We made it back! Just home from 6 fabulous days at GCH!

[HeatherAnn23]

I'm going to try to do a trip report, but the highlights were:
*We ate at Rainforest, Goofy's Kitchen, Minnie's, Wine Country, Carnation Cafe and Celebration BBQ - as well as a bunch of counter service and snacks!
*We rode almost everything, and were really overwhelmed by crowds and the evening logistics with parade at CA and fireworks and Fantasmic in DL.
*We did the Discover the Magic tour.
*We celebrated a birthday.
*We stayed at the GCH and got a free upgrade to a view room.
*We saw Nick Cage actually in a cage.
*We saw Tinkerbell and Dumbo fly.
*We survived excited, tired, injured, hot, hungry, and overwhelmed kids!
*We were there with the 5 for 3 promo, and stayed in the parks the whole time, our longest trip ever! (Too long for dh, probably about right for the kids, too short for me!)
Any questions?

 

[99haunts]

What is your favorite memory of the trip?

 

[Sherry E]

Woo hoo! It sounds like you had a wonderful trip! Those restaurants alone would have been worth the trip for me! Did you enjoy all of them?

Was Nicolas Cage riding in Casey Jr., or where did you seem him in a cage? In the ToonTown jail? Where was he?

That is amazing that you got a free upgade at the GCH! Wonderful! Did you love that hotel (it is gorgeous, isn't it?)?

You must, must, must do a Trip Report for us!

 

[Belle Ella]

O hope you do make a TR!! I'd love to hear all about it and see photos, because we can never get enough of those!!

Lucky lady, getting the free upgrade. That must have been awesome in and of itself, plus the meals (heck, Minnies alone in my opinion could make one trip spectacular, let alone everything else). And while I'm not a fan of NC I have to say I'm intrigued to hear more about where you saw him.

 

[HeatherAnn23]

Hmmm, favorite memory.....I don't think I could! The tour was a fun new way to see the park. Seeing Dumbo fly was amazing for me, and the food! I just started weight watchers about a month ago, and I had promised myself that I would eat all of my favorites in moderation - and it was heaven. Loved my Mickey bars, dole whips, and mickey waffles!!! (Thank goodness for walking, I lost a pound!!)

Nick Cage was in Casey Jr. We just saw Knowing a couple of weeks ago, so my ds9 thought is was pretty cool that he rode in the same car (Monkeys) that we did the night before.

 

[Pomlover2586]

OOOO Nicholas Cage in a cage........now thats some yummy food for thought! Sorry sorry......back to Disney family friendly......

 

[dizneyfan23]

did they still have the scavenger hunt at GCH?? Also, was there still the special Condor Flats tour where you got into DCA early to ride soarin???

 

[funatdisney]

How was the Celebration BBQ? Was the food good? How did your kids like it? Did DH like it?

 

[HeatherAnn23]

did they still have the scavenger hunt at GCH?? Also, was there still the special Condor Flats tour where you got into DCA early to ride soarin???

They do still have the scavenger hunt, but we didn't do it this time. We saw others working on it, but we were told the prize is now only the cookie. Not worth giving up our nap time! (We've done it in the past when the winners got access to the conscierge (sp?) lounge - awesome!)

The BBQ was just ok. It was expensive. The service was slow and bland. The food was delicious, we paid for drinks, but not dessert. There was constant entertainment (singing) up on the stage, but we were in the very back and didn't feel very involved. My ds4 ate a bite of corn and drank chocolate milk. My ds9 ate the ribs, cornbread, and corn - but declared the sausage, beans, chicken and coleslaw disgusting. My dh thought it was pretty good, "middle of the road". (He was very impressed with the bucket full of meat though, they gave us a ton!) It really looked like we had the least desirable server. She disappeared for 10-15 minutes at a time, and didn't visit with us at all. Other servers looked like they were having fun and entertaining the tables. The only reason we decided to eat here was because it had a short wait, and we were super hungry! I don't think I'd do it again.

 

[funatdisney]

tThanks for the reply, HeatherAnn23. When reading your post, it sort of reminded me of the Hoop Dee Doo at WDW. Well a small shadow of it. I guess I won't recommend it for our family. Seems like they won't like what is offered.

Don't you just frustrated with poor inattentive service? I do.

 

[blackjackdelta]

Were they still having the early condor flats tour? How early can you get thru the GC gate and over to the Toy Story ride?

Jack

 

[HeatherAnn23]

We didn't ask about the tour, but we entered the park 30 minutes early. We chose not to ride Soarin' and go line up for Toy Story. At the rope drop we high tailed it down there and walked on. It felt like the early waiters were pretty evenly split between Tower of Terror, Toy Story, Grizzly River and Soarin - we were surprised. When we finished Toy Story it was a 15 minute wait, so we could have gone again without too much wait. HTH!

 

[Sherry E]

We didn't ask about the tour, but we entered the park 30 minutes early. We chose not to ride Soarin' and go line up for Toy Story. At the rope drop we high tailed it down there and walked on. It felt like the early waiters were pretty evenly split between Tower of Terror, Toy Story, Grizzly River and Soarin - we were surprised. When we finished Toy Story it was a 15 minute wait, so we could have gone again without too much wait. HTH!

Did you line up by GRR or in another line? That's the way we went when we high tailed it to TSMM. That was the best way because the line was hideous when we got off of TSMM and we beat a lot of people onto the ride. Did you get a CM who refused to drop the rope until 10:00 a.m. exactly, or one of the nice ones who understands the NEED to get on Toy Story who will drop the rope anywhere from 5 - 15 minutes before 10:00 and let people start walking to TSMM?? I have heard fo some people being allowed to walk back there at 9:45 a.m., but I think, if I recall, ours let us start walking at 9:50 or 9:55-ish. It was before 10:00. We still got to TSMM way before the masses, though, so that's all I cared about!!

Also, did you like Goofy's Kitchen (I hope)? Was it a breakfast or dinner meal there? It has been so long since I have done the dinner there that I am tempted to do it again soon, but I live the breakfast too much that I don't want to switch! If it ain't broke......

 

[blackjackdelta]

So you go thru the GC entrance and there is a another line with a rope drop at GRR and then you go to TSM. ?

Jack

 

[HeatherAnn23]

We lined up at the plaza, and there weren't many of us there at all - less than 30. There was a recording in the morning that played music, and kept telling us how long until opening, so the CM dropped the rope at the exact time the recording said. Like I said, it didn't feel like many were headed back there at all - I expected it to be like Disneyland's rope drop and comparatively it was a ghost town!

Unfortunately we didn't like Goofy's Kitchen. Our kids loved it, but we just didn't think it was up to the standard of the other character meals. There were only 4 characters circulating (Goofy, Aurora, Minnie, and Chip - and a photo only time with Pluto) and I didn't think the interaction was very good. This was a birthday dinner for ds9 (One of 3 birthday meals....spoiled brat!), and when we checked in they said they would sing and bring a cupcake. We watched as they did this with every table around us, but they never brought my son's. We ate, waited about an hour, nothing. We tried to catch a server to remind them, but the kids were crawling the walls so we just left. I did mention it to the staff on the way out. My ds 9 LOVED the food that seemed to be about 30% dessert. My youngest ate a bite of pizza and drank chocolate milk (are you seeing a pattern yet?). My dh and I thought the food was just ok, and wouldn't choose to return. It's probably also important to note that our kids are not very aggressive, and so they went down to play the little games with Goofy, but were routinely passed over and ignored.

So now I have two negative food reports on this thread alone!

I'll try to balance.....WE LOVE MINNIE'S!!!!!

 

[Sherry E]

So you go thru the GC entrance and there is a another line with a rope drop at GRR and then you go to TSM. ?

Jack

I think you can get to the line by GRR through either the GCH entrance into DCA or through the regular main entrance in DCA. It doesn't take as much time out of the day as some folks think. You can easily spend the morning in DL, and then mosey over to DCA at or even a little after 9:30 a.m., and right to the line forming by GRR, which I don't think too many people are aware of. By the time you get to the line by GRR, you won't be standing in one place for long. You will have to wait a short bit for the CM manning the line to drop the rope and then you start the trek over to TSMM and sail right on through the queue. Occasionally, some DIS-ers have spoken of their CM dropping the rope too late, and therefore, they ran into the masses of people who entered through the main DCA gates and walked a different route to get to TSMM, but more often than not, I think, the CM by the line near GRR knows everyone is hot to get on TSMM and will drop the rope before 10:00 to give everyone a slight edge!

 

[Sherry E]

Oh, that's too bad you guys didn't like Goofy's (or even Celebration Roundup too much). GK is really my absolute favorite place to eat at DLR - but for breakfast, not dinner. I didn't care for the dinner too much when I had it years ago, and that is why I have been reluctant to go back. There are cupcakes on hand for breakfast, but it is mostly non-dessert items in the buffet! I don't have a problem with the number of characters on duty but if they are all ignoring the table, that is a totally different story. We have never had anything like that happen, though. Hopefully you spoke to the manager about it. And at least you got a great Minnie & Friends meal out of the trip!

And make sure to post your Minnie & Friends photos on our character meal photo thread, if you can (link below)! We would love to have them on there!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2234435

 

[pixiewings71]

Welcome back!! I'm glad you had a great time!!! We had the same experience at GK so we aren't planning to go back ever. We had so much more fun at M&Fs. I had a quick question, you mentioned sausage when you were talking about the Celebration BBQ, is that new? When we ate there it was chicken & ribs, no sausage.

 

[Sherry E]

Welcome back!! I'm glad you had a great time!!! We had the same experience at GK so we aren't planning to go back ever. We had so much more fun at M&Fs. I had a quick question, you mentioned sausage when you were talking about the Celebration BBQ, is that new? When we ate there it was chicken & ribs, no sausage.

Kerri, isn't the sausage part of the new, non-character version of the BBQ? It seems like I recall seeing on one of the Celebration threads around here what the new menu will be, and the sausage has been added to the dinner, I think, but not the lunch. I could be wrong, but I think that's how it works.

 

[HeatherAnn23]

Yep, the sausage and corn are now only on the dinner menu. I really thought my kids would be into the little corn wagon wheels, but not so much. I'm allergic to MSG, so I didn't try the sausage - the chef came out before the meal and told me that they had MSG in them so I stayed away.