DL Trip Summary

[ellipses84]

We went last week for 3 days using the CA pass. We are driving distance but like to be in the park early so we stayed at the Anaheim hotel the night before and were able to pay for day parking our last day so we could leave our packed up car there. Additional family met us there for days 2-3. All mornings we woke up around 6-6:30, set 6:55am alarms to be ready to get the reservations to ROTR or Webslingers at 7am with all adults having the DL app logged in and all tickets synced ahead of time. We left around 7:30am and made rope drop most days. The parks were the least crowded I’ve ever experienced. Everyone wore masks indoors for lines and rides, and 1/3rd seem to wear them all the time except to eat. We only ate outside. We did have some issues with ordering food on the app. It worked inconsistently which was a PITA because a lot of places wouldn’t let you order in person, but luckily other people in our party could order for me. It was in the 90s the days we were there so between constantly moving due to short lines and the heat, we took afternoon pool breaks which we rarely ever do.

Day 1 DL - Got there early, focused on Star Wars since DH wasn’t with us on our first visit to Galaxy’s edge 2 years ago. We did the light saber building even though it’s ridiculously expensive (DH and the boys are huge fans). 2 light sabers and 2 people to watch. We were on the fence so we went to the outside counter to check out the options and they said they had availability then and one of the stores could hold them for you for the day or you could pay to ship them home (my app wouldn’t work for that reservation either). They come in nice carrying cases. A family member bought a premade cosplay light saber from the store because he thought it would be cheaper but they charged $50 extra for the blade and didn’t give him a carrying case for the blade which was a PITA for transporting home, so if you are comparing the two options I recommend building one. The building experience was cool.

DS2 grew so much he could only go on kiddie rides before and can now go on all but Indiana Jones and Incredicoaster. He was very nervous and scared, especially for rides he couldn’t see the end of but he loved them all afterwards! ROTR kept breaking down so our reservation time kept shifting and it broke down when we’re in line but they told us we could come back anytime before 9pm. We went on Splash Mountain and by the time we got back it was working again. The first part was meh, but there was so much more and it was a very impressive and fun experience!!!

We did most of the rides we wanted to (Star Wars, almost all mountains and half the fantasyland rides), went back to the hotel to swim and get dinner outside the parks, then went back for a few rides. I left by 8pm with DS2. DH and DS1 stayed for an hour for more rides. Our post Covid stamina is not what it used to be, plus we knew we had more time the next day.

Day 2 DL we made rope drop again. Between our group, I think we did every ride except for a few in fantasyland. The Snow White ride is revamped and better / less scary but does still have a lot of the witch in it. We did split up for some things. DS1 was the only one who wanted to do Matterhorn so I went with him after hotel swimming / before fireworks and of course it broke down. After fireworks he didn’t want to go anymore. That was the only mountain we didn’t go on twice. We couldn’t get reservations for plaza inn on the website which is our go-to fireworks spot. When we checked with them in person they said they weren’t taking reservations and close at 9 which is when fireworks start. We went around 7:45-8 and got dinner and we’re able to watch fireworks from the outdoor seating. ROTR return time was later for our bigger group but it didn’t seem to break down much that day.

Day 3 Cali Adventure - Between packing / checkout and a bathroom emergency for one boy, we just missed rope drop. We went straight to Pixar Pier and there were no lines. Did the loop and went to cars land. The longest lines that day were Lightning McQueen by far (said 40-45 mins, took 30), Soarin and GOTG but they were all shorter than the app said. With long lines, people are spaced out further than they used to be which helps. There was a decent line for Webslingers at our return time and that was packed but mostly outdoors. It was fun and similar to toy story mania, but I person like toy story better. Some of us went on GOTG without DS2. He was tall enough but he had so many new ride experiences we decide to save it for next time. The new inside out ride and carousel were great so littles could do that while others went on the incredicoaster. We did 90% of the rides there and could have done them all. Everyone was tired and had blisters from walking in the heat for 3 days so we left at 4pm feeling like we did everything we wanted to.

For characters, we happened to be on main street for the cavalcade (Mickey and friends characters with a brass band). We also saw random characters on Main St near the train station. Saw the frozen float a couple times at DL. Saw Chewbacca and stormtroopers at Galaxy’s Edge . Saw Spider-Man and random marvel shows at CA. I was hoping we’d see more but I think the heat prevented them from staying out long.

It was a great trip and I don’t want to go back to lines / crowds next time!

[ellipses84]

Other tips. We had breakaway lanyards for masks which was helpful for everyone. You have to use your phone a lot for the app (and photos) so take power banks with you to re-charge.

[curbsideprophet]

Glad you had a nice trip. Thanks for the summary! I have never been to DL but hopefully one day.