TikiTikiFan
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 1, 2018
We just got back from four days in the parks. We had park hoppers but spent most of our time in Disneyland. This trip had a few crisis moments but we still had a great time.
SWGE
We came in the summer primarily for SWGE and we loved it as much now as we did then. But in the summer we built lightsabers and droids so this time around we didn’t spend as much time back there. They really do need to add some entertainment options (other than Kylo’s show) because we ran out of things to do pretty quick since most of it is shopping. We did get our long desired porg though so we were happy!
We did Oga’s and shared a table (yay!) which was nice. The folks we shared a table with though were clearly freshly 21 and not too kid friendly but it was fine- at least we had a table. This was day one of our trip and when I was biting into a cookie from one of the drinks, my crown fell off my tooth! Luckily for me it had a root canal so no pain but boy was that a not so fun surprise. I’ve never lost a crown before and we left immediately so I could call my mom in a panic for advice. And yes, I’m in my 30s but when a crisis happens my first instinct is still to call my mom.
We only rode the Falcon once. We rope dropped it from Fantasyland on our Magic Morning day and managed to be on within five minutes. So that’s a great tip to utilize! Bummer we missed the ROTR opening by just a month but oh well. While I love the Falcon, clearly I don’t love it enough to wait 45 minutes for... We did get to pilot when we rode it which was what we wanted!
Weather
Boy did we miss the mark on this one! Last year we came around this time and it was much warmer. Highs in the 70s and the nights weren’t bad at all. Not this trip, it was so cold. We had high winds most days of our visit and chilly temps- nearly every day we were uncomfortably cold. It really put a damper on things- I so regretted not packing winter coats. Lesson learned- always overpack and don’t underestimate CA winter!
Holiday Things
As always, Haunted Mansion Holiday was our favorite. We rode it five times on our last day. Rope dropping this attraction is the way to go, even with FP you’ll be waiting a long time if you ride it in the afternoon. Loved the parade, fireworks, and everything holiday over at Disneyland. We met Jack and Sally too which was a nice thing to cross off the list. The way to go with that is to show up about five minutes before their scheduled arrival time before the lines get long. Otherwise you’ll be waiting in a long line to meet them!
We did have a group behind us at the parade that could have worked on their manners. One of their kids was clearly deathly sick and spent the entire time coughing right on us. So thanks to that family, I got the ultimate souvenir when we got home- strep throat! I get that it sucks when your kids get sick at Disney and you don’t want to miss it but yeesh, don’t put yourself in the middle of a crowded parade spot and not even tell your kids to cover their mouths.
Over at DCA, the only holiday thing we focused on was World of Color. We did the dessert party for Season of Light- I loved that show, maybe even more then the original! Second year in a row we didn’t try any marketplace booths but every time we passed them the lines were just so crazy that I skipped it. Maybe we’re too reliant on mobile order these days so the idea of food lines is scandalizing to me.
Our Hotel
We stayed at the Anaheim Marriott and it was a nice experience overall. It wasn’t that decorated for Christmas though- just one tree in the lobby. Pool looked awesome even if we didn’t get to use it. Food was okay but a bit too ‘unique’ for my picky eater. Never got a chance to try the pizza place inside because it always had huge lines. I didn’t like how far away our room felt from the elevator- it was a hike in itself every day. Rooms were really nice- clean, comfortable, and updated. The shower was the best part- updated and good water pressure. I didn’t care for the high security deposit you have to put down for your room- $50 a night! That’s pretty steep compared to other hotels.
While we liked this hotel, to be honest we’ll be going back to the Clarion because the free breakfast and close proximity of everything was just much easier. And no giant surprise deposits either.
Cast Members
I’ve read on the boards about some folks seeing an increase in cast member rudeness. I had never noticed it before but we sure did now. Maybe it was the bad weather making everyone stressed. One in particular that sticks out is the lady working Indiana Jones- my son asked (very politely) for front row and she rolled her eyes, ignored him, and asked ‘how many?!’ and I said ‘two’ and then she put us in the back row. Not that it matters, but wow! It was within the first hour of the park opening so the line wasn’t even over 10 minutes yet (which is usually the only time I tell him it’s okay to ask) so there was no need for that. Or just kindly tell him no. Really stuck out in my mind. Also had some pretty short and unfriendly PhotoPass photographers on multiple occasions. During rope drop to Peter Pan there was a cast member screaming at people not to run- which is per usual- but this lady was like screamiiiing it very aggressively. We did have our share of positive interactions and because of my years of slaving in customer service in college I’m always nice to them no matter what. It says a lot for me to complain (my family jokes about how I’ll never complain at a restaurant even if they did mess up my order and just eat it anyways) so it was a big enough thing for someone like me to notice.
We did notice the cuts in entertainment options. Frozen was only playing one show so we couldn’t see it as planned. Mickey and the Magical Map only was showing one day of the visit but we managed to fit in. Was bummed to miss Frozen- had no idea they only do one show on weekdays now.
Pixie Dust
We did have some moments of pixie dust! We were riding Goofy’s during the first show of WOC and the cast member let us stay on the ride (no one was in line) and ride it five times! My son better feel loved because that ride terrifies me and I’m not sure I’ll ever recover from that.
We were in the Grand Californian lobby and were asked to take a picture for a family and we gladly did. Afterwards they asked me if was just me and my son visiting, I said yes and told her how it’s our tradition. She then gave me a Club 33 FastPass card with six FastPasses to any ride on it for use that day!! I had never heard of it before- I had to Google it at first. Such an amazing thing, this was on our busiest day too with FPS running out like crazy. Very cool!
Overall, we had a great time but as much as I love the holidays I do think I prefer summer. I hate being cold and I love the heat. If we go again for the holidays I’ll be packing those parkas!
SWGE
We came in the summer primarily for SWGE and we loved it as much now as we did then. But in the summer we built lightsabers and droids so this time around we didn’t spend as much time back there. They really do need to add some entertainment options (other than Kylo’s show) because we ran out of things to do pretty quick since most of it is shopping. We did get our long desired porg though so we were happy!
We did Oga’s and shared a table (yay!) which was nice. The folks we shared a table with though were clearly freshly 21 and not too kid friendly but it was fine- at least we had a table. This was day one of our trip and when I was biting into a cookie from one of the drinks, my crown fell off my tooth! Luckily for me it had a root canal so no pain but boy was that a not so fun surprise. I’ve never lost a crown before and we left immediately so I could call my mom in a panic for advice. And yes, I’m in my 30s but when a crisis happens my first instinct is still to call my mom.
We only rode the Falcon once. We rope dropped it from Fantasyland on our Magic Morning day and managed to be on within five minutes. So that’s a great tip to utilize! Bummer we missed the ROTR opening by just a month but oh well. While I love the Falcon, clearly I don’t love it enough to wait 45 minutes for... We did get to pilot when we rode it which was what we wanted!
Weather
Boy did we miss the mark on this one! Last year we came around this time and it was much warmer. Highs in the 70s and the nights weren’t bad at all. Not this trip, it was so cold. We had high winds most days of our visit and chilly temps- nearly every day we were uncomfortably cold. It really put a damper on things- I so regretted not packing winter coats. Lesson learned- always overpack and don’t underestimate CA winter!
Holiday Things
As always, Haunted Mansion Holiday was our favorite. We rode it five times on our last day. Rope dropping this attraction is the way to go, even with FP you’ll be waiting a long time if you ride it in the afternoon. Loved the parade, fireworks, and everything holiday over at Disneyland. We met Jack and Sally too which was a nice thing to cross off the list. The way to go with that is to show up about five minutes before their scheduled arrival time before the lines get long. Otherwise you’ll be waiting in a long line to meet them!
We did have a group behind us at the parade that could have worked on their manners. One of their kids was clearly deathly sick and spent the entire time coughing right on us. So thanks to that family, I got the ultimate souvenir when we got home- strep throat! I get that it sucks when your kids get sick at Disney and you don’t want to miss it but yeesh, don’t put yourself in the middle of a crowded parade spot and not even tell your kids to cover their mouths.
Over at DCA, the only holiday thing we focused on was World of Color. We did the dessert party for Season of Light- I loved that show, maybe even more then the original! Second year in a row we didn’t try any marketplace booths but every time we passed them the lines were just so crazy that I skipped it. Maybe we’re too reliant on mobile order these days so the idea of food lines is scandalizing to me.
Our Hotel
We stayed at the Anaheim Marriott and it was a nice experience overall. It wasn’t that decorated for Christmas though- just one tree in the lobby. Pool looked awesome even if we didn’t get to use it. Food was okay but a bit too ‘unique’ for my picky eater. Never got a chance to try the pizza place inside because it always had huge lines. I didn’t like how far away our room felt from the elevator- it was a hike in itself every day. Rooms were really nice- clean, comfortable, and updated. The shower was the best part- updated and good water pressure. I didn’t care for the high security deposit you have to put down for your room- $50 a night! That’s pretty steep compared to other hotels.
While we liked this hotel, to be honest we’ll be going back to the Clarion because the free breakfast and close proximity of everything was just much easier. And no giant surprise deposits either.
Cast Members
I’ve read on the boards about some folks seeing an increase in cast member rudeness. I had never noticed it before but we sure did now. Maybe it was the bad weather making everyone stressed. One in particular that sticks out is the lady working Indiana Jones- my son asked (very politely) for front row and she rolled her eyes, ignored him, and asked ‘how many?!’ and I said ‘two’ and then she put us in the back row. Not that it matters, but wow! It was within the first hour of the park opening so the line wasn’t even over 10 minutes yet (which is usually the only time I tell him it’s okay to ask) so there was no need for that. Or just kindly tell him no. Really stuck out in my mind. Also had some pretty short and unfriendly PhotoPass photographers on multiple occasions. During rope drop to Peter Pan there was a cast member screaming at people not to run- which is per usual- but this lady was like screamiiiing it very aggressively. We did have our share of positive interactions and because of my years of slaving in customer service in college I’m always nice to them no matter what. It says a lot for me to complain (my family jokes about how I’ll never complain at a restaurant even if they did mess up my order and just eat it anyways) so it was a big enough thing for someone like me to notice.
We did notice the cuts in entertainment options. Frozen was only playing one show so we couldn’t see it as planned. Mickey and the Magical Map only was showing one day of the visit but we managed to fit in. Was bummed to miss Frozen- had no idea they only do one show on weekdays now.
Pixie Dust
We did have some moments of pixie dust! We were riding Goofy’s during the first show of WOC and the cast member let us stay on the ride (no one was in line) and ride it five times! My son better feel loved because that ride terrifies me and I’m not sure I’ll ever recover from that.
We were in the Grand Californian lobby and were asked to take a picture for a family and we gladly did. Afterwards they asked me if was just me and my son visiting, I said yes and told her how it’s our tradition. She then gave me a Club 33 FastPass card with six FastPasses to any ride on it for use that day!! I had never heard of it before- I had to Google it at first. Such an amazing thing, this was on our busiest day too with FPS running out like crazy. Very cool!
Overall, we had a great time but as much as I love the holidays I do think I prefer summer. I hate being cold and I love the heat. If we go again for the holidays I’ll be packing those parkas!
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