*March 2019 Check In*

[bcwife76]

Did you do both parks, or just DL? We are due to be in CA next Monday (yay!), and I'm thinking through my strategy - it looks like things got crazy fast yesterday!...

Keep in mind that yesterday was Monday and that is one of the busiest park days of the week (for whatever reason lol).

 

[mcm574]

Keep in mind that yesterday was Monday and that is one of the busiest park days of the week (for whatever reason lol).

Yup, that's why I'm strategerizing - we're only there Sunday-Monday-Tuesday, so skipping that potentially terribly busy day isn't an option - so gotta figure out how to make the best of it!

 

[bcwife76]

Yup, that's why I'm strategerizing - we're only there Sunday-Monday-Tuesday, so skipping that potentially terribly busy day isn't an option - so gotta figure out how to make the best of it!

Oh I hear that! We're there Friday, Saturday and Sunday *gulp* Definitely gotta have a game plan

 

[seesclubhouse]

Ill be coming down from Alaska in full Disney bounds from 23rd - 31st. Always enjoy running into folks and meeting new people, my DW trip was way to short so hopefully will refill my Disney meter this go around

 

[Disney127]

Ill be coming down from Alaska in full Disney bounds from 23rd - 31st. Always enjoy running into folks and meeting new people, my DW trip was way to short so hopefully will refill my Disney meter this go around

My daughter likes to Disneybound too. Maybe we will run into you, we are there from the 21st - 30th.

 

[AJA55]

Mom and & Disney bound as Minnie, since 2004.

 

[bcwife76]

I really appreciate those coming back and giving real time updates of their trips for those of us still waiting to go later this month. It's been super helpful

 

[Cal-Pie]

We are headed home today. Trip was awesome. Park was mobbed all afternoon yesterday. Train wait was 30 min. Alice at 60 minutes. That’s when it’s time to escape to the hotel. Went back last night and ODD and I went on 12 rides between 6:30pm-12am thanks to Max Pass and the rain.

I honestly thought the whole busy Monday phenomenon was being over blown on these boards. Boy, was I wrong! Yesterday was absolutely bananas until the drizzle started. Wayyy busier than Sat or Sun.

 

[VandVsmama]

I honestly thought the whole busy Monday phenomenon was being over blown on these boards. Boy, was I wrong! Yesterday was absolutely bananas until the drizzle started. Wayyy busier than Sat or Sun.

Yesterday morning was nice until about 10:30. Then it was crazy. Didn’t slow down until it started to rain.

 

[shooting4life]

Hope the end of the month is better but I’m not holding my breath.

Thankful I have a lot of park days part day Sunday all the way to a part day Friday.

 

[Flattes]

Our trip is getting really close now! We leave Canada this Saturday to fly to Vegas for 3 days. Head to Anaheim on Tuesday 19th, arriving around 11pm. We are staying at Park Vue Inn this trip. Have three full days with park hoppers. I keep looking up the website that tells how busy the parks will be and our three days consistently show they will be packed - I guess it is spring break. Sigh. I really can't seem to plan our Disney visits well - there is always something that creeps up to surprise me. We were last there in January 2018 and I had (stupidly) thought it would be quiet after the xmas period. Obviously didn't do my research as we were there the last 3 days of the xmas period and it was INSANE!!! It literally took us almost 2 hours just to get into the park the first day...Hoping this trip isn't quite that crazy!!!!

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

Monday was pretty crazy - we had a 50 minute wait at Alice (which was actually fine because I got special 1:1 time with my 5 yr old and that rarely happens), but right after that we practically walked onto mad tea party - maybe a 5 minute wait tops. It got mobbed right after we lined up, so must have been pixie dust that got us through so fast!

DCA seemed much busier than I thought it should be considering how wet it was. Will be interesting to see what tomorrow has in store considering it’s supposed to be warm and dry!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I honestly thought the whole busy Monday phenomenon was being over blown on these boards. Boy, was I wrong! Yesterday was absolutely bananas until the drizzle started. Wayyy busier than Sat or Sun.

We really try to aim for accuracy on this board -- e.g. Mondays are busy, Splash Mt. will get you WET! Naturally, we have our posters who like to lay it on thick, but for the most part, when you see more than one poster reporting the same event/phenomenon/oddity, take note!
The "Mondays are busy phenomenon" started about year or so ago and just kept building -- from "is this just me?" to "this is happening every week!" to "oh no, it's getting worse!"

 

[VandVsmama]

Our trip is getting really close now! We leave Canada this Saturday to fly to Vegas for 3 days. Head to Anaheim on Tuesday 19th, arriving around 11pm. We are staying at Park Vue Inn this trip. Have three full days with park hoppers. I keep looking up the website that tells how busy the parks will be and our three days consistently show they will be packed - I guess it is spring break. Sigh. I really can't seem to plan our Disney visits well - there is always something that creeps up to surprise me. We were last there in January 2018 and I had (stupidly) thought it would be quiet after the xmas period. Obviously didn't do my research as we were there the last 3 days of the xmas period and it was INSANE!!! It literally took us almost 2 hours just to get into the park the first day...Hoping this trip isn't quite that crazy!!!!

We just returned home from staying at the Park Vue Inn. It was our 1st time staying there. We really liked it. Free parking and free hot breakfast. The breakfast starts at 7 am, by the way...so be aware of that in case you're going to do a MM entry on one of your days there (if reg park opening is 8, MM will be at 7). Staying there made the walk VERY short! MUCH shorter than when we stayed at Hojo's.

The walls ARE a little thin, though. So if you're a light sleeper, download a white noise app to your smart phone and use that at night. We did that and it did the trick.

 

[VandVsmama]

Monday was pretty crazy - we had a 50 minute wait at Alice (which was actually fine because I got special 1:1 time with my 5 yr old and that rarely happens), but right after that we practically walked onto mad tea party - maybe a 5 minute wait tops. It got mobbed right after we lined up, so must have been pixie dust that got us through so fast!

DCA seemed much busier than I thought it should be considering how wet it was. Will be interesting to see what tomorrow has in store considering it’s supposed to be warm and dry!

We were there on Monday also! Monday in the middle of the day and all afternoon was insane. It's A Small World wait was like 45 min at one point when I looked on the app (from my hotel room...we'd taken a break). The walkways everywhere were packed with people. It was very unpleasant. So we left and went back in the evening...Monday evening was completely awesome.

 

[AprilJ26]

We are here now and having a blast! Our flight landed at LAX yesterday at 9:00am. We took Lyft to PVI, checked in, stored luggage at the front desk and were through the DL park gates by 10:30! It was pretty crowded, but we only have experience with crowds during spring break and thanksgiving week at WDW, so wait times are comparable to that. After arrival yesterday, we ate lunch at Hungry Bear, booked fp for RSR later in the day. Then we rode the teacups, mr. toad, and buzz. Hopped over to DCA and rode Mater’s junkyard jamboree, RSR with our fp, jumping jellies, and goofy’s sky school with fp. Had dinner and went back to our hotel for the night (We woke up at 3:30am central time to catch our flight so we were exhausted by then!)
Got up early this morning and made it to DL by 8:00. Park was pretty much empty until 10:00 as far as wait times go! We rode Pirates, HM, Nemo subs, Buzz, Star Tours, Indi with fp, Jungle Cruise, BTMR with fp, and Matterhorn with fp. Took the monorail to DTD and had lunch at Earl of Sandwich. Walked back to the hotel around 2:00. Plan to go back around 5:00ish. We have fp’s for Soarin and Toy Story this evening so far!
HUGE fan of DL so far!

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Mini trip report:

Wed March 6: rainy day...best day ever!! There were no lines for anything. We literally walked onto every ride we wanted in DL. Amazing day.
Thursday March 7: 90s nite, did write up in the 90s nite thread
Friday March 8: busier than Wednesday but not terrible, did WOC dessert party which we enjoyed. Desserts were meh but the view can't be beat
Saturday March 9: pretty busy but manageable with maxpass. ended up leaving early around 10 since we were wearing ourselves out.
Sunday March 10: we made EMH at DCA at 7:15, good thing we did, got a lot done and walked onto most things. Changed to DL around 11 and it was crazy busy

all nights were a bit chilly, but a hat and long sleeves helped a lot.

 

[Flattes]

We just returned home from staying at the Park Vue Inn. It was our 1st time staying there. We really liked it. Free parking and free hot breakfast. The breakfast starts at 7 am, by the way...so be aware of that in case you're going to do a MM entry on one of your days there (if reg park opening is 8, MM will be at 7). Staying there made the walk VERY short! MUCH shorter than when we stayed at Hojo's.

The walls ARE a little thin, though. So if you're a light sleeper, download a white noise app to your smart phone and use that at night. We did that and it did the trick.

We stayed there back in 2010 at a rate of $89 per night. My, how things have changed! We really loved the location, which is why we are staying again. Our recent trips we have stayed at Homewood Suites, which we LOVE! This time the price was just too steep (I guess due to spring break) so we opted for Park Vue....

 

[Betty_Baylor99]

Just wrapped up our trip from Monday, March 11th to Wednesday, March 13th and had an amazing time. Yes, the parks are crowded as it’s apparent that lots of the crowd are Spring Breakers (seriously we met so many people like ourselves, from Texas LOL). We are former SoCal passholders (from 8 years ago) and our family would consider ourselves WDW pros so the kids are used to waiting in lines for rides/attractions.

We got Maxpass for Monday and I’d say it was definitely needed since the parks seemed like a 9 out of 10. We arrived at DL a little before 9am and enjoyed Splash as a walk-on, Pooh, Pirates, lunch at Blue Bayou, Autopia. We were able to Maxpass/FP Big Thunder, Small World, Haunted Mansion, Buzz, Star Tours, Roger Rabbit which was very handy considering their standby lines all exceeded 30 minutes at peak times. We didn’t make it to any Fantasyland rides, knowing we’d return the following day. Our “longest” wait was for Mickey at his house.

Day 2 was early entry for us so we hit up Matterhorn and all Fantasyland rides except PP. Our girls enjoyed having an impromptu “tea party” with Alice and the Mad Hatter (they sat at a table near the carousel), which was really cute. We met up with my SIL and 4 yr old niece (who are passholders) and she commented it was super packed. We enjoyed breakfast at Plaza Inn and I’m glad we could squeeze in seeing lots of characters there, because my kids are older now and prefer riding rides than waiting in line to see characters. I had to modify our plans to accommodate our niece’s family so things were at a slower pace, but it was still lots of fun. I had to remind myself that we were standing in 30 minutes lines for attractions (ie Gadget coaster) I didn’t care for because “it was for the kids” but the kids had a blast so it was all fine.

Our last day was California Adventure and I must say EE for CA is amazing. We did not get Maxpass for our family this day (I only got it for the photos) and just resorted to pulling paper FP. Walked onto Incredicoaster and the kids were so excited and wanted to ride it again. I declined and my poor husband got suckered to ride it twice. He looked hungover for the next hour or so LOL We were able to knock out Toy Story and Little Mermaid and we were able to FP RSR, Soarin and Guardians of the Galaxy. Enjoyed some of the booths for Food & Wine festival. I am guilty of waiting way too long to meet Anna and Elsa. The line looked deceivingly short but unlike WDW, there was only 1 room of A&E so it took wayyy longer than I would have liked. But the interaction with them was amazing and the kiddos were super happy afterwards.

Our takeaway from the trip- dress in layers (it’s cold in the morning, warm in the day time, and super cold when the sun goes down), Maxpass is worth it for DL for a busy Spring Break week like this week, but IMHO it is not necessary for CA if you can strategize utilizing EE privileges. It also took some getting used to that there aren’t as many Photopass photographers around like there are in WDW (it would have been standard to have them at all the princess character meets), so always have your phone/camera ready. Overall, it was an amazing trip. We enjoyed the convenience of staying on property at the GC and loved how close it was to the parks. DL will always hold a special place in our hearts as our kids’ first and favorite park. We wil look forward to returning again.

 

[Disney127]

Just wrapped up our trip from Monday, March 11th to Wednesday, March 13th and had an amazing time. Yes, the parks are crowded as it’s apparent that lots of the crowd are Spring Breakers (seriously we met so many people like ourselves, from Texas LOL). We are former SoCal passholders (from 8 years ago) and our family would consider ourselves WDW pros so the kids are used to waiting in lines for rides/attractions.

We got Maxpass for Monday and I’d say it was definitely needed since the parks seemed like a 9 out of 10. We arrived at DL a little before 9am and enjoyed Splash as a walk-on, Pooh, Pirates, lunch at Blue Bayou, Autopia. We were able to Maxpass/FP Big Thunder, Small World, Haunted Mansion, Buzz, Star Tours, Roger Rabbit which was very handy considering their standby lines all exceeded 30 minutes at peak times. We didn’t make it to any Fantasyland rides, knowing we’d return the following day. Our “longest” wait was for Mickey at his house.

Day 2 was early entry for us so we hit up Matterhorn and all Fantasyland rides except PP. Our girls enjoyed having an impromptu “tea party” with Alice and the Mad Hatter (they sat at a table near the carousel), which was really cute. We met up with my SIL and 4 yr old niece (who are passholders) and she commented it was super packed. We enjoyed breakfast at Plaza Inn and I’m glad we could squeeze in seeing lots of characters there, because my kids are older now and prefer riding rides than waiting in line to see characters. I had to modify our plans to accommodate our niece’s family so things were at a slower pace, but it was still lots of fun. I had to remind myself that we were standing in 30 minutes lines for attractions (ie Gadget coaster) I didn’t care for because “it was for the kids” but the kids had a blast so it was all fine.

Our last day was California Adventure and I must say EE for CA is amazing. We did not get Maxpass for our family this day (I only got it for the photos) and just resorted to pulling paper FP. Walked onto Incredicoaster and the kids were so excited and wanted to ride it again. I declined and my poor husband got suckered to ride it twice. He looked hungover for the next hour or so LOL We were able to knock out Toy Story and Little Mermaid and we were able to FP RSR, Soarin and Guardians of the Galaxy. Enjoyed some of the booths for Food & Wine festival. I am guilty of waiting way too long to meet Anna and Elsa. The line looked deceivingly short but unlike WDW, there was only 1 room of A&E so it took wayyy longer than I would have liked. But the interaction with them was amazing and the kiddos were super happy afterwards.

Our takeaway from the trip- dress in layers (it’s cold in the morning, warm in the day time, and super cold when the sun goes down), Maxpass is worth it for DL for a busy Spring Break week like this week, but IMHO it is not necessary for CA if you can strategize utilizing EE privileges. It also took some getting used to that there aren’t as many Photopass photographers around like there are in WDW (it would have been standard to have them at all the princess character meets), so always have your phone/camera ready. Overall, it was an amazing trip. We enjoyed the convenience of staying on property at the GC and loved how close it was to the parks. DL will always hold a special place in our hearts as our kids’ first and favorite park. We wil look forward to returning again.

Thanks for your trip report! Glad you had a good time! And your tips on dressing in layers. We have been checking the weather and it doesn't seem to be really hot on the days that we are there. But we are still very excited to visit DL again.