Thoughts from our trip 3/7-3/9 (including a BiG tip on comp for $LL ride closures)

[Wilcojoe]

It should be noted that we hadn’t been back in 6 years (kids are now 13 and 10) as our last experience was totally chaotic due to our lack of planning.
*Following this message board is an absolute must. The tips on here were lifesavers.
*Genie plus is an absolute must for the casual visitor. It’s a complete game changer and totally worth the additional fee.
* A strong rope drop strategy is an absolute must. Much like Warren Buffett’s strategy to investing, do the opposite of the masses. Don’t rope drop any of the $LL rides and you will be in great shape.
*The Monte Cristo and Shrimp and grits at Cafe Orleans are must haves. Carnation Cafe is a must do. The fried pickles and patty melt are out of this world good.
*Club Level at the DLH was worth every penny.

Some recommendations
*The compensation for a ride closure on a $LL needs to change. We had a LL for Soaring concurrent with a $LL for Webslingers. When Web went down we were unable to book another LL and our only option was to ride Web when it re-opened (and have the ability to pay for it again but who would do that?) or ask for our money back. There was no ability to book another LL while we waited for Web to open back up. When I explained this to a CM, she admitted that this was an oversight by Disney and gave us 3 ME passes for each of us that could be used on every ride except the $LL’s. So expect this rule to change soon.
* Being able to take the monorail back and forth when staying at DLH is a HUGE convenience for those afternoon breaks. However at the end of the night when you needed it the most it was closed. If they could keep it running thru park close, I would never stay anywhere else, despite the exorbitant prices. We planned so many of our rides around breaks being near the monorail that it made an epic difference.

 

[CO2CA]

YAY! I love hearing this about club level. We check-in in a few days. Can you remember the options for snacks throughout the day? We were hoping they had bottled water.

 

[CeCe0906]

When did the monorail close (from Tomorrowland to Downtown Disney)? I never thought about not being able to use it in the evening. I figured that they wouldn't be loading TO Tomorrowland from Downtown Disney at park close, but didn't think they wouldn't be letting guests leave that way.

 

[gottalovepluto]

When did the monorail close (from Tomorrowland to Downtown Disney)? I never thought about not being able to use it in the evening. I figured that they wouldn't be loading TO Tomorrowland from Downtown Disney at park close, but didn't think they wouldn't be letting guests leave that way.

Yeah, OP was it straight up closed every night or was this possibly the fireworks closure? I remember back in the day the monorail closed during fireworks and then reopened until park close.

 

[Wilcojoe]

YAY! I love hearing this about club level. We check-in in a few days. Can you remember the options for snacks throughout the day? We were hoping they had bottled water.

So, my only complaint is for some strange reason they didn’t have bottled water. They had coke, Coke Zero, sprite, cranberry juice and apple juice boxes. They did have large to go cups where you could take ice water, lemonade or iced tea with you to go.
In addition they had a nice selection of beers (including a really good local IPA) and wine that also could be taken to go,

 

[Wilcojoe]

Yeah, OP was it straight up closed every night or was this possibly the fireworks closure? I remember back in the day the monorail closed during fireworks and then reopened until park close.

So the park closed at 10pm each night and the monorail shut down at 7pm. There were no fireworks as this was a Mon-WeD trip.

 

[DLgal]

The monorail has closed at 7pm ever since it returned following the pandemic closure.

Prior to the closure, the monorail never ran all the way to the end of the park operating day anyway, which was often midnight. The monorail would close around 9pm for fireworks, and often remain closed for the rest of the night. Occasionally, it would open back up and run for another hour, but that was rare.

When staying at DLH, you cannot ever rely on the monorail to bring you back at the end of the night. It's not like the WDW monorail in that way.

 

[duckboyone]

Appreciate your detailed trip reports Wilco!

 

[CeCe0906]

The monorail has closed at 7pm ever since it returned following the pandemic closure.

Prior to the closure, the monorail never ran all the way to the end of the park operating day anyway, which was often midnight. The monorail would close around 9pm for fireworks, and often remain closed for the rest of the night. Occasionally, it would open back up and run for another hour, but that was rare.

When staying at DLH, you cannot ever rely on the monorail to bring you back at the end of the night. It's not like the WDW monorail in that way.

Thanks for the info, I would have totally tried to do that at the end of the day, you saved me some steps! I wonder why? It seems like they would want to relieve some congestion at the end of the day.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Thanks for the info, I would have totally tried to do that at the end of the day, you saved me some steps! I wonder why? It seems like they would want to relieve some congestion at the end of the day.

It’s at the back of the park and the stores are at the front.

 

[DLgal]

Thanks for the info, I would have totally tried to do that at the end of the day, you saved me some steps! I wonder why? It seems like they would want to relieve some congestion at the end of the day.

There really isn't congestion at the end of the night. The park, after fireworks, empties out quite a bit and the people who stay until closing just slowly trickle out. The monorail is NOT an efficient means of travel. It will save you some steps, but it will always be faster to just walk. My kids like to ride it, my husband does not. We often split up and he walks and we ride. He beats us EVERY time, by a considerable margin. There are only 2 trains running at any given time and the time between them is about 5 minutes. So, even without a line, the total trip takes almost 15 minutes. With a line, you're talking 20-40.

 

[Wilcojoe]

There really isn't congestion at the end of the night. The park, after fireworks, empties out quite a bit and the people who stay until closing just slowly trickle out. The monorail is NOT an efficient means of travel. It will save you some steps, but it will always be faster to just walk. My kids like to ride it, my husband does not. We often split up and he walks and we ride. He beats us EVERY time, by a considerable margin. There are only 2 trains running at any given time and the time between them is about 5 minutes. So, even without a line, the total trip takes almost 15 minutes. With a line, you're talking 20-40.

I couldn’t disagree with you more about its efficiency. We always try to plan one last ride in TL or FL, so we are near the monorail for the trip back to the DLH. It saved us considerable steps on our afternoon breaks and we were cursing the Disney suits names on that trudge back thru the crowds on Main Street and the entirety of the way thru DD. I think for anyone staying at the DLH and GCH it’s a HUGE convenience.

 

[gottalovepluto]

The monorail has closed at 7pm ever since it returned following the pandemic closure.

Prior to the closure, the monorail never ran all the way to the end of the park operating day anyway, which was often midnight. The monorail would close around 9pm for fireworks, and often remain closed for the rest of the night. Occasionally, it would open back up and run for another hour, but that was rare.

When staying at DLH, you cannot ever rely on the monorail to bring you back at the end of the night. It's not like the WDW monorail in that way.

Darn. I remember a few times pre-Covid catching the last monorail back right at park close or 15 mins before it or something, but I think I traveled at busier times back in those days.

Great to hear crowds clear out fast after fireworks! A nice leisurely walk out of DL is much nicer than fighting through the crowd push. Find a bench and chill > The Stroller Wars (my ankles always lose those lol).

 

[gottalovepluto]

I couldn’t disagree with you more about its efficiency. We always try to plan one last ride in TL or FL, so we are near the monorail for the trip back to the DLH. It saved us considerable steps on our afternoon breaks and we were cursing the Disney suits names on that trudge back thru the crowds on Main Street and the entirety of the way thru DD. I think for anyone staying at the DLH and GCH it’s a HUGE convenience.

Eh. It depends entirely on crowd factors and how fast your walkers are walking. I love that it saves me steps but as a healthy adult if I want I can definitely book it back to GCH faster on foot, and faster to DLH if the monorail is busy.

Now, in full disclosure do I ever want to walk when I can monorail? No. I love the monorail!

 

[DLgal]

I couldn’t disagree with you more about its efficiency. We always try to plan one last ride in TL or FL, so we are near the monorail for the trip back to the DLH. It saved us considerable steps on our afternoon breaks and we were cursing the Disney suits names on that trudge back thru the crowds on Main Street and the entirety of the way thru DD. I think for anyone staying at the DLH and GCH it’s a HUGE convenience.

Efficient, as in faster. Its definitely more ENJOYABLE, but it is not ever faster.

 

[DisneyAndreaM]

Thanks for the report! When you say don’t rope drop LL rides, do you also mean individual LL attractions? My son is so excited for RSR now that he’s tall enough, so thinking we’ll rope drop it and probably buy the individual LL to do it twice.

 

[bpx2]

It should be noted that we hadn’t been back in 6 years (kids are now 13 and 10) as our last experience was totally chaotic due to our lack of planning.
*Following this message board is an absolute must. The tips on here were lifesavers.
*Genie plus is an absolute must for the casual visitor. It’s a complete game changer and totally worth the additional fee.
* A strong rope drop strategy is an absolute must. Much like Warren Buffett’s strategy to investing, do the opposite of the masses. Don’t rope drop any of the $LL rides and you will be in great shape.
*The Monte Cristo and Shrimp and grits at Cafe Orleans are must haves. Carnation Cafe is a must do. The fried pickles and patty melt are out of this world good.
*Club Level at the DLH was worth every penny.

Some recommendations
*The compensation for a ride closure on a $LL needs to change. We had a LL for Soaring concurrent with a $LL for Webslingers. When Web went down we were unable to book another LL and our only option was to ride Web when it re-opened (and have the ability to pay for it again but who would do that?) or ask for our money back. There was no ability to book another LL while we waited for Web to open back up. When I explained this to a CM, she admitted that this was an oversight by Disney and gave us 3 ME passes for each of us that could be used on every ride except the $LL’s. So expect this rule to change soon.
* Being able to take the monorail back and forth when staying at DLH is a HUGE convenience for those afternoon breaks. However at the end of the night when you needed it the most it was closed. If they could keep it running thru park close, I would never stay anywhere else, despite the exorbitant prices. We planned so many of our rides around breaks being near the monorail that it made an epic difference.

Would love to hear more details about club level as we have our first CL stay at DLH in a couple weeks! Did they have Mickey waffles in the morning on any days?

 

[Wilcojoe]

Thanks for the report! When you say don’t rope drop LL rides, do you also mean individual LL attractions? My son is so excited for RSR now that he’s tall enough, so thinking we’ll rope drop it and probably buy the individual LL to do it twice.

Correct. I think it depends on how many days you will be there. So many people head to the $LL at rope drop that unless your towards the very front, you will have a pretty significant line. We got 15 rides in our first day, so we could take a more leisurely approach but keep in mind we did have Genie plus and paid for the $LL, which I highly recommend if you are going to be there for a shorter trip like we had. I don’t think we ever waited more than 25 minutes and these were during crowd level 8 and 9 park days. Our average wait time was probably 8 minutes all around.

 

[Wilcojoe]

Would love to hear more details about club level as we have our first CL stay at DLH in a couple weeks! Did they have Mickey waffles in the morning on any days?

We didn’t see any Mickey waffles. Breakfast was mostly pastries, deviled eggs, assorted cheeses, bagels and lox, and assorted cereals. I don’t like eating a big breakfast anyway but the kids really loved it. We really took advantage of the free beer and wine on our first day (which wasn’t a park day) as we would take large to go cups of beer and wine down to our loungers by the pool.

 

[Kit Jackson]

Thanks for the report! When you say don’t rope drop LL rides, do you also mean individual LL attractions? My son is so excited for RSR now that he’s tall enough, so thinking we’ll rope drop it and probably buy the individual LL to do it twice.

If you plan on riding it twice, consider doing it at two different times of day (if that works for your schedule). The ride is a very different experience if you do it during the daytime as opposed to doing it at night when it's dark. The ride is fantastic either way, but if you are planning on doing it twice, I highly recommend getting to experience it in different lighting conditions. Also, CarsLand is amazing at night. It is a retro neon wonderland (if you're into that sort of thing).