Went to
Disneyland and DCA yesterday, and all the posts here really helped me prepare, so I'm paying it forward...
ARRIVAL/PARKING
Chose to do Mickey & Friends instead of alternate parking and Harbor-side entrance. We arrived at 8:15. By the time we had parked, made it through screening, walked to the gate, and made it through the turnstyles, it was a little after 9:00. Temp screening adds no time, and bag check was standard wait, if not faster. But it did take 25–30 minutes to park (from exiting the 5 to exiting the vehicle). We are fast walkers, and I would estimate not too much of a difference from a day you have to wait for one round of trams (and faster than when you have to wait more than that). If I were to do it again, I would aim to arrive at 7:30/7:45.
ATTRACTIONS
Space Mountain (posted wait was 40, actual wait was 25). While in line, we booked snacks and lunch—basically all time slots were open for all mobile-order venues. We also got into the Indy VQ (BG 17, which turned out to be too early).
ROTR. We had scored BG 26 thanks to tips from the ROTR thread here. Our group was called while we were waiting for Space Mountain. So we skipped Star Tours and headed for Galaxy's Edge. Line was about 15 minutes. Our Indy BG was called before we even got onto ROTR.
MFSR. Posted wait was 45, which worked perfectly for our Savi's res, so we decided to do that instead of go to Indy and come back. Wait time was fairly accurate for this one.
Savi's. We had an 11:45 reservation. I thought you had to check in at 11:30, but 11:45 was the check-in, and then we waited about 15 min (actually, exactly 18, because we were outside at noon—and scored Web Slingers BG 106!—and entered the building at 12:03).
Lunch (Ronto wraps).
Dok Ondar's to buy Kyber crystals.
Indy. Our BG was
long-past, but we asked at the queue entrance, and they said we were ok! 25-ish minutes in queue.
Matterhorn Macaroons and Starbucks in Town Square (great place for a snack/rest!).
Package check at Stroller Rental (essential for anyone doing Savi's).
Over to DCA.
Mike & Sully. 30 min posted wait, was actually 20.
TSMM. 40 min posted, actually 25.
Avenger's Campus. There was an hours-long standby line the entire time we were in DCA. We walked in without a wait when our BG was called.
Web Slingers. Was a 30–40 min wait.
GOTG. 30 min posted, actually 20.
RSR. 60 min posted, actually 65 (the only attraction of the day with an underestimated wait).
Dinner at Lamplight Lounge.
Incredicoaster. 35 min posted, actually 10.
Haunted Mansion. 30 min posted, actually 10 (because we did the stairs).
Pirates. 35 min posted, actually 20 (but we got lucky in that our side of the line moved faster than the other. A lot of the "wait here" stickers were missing on the left-hand half of the queue—you could see the outlines where they had been—maybe that had something to do with it?)
FOOD
Ronto Roasters. Not much to say, the Ronto Wrap is right up there with the Dole Whip for me as far as quick-service food items go. Made the mobile order while waiting in line for first attraction.
Jolly Holiday. We missed our mobile-order window to pick up Matterhorn Macaroons (by like 15 minutes), but we weren't charged, and when we got there, there were only two parties in front of us in the standby line.
Starbucks. No line at about 1:00 p.m. And they still had all the Star Wars Day mugs!
We ate the Matterhorn Macaroons and drank the coffee on the benches in Town Square by the flag—great place to stop and sit for a snack (and nice view of characters, who are in front of the train station)!
Lamplight Lounge. Lobster nachos (longtime fave) and sliders (so good!). Lucked into a 6:30 p.m. reservation when logging onto the app at 3:00 a.m. a couple days before.
THOUGHTS
DCA crowds seemed normal. I didn't notice a difference in DCA from a regular day (except in Buena Vista St shops, which were almost eerily empty).
Disneyland seemed EMPTY at the beginning of the day. When we turned into Tomorrowland from the Hub, the only people we saw were riding the Astro Orbiters. Seemed more populated as the day went on, but still light. Was wild to have tons of space around me walking down Main Street at the end of the day.
Seating is an issue, especially now that you have to find a designated eating spot just to hydrate. Docking Bay 7 outdoor seating was abundant, even at peak lunch rush. Benches in Town Square are a great place to eat or sit.
The ROTR thread here helped immensely in scoring BGs for both ROTR and Web Slingers, cannot recommend enough.