TR! 6 days in Disneyland isn't too much especially when there's dinner at Club 33! Picture heavy!

[MrDisneyFan]

Hellooooo! This is my first Disneyland Trip Report! I did one last year for our Disney cruise just over a year ago (which truth be told might be the best vacation EVER!!). I thought it would be fun to do one for a DL trip here so buckle up!

A very brief introduction... I'm Mike, just turned 40, (woo hoo!) and I'm the self proclaimed leader of our mouseketeers. My DS, Jack is 11 and DD, Kate is 9. And my beautiful DW would kill me if I said her age. I've been the Disney fan the longest, first coming to Disneyland from Canada when I was just 6! My grandparents lived in SoCal so I was a very lucky young Canadian boy. Being taken on road trips down to California every few years and make our way to Disneyland. Our family now lives in Southern CA about 2.5 - 3 hours from Disneyland. So just far enough away where I can't just drive over on a lark but close enough where we can do day trips (albeit LONG day trips) Honestly it's a little farther then I'd prefer... But we are extremely fortunate to be able to come several times through the year. Usually we take 1 'long' trip of 4-5 or 6 days. The rest of the time we'll come anywhere from a day trip to 3 nights. I enjoy coming to the park on my own as well but that's rare these days. I also really love taking one of my kids at a time for a day trip to DLR, just 2 of us.

So... Taking advantage of a great discounted rate at the Disneyland Hotel for a dance competition my daughter was performing in over Valentine's Day weekend I booked us 6 nights! Our longest stay at the DLR ever! But with such a fantastic rate I simply couldn't pass it up! And spoiler alert - we didn't find it to be too many days at all (well my wife might disagree). We planned this trip around my daughter's dance competition but the timing could not have been better. For the last several years we've always made a trip to DLR within about a week of my birthday. Hey, what better place to celebrate!!

We arrived the Friday approaching President's Day weekend, 2 days before Valentine's Day. Driving into and arriving at the DLH was great!! It was our first stay at this property. We've stayed at the PPH and the GCH and while both are fun and great in their own right the DLH definitely felt more "Disney-fied". We loved the art displayed throughout the lobby...

And how fun is this!? an Autopia car on display...

When we arrived and pulled up there were a few characters running around the front of the hotel (Goofy was prominent) and other characters inside right in front of the reception area! It was a nice touch and great way to get the kids engaged and excited right away. Lucky us, we arrived around 1PM but our room was already ready!

Bell services did a great job - our luggage was brought up in less then 5 minutes of calling for it.

The room was really nice, well appointed and comfortable. Looking back I didn't take many photos of the room itself but the bed and headboard were kind of the highlights of the decor. There's a switch on the nightstand light that lights up the castle and plays a music box version of "A dream is a wish your heart makes...". My wife had me almost immediately google to see if we could buy one (and you can't that I found). My wife also said she like the DLH best out of all 3 resort properties. I'm not 100% sure though, I really really like the GCH but the DLH is more strongly Disney themed. I liked it really well but after a while you start to notice the difference in distance compared to the grand. I would find myself walking past the entrance to the GCH in downtown Disney thinking - I could almost be at our room! We did make use of the monorail several times but often we would be in DCA or another location. It wouldn't always save time walking to the the monorail station in Tomorrowland vs walking straight back to the hotel. Also, the monorail was down twice during our trip. We'd make it up to the station to find out it had broke down!

ta ta for now into downtown Disney for lunch and some park time next...

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Joining in! Sounds like a great trip and awesome you got a great rate at the DLH (the rack rate is, well, less than awesome)

 

[MrDisneyFan]

After our luggage was brought to the room and we put a couple of things away we walked into downtown Disney to find some lunch. We decide on Tortilla Jo's - always a favorite of ours. The wife and I shared some tacos which were great and enjoyed some margaritas were even better! They make them great! After getting properly "hydrated" and a little fuel in us we headed into the parks we were ready for a mid afternoon entry. DCA was our first destination and it was now mid afternoon and getting hot. Grizzly peak was calling. Since GRR was only open for the weekend before it closed for refurbishment we decided that would be a good start!

We left there and bumbled around DCA for a little while. We viewed the Sneak Peak for Zootopia and it was very well done! I would highly recommend it. The kids and I are excited to see this when it comes out! Great use of the 4D Bugs life theater effects (getting sprayed or poked in the back) to go along with what was happening on screen. We were probably only in DCA for a few hours that first day. Around sundown, about 5 or 6PM we walked back to the hotel to find more food...

They handed out paper bunny and fox ear zootopia hats when you entered the theater waiting area.

My DS wore his for the rest of the day...

Heading back to the hotel at twilight

Back a the DLH in search of substinence we found Tangaroa Terrace.

We were all very hungry at this point so wanted something quick. Our first time here and we tried: Shrimp Tacos, Bacon Cheeseburger with sweet potato fries. Kids had a Kids burger and chicken breast nuggets. All was gobbled up quickly, it all must have tasted pretty good because we all ate it up quick! Either that or we may have just been extremely hungry! We sat outside on the patio in the section closer to Trader Sams so we got table service for drinks! A server came over and took a drink order for us! Bonus! (so I thought...). I ordered the Rosita's margarita off the menu and have to say did NOT like it at all! I like good fresh margaritas and this was not that. My drinks from then on would be ordered from the Steakhouse 55 lounge.

Saturday morning DW wanted to sleep in a while so I got up with the kids to head to DCA for opening.

TIP FOR EASY BREAKFAST/SNACK
In order to make things easier in the early morning hours we usually bring with us a few things for kids' breakfast to to have on hand:
Red Solo Cups (or your color of preference )
plastic spoons
Milk
1 or 2 cereal choices

It makes it super convenient (not to mention cheap) when you're heading out early for park opening. Or late at night if the kids want a snack and room service is going to take 90 minutes.

NEVER WAIT FOR STARBUCKS AGAIN - Use the mobile app!
Before heading away from the hotel I pulled up the handy dandy Starbucks app and put in my mobile order. Big tip for Starbucks drinkers and eaters... USE THE MOBILE APP to order ahead! Heck, even if you're not a regular Starbucks coffee drinker they actually have some decent breakfast sandwiches and the prices are very reasonable especially when comparing with anything you're going to get inside the parks. I ordered my Starbucks coffee and breakfast sandwich when we were leaving the hotel using the Starbucks mobile app. When I got to the Starbucks in Dowtown Disney I literally walked in the door and picked up my breakfast sandwich and flat white waiting for me on the counter then walked out. It took me 45 seconds out of the way. I'm quite amazed at how many people are in that HUGE line. I guess a lot of people still don't know you can order ahead? Using the mobile app saves at least 15-20 mins between waiting in line just to put in an order then waiting for them to actually make your drink or heat up food. It only works at the DTD location though I think... I didn't try it while in the park but later when I looked at the app, the in park Starbucks locations (Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Café & Market House) were greyed out and I couldn't select them. If anyone knows something different I'd love to hear it!

Saturday morning MM was at Disneyland and we were NOT going to be up early enough to arrive at the DL gates @ 6:30AM. We decided we weren't going to kill ourselves this trip and it makes it tough getting everyone ready to be at the gates that early. Instead we arrived at the DCA gates about 7:30AM for 8AM opening. When we arrived were only a few people back in line. We weren't there very long before they opened the main gates around 7:45 taking us to Buena Vista street where they held us off until official park opening. We walked on to RSR then got our fastpasses for later. It was just the 2 kids and I so we stayed in DCA until later in the morning when mom wanted to meet us.

I love the parks early in the morning - so quiet and peaceful in some areas!

Love Flo's...

Small detour... Get ready to scream!

DW took the monorail over and met us in Disneyland later that morning. We all made our way over to Adventureland with no real plan and all ended up in Tarzan's treehouse.

After the treehouse we enrolled in Skipper School out in front of the Jungle Cruise which was closed for refurbishment. It was so much fun!! Looking back I wish we would have gone back to do it again! I highly recommend it, so much fun! The cast members were an absolute hoot! In a nutshell the cast members re-entact the Jungle cruise handling the narrative and acting out scenes. They handed out scripts to participants. The scripts have the jokes on them and you as the participant stand up and read the lines. Super fun!

What's that? Time to eat again? Okay! For lunch DD got a clam chowder soup bowl from Royal Street Verandah. We walked from there to Jolly Holiday Bakery where the rest of us ordered lunch. It's a staple for us, the grilled cheese and tomato soup is a good choice. I went with the turkey sandwich today. I also discovered the chocolate croissant here this trip. Yum! A new item for my favorite DL sweet treats!

Kids were ready for a break so back to the hotel for some time by the pool. They had the E pool still closed for refurbishment but the waterslides, D pool and hot tub were all open. Kids had a great time, the wife and I didn't go in. The kids of course had a blast but I wasn't too interested in jumping into kid soup:

For a while after that we were in dance mode for my DD's performance that night. My DS wasn't too happy about being around and watching dancing for an hour or so that but all went great and she had one more performance Sunday. 1st place for both of her dances!

After dance it was dinner time. We didn't have any pre-arranged plans or reservations for dinner so we walked back into DTD and decided to try a new place for dinner - Catal. They didn't have a wait which was great for a Saturday night! The menu and ambiance was great! I had the traditional Paella and it was fantastic! My wife had the filet steak which she loved.

Paella! Yum!

Filet, hard to go wrong...

We enjoyed it so much we came back here another night later on this trip. The 2nd time around I had a suckling pig dish which was just okay, I wouldn't order it again. Also the service was really great the first time. They were prompt and attentive. But the 2nd time we were getting downright frustrated with our server. We got a beverage order fairly quickly. A table of 2 beside us had just been seated right before us. They got their appetizers ordered about the same time our beverage order went in. After we promptly got our beverages but we didn't see the server again until after our neighbors received AND finished their appetizers! Actually I had to flag another server down to have our server come. Turned out the server I flagged down was a manager. He took our order and comped us an appetizer. I don't like getting people in trouble and hope he didn't but the service was much better after that. Just goes to show it's okay to speak up! We will go back for sure and try again, it was really good the first time so the 2nd not so great experience didn't ruin it for us.

After dinner at Catal my DW and DS were tired and they wanted to go back to the room. But my DD and I had some more steam. DD wanted to go back to the park for a while. That's always okay with me! We had picked up fastpasses earlier for Hyperspace Mtn and made it would have been a shame to not use them after all! After Hyperspace Mtn we went through single rider on Matterhorn which was a short wait, no more then 10 minutes. We got a really neat experience of being on the matterhorn as the PTN parade was going by. Since PTN was in progress it was only a short while before fireworks. We navigated our way through the parade and crowds to Main St and hung out in the Emporium shops. It worked out perfectly! We stepped out and into the middle of main street right after the parade went by and we had a great spot. We were wishing the whole family was with us but I'm so glad we went and saw them. we tried 2 more times all together and they were cancelled boo! So this was the only night we saw Disneyland Forever.

Fireworks about to start!

After the fireworks my DD wanted to take the monorail back so we walked over to Tomorrowland and only had to wait about 10 minutes to get on on, And as a bonus we got to ride in the front with the pilot!We were a little worried because as soon as we got in the front compartment the driver let us know there was an issue with the other monorail so they couldn't leave yet. But all ended fine. After 5 minutes he got the clear to take off!

Back at the hotel DW and DS were already fast asleep!

Next up - a family Valentines Day with 2 ADRs

 

[MrDisneyFan]

Sunday... Valentine's Day was a nice relaxed day. We had a ADR for breakfast in Steakhouse 55.
First time eating there and I really wish we would have had the time to try a dinner there! Breakfast was really really good. I would recommend this to anyone. I'm pretty picky about my coffee and they made a great cup of it here! Strong and full flavored, mmmmm.

Good Coffee...

I had the eggs benedict which was fantastic. You could tell they made the hollandaise sauce from scratch. I had some bites of the kids' pancakes, also really good. Just a great tasting breakfast and so quiet and relaxing! It was nice to sit down and have a quiet, relaxing meal. There weren't that many people dining that morning.

Menu:

Loved the classic and elegant setting!

DD had her last dance in a few hours so DS and I went to the park alone. We took the monorail in and and were able to take in a few attractions. I was very proud of my son today - this was his first time getting on BTMRR!

The crowds didn't seem bad yet or at maybe we were just avoiding them. I always tell people get as much done as you can before noon. The earlier in the day the better it is. We left after only couple of hours around 11AM on the monorail. It was more dance time for the final performance at the hotel

Monorail

After dance and some it was more pool time.

For our family's Valentine's dinner we had an ADR for Tortilla Jo's! We really love the food there and they have the BEST tableside guacamole! We all enjoyed some of the guac and I had the fajitas - great as always. And they make a superb margarita (sorry Trader Sams, you can keep your rosarita margarita!)

Embarrassing birthday balloon hat, lol!

After dinner we were brave and went into DCA. It was an as expected crowded Sunday Valentine's evening.

Cute Valentine's display in the Trolley Treats window:

We spend some the park for a short while.

We thought it would be sweet to see the fireworks on Valentine's . We did the same strategy as DD and I did the other night. We hung out in the Main Street shops and were in a great spot when the fireworks 'should' have been going off. But it was not to be... that night, Valentine's Day, the fireworks were cancelled due to wind at higher altitudes It's happened at least once pretty much every time we've made a trip to DL since the 60th celebration started so not a big surprise but naturally a disappointment.

Empty sky where fireworks should be

Kids were super tired at this point...

It was one definitely of those times where you wish you only had to walk over to the Grand Californian instead of all the way through DTD to the Disneyland Hotel. First world problems for sure!

 

[MrDisneyFan]

Monday morning was our planned character breakfast at the Plaza Inn. But I had reserved a later time for 10:45AM. I figured Monday was President's Day and it was going to be busy so we would get a few things done early and sit down for a nice breakfast as it started to get hot. So today again we did DCA first thing for a couple of hours. First grabbing a very small bite at Flo's to tide us over. Then we headed over to DLR in time for our reservation. This was another new place for us! I've been to DLR 100s of times and there are still plenty of places I haven't been! But the Plaza Inn character breakfast was great! We really enjoyed both the food which was a buffet and the characters. There were a TON... They had: Minnie, Rafiki, Max, Pooh, Eeyore, Dale, Hook, Max, Chip and Dale, and fairy godmother. We somehow missed the fairy godmother but everyone got around to us and some more then once! I really liked the french toast on the buffet, everyone seemed to really enjoy the experience and food. The character interaction was really well done here.

Rafiki was hilarious! He picked his nose and wiped it on DD, lol

Hook posing for a selfie with DW

Who doesn't love Eeyore?

We were there during a 2 day heat wave and the weather apps said it was to reach 91 degrees on president's day! Ugh... But we made the most of it and did a lot of indoor activities. After breakfast we headed for the Star Wars Launch bay. We met Chewbacca and Kylo Ren and the waits weren't bad at all, only about 20 mins for Chewbacca and maybe a little longer for Kylo Ren. They were great, well worth that wait!

We enjoyed walking around the other displays in the launch bay and checking out the shops. With the temp rising we decided to head back to the hotel. More swimming and Dad picking up drinks at the Steakhouse 55 lounge

TANGENT! - Steakhouse 55 lounge mini-review / observations
I am mixed on this place because they did make really good cocktails but the service was not good most of the time. Not what I expect from Disney or at any hotel that charges what they do (for both lodging and for the cocktails). I felt bad for the servers and bartenders due to being understaffed and facilities not ideal for the number of people coming through but everything was such a looooong wait. And you could tell these cast members weren't happy. It felt outside the Disney bubble. They clearly had this place understaffed for what was a long weekend, valentine's day weekend and a huge dance competition. This was the only lounge/bar in the hotel and also was responsible for makings drinks being served in the dining room. Sometimes there were two bartenders but then one would leave! It wasn't uncommon to spend 25 minutes getting 2 drinks.

That said it was a nicely appointed lounge, the chairs were quite comfortable and was a nice place to sit once you were served. Here's a rare quiet moment after the long weekend:

Tuesday... What can I say. Tuesday started out kind of rough. There were moments of being just awful with kids and us parents getting over heated and tired by mid day. I think the heat from the previous day had caught up to us. But in the end those were well overshadowed by being I think the best day ever for me personally in DLR... Tuesday was forecasted to be almost 90 degrees again! With that in mind I hadn't planned on staying in the parks much past 12 noon. This time we were at the DLR gates first thing for opening and walked right onto Hyperspace Mtn then grabbed FPs for Star Tours. We proceeded to Fantasyland and enjoyed a few attractions.

He's late...

Then of course some photos in front of the castle!

After some pics in front of the castle we were headed out of the park but My wife really wanted to eat lunch at the Paradise Garden Grill (another staple and favorite of ours). We love that spot and the kids have some choices they like the food better at Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta right next door. It's a great spot, good food and definitely one of the more healthier quick service options. However... it's also on the very far side, deep into DCA. But we trekked through the heat and got our delicious kabobs. At least there is plenty of shade to find and some live music was playing while we ate. After some lunch the kids did single rider on Goofy's Fly school it was time, past time to go... I think everyone was over heated and need a break!

Already hot and not feeling great we had to make one more stop... The ticket counter. The wife and kids had 5 day park hoppers that needed to be upgraded to APs before the end of the day. I probably, no most definitely should've done it earlier but instead we did it at around 1PM in the peak of afternoon heat! And just saying, I don't know what the deal was with the cast member helping us but it took her forever to do the pass upgrades while I stood in direct 89 degree sun. I had everything ready and she was typing away and it seemed to take forever.

When we get passes or take a trip this is how we usually do it and I highly recommend it for others. I usually always have a premium AP (and now signature AP) and when we plan a family trip we'll get park hoppers for the family if they don't have a current AP. That way they can go on the weekend, holiday or otherwised blocked out day. Before the end of the last day the passes are valid we upgrade their hoppers to a SoCal select and do the monthly payments. I think the difference was $75 per person (so less then a one day pass to upgrade to an AP). Then we plan future trips around their blockout days. Meanwhile we get the dining and merch discounts from my AP and now get to use the included photopass benefit. And I found that we stopped much more when we saw a photographer to take advantage of that since it's included anyway.

After final success with AP upgrades and getting back to the hotel it was just down time. We all chilled out for the next few hours in the afternoon before we started getting ready for our big night! Our giant night, our Club 33 night! My DW had arranged through a friend of a friend to get dinner reservations at Club 33 for my 40th birthday!! I was soooo excited . We had already been lucky to go the previous year for my birthday with the kids for lunch at Club 33. I was so over the moon excited to now go for dinner. And this time we were getting to enjoy it with another 2 couples for an adult only night out!! One of the couples was local and arranged childcare for us at the hotel It was just as fabulous as you could imagine.

Next up - Club 33 and a very special totally unexpected after dinner surprise!

One last photo - All dressed up and somewhere special to go! About to leave the hotel...

 

[TheMaxRebo]

still loving your report and how much you are getting done.

That Starbucks app is great! Also, that sounds awesome with the skippers acting out the Jungle Cruise!

We at at the outside bar at Catal and we really liked it so not surprised the food inside was good as well. We also enjoyed our breakfast at Steakhouse 55 - bummer about the staff level at the lounge though

I think you did it right by doing a late breakfast at the Plaza. We did it first thing in the morning and the level of character interaction was almost overwhelming ... I think as a break into the morning, after you are already warmed up, etc. I think it would be better

Can't wait to hear about Club 33?

 

[MrDisneyFan]

The miserable hot day had melted perfectly into a mild, comfortable evening. Which was a very good thing. We were now all dressed up wearing long pants and dress shirts and dress shoes. We strolled with our local friends to ride the monorail from DTD into Tomorrowland. It was a little different being all dressed up on the monorail, a very fun different!

We walked from the Tomorrowland station to New Orleans square where the other couple was eagerly waiting for us. We arrived a few minutes before our reservation and another party dining there was ringing the bell to go in. We hung back for a minute. It was time for us to ring the bell too but we waited until the other party was in and taken care of. We wanted them to enjoy their moment and we wanted to enjoy ours too!

The mysterious door before ringing the bell

I had the privilege of ringing the doorbell and letting them know our party was here for a dinner reservation. weee...

After ringing the bell, the hostess opened the door and brought us in to the court of Angels! While it is beautiful I do miss having it open to the public.

We enjoyed the space for a few minutes and got our group photos taken before a host came down the stairs to greet us. He warmly welcomed our group and gave us the option of riding the elevator or taking the stairs. We all agreed to take the elevator up to the 2nd floor. After a quick ride up they took jackets, and anything we wanted checked during our meal. All of the castmembers we encountered were helpful, had smiles on their faces and gracious. Exactly what one would expect from this experience.

A Club 33 plate was at the setting when we arrived and removed before the food was served, how fancy!

We were seated and provided menus...

We all opted for the 6 course experience but intentionally took our time to order any food. We stretched out our experience as much as we could. The server was very good, very patient never once made us feel rushed. He explained the menu well and delivered the the wine list and cocktail menu

Cocktail Menu

I already knew what drink I was ordering! A side car and these guys made it perfect! A couple notes about the service that we took notice of... After being seated a host removed the napkin rings and replaced white napkins with black napkins for anyone wearing darker pants. One wouldn't want any chance of white lint on dark pants or a dress after all! Another thing they did shortly after being seated was bring a very small cushioned seat for the women to place their purses beside their chair so it wouldn't be on the ground.

My side car, yum!

We all sipped on and enjoyed a drink then put an order in for a second round before we finally gave the server our selections for dinner. As the server explained we could mix the number of courses between any of the listed items. For example you could order 2 items from the First Course and order nothing from second course. It just had to add up to the number of courses you wanted (5 or 6).

We gave our orders and enjoyed our 2nd round of drinks for a spell. Before the first course came a gift from the chef was delivered - Amuse bouche. It was delicious, it was made from nuts, cashews I think.

First course - Steak tartar was recommended by the server. I never had it before and figured this would be the place that would make it well. And it was great, apparently I love steak tartar!

Second course was Salad of smoked duck breast. I loved the duck and the persimmon but the rest of the salad was fine. It was salad

Third course was the grilled diver scallop. Excellent and I loved the pepper stuffed with lobster chorizo! My wife won't eat spicy foods so I got to eat her pepper as well, double yum!

Fourth course was the petite filet. Perfectly cooked medium and one of the best steaks I've had. Sorry photo was a little out of focus...

In the middle of fourth course we were interrupted by the fireworks going off. There was only one other table of 6 in the main dining room with us. It looked like they were also celebrating a couple of birthdays and enjoying themselves too! Both of our tables headed out to the balcony. We had a little intermission from dinner!

There was a large tree blocking the direct view to the fireworks but it was still so amazing to be out there on the balconies looking out with the fireworks going off and just the views of the park areas from this very unique vantage point. We spent quite a bit of time out there enjoying the fresh air and views...

Peering back in from the balcony...

Out to Rivers of America

People watching the fireworks from Royal Street

A mostly vacant Royal St...

Looking in from the balcony - wine service area

Place setting prior to seating

Down the hall away from the dining room towards reception

Fifth Course. I had the cheese course but forgot to take a photo. I love cheese and it was good, fine. But it was cheese and in all honesty in hindsight I would have rather ordered something else. After all I can get cheese, even good cheese, anywhere else!

Sixth course - The apple pie was great and they put a special touch on it for me...

They also gave me a club 33 birthday card all the staff had signed. What a nice memento!

We were all finishing up our last course but nobody was ready to leave. The other party had left earlier and Disneyland park was now closed. Aside from the cast members there was no one else in the dining room. We were still enjoying the ambiance and views, spending more time out on the balcony.Soaking in as much as we possibly could while this dream lasted. It was like the fairy godmother's magic was going to wear out soon!

Dining room cleared out...

Even the exit signs had a nice detail:

Reception areas:

COULDN'T FIT IT INTO ONE POST - PHOTO LIMIT EXCEEDED!

 

[MrDisneyFan]

Now finished with our meals, drinks and desserts we slowly made our way to the front host/reception area. We all had the opportunity to take a look in the display case and purchase Club 33 items. We all picked a few things to buy and take. This is a peek at what I picked this time:

Key package opened:

This was the only moment the entire evening I felt a little impatience from any of the staff there. The lady helping us seemed to be cranky we were keeping her so late maybe and made us feel somewhat rushed. But it was now almost 10:30 and DL closed at 10. We had managed to squeeze over 4 hours into our visit! She wrapped everything very well and we got our goodies and slowly made our way back down the staircase to the court of angels and got ready to leave... But we did make the most of our time there and I for one felt extremely happy that we were able to spend over 4 hours there. Superb!

And now, because we were leaving after Disneyland was closed we got to enjoy something I never thought I would see. No people! We had an Club 33 host escort us from the club out to main street and it's a good thing he was patient. He was fantastic. We had him stop for a few photos on the way...

A completely empty New Orleans Square in the dark with the Rivers of America behind us

What a sight...

Perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity for a unobstructed photo of the castle...

4571

Technically main st was still open until 11PM (1 hour after park closing) but there were only a few stragglers and still got some nice shots!

I guess being here after closing is the best way to get a photo without a million other people in front

It feels like it was a dream. The service, the food, the whole experience is exactly what you would hope for. I've read some other reviews/TRs where people didn't have as great an experience. I feel grateful that both times we've been able to go it has been phenomenal. I should feel satisfied that we have been able to go in twice but really just makes me want to get in more! Maybe I can convince my DW to go on the wait list for a membership, lol!!

 

[MrDisneyFan]

still loving your report and how much you are getting done.

That Starbucks app is great! Also, that sounds awesome with the skippers acting out the Jungle Cruise!

Starbucks app is da bomb!

We at at the outside bar at Catal and we really liked it so not surprised the food inside was good as well. We also enjoyed our breakfast at Steakhouse 55 - bummer about the staff level at the lounge though

Might try the outside Uva bar next time. It looked yummy too!

I think you did it right by doing a late breakfast at the Plaza. We did it first thing in the morning and the level of character interaction was almost overwhelming ... I think as a break into the morning, after you are already warmed up, etc. I think it would be better

Loved the way it worked and I was very glad we did this and I would definitely do it again!

Can't wait to hear about Club 33?

So great, so fun. Posted

 

[TheMaxRebo]

seems like just an amazing dinner! We've done V&A at WDW and feels very similar to that (though more courses, and not as super special no built for Walt)

I would definitely want to get a lot of those Club 33 items - but love the key!

Too bad the view of the fireworks wasn't better but still pretty neat to be up there while they were going off!

 

[MrDisneyFan]

seems like just an amazing dinner! We've done V&A at WDW and feels very similar to that (though more courses, and not as super special no built for Walt)

I would definitely want to get a lot of those Club 33 items - but love the key!

Too bad the view of the fireworks wasn't better but still pretty neat to be up there while they were going off!

Would love to try V&A when we make it to wdw (hoping for 2017!). The dining experience was a lot like dinner at Remy on the Disney Fantasy.

 

[Canadian Harmony]

That Club 33 experience sounds incredible! I'm coming to celebrate my birthday in October and would love to eat there for it! As it is, I think it's going to be Carthay, which is still a nice place... but not AS nice!

I too will be buying a 5 day PH and upgrading to an AP while there. Why do you wait til the last day? I was thinking of doing it first day so I wouldn't have to pay for the PP+ by day, no?

 

[MrDisneyFan]

That Club 33 experience sounds incredible! I'm coming to celebrate my birthday in October and would love to eat there for it! As it is, I think it's going to be Carthay, which is still a nice place... but not AS nice!

I too will be buying a 5 day PH and upgrading to an AP while there. Why do you wait til the last day? I was thinking of doing it first day so I wouldn't have to pay for the PP+ by day, no?

Thanks! We waited until the last day (Tuesday) because we were upgrading the three 5 day hoppers to SoCal select which would have been blocked out sat-mon! Monday was Presidents' Day so it was a way to maximize the hoppers and still end up with APs for the year.

Napa rose is an excellent option as well for a birthday!! Worth checking out!

 

[Canadian Harmony]

Oh! Now I understand! I'm not getting the SoCal select, so it won't matter. Especially since I don't need to worry about black out dates.

 

[Daniel Disney mom]

Thank you for the reminder on the Starbucks app!! I just fine tuned my app! I can not wait to use it!! Awesome trip report!

 

[hootey]

Thank You for the fabulous pictures!