We just got back from two days at Disney and one night (2 days) at Great Wolf Lodge.
I grew up 5 miles from the park, but we don't go terribly regularly.
Random thoughts...
1. I am REALLY glad I brought a portable charger, the app really drains by battery.
2. I thought that Genie plus was worth it. I also think its ridiculous that the only way to get fast-passes is to pay for it. (I fully recognize that Disney is in the money-making business and clearly people pay for them.). We were able to get fast-passes for everything we wanted and honestly, finished CA adventure by 3pm after riding nearly everything.
3. I miss the old app where you could see what characters were where ahead of time. My teen wanted to meet Wanda and we spent some time over in Marvel Studios, but never saw her.
4. There are paper maps at the entrance. I really liked having one. Even for people who grew up around the park, it helped brainstorm the "we are here now, have a fastpass there in 45 minutes. What should we do that doesn't involve running around the park."
5. Mobile ordering worked well for us. We generally did it on our way to the restaurant.
6. It seemed like rides really were going down constantly. We went straight to Pixar Pier to find Incredicoaster and TSMM down. TSMM came up quickly and we road Incredicoaster just before lunch. Disneyland was even worse. We were at the front of the line for Mr. Toad when it went down and were actually rescued off Winnie the Pooh. (That was okay, we were only riding it because we were waiting for our Fastpass for Splash Mountain and we got off just as our window opened.)
7. We went back to the hotel to swim around 4-5 both days. We ended up getting Doordash and eating it at the pool. Note: need to get plates and silverware from hotel.
I grew up 5 miles from the park, but we don't go terribly regularly.
Random thoughts...
1. I am REALLY glad I brought a portable charger, the app really drains by battery.
2. I thought that Genie plus was worth it. I also think its ridiculous that the only way to get fast-passes is to pay for it. (I fully recognize that Disney is in the money-making business and clearly people pay for them.). We were able to get fast-passes for everything we wanted and honestly, finished CA adventure by 3pm after riding nearly everything.
3. I miss the old app where you could see what characters were where ahead of time. My teen wanted to meet Wanda and we spent some time over in Marvel Studios, but never saw her.
4. There are paper maps at the entrance. I really liked having one. Even for people who grew up around the park, it helped brainstorm the "we are here now, have a fastpass there in 45 minutes. What should we do that doesn't involve running around the park."
5. Mobile ordering worked well for us. We generally did it on our way to the restaurant.
6. It seemed like rides really were going down constantly. We went straight to Pixar Pier to find Incredicoaster and TSMM down. TSMM came up quickly and we road Incredicoaster just before lunch. Disneyland was even worse. We were at the front of the line for Mr. Toad when it went down and were actually rescued off Winnie the Pooh. (That was okay, we were only riding it because we were waiting for our Fastpass for Splash Mountain and we got off just as our window opened.)
7. We went back to the hotel to swim around 4-5 both days. We ended up getting Doordash and eating it at the pool. Note: need to get plates and silverware from hotel.
