Born 2B a Princess
Where's my tiara?!?!
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2007
We spent three days at DLR last week (Thursday through Saturday). I haven't been there since high school and my husband hadn't been since he was a kid. Our daughters (ages 24 and 19) had never been. We've been to WDW numerous times but this was our first trip to DLR.
Hotel -- we stayed at Candy Cane Inn. The room was fine but housekeeping was not great. They showed up around 4 pm every day, which was during our afternoon hotel/pool break. The beds were made and fresh towels delivered, but that was it. Trash wasn't emptied one of the days. Shampoo, conditioner, and soap were not replenished. The front desk staff was very nice and we enjoyed the continental breakfast since we're not big breakfast eaters. The big draw for us was the close proximity to DLR -- walking to/from the parks usually took less time than the shuttle. We only used the shuttle a couple of times -- it was just as fast and easy to walk.
Downtown Disney -- the World of Disney store is under construction so it was pretty cramped/crowded. Downtown Disney was nice but definitely smaller than Disney Springs. We would have liked more entertainment and some outdoor seating throughout the area. We didn't spend much time here, but the time we did spend was fine. We really enjoyed our dinner at Tortilla Jo's -- the tableside guacamole was wonderful and my daughter who is very picky about tortillas (she lived in Honduras for 18 months and makes her own tortillas) said the tortillas were good. We also stopped in at Sprinkles -- we have missed their cupcakes since we moved out west. Yum! The Pixar-themed topiary sculptures are cute and we had fun identifying all of them.
The Disney Bubble -- we definitely felt a difference between DLR and WDW. We like that at WDW you don't really see anything until you're right there, for the most part -- for example, you can't see Cinderella's Castle until you're at Magic Kingdom -- nothing visible outside the WDW property, etc. Cars Land backed right up to our hotel and seeing the backside of it kind of put a little damper on the magic for me. Walking to the resort, having it be right in the middle of a congested downtown area, just didn't feel as magical to us as WDW feels, since we really feel isolated from real life when we're at WDW since you can't see it the moment you walk out of the parks.
Cast Members -- we had heard so much about how great the cast members are at DLR compared to WDW. Unfortunately, we had the opposite experience. We've only had one negative cast member interaction at WDW. At DLR we encountered lots of cast members who looked bored, were rude and dismissive to guests, and just generally looked/acted unhappy. There were definitely those who were cheerful and pleasant and positive, but we were disappointed by how many acted like they didn't want to be there. We were also surprised to see cast members in costume walking in different areas of the park -- example, someone from It's a Small World in costume walking in Adventureland. That was jarring -- and we saw it several times.
Private/VIP Tours -- there were so many! We stopped counting once we hit 20 private tours on our second day. In our 10 trips to WDW we've only seen two private tours -- both celebrities. I stopped and asked a cast member if it was normal to have so many "plaids" around leading individuals/groups or if there was a special event or something -- she said it was totally normal to have that many. We were surprised by that.
Park guests -- we were really frustrated by other park guests. Cutting in line was rampant and the cast members didn't do anything to stop it. It was really ridiculous and happened all the time. If the rides were using both fastpass checkpoints that would help because people wouldn't be able to jump the first one to get in the fastpass line, but since most attractions were only using the first fastpass checkpoint, people would jump the line after the checkpoint and no one did anything about it. We had reserved seating for the Paint the Night parade and even though it was roped off with a reserved sign, people kept coming in to sit -- the cast member wasn't checking their passes and finally some of the other men in the section started saying something to park guests who tried to sit there without having done the dining package. After they did that several times, the cast members finally got involved and started checking passes and "policing" the areas.
Disneyland -- it was great to be in Walt's park and to walk where he would have walked, and see where it all started. The park was charming, although it's so compact and the walkways are so narrow in many places that it seemed overcrowded and cramped to the point of being uncomfortable. We missed having shade/fans/air conditioning in the queues. Even though the temperatures were in the mid 80s and we've done most of our WDW trips in the summer when it's much hotter/more humid, it just felt hot. Blazing hot! We loved Fantasmic -- especially the pirate section -- and were glad we did the dining package (Hungry Bear) -- we had great seats. It felt crazy trying to get out after the fireworks, though -- compressing all of those people down to one passageway out was super crowded. We focused especially on attractions that we can't do at WDW or that are different at DLR. We loved Indiana Jones, preferred Buzz Lightyear since you can pick up the shooters, and Space Mountain is better at DLR. We didn't care for Matterhorn (too rough). My daughters were definitely unimpressed by Mr Toad's Wild Ride ("That was it????" LOL) and we thought IASW was charming. They felt the Nemo ride lasted too long and started to make them all a bit claustrophobic. We all agreed that Autopia is much better -- more scenic -- at Disneyland. We loved Pirates. Overall, we enjoyed our time here but agreed that we prefer Magic Kingdom. We were disappointed at how many ride breakdowns there were -- we never got to ride Alice in Wonderland because of that, and we weren't able to use our Indiana Jones fastpasses on our last day because it broke down.
DCA -- we loved the wider streets/walkways, and Cars Land is absolutely incredible! The single rider line for RSR is definitely the way to go in the mornings -- we walked on using single rider a couple of times. Same with GOTG, which we loved. We really liked all of CarsLand. We liked the theming of Soarin' better than at Epcot. Grizzly Rapids was so much fun -- I wish we had done that more than once. We tried to but it also broke down for most of one day. The theming in the Grizzly Peak area is also well done. We spent some time on Pixar Pier and enjoyed that. My husband and girls loved Incredicoaster and TSMM is always a favorite of ours. The lines for Adorable Snowman were too long so we never did get to try that. Bing Bong's opened on our last day and we browsed but were a bit underwhelmed. The photo walls were fun. Overall, we preferred the feel and openness of DCA over Disneyland. We did the Wine Country Trattoria dining package and the food was good, especially the panna cotta we had for dessert. We didn't love the outdoor seating because it was so hot, and they didn't want to get an umbrella for us for shade so we ended up asking to move tables. After another family sat at that same table and asked for an umbrella they ended up moving one over there. It's a lovely place to sit and people watch. It was great that the parks are so close -- we were able to park hop easily and quickly.
MaxPass -- I am SO glad we got MaxPass for all three days. I wish I had really figured it out better on the first day -- we definitely underutilized it on the first day and could have done so much more if I had figured it out better sooner. But it's definitely worth it. We talked to one family who had just gotten to the park at 4 pm and at 6:45 was still in line for their first attraction. Not that the headliners would have had fastpasses available by then, but perhaps they could have gotten on other fastpass attractions. I felt bad for them.
We didn't see many Photopass photographers at all.
Food -- The mint juleps and beignets are just as wonderful as I remember them being. We went there a few times... The huge filled macarons from Jolly Holiday Bakery were delicious. We loved mobile ordering and used it at Bengal Barbecue (that was an agreed upon favorite but it would be nice if they had more seating) and a Mexican place in DCA (can't remember the name....). Mobile ordering is fabulous! We enjoyed Tortilla Jo's. Hungry Bear dining package -- my girls had the salmon and they both really enjoyed it. My husband said the chicken was "ok" and I had the riblets and they were not good at all. We enjoyed Wine Country Trattoria -- the salmon was excellent and so was the lamb osso bucco and the steak. The panna cotta was very good, too. We really enjoyed the French Dip sandwiches at French Market. We tried churros -- sorry to everyone who loves them, but they just seemed like regular Costco churros to us. Loved the popcorn -- what is it about theme park popcorn that makes it so good???? We also had lunch on Pixar Pier at Paradise Grill or something...? It's a food court type area with pizza, pasta, and salads. I have dietary restrictions and they were great about making a salad for me that I could eat. We sat outdoors in the shade in their little seating area and it was absolutely fabulous -- perfect shade and it was right by where the Toy Soldiers go in/out so we saw them several times. We also ate at the Mexican place on Pacific Wharf (can't remember the name) and we enjoyed everything we got there. The street tacos were good, my salad was huge, and the other things we tried were also good. Servings were huge and we could have shared everything except the street tacos.
Overall, we really enjoyed our trip and will go back, but we all agreed that WDW has the edge over DLR for us.
Hotel -- we stayed at Candy Cane Inn. The room was fine but housekeeping was not great. They showed up around 4 pm every day, which was during our afternoon hotel/pool break. The beds were made and fresh towels delivered, but that was it. Trash wasn't emptied one of the days. Shampoo, conditioner, and soap were not replenished. The front desk staff was very nice and we enjoyed the continental breakfast since we're not big breakfast eaters. The big draw for us was the close proximity to DLR -- walking to/from the parks usually took less time than the shuttle. We only used the shuttle a couple of times -- it was just as fast and easy to walk.
Downtown Disney -- the World of Disney store is under construction so it was pretty cramped/crowded. Downtown Disney was nice but definitely smaller than Disney Springs. We would have liked more entertainment and some outdoor seating throughout the area. We didn't spend much time here, but the time we did spend was fine. We really enjoyed our dinner at Tortilla Jo's -- the tableside guacamole was wonderful and my daughter who is very picky about tortillas (she lived in Honduras for 18 months and makes her own tortillas) said the tortillas were good. We also stopped in at Sprinkles -- we have missed their cupcakes since we moved out west. Yum! The Pixar-themed topiary sculptures are cute and we had fun identifying all of them.
The Disney Bubble -- we definitely felt a difference between DLR and WDW. We like that at WDW you don't really see anything until you're right there, for the most part -- for example, you can't see Cinderella's Castle until you're at Magic Kingdom -- nothing visible outside the WDW property, etc. Cars Land backed right up to our hotel and seeing the backside of it kind of put a little damper on the magic for me. Walking to the resort, having it be right in the middle of a congested downtown area, just didn't feel as magical to us as WDW feels, since we really feel isolated from real life when we're at WDW since you can't see it the moment you walk out of the parks.
Cast Members -- we had heard so much about how great the cast members are at DLR compared to WDW. Unfortunately, we had the opposite experience. We've only had one negative cast member interaction at WDW. At DLR we encountered lots of cast members who looked bored, were rude and dismissive to guests, and just generally looked/acted unhappy. There were definitely those who were cheerful and pleasant and positive, but we were disappointed by how many acted like they didn't want to be there. We were also surprised to see cast members in costume walking in different areas of the park -- example, someone from It's a Small World in costume walking in Adventureland. That was jarring -- and we saw it several times.
Private/VIP Tours -- there were so many! We stopped counting once we hit 20 private tours on our second day. In our 10 trips to WDW we've only seen two private tours -- both celebrities. I stopped and asked a cast member if it was normal to have so many "plaids" around leading individuals/groups or if there was a special event or something -- she said it was totally normal to have that many. We were surprised by that.
Park guests -- we were really frustrated by other park guests. Cutting in line was rampant and the cast members didn't do anything to stop it. It was really ridiculous and happened all the time. If the rides were using both fastpass checkpoints that would help because people wouldn't be able to jump the first one to get in the fastpass line, but since most attractions were only using the first fastpass checkpoint, people would jump the line after the checkpoint and no one did anything about it. We had reserved seating for the Paint the Night parade and even though it was roped off with a reserved sign, people kept coming in to sit -- the cast member wasn't checking their passes and finally some of the other men in the section started saying something to park guests who tried to sit there without having done the dining package. After they did that several times, the cast members finally got involved and started checking passes and "policing" the areas.
Disneyland -- it was great to be in Walt's park and to walk where he would have walked, and see where it all started. The park was charming, although it's so compact and the walkways are so narrow in many places that it seemed overcrowded and cramped to the point of being uncomfortable. We missed having shade/fans/air conditioning in the queues. Even though the temperatures were in the mid 80s and we've done most of our WDW trips in the summer when it's much hotter/more humid, it just felt hot. Blazing hot! We loved Fantasmic -- especially the pirate section -- and were glad we did the dining package (Hungry Bear) -- we had great seats. It felt crazy trying to get out after the fireworks, though -- compressing all of those people down to one passageway out was super crowded. We focused especially on attractions that we can't do at WDW or that are different at DLR. We loved Indiana Jones, preferred Buzz Lightyear since you can pick up the shooters, and Space Mountain is better at DLR. We didn't care for Matterhorn (too rough). My daughters were definitely unimpressed by Mr Toad's Wild Ride ("That was it????" LOL) and we thought IASW was charming. They felt the Nemo ride lasted too long and started to make them all a bit claustrophobic. We all agreed that Autopia is much better -- more scenic -- at Disneyland. We loved Pirates. Overall, we enjoyed our time here but agreed that we prefer Magic Kingdom. We were disappointed at how many ride breakdowns there were -- we never got to ride Alice in Wonderland because of that, and we weren't able to use our Indiana Jones fastpasses on our last day because it broke down.
DCA -- we loved the wider streets/walkways, and Cars Land is absolutely incredible! The single rider line for RSR is definitely the way to go in the mornings -- we walked on using single rider a couple of times. Same with GOTG, which we loved. We really liked all of CarsLand. We liked the theming of Soarin' better than at Epcot. Grizzly Rapids was so much fun -- I wish we had done that more than once. We tried to but it also broke down for most of one day. The theming in the Grizzly Peak area is also well done. We spent some time on Pixar Pier and enjoyed that. My husband and girls loved Incredicoaster and TSMM is always a favorite of ours. The lines for Adorable Snowman were too long so we never did get to try that. Bing Bong's opened on our last day and we browsed but were a bit underwhelmed. The photo walls were fun. Overall, we preferred the feel and openness of DCA over Disneyland. We did the Wine Country Trattoria dining package and the food was good, especially the panna cotta we had for dessert. We didn't love the outdoor seating because it was so hot, and they didn't want to get an umbrella for us for shade so we ended up asking to move tables. After another family sat at that same table and asked for an umbrella they ended up moving one over there. It's a lovely place to sit and people watch. It was great that the parks are so close -- we were able to park hop easily and quickly.
MaxPass -- I am SO glad we got MaxPass for all three days. I wish I had really figured it out better on the first day -- we definitely underutilized it on the first day and could have done so much more if I had figured it out better sooner. But it's definitely worth it. We talked to one family who had just gotten to the park at 4 pm and at 6:45 was still in line for their first attraction. Not that the headliners would have had fastpasses available by then, but perhaps they could have gotten on other fastpass attractions. I felt bad for them.
We didn't see many Photopass photographers at all.
Food -- The mint juleps and beignets are just as wonderful as I remember them being. We went there a few times... The huge filled macarons from Jolly Holiday Bakery were delicious. We loved mobile ordering and used it at Bengal Barbecue (that was an agreed upon favorite but it would be nice if they had more seating) and a Mexican place in DCA (can't remember the name....). Mobile ordering is fabulous! We enjoyed Tortilla Jo's. Hungry Bear dining package -- my girls had the salmon and they both really enjoyed it. My husband said the chicken was "ok" and I had the riblets and they were not good at all. We enjoyed Wine Country Trattoria -- the salmon was excellent and so was the lamb osso bucco and the steak. The panna cotta was very good, too. We really enjoyed the French Dip sandwiches at French Market. We tried churros -- sorry to everyone who loves them, but they just seemed like regular Costco churros to us. Loved the popcorn -- what is it about theme park popcorn that makes it so good???? We also had lunch on Pixar Pier at Paradise Grill or something...? It's a food court type area with pizza, pasta, and salads. I have dietary restrictions and they were great about making a salad for me that I could eat. We sat outdoors in the shade in their little seating area and it was absolutely fabulous -- perfect shade and it was right by where the Toy Soldiers go in/out so we saw them several times. We also ate at the Mexican place on Pacific Wharf (can't remember the name) and we enjoyed everything we got there. The street tacos were good, my salad was huge, and the other things we tried were also good. Servings were huge and we could have shared everything except the street tacos.
Overall, we really enjoyed our trip and will go back, but we all agreed that WDW has the edge over DLR for us.
