After a bad year, planning a fun trip- Please help w/ random questions!

[bayareadisneyland]

Hello,

Not been a great year for my little family (kids are 5 and 2), so need to plan a super fun trip- please help w/ some random questions! Staying at DLH from Sat 4/21- Thurs 4/26.

1. What are your fav things to do on the day you arrive if you don't go to the park? Was thinking swim, get hair done at Anna & Elsa's- but now see that it is closed! Any other suggestions? Fun dinner? Fun activity in DTD? Definitely thinking I should have this as my off day and do my five days in the park from Sunday- Thurs (half day). If anyone thinks otherwise, let me know!

2. Can you please update me on how to see A&E/ Olaf? Fastpasses anymore? Or just get in line? Do you have to rush to see them first thing?

3. Once you get in the park, you can start using maxpass, but what if you go back to the hotel for breaks? Can you still reserve rides for later? Can you get maxpass for a ride in the opposite park?

4. We LOVE Plaza Inn- it seems like Goofy's offers the same characters- is it worth doing both?

5. I think PTN will be at DCA at that time. Any word on dining pkgs? If you had to choose between Fantasmic and PTN for young kids, which one is best? Any other add-on experience you would recommend (not interested in WOC)

 

[Niltiac]

1. The DLH pools are really nice and you can have drinks from Trader Sams brought to you while the kids swim, then dinner at Tangorra Terrace or somewhere in DtD maybe? Personally I would explore and enjoy the hotel, especially if the rest of my days were going to be really busy park days.

2. I don't know much about this, but I don't think there are FP anymore.

3. Once you've been scanned into either park, you can pull FP for both parks for the rest of the day, including when you're back at the hotel.

4. I don't have experience with this.

5. I'm not sure if there will be dining packages, but my general impression is that there's more room for viewing in DCA than there is at DLR, so getting a good spot might not be as difficult as it used to be. I would pick PtN over Fantasmic, but I didn't particularly "get" Fantasmic. A lot of people love it, so I'm might be the odd one out. I actually like WoC way more than either of those.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

1. Since you are staying at DLH, then by all means enjoy the pool. You also mention Goofy's Kitchen; that's a good activity to do on a non-park arrival or departure day so you may want to consider dinner there on the day you arrive. We haven't done Goofy's for years now, and I'm not a fan of the limited character rotation that they now use, but a 2 year old and 5 year old aren't going to care much about that. If they enjoy characters, then they will probably be happy to see whoever is there, and there are plenty of food options for both adults and little ones.

2. Anna and Elsa are in the Animation Studio. I don't believe there are fastpasses for them anymore. I don't know if Olaf is part of the rotation.

3. PP answered this one one already.

4. Personally I wouldn't spend the time and money on two character meals during the same trip, but my brother and his family wouldn't hesitate to do so. Do what seems right for you and your kids, but, yes, there will likely be some character duplication. You will only see a handful of characters at Goofy's, but reports are that Plaza Inn still features as many as 7 or 8 characters each morning. You may end up deciding to try Goofy's for dinner and still want to do Plaza Inn for breakfast one morning.

5. I haven't seen the new Fantasmic myself yet since I haven't wanted to deal with the hassle of the lineups and the crowds. I enjoyed both the old Fantasmic and the Paint the Night parade. They are each great in their own way. With two little kids, I would choose Paint the Night. I think it will be more relatable for them and generally easier to wait for and watch.

 

[pharmama]

1. I agree with PP that spending your first partial day at the DLH pool is a good plan.

2. No FP any more, just get in line. We've done this a couple of times on a whim/when we were in the area since FP went away and never had to wait all that long- at most 15minutes but YMMV, of course. Its just A&E. I don't believe Olaf is currently meeting...

3. PP already answered.

4. I found Goofy's to be "OK". Character interaction was decent and food was meh. I'm not up on who's recently been seen at Plaza Inn, but I found the characters to be a little more varied/interesting there whereas Goofy's is more core characters and fewer of them. We only saw Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale there last May. Last time we went to Plaza Inn we saw 10 characters and they were a huge variety (Minnie, Pooh, Eeyore, Perla, Hook, Brer Fox, Chip & Dale, Fairy Godmother and Rafiki) but that was, admittedly, a few years ago. I prefer Surf's Up to Goofy's (but obviously that's only an option for breakfast) and it is probably less character duplication with Minnies other than Minnie herself who is usually at both. Do you know how your 2yr old feels about characters? Some 2yo love them and others are still scared...

5. I absolutely LOVE F! That said, in your shoes I would do PTN. With the ages of your kids, they may not like some parts of F! PTN, on the other hand, is amazing for all ages. Dining package options remain to be seen, of course so hard to say on that.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Hello,

Not been a great year for my little family (kids are 5 and 2), so need to plan a super fun trip- please help w/ some random questions! Staying at DLH from Sat 4/21- Thurs 4/26.

1. What are your fav things to do on the day you arrive if you don't go to the park? Was thinking swim, get hair done at Anna & Elsa's- but now see that it is closed! Any other suggestions? Fun dinner? Fun activity in DTD? Definitely thinking I should have this as my off day and do my five days in the park from Sunday- Thurs (half day). If anyone thinks otherwise, let me know!

2. Can you please update me on how to see A&E/ Olaf? Fastpasses anymore? Or just get in line? Do you have to rush to see them first thing?

3. Once you get in the park, you can start using maxpass, but what if you go back to the hotel for breaks? Can you still reserve rides for later? Can you get maxpass for a ride in the opposite park?

4. We LOVE Plaza Inn- it seems like Goofy's offers the same characters- is it worth doing both?

5. I think PTN will be at DCA at that time. Any word on dining pkgs? If you had to choose between Fantasmic and PTN for young kids, which one is best? Any other add-on experience you would recommend (not interested in WOC)

1. My four-year-old can play in the Lego bins for seriously an hour. We also miss Anna and Elsa's!
2. Currently, you can meet Olaf/Kristoff and then Anna/Elsa after waiting in one line in the Animation building. We do this frequently. The line does fluctuate a LOT for unfathomable reasons (I've tried to find a pattern and failed), but it almost always gets crowded after the Frozen show gets out. Usually, Kristoff/Olaf are done after about 2 or so; check the app. Also, once lately we just had Olaf in Room 1 and just Anna in Room 2 on another occasion, so it can vary a bit. They'll let you know when you get in line if someone's gone (in my experience).
3. As covered, yes and yes. I love Maxpass.
4. Eh, I don't know if I'd do both unless you want to do Goofy's your first night. They're not actually the same characters (other than probably Chip and Dale), but they're fairly similar experiences. Having said that, if you did Goofy's for dinner on Saturday and Plaza for breakfast later in the week, that wouldn't be too repetitive.
5. No word on dining packages yet for PTN. I'd probably do PTN over Fantasmic! if I was just doing one... but really, I'd do both. I'd probably get Hungry Bear to-go for Fantasmic viewing unless you're interested in the other meals.

 

[Nonsuch]

...Staying at DLH from Sat 4/21- Thurs 4/26.

I hope you are taking advantage of the excellent Dapper Day rates for DLH and tickets.

While schedules have not been announced, night shows are often only on weekends — which may influence your arrival day plans.

 

[azdisneylover]

Since you are staying on sight, I highly suggest making it daily for MM/EE. This will make a big difference in riding the big rides adults want to ride and the rides in Fantasyland too. Try to keep your kids on their schedule as much as you can. If they nap at 12, let them nap at noon, everyone will be happy. If your kids aren't big eaters, skip the character meal and perhaps visiting Toon Town when it opens and visit the Fab Five there.

 

[gottalovepluto]

PTN for sure with kids that age. Fantasmic scared me out of my wits as a young kid! (Dragon, fireworks, evil characters.) BUT- to evaluate it for your own kids all you have to do is watch a YouTube video of it! (Make sure you're watching the new Fantasmic.) Imho PTN is a lot of fun even for a 2yo.

I hope your family has a wonderful trip with some extra pixie dust after your tough year.

 

[Vala]

1. Maybe the Star Wars VR thing in DTD for the non-park day, if your girls like Star Wars? Guessing you have girls because you mentioned getting their hair done at Anna's & Elsa's Boutique. My friends' kids are all a little older, but everyone who went has been raving about it. I haven't checked the age limit, maybe 2yo is too young.

4. That's a tough question. What are you looking for when you do a character meal?

I used to love Goofy's. I would rate the buffet there higher than Plaza for sure. But since they took out a lot of the characters (they used to have "guest stars" and you could meet anyone from a Princess to Mad Hatter) I've only been back twice, and one of these times was because my friends insisted I'd join them. You will not see characters you can't find elsewhere at Goofy's Kitchen. Plenty of opportunities to find Mickey and Goofy in the parks. Minnie, the Chipmunks and Pluto are normally at Minnie's anyway. Minnie's has a lot of unexpected vistors popping up. There's been reports of Rabbit. I've seen Goofy's son Max a lot of time. Suzy and Perla, the mice from Cinderella. Gepetto or Pinocchio. Even Foulfellow from Pinocchio popped up once.

If money is not an issue I would probably do both. The characters have different costumes at Goofy's Kitchen, they are in normal "park attire" at Minnie's.

But if it doesn't have to be Goofy's I'd agree with what has already been suggested, Surf's Up may be an alternative. The downside is that the characters are at breakfast only. However, it has Stitch who is tough to find nowadays, and Daisy and Minnie both have unique outfits. Plus of course Lifeguard Mickey.

 

[sherilaine]

1. Maybe the Star Wars VR thing in DTD for the non-park day, if your girls like Star Wars? Guessing you have girls because you mentioned getting their hair done at Anna's & Elsa's Boutique. My friends' kids are all a little older, but everyone who went has been raving about it. I haven't checked the age limit, maybe 2yo is too young.

The Star Wars Void experience is minimum age of 10.

I think having the Saturday to do pool and DTD is a great start to your vacation. Your kids are still quite young so having an easy day with a good rest the night before hitting the parks would be great.

I'd recommend doing to the Plaza Inn for the character breakfast at that age or Surfs Up in the Paradise Pier hotel.

 

[schmennifer]

Avoiding duplicating previous answers.

2. We popped into the Animation Academy a few times and kept seeing a long line. But on our last day, we popped in at night and there was almost no line--just three people in front of us. Granted, only Anna and Elsa were there, but they're all my daughter cared about. It was around 7, so I guess most people were eating...?

4. If this helps, we were at Plaza Inn on Jan. 15, and the characters were Minnie, Fairy Godmother, Chip, Dale, Eeyore, Captain Hook, Rafiki, Tigger, Max, and Honest John. We went first thing in the morning, and it was kind of overwhelming!

 

[Vala]

The Star Wars Void experience is minimum age of 10.

I think having the Saturday to do pool and DTD is a great start to your vacation. Your kids are still quite young so having an easy day with a good rest the night before hitting the parks would be great.

I'd recommend doing to the Plaza Inn for the character breakfast at that age or Surfs Up in the Paradise Pier hotel.

Thank you, I didn't know. All kids involved are 11 and over.

Yeah, under those circumstances I am going with pool day and maybe some DTD.