Very frustrated!? Can anybody explain?

[Dvcfan55]

I've spent 11 months planning the trip of a lifetime for me dh and ds3 including a stay at GCH in September and today I checked the park calendars to find Sept 14-17th (the days we are there) there is no early admission for either park any of these days?!?! What??? Then why am I paying thousands of dollars to stay at GCH when the hours are only from 10-8 and I don't get an advantage to the general public. Last November when we were there RSR was on the refurbished list (a huge part of the reason we planned that trip) so have yet to get to go on it ever. Ad it looks like it will waste a lot of our time if we want to get on it if we have to battle the general public crowds at 10am everyday! Is this normal, having no early entry several days in a row? I'm beyond dismayed. Also, we don't have park hoppers and disney is also closing down DLR at 5 o'clock our last day Thursday!! DH and I were planning on purchasing our first DVC points while on this trip but I'm strongly reconsidering now. What would you do? TIA

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Are the EMH listed past those dates? If not, I wouldn't panic yet. It is more likely that the calendar isn't completely updated yet and they will be added. There was a problem like this earlier this year and they did eventually get added.

ETA: I have seen on other posts that Disney is indeed closing at 5pm that day, although I haven't seen the reason why. I may be worth upgrading to a hopper on your last day so can go over to DCA if it really is true.

 

[thatgrljme]

This happened to me on our last trip in May, eventually the calendars were updated and they were there.

 

[Tyggress]

I can say with nearly 100% certainty that they haven't updated the calendars yet. We have a big trip planned the 4 - 7th of September and I was freaking out last week that they weren't showing fireworks or Fantasmic! playing that weekend. Lo and behold, a few days later, they were there.

DL only releases the full entertainment schedule about 4 weeks out or so...I wouldn't start panic-ing until you get closer to your dates....it'll all be fine, I'm sure!

 

[Girimama33]

Yes...take a deep breath and relax. The calendar is not updated yet with the EMH info.
The 5pm closing in September is likely for the CM party they have every year.

You are going to have a great time!

 

[tiffjoy]

Relax. The calendars are just not updated yet, but they will be around 3-4 weeks out from your trip. And even if they aren't then, still don't panic. DLR takes the California take it easy vibe and releases entertainment schedules really close to the actual days.

Anyway, why would you think you can only ride RSR if you have EMH? Most park visitors, including my family, don't have EMH, and we manage to ride it with minimal wait. Grab FP first thing in the morning.

As for closing at 5pm, that happens sometimes when the park has a special event planned.

You have two options:

1) upgrade to PH. Honestly, this is something I would have anyway for a few days at DLR. We never do non-PH passes to DLR. On the other hand, we rarely do PH for WDW. PHing at DLR is infinitely easier than WDW, so it's very much worth it. We sometimes hop 3 times a day.

2) Find something to do at one of the resorts or in DTD that night. If you are WDW visitors (and don't PH, which if you don't PH at the far easier DLR, I'm assuming you don't PH at WDW), then when you visit AK, that park closes at 5pm. What do you usually do on those evenings? I'd take advantage of your lovely resort pool, go to dinner at Goofy's Kitchen, Steakhouse 55, or Storytellers, wander DTD and get any shopping done, then head back to the esplanade around 9ish with some churros from DTD and see if they have fireworks for the special event. You can see them great from there. You could probably ask at City Hall that morning if they will be doing the fireworks that night.

Try making some lemonade out of those lemons. It's DLR! Have fun!

 

[Dvcfan55]

Haha thanks you all so much for your replies. It really made me laugh myself for being so enraged when I didn't even wait to see how things played out! Certainly wasn't making lemonade with my lemons! I feel so silly for not being more patient. DLR closing at 5 our last day is still a little bummer but maybe park hopper tickets aren't a bad idea. How do you upgrade to park hopper tickets on the last day? Would we just pay the difference? And if we spent time in DTD after the park closed early does anyone have any suggestions for what to do with a 3 year old boy there? We haven't spent time there before because it seemed like more for adults in the evenings


Thank you all again so much!!

 

[Tyggress]

I also have a 3-year-old son....

DTD has RideMakrs..a store where they can build their own custom RC cars. They also have a Build-a-Bear Workshop and a Lego Store, as well as the World of Disney Store.

There are water fountains to sit by, live music playing, an ice cream store, etc. Maybe dinner at ESPN Zone with their HUGE arcade, or Rainforest Café would be fun for him as well!

All things my DS loves in DTD!!!

You should be able to upgrade your tix on that last day to PH, either at the front desk of GC or at the ticket booths.

 

[tiffjoy]

Haha thanks you all so much for your replies. It really made me laugh myself for being so enraged when I didn't even wait to see how things played out! Certainly wasn't making lemonade with my lemons! I feel so silly for not being more patient. DLR closing at 5 our last day is still a little bummer but maybe park hopper tickets aren't a bad idea. How do you upgrade to park hopper tickets on the last day? Would we just pay the difference? And if we spent time in DTD after the park closed early does anyone have any suggestions for what to do with a 3 year old boy there? We haven't spent time there before because it seemed like more for adults in the evenings


Thank you all again so much!!

It's understandable! We get so excited for these trips that it can be upsetting to think they might be falling apart.

If you go the PH route, then i would upgrade on your first day to take advantage of it. We have two young girls, and we PH with them, and find it actually helps. DL can often get crowded in the afternoon/evening, so it's nice to hop over to DCA where they have more space.

There's lots to do in the evenings for little ones! Mine love running around near the fountain. They love Build A Bear. It's just really pretty. We sometimes stop at Madeline's and let them pick out a small piece of candy of their choice to eat as we wander.

I agree with the tips about also, especially Rainforest. I'm not a fan of their food, honestly, but I do think it's fun for kids.

 

[DHSbutcher]

We visited during this time last year, and it was such an uncrowded time of year, Indiana jones had a 5 minute wait at 3pm. This was on the day the park closed at 5pm. They close early for a cast member celebration. Be prepared because you will likely miss fantasmic and fireworks as they only show these on weekends during the slow times. World of color will probably be showing though. We just left disneyland and the crowds this August had us missing last September and how empty the park was. I would kill to go then despite the short hours. The hours are short but you don't need a lot of time to do everything.

 

[madasax12]

That is pretty much the same time we will be there. I have been watching on here and have taken one thing away from this forum.....not to try and get too stressed about the trip. I am with you on wanting to make sure it is planned and goes well, and FUN! So my thought on it is this.....our reservations for all that we want to do (res. wise) are already made, and we have planned for the days that we have said res. The rest of the time we want to have somewhat of a game plan, but still just try to go with the flow. I wouldn't get too worried about it, I mean like you said you have been planning this for a while, as have we, and spent a good amount of money! It will all work out, and remember that disneyland is a happy place

There will always be bumps in any vacation, just have to take it with a smile and remember you could always be stuck at work!