soooooo excited, only a few more days until I can make my PS! Oh and DS is not a huge eater, and we are more likely to snack on the run/while waiting for parades than sitting down for meals all the time.

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

Looks good! I can't see anything that could be considered awkward or impossible.

I'd pop into Mimi's on your walk over the first day and get their phone number. That way you could call ahead for take-out and not have to wait. (Call before you leave DCA - if using a payphone. That way it would be ready for you as you pass by. Great French Onion Soup and I love their Liver and Onions/Bacon/Mushrooms!)

Since you are going to DCA on the last morning - why not pop over to the GCH and go to Storytellers for breakfast? You can do either menu or buffet and it is wonderfully relaxing! Then, you can use the hotel's private DCA entrance to enter the park. I know you have Goofy's Kitchen down for Saturday, but it's fun to do both (and not as expensive if you order off the menu)!

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Since you are going to DCA on the last morning - why not pop over to the GCH and go to Storytellers for breakfast? You can do either menu or buffet and it is wonderfully relaxing! Then, you can use the hotel's private DCA entrance to enter the park. I know you have Goofy's Kitchen down for Saturday, but it's fun to do both (and not as expensive if you order off the menu)!

They made us show our room key to use the entrance.

 

[Sherry E]

They made us show our room key to use the entrance.

Yes, they do. You have to be a DLR hotel guest to use that entrance and they do check.

Otherwise, the plan sounds great, TiggerNZ! I know your little boy will love Goofy's! Be sure you stop in some of the bakeries and get him some holiday treats!!!

 

[mystic_path]

Well you might cut yourself short at one point... here is what you said...


Head to DCA around 3pm, check out a few rides
4.45pm get a space for Pixar Parade and snack from Corn Dog castle
5.15pm - Parade



All fine and dandy and your doing a great job at planning but I would give yourself a good extra 15 minutes to get a decent spot for the parade. So Id go stake out a spot for the parade around 4:30 and once there get either your husband or whoever you might go with, to hold your seat while you go get corn dogs. Then you can bring it back and eat while your waiting. If you dont go with another adult and just have small kids, grab your corn dogs and go stake out a spot for around 4:30-4:40. Good parade seats fill up quite quickly.

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

Wow - never had to do that. We use the GCH entrance all the time (once a month or more) and have never been asked to show room keys. Last time we used it was in September. Either it's a new policy or they only pull it out on crowded days. Sherry - my bet is that because you were there during Gay Days weekend and DCA was the only park for Sunday, that maybe that's why they were enforcing it. They have literally never asked us in 7 years for a room key - even when we were staying there.

Since Corn Dog Castle is right at the end of the parade route, I don't see too much problems with their schedule. Parade doesn't hit there until about 5:30 or so, folks don't tend to crowd that area, like they do in Sunshine Plaza.

 

[Sherry E]

Wow - never had to do that. We use the GCH entrance all the time (once a month or more) and have never been asked to show room keys. Last time we used it was in September. Either it's a new policy or they only pull it out on crowded days. Sherry - my bet is that because you were there during Gay Days weekend and DCA was the only park for Sunday, that maybe that's why they were enforcing it. They have literally never asked us in 7 years for a room key - even when we were staying there.

Could be. We went in on a Friday morning, but I think the reason I knew to have my room key handy along with my AP was because I had read it on here, on DISboards - a couple of posters had mentioned that to use the GCH entrance to DCA, you had to show your room key to prove that you were a resort hotel guest. Maybe, as with other Disney situations, certain CM's enforce the rules and others don't care? Or maybe they stop checking after certain times of day. But when we went in, they looked at the room key as well as the ticket/Hopper/AP. I don't know what they do on a daily basis.

 

[TiggerNZ]

Thanks everyone, you guys are great.

I haven't figured out how to get multiple quotes into here yet....sorry.

YellowMickeyPoncho - I did wonder about doing another character breakfast, but I read the reviews on Storytellers and to be honest I didn't know who the characters were! I was also planning on a slightly slower start that day as DCA opens at 10am, so was hoping for a little sleep-in and quick brekkie - but thanks for the idea, I'll keep it in mind.

Mystic Path - thanks for the timing tips, I may well stake a space earlier - any suggestions on a good spot to watch from? Unfortunately it is just me and DS this trip so no-one to save space while I run, so was going to get them first and stake a spot (having already purchased sweets and drinks for later)
My son is an enormous Pixar fan, and I think this will be the highlight of the trip, so must get a good space. Can you sit on pavements etc, or where's good?

SherryE - bakeries are definately on the list - the Mickey rice treats, tigger tails, fudge, popcorn - all things I have learnt about since joining these wonderful boards.

Thanks again everyone

 

[Hound 109]

The only times (twice) I've been asked to show the room key (at the GCH entrance into the DCA) is before DCA opens (at 10am).

Other times of the day (late mornings....afternoons etc.) we weren't asked to show it (probably 6-8 different times).

 

[Sherry E]

The only times (twice) I've been asked to show the room key (at the GCH entrance into the DCA) is before DCA opens (at 10am).

Other times of the day (late mornings....afternoons etc.) we weren't asked to show it (probably 6-8 different times).

Well that makes sense, because when we were asked to show it, it was before DCA officially opened at 10:00 a.m. We didn't try going back through that entrance later so I have no idea whether they would have asked to see the key or not, but I do recall reading one or two posts on this board where people said they had to have the key whenever they went in that way. Seeing that you never know which CM's are going to check for the key and which ones won't, probably a good idea for hotel guests to have it handy at all times, just in case, and for non-DLR hotel guests like TiggerNZ, maybe check with the GCH or Guest Services beforehand to make sure you can use that DCA entrance just so you don't waste precious time walking that way only to be turned away by a surly, rule-abiding Cast Member!

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Your plan sounds good! Sounds like you'll have a great time!

We enjoyed watching the Pixar Parade where it starts. We watched it by the intersection by Playhouse Disney. If you stay on that side of the steet you can escape to Monsters Inc, and Muppet Vision right after the parade. That isn't close to Corn Dog Castle though.

We looked everywhere for Tigger Tails while we were there last week. Couldn't find any. Maybe they replaced them with seasonal treats. There were chocolate and caramel covered marshmellows with Halloween colored sprinkles.

 

[Hound 109]

Tigger tails (& dozens of other great treats) are found at the Pooh Corner Bakery (at least that's where we found them). btw, this is a great place to stop mid morning for a snack (not nearly as crowded as the main st. bakery).