Three Days at Disneyland...the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

[realrellim]

Exciting to read this. We are going on a 3 day trip coming up very soon! We are doing Sunday, Monday, Tuesday in the parks. I have been a few times before with 5 day park hoppers and had plenty of time to do everything. I am panicking a bit about only having 3 days. Did you find you were able to get everything done? We are even thinking of skipping most shows (it's me and my 12 year old son), just to maximize our time.

We had three days and got almost everything we wanted to do done. Keep in mind that with 6- and 11-year-old girls, that included two princess meet & greets (Royal Hall and then Elsa & Anna), as well as Minnie's House and Mickey's House. Those definitely ate up some time, as did Jedi Training Academy. I suspect your focus is more on rides (and headliner rides at that), and bet you'll be fine. There were only four things we didn't get to do out of a rather extensive list: Mr. Toad, Star Wars Launch Bay (DH and the girls did while I was saving us a spot on the curb for the parade, but I never made it over there myself), and getting a "You are Here" DL cup at Market House (which was fine because I found two on Amazon after the trip). Have fun!

 

[scf]

The closures for the construction by Critter Country meant the alternative pathways to get from Fantasyland over to Frontierland without accessing the Main Street Hub were also cut off

This is the really, really ugly part of the new construction that we are stuck with until May 2017. Having to go through the hub for everything is getting really slow. There are a few sneak routes (Zocalo, etc.) but mostly it's a huge bottleneck.

Dole Whip. Sublime, despite a line that rivals many attractions.

Is the line inside the waiting area sometimes longer than outside? Felt that way yesterday.

Attraction closures: many were announced in advance so people were already coping with that disappointment, but there were also many additional un-announced closures, especially the on-again, off-again Matterhorn with no fast-pass recovery possible.

RSR was apparently down today for a while. When we got there around 2:30, the FP start was out by Luigi's, and stayed there for at least another hour.

All grumping aside, you're still lucky if you are able to spend a couple days at Disneyland [...]

Testify, brother!

 

[lindyv321]

This is the really, really ugly part of the new construction that we are stuck with until May 2017. Having to go through the hub for everything is getting really slow. There are a few sneak routes (Zocalo, etc.) but mostly it's a huge bottleneck.



Is the line inside the waiting area sometimes longer than outside? Felt that way yesterday.



RSR was apparently down today for a while. When we got there around 2:30, the FP start was out by Luigi's, and stayed there for at least another hour.



Testify, brother!

Do tell about these sneak routes please!

 

[skylynx]

If you are standing looking at the doors that lead to where you order food at Zocalo, off to the right is a hallway that takes you to the restaurant's bathroom, but if you keep walking, you come out by the princess theatre (not sure of the exact name) and a way to walk into the castle hub without having to use the Frontierland entrance/exit from the hub. I know this because this is where we got trapped before the fireworks...the opening to the castle hub was roped off and guarded by cast members so your only choice was to stay put or retreat back through the hallway to Zocalo and try and get to main street via the Adventureland bridge. Cast members were only allowing one way traffic into Frontierland from the hub the nights we were there. So that's one lesser-used thoroughfare (when it's open!)

 

[lindyv321]

Good to know!! Thanks!

 

[agamble]

Is the line inside the waiting area sometimes longer than outside? Felt that way yesterday.

We've experienced this. They put priority on the line outside the waiting area. If they have 3 people working in the booth two will work the outside line and one the inside. If there's only two people one works the outside and the other alternates between in and out. At least that was our experience.

 

[pinkprincess30]

Kids in hot tubs...if I'm paying the amount of money I am to stay in the DLH with my children they also get to be in the hot tub. It's not like there's a discounted hotel rate because we have kids. My kids have been enjoying the various hot springs in Colorado since they were small, but one of the differences is that they charge a discounted rate for kids and are restricted to four of the hot springs at our favorite spot while the others are adult-only (i.e., "12 and older"). That mostly works, except for the occasion when some idiot adult gets into one of the four pools the kids are allowed in and starts grumping about kids being kids, at which point I never hesitate to point out that there are about TWENTY adult-only pools and she (always a she) should get off her behind and walk up the hill to one of those.

At a regular hotel hot tub, however, we don't let the kids splash and play games. I don't want to be splashed, nor does anyone else in here). The hot tub is for relaxing.

That's the key! You stick around and parent your kiddos. Kids who are calm and well behaved in a hot tub are not a problem at all!

 

[ashleyrm]

If you are standing looking at the doors that lead to where you order food at Zocalo, off to the right is a hallway that takes you to the restaurant's bathroom, but if you keep walking, you come out by the princess theatre (not sure of the exact name) and a way to walk into the castle hub without having to use the Frontierland entrance/exit from the hub. I know this because this is where we got trapped before the fireworks...the opening to the castle hub was roped off and guarded by cast members so your only choice was to stay put or retreat back through the hallway to Zocalo and try and get to main street via the Adventureland bridge. Cast members were only allowing one way traffic into Frontierland from the hub the nights we were there. So that's one lesser-used thoroughfare (when it's open!)

Thanks for this and your awesome mini-report. Heading over from the east coast tomorrow for the race and hopefully for some park time. Copying this to my notes!

 

[closetmickey]

People shouldn't harass other guests. It's okay to ask them if they would sit, but bugging them and touching them is not okay. If someone has a problem they should ask a CM for help. That being said, I'm pretty sure if you're on the curb CM will ask that you sit when the show starts. Can anyone confirm this?

Yes- they absolutely enforce this at DL. Especially since Paint the Night has debuted.