sherilaine
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2013
- Messages
- 3,799
We arrived to the parks Friday night and waited no time in line to exchange vouchers for tickets. Enjoyed some time in DTD, had dinner at Tortilla Joe's and then got to bed nice and early. Our walk into DLR was like a ghost town at 6:15 Saturday morning for our 7AM MM. There was one person ahead of us at security and we were the very first at the DL gates, so we missed out on some sleep there. We discovered that our kids can move FAST this trip. They never ran, and still they were hard to keep up with. They easily made it to the front of the line for HSM and were the first to ride it that day. We loved it – as we are all Star Wars fans and were already Space Mountain fans. We got a lot done that first hour, the place was very empty which was a great start to our trip. I was the fast pass runner and grabbed us RSR fast passes for early afternoon when we hopped over to enjoy DCA. We must have rode HSM and Screamin 4 times each that day. We booked at 10AM Minnie's breakfast and still saw about a dozen characters so it worked out great to get a few hours of rides in before filling up for brunch!
They had not completed renovations on BTMRR our last trip so we rode that several times as well and of course always enjoyed the back of the train much more than anything up near the front. Much smoother than we remembered from before the refurb.
We gave our kids our 4 FPs so they could ride Screamin twice on day and upon our return to meet them we found it had gotten stuck. Our DD texted us that they were fortunately only at the beginning of the ride so it was easy to get them off but there were a few people we saw who had a bit of a walk down the ride from the very top. Glad to see they have good evacuation plans in place.
We got FPs for RSR a couple of times but honestly, we did not find them to be worth the trouble – we had shorter waits when we all just rode single rider and twice my DD and I were in the same car. We did find the gas hose they use as a rope to walk you down at rope drop very cute – we were right behind that thing twice!!
My kids were a little disappointed in getting the same exact scene for Star Tours this trip. I am not sure if it’s on a constant repeat but it would be nice to have some other stories every so often, this must be new for the Season of the Force as we always remember seeing a variety.
Meeting Chewie and Kylo Ren was not a long wait – in fact we met Chewie twice and both times there was either 1 person or no one in front of us. He is the best and I thought was very authentic. Kylo was a bit of a nerd though, so we did not bother visiting him again.
Running! Oh man, we were so ticked off by all the people in the park that run. If you want to be first on a ride then do the time and show up early rather than trying to run past all the people who are quickly walking after putting in their early morning wait. There is no excuse for this behavior and it’s not just kids that do this – we saw parents dragging their kids along beside them while they ran. I am not talking run/walk type action either, full out sprinting seemed commonplace. This was completely rude and ignorant and good luck to them when they try to sue Disney when Karma trips them!! We spoke to a security guard during at rope drop who said that when he sees people falling that were running, that goes into the report, as they are warned repeatedly in the park not to run.
It was much busier for this time of year. We have enjoyed three prior trips with at least the week days being quiet – as in Pirates being 5 minutes all day long and Screamin never being more than 20 minutes even with only one side open. We noticed a considerable difference in crowds and wait times compared to our last trip taken at the exact same time back in 2014. Luckily, due to this forum, we fully expected this change and arrived very early (we were up against the rope 4 of our 5 days and the 5th day we were likely about 10 people back from it as I had gotten tired of getting up stupid early). We used Fast passes to our fullest ability and we got a LOT done. We rode HSM at least 10 times during our visit, and a few days we didn’t ride it at all as we tried to focus on other areas of the parks instead. I think as long as you are prepared and arrive early – Disneyland is certainly still manageable.
We didn’t invest too much time camping out for the Fireworks or PTN parade. The fact we are fine with standing helped of course. We found walking along the parade route another time that if you are willing to stand there were lots of chances for people to pop in last minute. We were able to fill into the street after the parade and get two great spots for the fireworks. Again it helps if no one in your party is very short.
We used the Disneyland app a lot – to check closures, wait times, character locations and times as well as different restaurant menus. We often found the wait times were inconsistent with our actual wait for a few of the rides though. Screamin always seemed shorter than was stated as did Pirates and BTMRR – I find the rides that load fast (with both sides of BTMRR open you are loading 24 people every few minutes) move so much faster and the wait is much more tolerable compared with the sloth machine that is Peter Pan! One tip for the app is to put your iPhone (if you have one) in low battery mode, I found my phone lasted a long time doing this as I heard others complaining the app drained their battery fast.
We didn’t find the rides were down as often as our trip in 2014 – of course Indy would go down every 10 minutes so we made sure to either ride it first thing or get FPs. I did learn a tip for this notoriously broken ride, supposedly if the lights are not flickering inside the line, then the ride has shut down, if they are flickering then it’s still running. We were never in line when the ride went down so I can’t confirm this but was an interesting tip found elsewhere. Otherwise, it seemed like a much better oiled machine, perhaps due to the 60th?
Again we stayed in the Kids Suites at the HOJO – those rooms do not show the wear I would be expecting by now – very clean and we sure do love the two bathrooms and two separate rooms for our family for an 8 night stay. I am glad we did not pay more to stay somewhere with a higher end pool facility since our kids had to be encouraged to use the pool and it only happened one day. We had two break days from the parks – for one we just relaxed – went to the pool and later in the evening to dinner and for the second one we went to Huntington Beach and did some shopping in DTD. We really enjoyed breaking up our Disney days as that gave us time to recharge our batteries. The weather was wonderful – not one drop of rain this trip – I guess packing the rain coats and umbrellas was good insurance!
Finally, the best tip we got was from ludari – the best route from LAX to Disneyland: “take the 105 East using the HOV/carpool lane (obviously you have to have two more in your vehicle) to 605 South (don't bother getting in the HOV/carpool lane because it's a short distance until you have to transition to the 91 East (use carpool lane once you get on the 91), stay in the carpool lane because there is an HOV/carpool exit to the 5 South. From that point stay in the HOV/carpool lane and they will be an exit (in that lane) for Disneyland.” We left the Budget rental lot at 1:30 on a Friday and were at the HOJO in 45 minutes.
All in all we had a fabulous time! And a lot of it must be credited for all the advice and experiences shared here on this forum – so thanks for everyone who provides their insights and comments!!
They had not completed renovations on BTMRR our last trip so we rode that several times as well and of course always enjoyed the back of the train much more than anything up near the front. Much smoother than we remembered from before the refurb.
We gave our kids our 4 FPs so they could ride Screamin twice on day and upon our return to meet them we found it had gotten stuck. Our DD texted us that they were fortunately only at the beginning of the ride so it was easy to get them off but there were a few people we saw who had a bit of a walk down the ride from the very top. Glad to see they have good evacuation plans in place.
We got FPs for RSR a couple of times but honestly, we did not find them to be worth the trouble – we had shorter waits when we all just rode single rider and twice my DD and I were in the same car. We did find the gas hose they use as a rope to walk you down at rope drop very cute – we were right behind that thing twice!!
My kids were a little disappointed in getting the same exact scene for Star Tours this trip. I am not sure if it’s on a constant repeat but it would be nice to have some other stories every so often, this must be new for the Season of the Force as we always remember seeing a variety.
Meeting Chewie and Kylo Ren was not a long wait – in fact we met Chewie twice and both times there was either 1 person or no one in front of us. He is the best and I thought was very authentic. Kylo was a bit of a nerd though, so we did not bother visiting him again.
Running! Oh man, we were so ticked off by all the people in the park that run. If you want to be first on a ride then do the time and show up early rather than trying to run past all the people who are quickly walking after putting in their early morning wait. There is no excuse for this behavior and it’s not just kids that do this – we saw parents dragging their kids along beside them while they ran. I am not talking run/walk type action either, full out sprinting seemed commonplace. This was completely rude and ignorant and good luck to them when they try to sue Disney when Karma trips them!! We spoke to a security guard during at rope drop who said that when he sees people falling that were running, that goes into the report, as they are warned repeatedly in the park not to run.
It was much busier for this time of year. We have enjoyed three prior trips with at least the week days being quiet – as in Pirates being 5 minutes all day long and Screamin never being more than 20 minutes even with only one side open. We noticed a considerable difference in crowds and wait times compared to our last trip taken at the exact same time back in 2014. Luckily, due to this forum, we fully expected this change and arrived very early (we were up against the rope 4 of our 5 days and the 5th day we were likely about 10 people back from it as I had gotten tired of getting up stupid early). We used Fast passes to our fullest ability and we got a LOT done. We rode HSM at least 10 times during our visit, and a few days we didn’t ride it at all as we tried to focus on other areas of the parks instead. I think as long as you are prepared and arrive early – Disneyland is certainly still manageable.
We didn’t invest too much time camping out for the Fireworks or PTN parade. The fact we are fine with standing helped of course. We found walking along the parade route another time that if you are willing to stand there were lots of chances for people to pop in last minute. We were able to fill into the street after the parade and get two great spots for the fireworks. Again it helps if no one in your party is very short.
We used the Disneyland app a lot – to check closures, wait times, character locations and times as well as different restaurant menus. We often found the wait times were inconsistent with our actual wait for a few of the rides though. Screamin always seemed shorter than was stated as did Pirates and BTMRR – I find the rides that load fast (with both sides of BTMRR open you are loading 24 people every few minutes) move so much faster and the wait is much more tolerable compared with the sloth machine that is Peter Pan! One tip for the app is to put your iPhone (if you have one) in low battery mode, I found my phone lasted a long time doing this as I heard others complaining the app drained their battery fast.
We didn’t find the rides were down as often as our trip in 2014 – of course Indy would go down every 10 minutes so we made sure to either ride it first thing or get FPs. I did learn a tip for this notoriously broken ride, supposedly if the lights are not flickering inside the line, then the ride has shut down, if they are flickering then it’s still running. We were never in line when the ride went down so I can’t confirm this but was an interesting tip found elsewhere. Otherwise, it seemed like a much better oiled machine, perhaps due to the 60th?
Again we stayed in the Kids Suites at the HOJO – those rooms do not show the wear I would be expecting by now – very clean and we sure do love the two bathrooms and two separate rooms for our family for an 8 night stay. I am glad we did not pay more to stay somewhere with a higher end pool facility since our kids had to be encouraged to use the pool and it only happened one day. We had two break days from the parks – for one we just relaxed – went to the pool and later in the evening to dinner and for the second one we went to Huntington Beach and did some shopping in DTD. We really enjoyed breaking up our Disney days as that gave us time to recharge our batteries. The weather was wonderful – not one drop of rain this trip – I guess packing the rain coats and umbrellas was good insurance!
Finally, the best tip we got was from ludari – the best route from LAX to Disneyland: “take the 105 East using the HOV/carpool lane (obviously you have to have two more in your vehicle) to 605 South (don't bother getting in the HOV/carpool lane because it's a short distance until you have to transition to the 91 East (use carpool lane once you get on the 91), stay in the carpool lane because there is an HOV/carpool exit to the 5 South. From that point stay in the HOV/carpool lane and they will be an exit (in that lane) for Disneyland.” We left the Budget rental lot at 1:30 on a Friday and were at the HOJO in 45 minutes.
All in all we had a fabulous time! And a lot of it must be credited for all the advice and experiences shared here on this forum – so thanks for everyone who provides their insights and comments!!
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