Trip Report 7/22-23

[vellamint]

Thank you for the trip report!!!! We are heading to the Carousel Inn 8/10! We can hardly wait!!!!!

Any suggestions or hints about the hotel would be appreciated!

Thank you!

 

[Maridw]

We were at DLR on July 22nd & 23rd and really enjoyed ourselves. We had not been there since 1999 and my DH & I had not been to DCA at all. DD was able to visit DCA while visiting her grandparents.

We stayed at the Carousel Inn across the street from DLR and arrived early to be able to hit the parks. We checked in, but the room was not available (we anticipated this), and we were allowed to park in the hotel lot. We got anything we needed to go into the parks and headed over there. We went to HM first and then onto POC. Both lines were short and had a minimal wait (5 to 10 min). After that we wandered around and then headed toward BTM, forgetting that it was closed. Got pics of the train sitting in the station and two cast members at the entrance. One did say they hope it to be open again in a couple weeks.
We had gotten a FP for Indiana Jones Ride and after doing POC & HM, DH & I went on that. We went into the FP entrance and followed it around. At one point DH thought it was doubling back, so we jumped over the rope, (no one around) and started to follow that. Wrong Answer!! This was the exit path, so we headed back and jumped Back over the rope to continue on our way. We got to one point and they were stopping people and sending them up in groups. While waiting here, the lights came on and the ride broke down. They announced that we could wait, but it could be 10 min or 60 min. We decided to wait it out and finally got on.

We decided to head over to DCA and see that. We did the single rider on Soaring over CA and all got on at the same time. DD & DH were closer to each other than to me. We all really enjoyed that. DD said it was better than the last time she had ridden. Headed to Paradise Pier so DH could do CA Screamin'. Got FP for him & I and then went to the Sun Wheel. We all got into a swinging car. We were surprised it was so short of a ride (1 revolution once all cars filled). DH & I then did CS and it wasn't too bad, a little jerky in some spots. Since it was starting to get warm, we decided to see if we could get into our room and take a rest.

The rooms were very nice and exceptionally clean. Two queen sized beds with a separate dressing area from the beds & shower areas. Dressing area had a skylight in it but no curtain to separate from the bed area. We had no one above or below us. The parking area was directly below us. They had a continental breakfast from 7 to 9 am. This had breads for toast, bagels, muffins, fruit and cereals. Juice, milk, coffee & tea to drink. DH thought it was great.

Went to DTD and liked the way it is set up a bit better than DTD at WDW. I liked that they had street performers at different intervals in the area. As you got out of hearing range for one, you were coming into hearing range of another, so they just barely overlapped. All the performers, save one, were pleasing to listen too.

On Friday, we were back in the park early. We did POC and then went to do the Matterhorn. Had a short wait there and decided to do MTWR (Mr Toad's Wild Ride). Again a short wait. We hadn't done Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin, so headed to do that. DH loved that one. We were surprised at how empty the park was at 9:15am. But did enjoy it. We took a break and then headed back to the park in the early evening. Went to the Disney Gallery, which had a special exhibit for the HM Movie & HM. Went to DTD again and then came back to do Matterhorn at night.

We enjoyed our whole trip and were only a little disappointed in some of the changes made to DL. Tomorrowland has the most changes and with the way it is now laid out, there is an area in Tomorrowland that sees little traffic at all.