ArchOwl
The Highly Educated Owl
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2011
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So, DH and I were at DLR from 5/29 through 5/31. On the 29th we got there afternoon-ish and went to Napa Rose, DTD, and one or two rides plus fireworks. The 30th and 31st were all day touring. Here are just some impressions about our stay.
Hotel:
Earlier this year we stayed at the GCH and loved it. We decided to try PPH to see if this was a low cost option for future trips. We stayed in standard rooms both times, both with a king bed. While the PPH was very cute, it just didn't have the same magic for us as the GCH. The PPH was also much noisier to us. At the GCH, we never heard our neighbors, but at the PPH we heard our neighbors come in at night, their showers, etc. Also, we were facing the pool which opened at 6am. So you could hearing screaming very early. Which was fine on days we were up early at the parks, but not so good on our check out day when we were trying to sleep in.
There was such old information in our PPH room, it was funny. The hotel information book had info about the old Lost Bar and Hook's Pointe. Well, okay, I guess they haven't been closed that long. But then the sheet with the TV channel information had stuff about the Year of a Million Dreams promo. Hubby and I thought that was pretty darn old!
We love staying on property and walking everywhere, also the ability to charge to our room is a benefit. Magic Mornings is also a big draw for us, but honestly Magic Morning was a bust this time around (details below). We still need to stay in the renovated DLH rooms.
Magic Morning:
Magic Morning on May 31st was crazy! The morning before (May 30th), the park opened at 8am. We were in line at 7:30am, munching on pastries and sipping coffee. We were about the third group in the #13 line. The line stretched back to about midway down the esplande by opening. We ran to ST and got a FP immediately and rode it standby.
On Magic Morning, we were at the security table 7:25am. The line at that time was already good sized. By the time we were at the turnstiles, we were about the eighth group back. Right before opening at 8am for MM, the line was all the way back to the DCA entrance!
We made it on to PP in a few minutes, but when we exited the ride, the line was already at least 15 minutes long. Crazy! Snow White and Pinocchio were closed this MM and did not open during the first hour. As a result, Toad and Alice had longer lines I think. Matterhorn was at a 10 minute wait as well.
We just weren't as happy with MM this time around. It seemed as though things got less busy after MM, especially the Matterhorn. So weird. During MM in February, we rode PP about 5 times, no wait! We also rode Matterhorn multiple times with no wait as well. Not sure MM is worth it, when we can go early on a non-MM day and have a shorter wait than during MM. Where did all these MM people come from?
Park Crowd Levels:
On May 30th, the park was blocked to SoCal Select APs. The parks were busy, but not crowded. We were able to standby ST in the morning with a 15 minute wait. Space Mountain didn't run out of FPs until 8pm. Little Mermaid was a 25 minute wait. We were expecting a lot worse, since it was a holiday.
On May 31st, the park got very crowded. ST and LM were both in AP previews and everything else was crowded as well. We made good use of FPs, but still the walkways were hard to navigate at times. Before planning this trip, I was unaware of AP previews for both rides on the same dates, and didn't really have the luxury of re-scheduling. In the future, I think we will avoid AP preview days, as everything was super crowded.
Fantasmic! Dessert Seating:
We had a great time seeing Fantasmic! with the dessert seating. We had never seen this show before (I know!) and ended up with great seats. I called the week before to make reservations and they had both times available. We I checked in at 8:15pm, there were still front row seats for the 10:30 show!
We watched the 10:30 show and it was almost empty! The front row was filled, and a few seats in the second row, but no one in the third row AT ALL. So we had great service and the CMs had time to chat with us. Our hostess was really cool and got everyone waiting around us to sing Happy Birthday to me!
Overall, glad we finally saw Fantasmic!, it is a fun show. However, after seeing WOC, it does seem as though Fantasmic could use a technology upgrade. Those screens don't look as cool, now that WOC is across the way! Murphy impressed, though. And the Flotsam and Jetsam characters were really cool. I don't know that we will pay again to see it again, but we loved doing it this once. And the dessert box was huge, DH and I shared one box and still had leftovers. I think you could feed a family on one of those things!
Attraction Observations:
Star Tours 2.0 was easily our favorite ride this time around. We rode it 5 times in one day. The repeatability of this attraction is really amazing. We kept wanting to ride "one more time", to see all the destinations. It is such a great update from the old ride, which was getting a little sad. Everyone left this ride cheering and dying to get back on. Home run Disney!
Little Mermaid was really cute. I think the 2 hour plus waits for this ride are a little crazy. We waited 25 minutes and I have to say it was a little bit of a letdown. But I think that was because of my expectations. I was expecting something a little more than a dark ride, just because it had been pumped up so much. I though Ursula would really blow my mind. But I think it is really just meant to be a dark ride, not anything more than that. And that is okay, because DCA really needed a "people eater" type ride that could handle a lot of folks. I think little ones will really love it. Let's just say DH and I will be riding it when it is 10 minutes or less.
Also, I have to say that the ride felt like the clamshells were on top of each other. The HM doom buggies are close, but the LM shells are like SUPER close. It was kind of distracting because you could see everyone else around you. It just felt a little "off". The CM costumes, however, were adorable, as were the seashells buried in the cement around the attraction.
POTC had the Blackbeard scene running, but it wasn't that different. I think Blackbeard was saying the same thing Davy Jones was saying. So it was nice to have the POTC 4 tie in, but nothing mind blowing. However, DH and I got stuck on POTC our last night after Fantasmic!. We were stuck right towards the end, when the pirates are shooting each other in the explosives room. We were there about 20-25 minutes with that dang "yo-ho, yo-ho" song on repeat. We were so over it. The only thing worse would have been "it's a small world"!
We made it onto 25 attractions on the 30th and we really slowed down on the 31st and made it onto 15.
Overall, a great visit to the parks. Star Tours 2.0 and Little Mermaid will make this summer crazy busy I think. Not to mention the new parade (which we didn't see), and GSS opening soon. Wow, what a great time to be in the parks to see all this new cool stuff going on. It is making me so anxious for 2012 and Carsland! The rock work in that area is looking great. I am so glad Disneyland is always changing and evolving, it makes it so fun to visit again and again!
Hotel:
Earlier this year we stayed at the GCH and loved it. We decided to try PPH to see if this was a low cost option for future trips. We stayed in standard rooms both times, both with a king bed. While the PPH was very cute, it just didn't have the same magic for us as the GCH. The PPH was also much noisier to us. At the GCH, we never heard our neighbors, but at the PPH we heard our neighbors come in at night, their showers, etc. Also, we were facing the pool which opened at 6am. So you could hearing screaming very early. Which was fine on days we were up early at the parks, but not so good on our check out day when we were trying to sleep in.
There was such old information in our PPH room, it was funny. The hotel information book had info about the old Lost Bar and Hook's Pointe. Well, okay, I guess they haven't been closed that long. But then the sheet with the TV channel information had stuff about the Year of a Million Dreams promo. Hubby and I thought that was pretty darn old!
We love staying on property and walking everywhere, also the ability to charge to our room is a benefit. Magic Mornings is also a big draw for us, but honestly Magic Morning was a bust this time around (details below). We still need to stay in the renovated DLH rooms.
Magic Morning:
Magic Morning on May 31st was crazy! The morning before (May 30th), the park opened at 8am. We were in line at 7:30am, munching on pastries and sipping coffee. We were about the third group in the #13 line. The line stretched back to about midway down the esplande by opening. We ran to ST and got a FP immediately and rode it standby.
On Magic Morning, we were at the security table 7:25am. The line at that time was already good sized. By the time we were at the turnstiles, we were about the eighth group back. Right before opening at 8am for MM, the line was all the way back to the DCA entrance!
We made it on to PP in a few minutes, but when we exited the ride, the line was already at least 15 minutes long. Crazy! Snow White and Pinocchio were closed this MM and did not open during the first hour. As a result, Toad and Alice had longer lines I think. Matterhorn was at a 10 minute wait as well. We just weren't as happy with MM this time around. It seemed as though things got less busy after MM, especially the Matterhorn. So weird. During MM in February, we rode PP about 5 times, no wait! We also rode Matterhorn multiple times with no wait as well. Not sure MM is worth it, when we can go early on a non-MM day and have a shorter wait than during MM. Where did all these MM people come from?
Park Crowd Levels:
On May 30th, the park was blocked to SoCal Select APs. The parks were busy, but not crowded. We were able to standby ST in the morning with a 15 minute wait. Space Mountain didn't run out of FPs until 8pm. Little Mermaid was a 25 minute wait. We were expecting a lot worse, since it was a holiday.
On May 31st, the park got very crowded. ST and LM were both in AP previews and everything else was crowded as well. We made good use of FPs, but still the walkways were hard to navigate at times. Before planning this trip, I was unaware of AP previews for both rides on the same dates, and didn't really have the luxury of re-scheduling. In the future, I think we will avoid AP preview days, as everything was super crowded.
Fantasmic! Dessert Seating:
We had a great time seeing Fantasmic! with the dessert seating. We had never seen this show before (I know!) and ended up with great seats. I called the week before to make reservations and they had both times available. We I checked in at 8:15pm, there were still front row seats for the 10:30 show!
We watched the 10:30 show and it was almost empty! The front row was filled, and a few seats in the second row, but no one in the third row AT ALL. So we had great service and the CMs had time to chat with us. Our hostess was really cool and got everyone waiting around us to sing Happy Birthday to me!
Overall, glad we finally saw Fantasmic!, it is a fun show. However, after seeing WOC, it does seem as though Fantasmic could use a technology upgrade. Those screens don't look as cool, now that WOC is across the way! Murphy impressed, though. And the Flotsam and Jetsam characters were really cool. I don't know that we will pay again to see it again, but we loved doing it this once. And the dessert box was huge, DH and I shared one box and still had leftovers. I think you could feed a family on one of those things!
Attraction Observations:
Star Tours 2.0 was easily our favorite ride this time around. We rode it 5 times in one day. The repeatability of this attraction is really amazing. We kept wanting to ride "one more time", to see all the destinations. It is such a great update from the old ride, which was getting a little sad. Everyone left this ride cheering and dying to get back on. Home run Disney!
Little Mermaid was really cute. I think the 2 hour plus waits for this ride are a little crazy. We waited 25 minutes and I have to say it was a little bit of a letdown. But I think that was because of my expectations. I was expecting something a little more than a dark ride, just because it had been pumped up so much. I though Ursula would really blow my mind. But I think it is really just meant to be a dark ride, not anything more than that. And that is okay, because DCA really needed a "people eater" type ride that could handle a lot of folks. I think little ones will really love it. Let's just say DH and I will be riding it when it is 10 minutes or less.
Also, I have to say that the ride felt like the clamshells were on top of each other. The HM doom buggies are close, but the LM shells are like SUPER close. It was kind of distracting because you could see everyone else around you. It just felt a little "off". The CM costumes, however, were adorable, as were the seashells buried in the cement around the attraction.
POTC had the Blackbeard scene running, but it wasn't that different. I think Blackbeard was saying the same thing Davy Jones was saying. So it was nice to have the POTC 4 tie in, but nothing mind blowing. However, DH and I got stuck on POTC our last night after Fantasmic!. We were stuck right towards the end, when the pirates are shooting each other in the explosives room. We were there about 20-25 minutes with that dang "yo-ho, yo-ho" song on repeat. We were so over it. The only thing worse would have been "it's a small world"!
We made it onto 25 attractions on the 30th and we really slowed down on the 31st and made it onto 15.
Overall, a great visit to the parks. Star Tours 2.0 and Little Mermaid will make this summer crazy busy I think. Not to mention the new parade (which we didn't see), and GSS opening soon. Wow, what a great time to be in the parks to see all this new cool stuff going on. It is making me so anxious for 2012 and Carsland! The rock work in that area is looking great. I am so glad Disneyland is always changing and evolving, it makes it so fun to visit again and again!
d it, so DH was talking about trying to add a few nights at PPH at the beginning of our fall trip so we could try all 3 and I said "no, I really want to go to the monorail pool slide and have the awesome headboard again". Thanks for giving me backup reasons! 
