Trip report 6/1-6/6

abnihon

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 29, 2016
We are WDW vets and this was our first DL trip.
I wrote this for myself but thought it might be helpful to others!
“G” is my 6 year old son :)

Saturday - we arrived about noon. This was the day after SWGE opened but crowds were VERY low and stayed that way all week. I think everyone was scared off by SWGE crowds!
We stayed at the HOJO the first 3 nights. It was fine. Splash pad looked fun though we didn’t use it because was a little chilly. The walk to and from the park was long though... I would stay there again but my preference would be an on-site hotel next time.

Took awhile to get our bearings since we’re so used to DW and magic bands! Had to figure out photopass and FP. Definitely easier with magic bands but we got it.
Some confusion at front gate because a CM told us we had to wait in ticket line to redeem our Undercover Tourist tickets which was wrong! (I blame myself for listening..) after waiting for like 20 min in a slow moving line another CM confirmed we did not need to be there. Ugh.
Anyway once in we were hangry and headed for Pizza Planet which was lacking in atmosphere and overpriced not very good pizza....(later that week we actually had VERY good pizza at a place called Blaze and Napolini in Downtown Disney.)
We met Darth Vadar (dream come true for me!) and Chewie, bought SWGE merch with no line, rode Star Tours (loved the new ending on Batuu!), then the Submarine Voyage which G loved.
Some CMs had set up an impromptu game of penguin inflatable bowling that G was obsessed with. They gave us some extra pixie dust - 2 free FP for anything! I asked for Hyperspace Mt and Peter Pan.
Peter Pan doesn’t normally do FP but he said we just go to exit line and scan ticket. Very cool! I was surprised how different it was at DL. Equally charming though!
Then we did Hyperspace - the overlay was very cool but we’re not really roller coaster fans. G asked me if SM is fast and I lied and said I didn’t remember. lol. Glad he did it, and he was smiling coming off but said he thought he was going to die. Lol. Definitely a better ride than the MK one though! So then we headed back to HOJO about 6 and were asleep by 7:30.

Sunday - DCA day. Got in right after it opened at 8. It was dead. Lol. Headed for Radiator Springs Racers but G wouldn’t ride because it “looked like a roller coaster”. Lol. Loved the theming in Cars land though. Ate at Flo’s which was surprisingly good. Met Lightning McQueen. Rode Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree. Then rode Soarin’ Over CA with FP which was awesome and G loved it. I hope the CA version sticks around! Everyone seems to like it better.
Then went on superhero hunt but had bad luck with timing. To kill time did Monsters Inc ride twice and Animation Academy which G loved.
Met Black Panther and Captain America.
Saw Mickey’s Philharmagic.
Then played in Redwood Creek play area which G loved. Chip and Dale were hanging out there.
Had lunch at Pacific Wharf Cafe. Awesome clam chowder in bread bowl and loved the atmosphere.
Rode TSMM with FP.
G loved big Pixar stone ball on water. Not a huge fan of the carnival atmosphere there.
Finally met Spider-Man!!! This was a must-do for G. Very special.
Convinced him to see Frozen show and he loved it. It was an hour but held his attention.

Monday - beach day! We did tour with Anaheim Tour Company. First stop was Laguna which G loved. Beautiful views, waves crashing on rocks and tide pools.
Newport was my least favorite beach. Ate at Ruby’s there. Not a huge fan of the “fun zone”. We did our whale watching trip which was awesome because we saw a blue whale!!! So cool!!
Last stop was Huntington. Beautiful beach. If I were planning a full beach day at one place this would be it. But Laguna also worth a stop maybe on a drive from SD?

Tuesday - We moved to GCH this day. Which made us late for magic hour.. Originally booked at PPH (on-site guests had guaranteed SWGE reservation) but they gave us a free upgrade! Awesome! Amazing location and beautiful hotel. Only problem was our room was ALL the way at the end overlooking DCA. Such a far walk and there were grad nights and it was SO loud! Switched to another room the next day. Note to self - request close to lobby if staying there again!
We went to DL and Disneybounded as Briar Rose and Prince Phillip which was fun.
Arrived about 7:45 so got a few rides in before general opening at 8. Mistake was not heading to Alice first. Didn’t realize how quickly that line built and G was too impatient to wait 15-20 min so we never did it which made me sad.. They need to add more FPs! Crazy to me that Peter Pan doesn’t have one!
Did the Snow White ride twice (still remember it from my childhood in MK!), teacups, Storybook Land Canal boats (adorable!), Casey Jr train, then went to our breakfast at Plaza Inn. We were hungry so we arrived 2 hours early but no problem seating us right away. Didn’t like how they tried to sell you a picture with Minnie..
Food wasn’t anything special but characters were amazing!!! We had 10! Minnie (just pic in front), Chip and Dale, Rafiki, Eeyore, Tigger, Captain Hook, Fairy Godmother, Max (Goofy’s son) and Gideon!!! (Total bucket list character!). Interactions were amazing! Captain Hook snuck up behind me and scared me and G thought it was hilarious! Gideon pretended to kidnap G. Lol.
We did the castle walkthrough which was very cool.
Mr Toad’s Wild Ride x2 (G loved it!), carousel, Pinocchio, Small World (very different. Loved all the movie characters in it)
Then went to Toon Town which G loved. Met Mickey and Donald. (I hear sometimes Steamboat Willie or Sorcerer Mickey meets in his house!). Did the Roger Rabbit ride which was fun and a good introduction to movie for G. We waited much longer than the posted wait time. In the future will use FP..
Went to Jolly Holiday Bakery and got raspberry macaron and Matterhorn macaroon. Both delicious!
On the way out we saw Cruella in Town Sq but her line was closed. Goofy ran up to hug her and she was saying she was being attacked by a mongrel so G ran up to attack Goofy with his sword. It was hilarious! Then he was running around Town Sq trying to “slay” all the castmembers and they were having a great time playing with him.

Wednesday - SWGE! We had the 8-12 time slot. Arrived a little after 8 and stayed 2 hours. Land is amazing!!! Wandered around taking pictures and looking in the shops, met Rey, drank blue milk (YES), and piloted Falcon with 20 min wait. We didn’t try to make droids or a lightsaber (no room in our suitcase for them.. but may try to do it in WDW if we can). Lines for cantina and lightsabers were VERY long. I hope WDW starts a reservation system.
G was getting hangry and I knew there wasn’t anything he’d eat in there.
We headed out for the Mint Julep Bar and the warm Mickey beignets were amazing! G ate 4. Lol.
We rode HM with a FP (finally saw the hatbox ghost!!). G played in Tarzan’s treehouse which he loved and then we did Jungle Cruise and Tiki Room. I got a delicious lime chicken Bao at the Tropical Hideaway. Regret not getting a dole whip while I had a chance! :(
We headed back to the hotel and the plan was for afternoon rest and then return for 5:00 Blue Bayou F! dining package for 9pmshow. But we were exhausted and I knew there was no way we would make it till the show. I didn’t factor jet lag into plan. We were asleep about 8-8:30 even by the 5th day which is early for us at Disney.
I hope to someday see DL’s F!, fireworks, World of Color and Paint the Night. But may not happen with small children..
So we just swam and went into Downtown Disney for pizza and LEGO store.

Thursday - last day :( We took a red-eye that night (not sure I would do that again..). So we stored our bags with Bell Services and had breakfast at Storyteller’s Cafe. Food and characters were great!
After we went to DL and rode railroad which was awesome (and an important piece of Disney history) After a loop went back to Mint Julep Bar for more beignets, rode Pirates (definitely better at DL!)
We met Dr Facilier in New Orleans Sq. So cool!!! I loved the whole New Orleans Sq area!
I saw Rabbit was meeting on the app and I HAD to meet him. Lol. We rode the Pooh ride and then met Tigger, Eeyore and Rabbit (I was so happy to meet him!!!)
Then we took raft to Tom Sawyer Island. G was a little disappointed there were no rifles like in the fort at WDW but the pirate stuff was very cool and I had to drag him out of there. I had a tasty lobster roll at Harbour Galley.
We rode the Mark Twain Riverboat which was very cool. Apparently if you ask as you board you can sometimes go up with Captain.
We were starting to get short on time to do what we wanted to do before heading to the airport.
I wanted to ride Alice but we scrapped it to hop over to DCA and meet Captain Marvel before she left. (We JUST made it!) and just made it for our Soarin’ Over CA FP - glad we got to do it again. Took a quick swim at hotel and then G wanted to get something quick at LEGO store before heading to airport..

Will definitely be back someday but will be hard to beat that trip with SWGE opening, free upgrade to GCH, low crowds (according to touring plans actual crowd level in DL all week was a 1!), great weather and great character interactions including some rare ones. Overall character interactions are better at DL I’d say and more spontaneous. Love roaming characters!

Would like to try staying at the DL hotel next time.
3-5 days is a good amount of time.
Would do hoppers and Maxpass again.
Use jet lag to my advantage and use extra magic hours in AM every day!
Want to return after G is 46” so we can do Indiana Jones (supposed to be amazing!). Also hope he’ll do Splash Mt, Matterhorn, Grizzly River Run, Radiator Springs Racers and Guardians of the Galaxy next time.
Make sure to do Alice! On a morning FL tour should do Peter Pan, then Alice, then Storybook Canal boats etc..
Didn’t do afternoon parade so want to try and see that and Mickey and Magical Map show.
Want to do Great Moments with Mr Lincoln, watch cartoons at Main St Cinema, Main St vehicles, canoes and Columbia sailing ship, Bakery Tour at DCA and this tour:
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/events-tours/disneyland/walk-in-walts-disneyland-footsteps/Eat at Blue Bayou. (Lunch May be better with jet lag..)
More pressed penny machines. (Brought lots of coins but only found a few in DCA. Didn’t get any in DL.)
Dusk at Cars Land is supposed to be special so try to be there.
See F!, fireworks, World of Color and Paint the Night someday....
Also on my DL bucket list is HM Holiday overlay!
 
We were there the same week and also did a tour with Anaheim Tour Company on Monday!! We just did the Hollywood/L.A.tour. we ubered to Huntington Beach pier on Wed. which we loved but the bathrooms were nasty.

It was our first trip, too and we loved the low crowds!
 




Thanks for sharing your time with us. Your son is very cute. You are very lucky to have been there with those low crowds. I am jelous of you all that were there that week! Once in a lifetime chance I think.
 
Were the crowd levels really 1 all week? It didn’t seem like that to us. We were there on June 1&2 and it was super dead, that weekend was definitely a 1. But June 4-6 seemed a lot busier, if I had to guess I’d say at least a 4 or 5. But this was our first time at DL so maybe it just seemed really busy to me.
 
Were the crowd levels really 1 all week? It didn’t seem like that to us. We were there on June 1&2 and it was super dead, that weekend was definitely a 1. But June 4-6 seemed a lot busier, if I had to guess I’d say at least a 4 or 5. But this was our first time at DL so maybe it just seemed really busy to me.

I don’t have DL touring plans but on another thread someone posted they were a 1 all week at DL (but 3-4 at DCA - maybe grad nights?)
 
Were the crowd levels really 1 all week? It didn’t seem like that to us. We were there on June 1&2 and it was super dead, that weekend was definitely a 1. But June 4-6 seemed a lot busier, if I had to guess I’d say at least a 4 or 5. But this was our first time at DL so maybe it just seemed really busy to me.
I was there on June 4, and as a weekly+ visitor, it was real dead to me. Not the ghost town of May 31. But quite dead. DCA was busier, especially in the afternoon... but still not actually “busy.” Those were not 4-5 crowds, not by a long shot.

But those crowd numbers don’t really mean much; they’re based on wait times and not necessarily indicative of how things feel in the parks.

Anyway, I suspect that people who went that week without context have no idea how amazing those crowd conditions were, especially that first weekend!
 

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