I am a long time reader of these boards, and have very much appreciated all the nuggets of wisdom I have gained to use on our 3 trips to Disneyland over the past 5 years. As such I thought I would just post a few thoughts from our last visit between the scorching dates of August 25- September 1.
We visited the parks on Saturday, Monday-Thursday taking Sunday off due to the CHOC walk, as per advice read here, and we were happy with our decision.
Hotel
For the second time we stayed at the Tropicana Inn which was again lovely. The location just cannot be beat, the room we had was freshly renovated and very clean, and the pool while small, did the trick to help cool us down after long Disney days. I highly recommend.
The Parks
We had five day park hoppers which I obtained during the Canadian Residents special offer, and activating the passes was quick with presentation of our passports on our first admission. Since they then take your picture, there was no need for id for subsequent entries. Very easy.
We did not opt for Maxpass due to the $40 per day charge for our family, (an extra $200 for the trip) and did not really feel that it would have been of benefit for us to do so. We used our fastpasses to the max and rode everything we wanted to, most often with minimal waits.
As for waits, the parks were really not that busy, most likely due to the fact that the heat was crazy and that school for most locals started that week. We found crowds even less than our last trip which was during the first week of November in 2015 and we thought that week was not crowded at all.
Most rides were almost walk on, we never waited more than 15 minutes in a line, and like I said used fast passes for those rides where we would have had to wait, and often almost walked on right away with the fastpass. I was amazed that people would wait 45 minutes in a line when the fast pass return was 5 minutes away, but it was nice for us.
As it was so hot, (above +35 Celsius each day) we took full advantage of the free ice water offered from the counter service restaurants, a fact I never would have known about except for reading it here, so thanks!
We also used misting fans and cooling towels, (frequently recommended here) and these were godsends for those hot afternoons. We took frequent breaks in the parks and snacked, as well as went back to our close hotel for a couple hours each day around 3 before returning to the parks in the evenings.
For our kids (DDs 7&11) they still love bugs land and we always found that these rides were almost walk on at any time of the day, so it was never a bother to make a quick stop and ride them all.
Monsters Inc also is a hidden gem, and often has short waits. And of course the Ariel ride is a favourite for us as well.
My girls also really loved the Redwood Challenge, and it was a great shaded place for them to run off some energy and for my husband and I to take a little break.
In DL we visited those rides with AC quite a bit, Pirates and Small world are nice for that.
Meals
We had good meals everywhere we went, and portions sizes were very large.
Flo's V8 Café, Cozy Cone, Pacific Warf, Paradise Grill, Boardwalk Pizza, French Market, Rancho Del Zocalo, and the many churro carts provided us with sustenance throughout our trip.
Again thanks for all the years of advice and tips!
We visited the parks on Saturday, Monday-Thursday taking Sunday off due to the CHOC walk, as per advice read here, and we were happy with our decision.
Hotel
For the second time we stayed at the Tropicana Inn which was again lovely. The location just cannot be beat, the room we had was freshly renovated and very clean, and the pool while small, did the trick to help cool us down after long Disney days. I highly recommend.
The Parks
We had five day park hoppers which I obtained during the Canadian Residents special offer, and activating the passes was quick with presentation of our passports on our first admission. Since they then take your picture, there was no need for id for subsequent entries. Very easy.
We did not opt for Maxpass due to the $40 per day charge for our family, (an extra $200 for the trip) and did not really feel that it would have been of benefit for us to do so. We used our fastpasses to the max and rode everything we wanted to, most often with minimal waits.
As for waits, the parks were really not that busy, most likely due to the fact that the heat was crazy and that school for most locals started that week. We found crowds even less than our last trip which was during the first week of November in 2015 and we thought that week was not crowded at all.
Most rides were almost walk on, we never waited more than 15 minutes in a line, and like I said used fast passes for those rides where we would have had to wait, and often almost walked on right away with the fastpass. I was amazed that people would wait 45 minutes in a line when the fast pass return was 5 minutes away, but it was nice for us.
As it was so hot, (above +35 Celsius each day) we took full advantage of the free ice water offered from the counter service restaurants, a fact I never would have known about except for reading it here, so thanks!
We also used misting fans and cooling towels, (frequently recommended here) and these were godsends for those hot afternoons. We took frequent breaks in the parks and snacked, as well as went back to our close hotel for a couple hours each day around 3 before returning to the parks in the evenings.
For our kids (DDs 7&11) they still love bugs land and we always found that these rides were almost walk on at any time of the day, so it was never a bother to make a quick stop and ride them all.
Monsters Inc also is a hidden gem, and often has short waits. And of course the Ariel ride is a favourite for us as well.
My girls also really loved the Redwood Challenge, and it was a great shaded place for them to run off some energy and for my husband and I to take a little break.
In DL we visited those rides with AC quite a bit, Pirates and Small world are nice for that.
Meals
We had good meals everywhere we went, and portions sizes were very large.
Flo's V8 Café, Cozy Cone, Pacific Warf, Paradise Grill, Boardwalk Pizza, French Market, Rancho Del Zocalo, and the many churro carts provided us with sustenance throughout our trip.
Again thanks for all the years of advice and tips!
