*August 2019 check in*

[Sydnerella]

Welcome to the madness that will be August 2019!



With 5 day hoppers and staying onsite you should be able to do just about everything you want to do!

You are going to find touring at DLR so much easier than at WDW. Going between the two parks is a breeze and we typically hit each park 1-2 times each day. ADRs are not as hard to get and most can be booked a few days out, with the one notable exception of Blue Bayou. That one will book up in advance, but nothing like BoG! If you want to eat there and really want a waterside table, I would book for the earliest time possible. (I think that is 11:30 for lunch and 4:30 for dinner)

We are going to do the WOC dessert party again this trip. We've done the dining packages a few times in the past but for us, nothing beats having a table and chairs to sit at after a long day at the parks!

Maxpass will help getting multiple fast passes for sure and we are going to add it to our tickets for sure.

SW:GE is going to change most people's touring plans and until we know more about how it is going to all shake out, no one can really plan that much.

Please ask any questions you may have and I will try and answer! This is our 13th DL trip, I can answer most questions and if I can't then I know someone else here will be able to.

Thank you for this WARM welcome!! I appreciate your info and assurances above so much - there is so much that is new to us and it feels so odd to be a Disney newbie again. And it feels exciting too! I am sure to have many questions, thanks for the offer to field them. I need to get used to the legacy FP again, but with the Maxpass. I just dont want to have my head in my phone too much with it being all new to me - to much to see!

Well, it’s almost new... I was there for one day when I was 14 on our one big trip to California in 1986. My biggest Disneyland memory is my Grandma looking at a lidded teacup with a pretty pink carousel design in a gift shop near the monorail - she loved pink - and when she picked up the cup, she accidentally sent the whole shelf of them crashing to the floor which sent me crashing out of the store toward the monorail so fast... leaving my poor Grandma alone and totally mortified. But so was I! l now have the teacup she purchased after the “catastrophe” that day along with a handwritten note from her reminding me of our very special moment together which still makes me smile and still miss her

 

[cinnaminny]

I am August also!

 

[momtohms]

Officially pinned down dates and a hotel reservation! August 18th to 22nd! The 19th-21st will be our park days.

I was planning on it to be a solo trip, but my parents are coming along now too! It’s going to be a blast! I turn 34 just before we go, so I will definitely be celebrating my birthday in the parks

This trip also checks off a major bucket list item for me, as I was able to book the GCH! So now I will get to say I’ve stayed at all three DL properties! Woohoo!

 

[Sydnerella]

Yes, unfortunately.



ETA, it will almost certainly be running on Sunday the 25th. Will you be in the park that day? If so, be sure to ride it early in the day! And then multiple times that day.

Unfortunately we are coming from a 2night pre-stay in DT LA that day and with 7 nights at DLH and only the ability to purchase 5-day tix at most, we would not hit the parks Sunday as it would “waste” one of our 5 days on a shorter day - we really do not want to rush out of DT that morning, we plan to hit Grand Central food hall and have a more relaxed morning. Its a 20th anniversary trip and we will have our kids along (teen/tween) and we like to explore cities as well as all things Disney.

I really wish we could get longer tickets like at WDW - as we always hit the parks on our arrival day even though it is shortened because we can buy a seven day hopper with minimal extra cost to a 5 day for instance! Any way around this?!?! Im wondering if partial day tickets are available? It would be a perfect day to add on an after hours event for us

I now am also afraid that we would miss Space Mountain - will they start the GG overlay as well?

 

[agamble]

I now am also afraid that we would miss Space Mountain - will they start the GG overlay as well?

I can't say 100% , but generally Space only needs a few days to add or take away a theme. So it shouldn't be closed in August. I've been wondering if they'll do Hyperspace this summer for SWGE. It seems they should, but it hasn't been announced.

 

[HydroGuy]

Unfortunately we are coming from a 2night pre-stay in DT LA that day and with 7 nights at DLH and only the ability to purchase 5-day tix at most, we would not hit the parks Sunday as it would “waste” one of our 5 days on a shorter day - we really do not want to rush out of DT that morning, we plan to hit Grand Central food hall and have a more relaxed morning. Its a 20th anniversary trip and we will have our kids along (teen/tween) and we like to explore cities as well as all things Disney.

I really wish we could get longer tickets like at WDW - as we always hit the parks on our arrival day even though it is shortened because we can buy a seven day hopper with minimal extra cost to a 5 day for instance! Any way around this?!?! Im wondering if partial day tickets are available? It would be a perfect day to add on an after hours event for us

I now am also afraid that we would miss Space Mountain - will they start the GG overlay as well?

SMGG usually happens over 3-4 days the week after Labor Day. So I would say 99+% you are safe there. I suspect the only thing you will miss that week is HM. DL's HM is 95% the same as MKs so if you have to miss something, that is not a bad one to miss. One unique thing DL has is the Hatbox Ghost, who is a relatively new addition over the last few years.

Yes, I think DLR really needs to look at longer tickets than 5 days. They do not have finger scanners like WDW and had a terrible problem a few years ago with people buying tickets then "renting them out" to people by the day. Now they take a photo on your first day so I think that is cut way back. So they should increase max tickets to 6-7 days IMO, especially with SWGE opening. I am not aware of any partial day tickets.

 

[stegersaurus]

I’ve done a lot of lurking but have never posted before! So excited to join this thread as an August DLR visitor and am hoping to get some good tips!

We’re WDW vets, but DLR newbies. Dates are August 7-17, and we have park tickets for four days (haven’t decided which days we’ll be in the parks yet). We’re staying at an offsite (but walkable) hotel. It will be myself, husband, and our two sons.

We were originally going to avoid all things Disney this summer because of SWGE, but a great deal on airfare made us think it was our chance to get to CA, and we couldn’t go to CA without visiting Disneyland! We’ve been to WDW at the absolute height of crowds (Xmas to NYE) and at the absolute hottest (August), so we’ll figure out a way to have fun even if SWGE makes it crazy busy.

Excited to hear about everyone else’s trip plans!

 

[HydroGuy]

I’ve done a lot of lurking but have never posted before! So excited to join this thread as an August DLR visitor and am hoping to get some good tips!

 

[Aladora]

Welcome to all the new August people! I’ve just arrived home from a weekend getaway to Vancouver and I will update this list ASAP.

 

[Aladora]

List updated!

Officially pinned down dates and a hotel reservation! August 18th to 22nd! The 19th-21st will be our park days.

I was planning on it to be a solo trip, but my parents are coming along now too! It’s going to be a blast! I turn 34 just before we go, so I will definitely be celebrating my birthday in the parks

This trip also checks off a major bucket list item for me, as I was able to book the GCH! So now I will get to say I’ve stayed at all three DL properties! Woohoo!

Sounds like you have a great trip planned! I've been lucky enough to spend 2 birthdays at DL over the last few years and it is such fun! And hooray for the GCH booking, we've also stayed at all 3 and the Grand is our favourite. PPH used to be my favourite but it has dropped to 3rd on my list ever since they stopped PPH guests from cutting through the GCH a few years ago. Love the size of the PPH rooms though!

I’ve done a lot of lurking but have never posted before! So excited to join this thread as an August DLR visitor and am hoping to get some good tips!

We’re WDW vets, but DLR newbies. Dates are August 7-17, and we have park tickets for four days (haven’t decided which days we’ll be in the parks yet). We’re staying at an offsite (but walkable) hotel. It will be myself, husband, and our two sons.

We were originally going to avoid all things Disney this summer because of SWGE, but a great deal on airfare made us think it was our chance to get to CA, and we couldn’t go to CA without visiting Disneyland! We’ve been to WDW at the absolute height of crowds (Xmas to NYE) and at the absolute hottest (August), so we’ll figure out a way to have fun even if SWGE makes it crazy busy.

Excited to hear about everyone else’s trip plans!

We've never been to WDW between Christmas and New Years but we were there last August. Hellishly hot and humid does not even come close to adequately describing Florida in August. You are going to be so happy with CA in August, it is hot for sure but there is basically no humidity.

As for tips...my best tip is to just relax.

There is very little planning to do at DL in comparison with WDW. There are only a few places where you need to make ADRs far-ish in advance, many can be done only a few days out. If Blue Bayou is somewhere that you are keen on going to then I would book that early as it will book up almost every day, however there is no need to set an alarm and get online or on the phone as soon as bookings open up. Heck, a lot of the time reservations are not even loaded into the system right at 60 days. If you want your best chance to get a waterside table at BB then I would book the first reservation of the day for lunch or for dinner, check in a little bit before your ADR time and let the CM know you would like a waterside table and are willing to wait.

We love Maxpass and find that it is worth the extra $. The ability to book FP from your phone for any FP attraction in either park is fantastic. The reduced amount of time between booking FPs (90 mins as opposed to 120) is also really nice.

SWGE is likely going to change how we plan for DL but until we know more details no one can give any solid advice. Most of us are in a "wait and see" mind set until the land opens May 31st.

 

[kyrkea333]

I was curious when you mentioned Vancouver, Aladora, and checked your profile. I'm in Powell River. Are you close by?

 

[stegersaurus]

List updated!

We've never been to WDW between Christmas and New Years but we were there last August. Hellishly hot and humid does not even come close to adequately describing Florida in August. You are going to be so happy with CA in August, it is hot for sure but there is basically no humidity.

As for tips...my best tip is to just relax.

There is very little planning to do at DL in comparison with WDW. There are only a few places where you need to make ADRs far-ish in advance, many can be done only a few days out. If Blue Bayou is somewhere that you are keen on going to then I would book that early as it will book up almost every day, however there is no need to set an alarm and get online or on the phone as soon as bookings open up. Heck, a lot of the time reservations are not even loaded into the system right at 60 days. If you want your best chance to get a waterside table at BB then I would book the first reservation of the day for lunch or for dinner, check in a little bit before your ADR time and let the CM know you would like a waterside table and are willing to wait.

We love Maxpass and find that it is worth the extra $. The ability to book FP from your phone for any FP attraction in either park is fantastic. The reduced amount of time between booking FPs (90 mins as opposed to 120) is also really nice.

SWGE is likely going to change how we plan for DL but until we know more details no one can give any solid advice. Most of us are in a "wait and see" mind set until the land opens May 31st.

Thanks for the tips! We're definitely planning on Maxpass. We're considering Blue Bayou, but I'm not sold on it. The atmosphere looks great, but I don't know if it's worth cost for us personally, since there are so many Counter Service places that we want to try.

And I'm working on the relaxing part...not use to that after so many trips to WDW.

 

[Aladora]

I was curious when you mentioned Vancouver, Aladora, and checked your profile. I'm in Powell River. Are you close by?

I’m in Victoria! I was on the mainland this weekend to see P!nk with a friend of mine.

 

[3DisMunchkins]

Aug 2-6 for me!!!
Can't wait...gonna be a long summer!

PS...some of you late August visitors might want to check out this thread:
Mousesavers Anaheim Hilton Special - $99/night some nights

I don't know much personally about the hotel but they have good rates ($109) for late Aug...mainly 23rd and later I think!

 

[WestWind]

Will be there with my wife August 22 to 29. Trying D23 Expo for the first time but most of the time in the parks.

Travelling from Canada (Okanagan area of BC).

 

[Aladora]

Will be there with my wife August 22 to 29. Trying D23 Expo for the first time but most of the time in the parks.

Travelling from Canada (Okanagan area of BC).

As always for DL in August, there are a bunch of BC'ers going!

 

[kyrkea333]

Aladora, oh, it's a thing? Well, this will be our second August in a row, so there's that!

 

[Aladora]

Aladora, oh, it's a thing? Well, this will be our second August in a row, so there's that!

This will be our 6th August trip to DL. I have found that quite a few of us head down to CA in August, especially in the last 2 weeks. We typically go that time since a lot of the US schools are back in session but BC is out until the day after Labour Day.

 

[kyrkea333]

Yes, I was trying to convince my son that we could stay until the 2nd, but he decided that was too close to school starting. We really enjoyed last August. No idea what it will be like with SWGE opening, but we'll plan for crowds anyway.

 

[Bluewild79]

There's also Washington state folks in late August. Our schools also don't start until after Labor Day. The week before Labor Day last year was GLORIOUS! Warm but not hot, low low low crowds. It was like a unicorn week of nice weather and low crowds. This year we're aiming for the middle of August this year to avoid the local passholders in hopes of slightly lower crowds. It'all a guessing game though!