The background info: We’re flying in from Detroit Tuesday morning (June 14), spending 2 nights at GCH, and then flying out to Kona on Thursday afternoon. I’m shoehorning this in to the start of a pandemic-delayed extended-family Hawaii vacation, so start and stop times are firm. The Hawaii trip is a gift from my parents, so I’m OK with splurging on this mini-Disney stopover. It’s excessive, over-the-top, and totally unnecessary, but I figure everyone here will completely understand. My kids have never been to DLR. DH and I haven’t been in recent memory. My goal is to maximize our time on rides in the park. I have made peace with paying for ILL and Genie+ to accomplish that goal, although I will be virtually glaring daggers at Chapek while I do it. Our priorities are: 1. ROTR (we are Star Wars people and this ride is the GOAT), 2. Rides that don’t exist at WDW and rides that are better here (I’ve read other posts on here, so I have the list), 3. Family favorites.
Tuesday: Land at LAX, car service to GCH, drop off luggage by noon, be in DLR by 1:00, end with Electrical Parade (We will have gotten up early on Eastern time).
Wednesday: RD DLR, park hop to GCH when we have done all we wanted to do, end with World of Color.
Thursday: RD DCA, car service pickup at 1:00 at GCH.
I have a few questions for the West Coast Liner crowd:
Is the World of Color dessert party worth it? A dining package isn’t an option for us due to timing, and having a reserved spot that is not in the middle of a mass of people is very appealing to me. We loved the Star Wars dessert party at HS and had one good and one mediocre experience with the HEA dessert party at MK.
How do you handle the mid-June heat in the parks? We were in the southwest in the National Parks last year in mid-June, and yikes. We have hats and cooling towels. Will that be enough? Should I plan for pool time in the afternoon despite our focus on the rides?
In MK, we always caught the parade in Frontierland where we didn’t have to line up on the curb as early. Is there an equivalent spot in DLR where we can view the Electrical Parade without too much wasted time up front?
I’m a bit confused about the timing of getting ILL and Genie+ here. I understand that you have to be tapped in to a park. Is there a massive RD crowd tapping in early just to get all the ILL/G+? Is that not an issue? I’ve practiced finding the place to purchase Genie+ in the app. It seems overly difficult to find and navigate. It looks to me like the place to purchase ILL is on the “Tip Board” and not some other menu. Is my understanding correct? If so, I give them a C- on app design, and I’m being generous.
If there are any ROTR ILL left once we get to the park on Tuesday afternoon, I will purchase that. Other than that, I think we will concentrate on non-Genie+ rides that day and save that purchase for the other days. Do you think that’s an OK plan?
We are not Avengers people. Our superhero interest is basically zero, but Webslingers looks fun. Is it worth getting an ILL just for the sake of the ride or should we just avoid that part of the park?
This isn’t a question, but please say a prayer, light a candle, think good thoughts, sacrifice a chicken, or whatever you personal beliefs allow that PotC is back open by June 15 or DH might throw a tantrum. Also, Blue Bayou is on my Disney bucket list, and we have no plans for another west coast trip. I’ll be stalking the various boards for any hint of reopening so that I can get a ADR if it will be open. Please share the news if you see it anywhere else.
Thanks in advance for your answers! Any additional advice is also welcome.
We’ve done it once and are planning to do it again for the first time we will see WOC on our next trip. If this is your one and only time to see WOC then I do think that the dining package is well worth it. However, be aware that it’s not an all you care to enjoy (at least it wasn’t pre-Covid/Chapek and while the fine print isn’t really all that clear on what the experience is supposed to be this time, I highly doubt in this era it has suddenly become all you care to enjoy). Assuming that it will be a “better for your waistline” experience, I’d make sure to eat either a snack as an early dinner or have a late & filling lunch prior to the party.
Anaheim isn’t typically humid or as scorching hot as the southwest dessert dry heat can get (we live where it can get over 100 degrees of dry heat most summer days and Anaheim rarely gets that hot temperature-wise but is more humid than home so anything in the 90’s in Anaheim starts to get really dicey for us but usually doesn’t happen until July/August/September).
June in So. California is actually known for ‘June gloom’ which is a phenomenon
where most days start with cool/overcast mornings. I don’t know too much about the why’s of it other than something to do with the ocean but I do know it’s part of why I love going in June bc it because it generally delays any heat/sun we will see to later in the day. If it’s a June gloom morning it can be cool/overcast until about 11am and before the sun is up it can feel chilly, so if you’re standing in a line for rope drop or security make sure you have a light layer to keep from getting cold (but also one that can easily be shed once it warms up, but keep it bc the nights can get just as chilly again too, especially if sitting near water for any of the shows i.e. Fantasmic, WOC, etc.).
Midday can get warm and is the busiest time but we’ve always been great with cooling cloths and focusing on attractions or lines that out of the sun (preferably but not required, in AC). The Animation Building in DCA is a perfect respite for this and between the lobby, Animation Academy & Sorcerer’s Workshop there’s at least 45 min worth of entertainment. There is also Turtle Talk w/ Crush in the building, but it’s a near (if not exact) replica of the one in Epcot so unless you’re a big fan, is skippable.
In DL, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln (including the lobby that has some cool Disneyland history pieces as well as the neighboring Disneyana Gallery), the Tiki Room and the train are all go-to’s for us when we just need to sit and cool down. Then if open and there’s anything you’re interested in seeing the Tomorrowland Theater (rotates through previews of upcoming movie releases usually) and Star Wars Launch Bay (very similar to DHS) also in Tomorrowland, those are good AC breaks. And in the vein of you being Star War’s fans the Droid Depot, Dok Ondar’s and the marketplace in Galaxy’s Edge are all great places that aren’t in full sunlight to spend some time and get a cooldown.
Also, if you need a break without necessarily entertainment but maybe want to eat or at least get free water, places like the upstairs of the Golden Horseshoe in DL and the Doc Hudson side of Flo’s are all places we’ve always been able to find a table to sit down in some AC and cool off if needed. There are also a great many outdoor tables in full or partial shade along the Paradise Pier Garden area (just next to Goofy’s Sky School and extend all the way down to across from the Silly Symphony swings). In DL, Hungry Bear in Critter Country has a lot of outdoor full or partial shaded tables as well.
The hub and down along Main St fill up first so definitely don’t waste time looking for a seat there. If you’re ok with being in the middle of the pack or the back you can show up 30 min in advance anywhere from it’s a small world all the way down to the Alice in Wonderland bathrooms. Keep in mind that after you pass the teacups (moving in the direction from it’s a small world towards the hub) that the area across from Alice in Wonderland (a black wrought iron fence that is right up against the Matterhorn ride) is NOT a viewing area so don’t situate yourself against that fence, you’ll be asked to move if you do and if they don’t have the parade route very well staffed with lots of traffic flow CM’s it may be too late to get another position. I realize it’ll be so late for your body clocks but if you can hack it to the late parade the viewing is so much less competitive and you’ll get a much better view with less time.
If, you are only going to do the first parade and you walk the whole length of the route from small world and don’t find anything, as a last ditch effort, check if there are last minute spots to be had (usually with less than optimal views, but if you’re not staying for the 2nd parade it’s worth a shot to try and see) around Town Square. It’s a lot more likely to be score a very good spot here for the second showing, but it’s possible on the first showing to at least be able to join the back of a viewing section here (there have been times that on later/2nd parades we’ve walked right up to a great curb view in Town Square after hopping from DCA just as the parade starts and happen and stay to watch even if we didn’t intend to bc the great view is just too good to pass up). The area in front of the firestation has always been one that’s been particularly kind to us for this kind of viewing (but we haven’t tried this spot post-pandemic so not sure if it still will be a good spot or not).
With the reservation system in general, I have felt that more people arrive earlier/closer to RD than there were pre-pandemic & reservation system, but I felt that long before Genie+ was live and in the two trips we’ve done since Genie+, I don’t think it’s affected it in addition to what the advanced reservations already did. Especially, if you watch how LL/ILL availability has looked, the people who are there earlier aren’t scooping up up LL/ILL times. The majority of DLR regulars (my family included) have gone to the parks for years and have mostly done it all and so are easily able to skip on paying to do what they’ve done before and can come back again & do another day if the line is longer than they’re willing to wait. Those with smaller families or who go solo are more apt to pay, but then they take up less capacity on the LL/ILL to begin with.
Yes, that is a good plan but it may be worth checking day of to see if there are time available to stack 3-4 times for things you want to do for evening (and maybe get a ROTR ILL) so I would definitely check for things on your list and make a gametime decision as you’re about to head into the park. I would also have a solid list of non-Genie attractions/shows/ambiance that you can focus on too in case the availability is bumpkis, nil or in other words, a bust.
I do not understand this statement (speaking very tongue in cheek here as 5/6 of my family are very much Marvel fans and that last one puts up with us and even in spite of her usual disdain for Marvel enjoys her time in Avengers Campus even if she still won’t sit down and watch the movies with us, except for WandaVision, she watched that several times so if there were more Wanda, she would probably watch it all).
My opinion is very much biased (see above), but I will try to peel off my heavy bias towards Marvel. If you absolutely love the format of TSMM (and scoring games/video games in general) and are at all inclined to maybe like Spider-Man a little bit and if you would be sad you’d missed it on your potential once-in-a-lifetime trip then I would say yes worth it. We personally haven’t found a time we’d be willing to pay for the ILL for either Webslingers or Racers, but we use our pass to go at least 6x/year for 3-6 days each trip so it’s easier to find opportunities where the line for both the DCA LL’s to be <45 min waits. If it were my one time and it wasn’t a genre I had disdain for/was opposed to, I’d want to pay the ILL price to see what it’s about.
I’d also recommend you use Genie+ to get an LL for Guardians of the Galaxy as it’s even better than Webslingers and doesn’t require you to be a Marvel fan to enjoy the theming, the music or overall falling the party in a box that is this ride.
My DD, the one person in our family who proclaims not to like Marvel, really, really likes the ride in spite of it’s Marvel theming. She tried it when it was brand new and was terrified of the drops so wouldn’t ride again for awhile and during that time also decided she isn’t a Marvel fan (related to the announcement of the Avengers Campus taking over one of her favorite areas a bug’s land), but did decide to branch out last year & try the ride again now that’s she’s older and what she found was it was lot of fun with the music, storyline & overall thrill, even in spite of it being a Marvel themed ride.
Aside from the two rides though, there is a TON of character interactions and some very good shows here that if you’re not inclined to like superheros or the Marvel genre you won’t need to spend time fitting in. But I would fit in the two rides as the Guardians Tower is one of the best done rides in DCA and Webslingers is great if you at all like the style of ride being a game with scoring.
Good thoughts sent. May the odds be ever in your favor. If you use Facebook at all there’s a really good Facebook info group run by someone named Rosie (her posts get linked here every now and then) and I would recommend following/joining her group on Facebook. She is a wealth of detailed and up to date information so may be good to use for details, and it couldn’t hurt for scoping out things like this.
@lolabear_la is phenomenal, right? She always has the best thoughts.
My one contribution is that I thought the electrical parade didn’t start until Friday the 22nd? Am I missing something? I was planning on trying to sneak WoC on Friday through some sort of package/party but all of them were showing as closed, and Electrical Parade on Saturday.
Aww, thanks for the very sweet compliment @Bubblez! I try to make the hours that I could talk about Disney into useful productive conversation anytime I can!
That is correct. I think I know where you’re getting hung up because I did the same thing on my first read of OP’s trip. I read it their trip starts this Tuesday but upon trying to sort it out in my head to mention that the parade and WOC won’t be back until Friday, I realized it’s a Tuesday mid-June so it’s all good. It’ll all be up and running with some established patterns to boot!
I’ll add the date in the body of the message instead of just the title, but I’m waaaaay too much of a planner to be asking for advice just a day ahead of time.
