Disneyland June 21-26, 2021

[Piglet99645]

 

[Piglet99645]

pins I acquired trading with pin boards.

 

[Piglet99645]

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

View attachment 586135
S’more shake at Smokejumpers.

This is a family sized sharable shake for sure! thanks for snapping the pic

 

[Piglet99645]

This is a family sized sharable shake for sure! thanks for snapping the pic

Two of us couldn’t finish it after eating dinner. !!

 

[CandyMouse]

Thanks for your trip report, sounds like great time! My family and I will be staying at Desert Inn in November and have reservations for the same type of room you had. I was wondering if the AC was located by the bathroom or by the sofa bed? Also how was the Black Tap shakes and burgers, we were thinking of trying that? That was awesome you scored all the BG for the rides, I hope we will be able to also. Sounds like you really have to be fast!

 

[Piglet99645]

@CandyMouse:

The AC was located by the bathroom, under the window that faced DL (From the 5th floor we could see the Matterhorn), next to the sink. The bathroom door blocked the AC unit if left open, so I kept yelling at my kids to keep that door closed so the AC could circulate.

There is a small fan in the wall between the two rooms, so that the sofa bed room (which is by the outside door) gets the benefit of some AC. We like to sleep with a fan on, so it didn't bother us overnight. There was also a window that opened in that front/sofabed room. Morning and Evening, on the 5th floor, there was a nice breeze, so I opened the front door and the window in back to get some fresh air. You can also see GOTG out the front door from the 5th floor.

The AC unit was not amazing, so I had it turned down to 62 and running almost constantly while we were there to keep the room around 68 degrees. I had to turn it off a few times to let it rest, as it seemed to stop producing cold air. But it was in the 80s while we were there. November should be nicer.

All in all this hotel is worth the price to me, for the extra room and park proximity. As long as I'm critiquing, a few other thoughts on Desert Inn and Suites:

1. There was no coffee pot in the room, and they weren't doing breakfast due to Covid, so no coffee anywhere. HOpefully this won't be the case in November.

2. I always ask for a room closer to Harbor. (For example, I've stayed in rooms 202 and 506). The higher (last two) numbers are a hike toward the back of the building, and I'm just not into walking farther than necessary. I really liked 202 as it was one flight right above breakfast, but it's the smallest room so I've never booked it again.

Although I liked 506 just fine on this trip, I may ask for 3rd floor next time, because the first elevator (behind reception) only goes to the 3rd floor. So to get to 506 we had to either: 1) Take the first elevator to the third floor, then climb 2 flights of stairs to 506 (which was 3 doors from the end); or 2) Walk all the way to the 2nd elevator, take it to the 5th floor, then walk all the way back almost to the first elevator to 506.

Basically I ask for "lower floor, closer to Harbor" in my requests, and they do what they can based on availability. Sometimes I don't get anything resembling my request.


As for Black Tap........... I found the prices to be worse than inside the parks. My son said the Kobe burger was really good, but I found paying $28 for a hamburger outrageous. Shakes are $10 or $15 depending on how fancy. I had a $10 peanut butter shake and it was very good, but not particularly special. If you are going to bother, go for the fancy and make it special. (Or get the smores shake at Smokejumpers in CA, which was way better).

Practice the boarding groups before you go to get the feel of when to swipe down..... my daughter said refreshing (swiping down) 2 seconds before 7am was the key. She did get better results than I did....... My son has some small motor problems and he got the worst results of the three of us, but did score our BGs one of the days.

 

[Piglet99645]

Budget info for the curious, not counting plane tickets:

$1500 - Hotel for 7 nights
$50 - Taxi from SNA with tip
$101 - Supershuttle/Execucar to LAX (not including tip)
$390 per 5 day parkhopper with UCT
$300 - Gift cards spent randomly
$924 - My credit card bill this time from airport spending, mobile orders, incidentals, tshirts, laundry and bottled water and whatnot (which included 3 people eating multiple times a day, almost all inside the parks).


Tips on eating in the parks - I have my kids review menus before we go to identify best places where we can all find somewhere to eat. We tend to favor PIzza Planet, Hungry Bear, Smokejumpers, Lucky Fortune Cookery, Carnation Cafe, Red Rose Tavern, and Ronto Roasters. And Oga's, which isn't really food. Jolly HOliday is OK. I always want to do Bengal BBQ but it seldom happens. And I'm the only one who likes Dole Whip. WE also love pretzles more than churros. I know. Blasphemy!

While there, I will often only order 2 meals for the three of us. Then if we are still hungry we can get ice cream or something. Several times on this trip I ordered myself a kid meal, because I really just needed a snack, not a full meal, and it also came with a small soft drink that I wouldn't otherwise buy. ($4.99 for a coke in the park).

 

[CandyMouse]

@CandyMouse:

The AC was located by the bathroom, under the window that faced DL (From the 5th floor we could see the Matterhorn), next to the sink. The bathroom door blocked the AC unit if left open, so I kept yelling at my kids to keep that door closed so the AC could circulate.

There is a small fan in the wall between the two rooms, so that the sofa bed room (which is by the outside door) gets the benefit of some AC. We like to sleep with a fan on, so it didn't bother us overnight. There was also a window that opened in that front/sofabed room. Morning and Evening, on the 5th floor, there was a nice breeze, so I opened the front door and the window in back to get some fresh air. You can also see GOTG out the front door from the 5th floor.

The AC unit was not amazing, so I had it turned down to 62 and running almost constantly while we were there to keep the room around 68 degrees. I had to turn it off a few times to let it rest, as it seemed to stop producing cold air. But it was in the 80s while we were there. November should be nicer.

All in all this hotel is worth the price to me, for the extra room and park proximity. As long as I'm critiquing, a few other thoughts on Desert Inn and Suites:

1. There was no coffee pot in the room, and they weren't doing breakfast due to Covid, so no coffee anywhere. HOpefully this won't be the case in November.

2. I always ask for a room closer to Harbor. (For example, I've stayed in rooms 202 and 506). The higher (last two) numbers are a hike toward the back of the building, and I'm just not into walking farther than necessary. I really liked 202 as it was one flight right above breakfast, but it's the smallest room so I've never booked it again.

Although I liked 506 just fine on this trip, I may ask for 3rd floor next time, because the first elevator (behind reception) only goes to the 3rd floor. So to get to 506 we had to either: 1) Take the first elevator to the third floor, then climb 2 flights of stairs to 506 (which was 3 doors from the end); or 2) Walk all the way to the 2nd elevator, take it to the 5th floor, then walk all the way back almost to the first elevator to 506.

Basically I ask for "lower floor, closer to Harbor" in my requests, and they do what they can based on availability. Sometimes I don't get anything resembling my request.


As for Black Tap........... I found the prices to be worse than inside the parks. My son said the Kobe burger was really good, but I found paying $28 for a hamburger outrageous. Shakes are $10 or $15 depending on how fancy. I had a $10 peanut butter shake and it was very good, but not particularly special. If you are going to bother, go for the fancy and make it special. (Or get the smores shake at Smokejumpers in CA, which was way better).

Practice the boarding groups before you go to get the feel of when to swipe down..... my daughter said refreshing (swiping down) 2 seconds before 7am was the key. She did get better results than I did....... My son has some small motor problems and he got the worst results of the three of us, but did score our BGs one of the days.

Thank you so much, lots of great information!!

 

[Piglet99645]

Things I bought. (Omg the sideways pics are upright on my phone!)

 

[Piglet99645]

Things I wanted to buy. Lol.

 

[Jaina]

We've been off the radar for a week or so, but I finally got to finish reading about your trip! I'm glad it was mostly positive, and it was nice to hear your views on Desert Inn & Suites too, since we're staying there in a few weeks. I've stayed there many times before, but not for about 20 years. It sounds so nice to spend so many days there, so you can take things kind of slow! We usually average like 25k steps per day on a trip, but only go for 1-2 days (because it's hard to keep that up much longer, for one...) I'm sorry for the few rough times, but I hope your son is happy he decided to go!

 

[Piglet99645]

We've been off the radar for a week or so, but I finally got to finish reading about your trip! I'm sorry for the few rough times, but I hope your son is happy he decided to go!

thank you! We are glad we went. I’m already ready to go back.

 

[deejdigsdis]

Enjoyed your report!

Question about Desert Inn. Last time I stayed there was nearly 3 years ago. Love how close it is to the parks, but we had some major tub and sink drainage issues that weren't taken care of while we were there. I considered making another reservation for an upcoming trip but checked out recent reviews (since reopening) and read similar complaints. I was disappointed that it was still an issue. No one wants to shower while standing in my 5 year old's bath water! Was this an issue at all for you?

I see you used UCT for your hoppers. Were you happy with that choice? I was looking on their website and see it is a significant savings upfront. Just wondered if there were additional fees I am not going to see until I check out. Also, there is a $5 off sale per ticket that expires tonight. Every little bit helps. I am leaning toward going through them but wanted to check with someone with recent experience to see if there was anything "hidden" that I should know about.

Thanks!

 

[Piglet99645]

Enjoyed your report!

Question about Desert Inn. Last time I stayed there was nearly 3 years ago. Love how close it is to the parks, but we had some major tub and sink drainage issues that weren't taken care of while we were there. I considered making another reservation for an upcoming trip but checked out recent reviews (since reopening) and read similar complaints. I was disappointed that it was still an issue. No one wants to shower while standing in my 5 year old's bath water! Was this an issue at all for you?

I see you used UCT for your hoppers. Were you happy with that choice? I was looking on their website and see it is a significant savings upfront. Just wondered if there were additional fees I am not going to see until I check out. Also, there is a $5 off sale per ticket that expires tonight. Every little bit helps. I am leaning toward going through them but wanted to check with someone with recent experience to see if there was anything "hidden" that I should know about.

Thanks!

Now that you mention it I did notice the tub drained slowly. We only showered, and at different times of day, so it wasn’t a noticeable problem for us. That is a concerning issue!

I almost always get my park tickets from a secondary source and have never experienced unexpected fees with any of them. The DIS boards tend to block discussions about them so I’ll just say UCT is legit. After your purchase they email a thing you can take straight to the turnstiles.

 

[deejdigsdis]

Now that you mention it I did notice the tub drained slowly. We only showered, and at different times of day, so it wasn’t a noticeable problem for us. That is a concerning issue!

I almost always get my park tickets from a secondary source and have never experienced unexpected fees with any of them. The DIS boards tend to block discussions about them so I’ll just say UCT is legit. After your purchase they email a thing you can take straight to the turnstiles.

Thank you for the quick reply! I guess I will take DI&S off my list for now. A slow drain won't work for 6 of us in one room.

Good to know I can take an email directly to the gates. I read on their website about tickets being delivered - and it sounded like it was a physical delivery. Which seemed kind of old school. Thanks!

 

[Piglet99645]

Thank you for the quick reply! I guess I will take DI&S off my list for now. A slow drain won't work for 6 of us in one room.

Good to know I can take an email directly to the gates. I read on their website about tickets being delivered - and it sounded like it was a physical delivery. Which seemed kind of old school. Thanks!

Yeah I’d probably pass, too.

FYI the tickets were also very easy to link to the Disney App to make reservations

 

[deejdigsdis]

Yeah I’d probably pass, too.

FYI the tickets were also very easy to link to the Disney App to make reservations

Just bought my tickets. Yay! I have 5 day hoppers. Tickets are linked and showing up as I start to make reservations. It says Select Reservation Date(s) - which to me implies I can reserve all my dates at once. But when I try to highlight more than one day, just the most recent day I click on is highlighted - so allowing me to only reserve one day. Do I need to go through a reservation process for all 5 days separately, instead of highlighting all 5 at once?

 

[deejdigsdis]

Just bought my tickets. Yay! I have 5 day hoppers. Tickets are linked and showing up as I start to make reservations. It says Select Reservation Date(s) - which to me implies I can reserve all my dates at once. But when I try to highlight more than one day, just the most recent day I click on is highlighted - so allowing me to only reserve one day. Do I need to go through a reservation process for all 5 days separately, instead of highlighting all 5 at once?

I got everything figured out and reserved! Thanks again for your report and helpful details. I think that s'mores shake is calling my name. But sometimes DLR desserts look a lot better than they taste.

 

[Piglet99645]

I got everything figured out and reserved! Thanks again for your report and helpful details. I think that s'mores shake is calling my name. But sometimes DLR desserts look a lot better than they taste.

Definitely had to reserve one day at a time.

The S’mores shake was amazing.