Poll: Help Me Decide About DLR Dining

[OBNurseNH]

@ThorKat

Oops

LOL I’ve never not called it DCA but I can see why you wouldn’t - I was so confused LOL

[Wahoohokie]

First parade usually starts by IASW, second parade by the front of the park.

[OBNurseNH]

@Wahoohokie

second parade

I think we’ll be aiming for this.

Does DL experience the same phenomenon as MK wrt second parade v first parade and the tremendous decrease in crowds?

[Wahoohokie]

Somewhat, although there will still be lots of people there until close watching the parade. PTN is absolutely beloved in California it seems.

[lolabear_la]

@OBNurseNH

So worried I’m going to screw this up by picking wrong

DLR dining is so chill that I wouldn’t worry one bit. So you got this! And you’ll be able to tackle it one day at a time - which is less overwhelming than the whole trip of them at WDW. (even if it is annoying to have to do it each day since they open one day at a time only).

@OBNurseNH

Poke holes in my plan - tell me where it’s flawed,

You are hitting so many good dining options that I can’t really do that. If there is a criticism it’s that it’s very table service heavy and DLR is a place I just love so much of the quick service/snacks BUT you do also have 5 days and I do think you’ve chosen a bunch of the best table service options it has to offer so I can’t tell you which one to nix. So see? No holes.

Oh, also I vote DTF ( ) on that choice. I would also lean to keeping the plan as is becuase the Riverbelle Terrace dining has a pathway of highly trafficked people just below you and it’s a gamble if you are sat at a railside table or not (there are only so many rail tables on that patio). But you’d also have to be ok with sitting on the cobblestone ground from the Cafe Orleans dining package (as that one would give you tickets to a dining front and more center dining package area, but all sitting on the ground).

However, if you’d value sitting at a table for the show (vs. the cobblestone ground) and are ok with the Riverbelle setup, then switching Cafe Orleans to the last day slots it in perfectly.

@OBNurseNH

Question: if we were to do WOC 9pm show, would it be feasible (energy stamina notwithstanding) to go over to DL for Paint the Night, assuming it was running 2 shows that night? DCA seems to close at 9pm as a standard, but DL seems to be open later, with that late PTN show frequently as I’m observing in the day by day schedule up to as far as I can see

More than feasible. WOC will end 9:25. DCA may possibly stay open to 10pm in the summer so you could theoretically get in one more ride line if there’s a short one you want to do on the way. DL fireworks are usually 9:30-9:45pm so when you make the transition into DL that will be going on so I would stay in the Town Square area when you get in and find a spot somewhere in front of the train station (ideally close to either of the tunnel exits if you plan to head out immediately after) or City Hall. Paint the Night should start about 10:30pm and from the Town Square end so if you’re done for the night you can exit quickly from there when Mickey passes.

@OBNurseNH

Also what’s the deal with the fireworks? We will be there last week of June, first days of July - summer - are the fireworks more frequent then?

Fireworks should be nightly in the summer but if they are trying to trim costs and/or know the long term forecast is going to result in lots of winds at high elevations they may only schedule weekends to avoid having to cancel as many pyro displays. But usually summers have been daily fireworks scheduled and run most days.

@OBNurseNH

Finally: what are your must see nighttime shows from do not miss to may miss if it doesn’t work?

I am definitely in the Wondrous Journeys is the best thing ever fan club & prefer it to everything, especially surrounded by projections in Main St. Pain the Night used to be my vey favorite and is still great, but it was sort of showing its age compared to the last time we caught it (in 2018 when it was in DCA and in DL before that for the 60th anniversary in 2015-16). Then the WOC that they’re doing for the 70th was so touching to me and I personally enjoyed a lot of the components of it. My kids all thought it was a snooze and didn’t live up to past WOCs that they have loved, especially the most recent one it displaced (the WOC One that was made for Disney’s 100th).

And for F! since DLR has lost the dragon on top of the changes of the score when they did 2.0 in 2018, it’s been hard to want to see it as much - and put up with the crowds and seating - but the music is still mostly great and I do still love the scale of the ships so every now and then we’ll venture to it but not nearly as often as the other 3 shows.

So my final take is:

1. Wondrous Journeys - not to be missed
2. Paint the Night - worth doing, make an effort not to miss
3. WOC - worth doing, but could be shifted in favor to see Wondrous Journeys again
4. Fantasmic! - ok to skip if it doesn’t work out and definitely shift to see Wondrous Journey again

@ThorKat

@Jeff_AZ

Nothing beats the original show

Agree.

Almost agree. The original version is fantastic but when they switched out the Fantasia 2000 sequence for Brave/Merida that was peak WOC and every version since then hasn’t been a great a show all together (but they all have had their parts that are endearing in part).

@OBNurseNH

@Wahoohokie

make sure you know which direction the parade is coming from

How would I find this out?

Most nights unless there’s some issue it does the earlier parade from IASW to Town Square and then the later it does the reverse. You can confirm with parade CMs setting up seating sections and manning traffic flow when they start appearing.

@OBNurseNH

Does DL experience the same phenomenon as MK wrt second parade v first parade and the tremendous decrease in crowds?

@Wahoohokie

Somewhat, although there will still be lots of people there until close watching the parade. PTN is absolutely beloved in California it seems.

Agree with Karen - but also wanted to add - unless it’s unseasonably chilly. It’s beloved but not enough to sit on the cold ground. In February the nights were very cool and we had whole seating sections to ourselves anywhere we sat if we went to the later parade. Even up until 5-10 minutes before parade start. But June should see much better temps so it’s probably going to be fairly busy.

Ok, phew, that was long but can’t wait to hear how dining rezzies go this week!!!

[illini74]

@Wahoohokie

@Jeff_AZ

Wondrous Journeys is a great fireworks show and I think some Liners would put it first.

100%. Even without the fireworks.

Makes me cry every time I see it.

[darkmite2]

I ate at Carthy Circle Restaurant this week and loved it. We had the Prime Short Rib and Fish of the day (Sea Bass) with brussel sprouts for the table.

Sadly, the cocktails were disappointing. Nothing special or truly flavorful - just juice and a shot or two, at most, of spirits.

I’ll definitely go back, but just drink soda or water.

[heathernoel]

I 100% agree with @lolabear_la rankings.

Unfortunately when I was there the projections for Wonderous Journey were broken and inly showed on the last section of Main Street, but it was still so moving. If you watch on Main Street be at one of these two spots (in the middle of the road) because they are the “center” of the projection show.

For the parade, I found this weird spot that did not fill up fast and people were joining up until the last minutes. It is bigger than it looks and I think it was not filled early because it is near walkways. The ropes kind of carve out a bigger space in the middle of the broad walkway.

One thing about the parades that might not be as big an issue for the 2nd one, little ones went up on shoulders, everywhere. People, who at the last minute the collective group said, “sure come on in, we have space” then put kids on their shoulder right in front of you. Luckily it was so spacious in there I was able to shift around and could still see, but I am tall. Also, the kids were into the parade, so there was a certain charm.