VWL Groupies & Lovers Thread (Special Collectors Edition 2.0) updated 21 June 2023

[Granny]

DISNEYLAND and DCA Parks


Quick Summary: Disneyland Resort parks in general are a nice alternative for west coast denizens but are severely crowded and hampered by the antiquated FastPass system.


Pros:

• Lots of attractions in a relatively small area between the two parks. Park hopping from a physical distance standpoint was fairly easy if there were no admission lines.

• The Frozen show at the Hyperion Theatre…simply awesome! We really didn’t know what to expect with this show and it completely blew us away with the effects, the quality of the singing/acting and the overall production value. It makes the DHS counterpart look like a Spanky and Our Gang production! And we like the DHS show. But the Frozen show at DCA was really outstanding!

• The Paint the Night parade was fun. We booked a Sonoma Terrace reception to have something to eat and watch the parade. The reception was very nice with wine/mixed drinks, a plate of finger food like grapes, cheeses, meats and such. And since it was a cool evening our server was happy to switch us over to hot chocolate before the parade. The reception afforded a nice view of the parade which was a fun experience with lots of characters and lively music and parade dancers between the floats.

• We enjoyed those attractions not found at WDW such as the Guardians of the Galaxy version of ToT, the Indiana Jones version of Dinosaur, etc. Also some attractions like It’s a Small World were just much more nicely presented at DL than at WDW. Overall, there is a good group of attractions at each park. We didn’t do any of the thrill ride attractions but they looked very good, especially the Radiator Springs Racers.

Cons:

• The crowds. Oh my goodness. We were under the impression that we were going at a slow time of the year, and we avoided the weekends which we had read were congested with locals. But we found the crowds to be very high, with long wait times at many attractions. We even saw 30 minute wait lines for corn dogs and another equally long one for Dole Whips! Having no other barometer for crowd sizes at Disneyland Resort parks, we were taken aback by the crowds.

• Entrance lines. Since we weren’t expecting the big crowds, we were surprised at the lengthy entrance lines especially for Disneyland park. When we first used our Park Hopper passes, we were surprised that the turnstile CM had to scan our phone ticket confirmation, issue the paper passes, and then take our pictures. No wonder the lines were so long and moved rather slowly!

• FastPass. Ugh…this trip completely confirmed that FP+ is far and away superior FOR US to the old FastPass system. Our first day we just used the FastPasses the old fashioned way, going to an attraction and getting the paper reminders of our return time. We were able to get one for Haunted Mansion at about 1:00 in the afternoon but after that we couldn’t get anything before about 5:30 pm. Since we had taken the red-eye from Hawaii the night before and were working with little or no sleep, we didn’t want to stay in the park that late. So we did some other non-FastPass attractions until we got our text that indicated our room was ready at 3:45. So we went back and got into our room, showered and went back into the parks. All the FastPasses were gone for the day so we didn’t get a lot of value out of Day 1 of our park hopper tickets. The next day we went into the parks about 10:00 am (early for us but not bad) and bought the MaxPass. What a difference that made! The ability to find FPs in either park allowed us to do much more than we had the day before. Due to the park entrance lines, we didn’t find it easy to park hop though. We almost had a couple of Fast Passes expire due to the length of time it took to go park-to-park. I had thought this would be much easier but we had significant entrance wait lines most times that we did this. So I would give the Max Pass two thumbs up, except it kind of riles me that you have to pay to be truly able to use the FP system at DLR while it is free at WDW and not as good as WDW since it only operates while you are in the parks.

• Attractions down. We were disappointed that Disney decided to close both World of Color and Fantasmic during our stay. I don’t think Fantasmic was being refurbished since they still had it scheduled on the weekends. But it was a bummer not to be able to see either of these night shows. Also down during our stay was the Matterhorn Sleds, though we probably wouldn’t have done those anyway.

Bottom line is that we would love to go back to Aulani at some point and spend more time there. And we are glad that we went to Disneyland Resort, but don’t anticipate wanting to go back there in the foreseeable future.

 

[rkstocke5609]

Continuing our thoughts on our recent trip.

Villas at the Grand Californian Resort

Quick summary: VGC is a beautiful resort with great location to the parks.

VGC Pros:

• The only VGC CM we actually interacted with to any extent was the lady who checked us in. She was very chatty, and was quite welcoming. She made up special anniversary pins for Mrs. Granny and I to wear, and she spent a bit of time explaining the resort layout and the quick access to Disney’s California Adventure park.

• The 1BR at VGC is a wonderful villa layout and amenities. A large table off the kitchen that would seat 6 people easily. A sleeper chair and drop down bed in the living room in addition to the sleeper sofa. And the extra full bathroom.

• The lobby of the VGC is along the lines of Wilderness Lodge or Animal Kingdom Lodge, as befits a Peter Dominick design. Personally, I found it a little “cold” in design compared to WL or AKL, and I think it is meant to be more contemporary in feel. It is still a beautiful lobby and I loved the piano that played all day (sometimes on its own, and sometimes with a pianist).

VGC Cons:

• We had a ground floor villa and the villa above us had a couple of kids that woke up early running and yelling and laughing. It was quite a noisy villa with that noise in addition to the DCA park noise we could hear in the room. It wasn’t offensive, but if someone likes quiet then these rooms are probably not the best option. Being on the ground floor (we requested upper floor) we were basically looking at a stockade fence wall. If we were on the third floor or higher in the same location we would have been looking at DCA and the World of Color.

• The early access to DCA had a line that went from the park entrance back to the main corridor at VGC and then all the way down past the pool and past the counter service door. There had to be over 200 people in the line, and I have a hard time believing that all of them were staying at VGC. We saw people coming in the main entry doors and heading towards that line which suggests this is some sort of “tip” that has gotten out on the internet to allow people to bypass the longer lines for public access to the park. This didn’t bother us so much since we are not rope drop people, but we would have been irked if we had gotten in that line after our check-in CM told us that entrance is for VGC guests only. We saw the same thing when the park closed and people streamed out through the VGC park exit and then through the lobby and out the front doors. Fortunately, there is no security check on the way out of the parks so this just made it crowded but it still moved along.

• We tend to eat a fair amount of counter food offerings and found the VGC a little lacking in food options. I guess this is the trend at all Disney resort hotels (except Aulani) but we were disappointed in the selection available.

Bottom Line: We only spent 2 nights at this resort but it seems to have good CMs and amenities. Can't beat the location!

Did you discover the nachos from the quick service were actually “steak” nachos — they were a hidden gem that I have enjoyed poolside more than once....

 

[rkstocke5609]

DISNEYLAND and DCA Parks


Quick Summary: Disneyland Resort parks in general are a nice alternative for west coast denizens but are severely crowded and hampered by the antiquated FastPass system.


Pros:

• Lots of attractions in a relatively small area between the two parks. Park hopping from a physical distance standpoint was fairly easy if there were no admission lines.

• The Frozen show at the Hyperion Theatre…simply awesome! We really didn’t know what to expect with this show and it completely blew us away with the affects, the quality of the singing/acting and the overall production value. It makes the DHS counterpart look like a Spanky and Our Gang production! And we like the DHS show. But the Frozen show at DCA was really outstanding!

• The Paint the Night parade was fun. We booked a Sonoma Terrace reception to have something to eat and watch the parade. The reception was very nice with wine/mixed drinks, a plate of finger food like grapes, cheeses, meats and such. And since it was a cool evening our server was happy to switch us over to hot chocolate before the parade. The reception afforded a nice view of the parade which was a fun experience with lots of characters and lively music and parade dancers between the floats.

• We enjoyed those attractions not found at WDW such as the Guardians of the Galaxy version of ToT, the Indiana Jones version of Dinosaur, etc. Also some attractions like It’s a Small World were just much more nicely presented at DL than at WDW. Overall, there is a good group of attractions at each park. We didn’t do any of the thrill ride attractions but they looked very good, especially the Radiator Springs Racers.

Cons:

• The crowds. Oh my goodness. We were under the impression that we were going at a slow time of the year, and we avoided the weekends which we had read were congested with locals. But we found the crowds to be very high, with long wait times at many attractions. We even saw 30 minute wait lines for corn dogs and another equally long one for Dole Whips! Having no other barometer for crowd sizes at Disneyland Resort parks, we were taken aback by the crowds.

• Entrance lines. Since we weren’t expecting the big crowds, we were surprised at the lengthy entrance lines especially for Disneyland park. When we first used our Park Hopper passes, we were surprised that the turnstile CM had to scan our phone ticket confirmation, issue the paper passes, and then take our pictures. No wonder the lines were so long and moved rather slowly!

• FastPass. View attachment 318720 Ugh…this trip completely confirmed that FP+ is far and away superior FOR US to the old FastPass system. Our first day we just used the FastPasses the old fashioned way, going to an attraction and getting the paper reminders of our return time. We were able to get one for Haunted Mansion at about 1:00 in the afternoon but after that we couldn’t get anything before about 5:30 pm. Since we had taken the red-eye from Hawaii the night before and were working with little or no sleep, we didn’t want to stay in the park that late. So we did some other non-FastPass attractions until we got our text that indicated our room was ready at 3:45. So we went back and got into our room, showered and went back into the parks. All the FastPasses were gone for the day so we didn’t get a lot of value out of Day 1 of our park hopper tickets. The next day we went into the parks about 10:00 am (early for us but not bad) and bought the MaxPass. What a difference that made! The ability to find FPs in either park allowed us to do much more than we had the day before. Due to the park entrance lines, we didn’t find it easy to park hop though. We almost had a couple of Fast Passes expire due to the length of time it took to go park-to-park. I had thought this would be much easier but we had significant entrance wait lines most times that we did this. So I would give the Max Pass two thumbs up, except it kind of riles me that you have to pay to be truly able to use the FP system at DLR while it is free at WDW and not as good as WDW since it only operates while you are in the parks.

• Attractions down. We were disappointed that Disney decided to close both World of Color and Fantasmic during our stay. I don’t think Fantasmic was being refurbished since they still had it scheduled on the weekends. But it was a bummer not to be able to see either of these night shows. Also down during our stay was the Matterhorn Sleds, though we probably wouldn’t have done those anyway.

Bottom line is that we would love to go back to Aulani at some point and spend more time there. And we are glad that we went to Disneyland Resort, but don’t anticipate wanting to go back there in the foreseeable future.

So glad you enjoyed Frozen @ the Hyperion! I completely agree with the ‘lil rascals comparison in regards to the HS version. Anna’s character is quite “spiced” up at the Hyperion. So sorry to hear about the crowds — really sounds scary, we didn’t have it that bad on either of our Californian trips. Sorry you missed some of the “magic” that we just fell in love with. Crowds will do that though.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Would like to see Paint the Night Parade. I miss having a parade at night at WDW.

Sorry the lines, crowds were so bad.

Gosh, I thought that the Indiana Jones ride WAS a thrill ride! I had no idea what we were in for!

 

[Granny]

Did you discover the nachos from the quick service were actually “steak” nachos — they were a hidden gem that I have enjoyed poolside more than once....

We didn’t see those on the menu but they sound great! We were mostly at the counter service in the mornings.

So glad you enjoyed Frozen @ the Hyperion! I completely agree with the ‘lil rascals comparison in regards to the HS version. Anna’s character is quite “spiced” up at the Hyperion. So sorry to hear about the crowds — really sounds scary, we didn’t have it that bad on either of our Californian trips. Sorry you missed some of the “magic” that we just fell in love with. Crowds will do that though.

I may be making too much of the crowds. We were just surprised since we had read that it was a slower time especially during the week. And when we checked in to VGC the CM told us how lucky we were to have missed the spring break crowds. I think the crowd issue was just exacerbated by the FastPass system.

Would like to see Paint the Night Parade. I miss having a parade at night at WDW.

Sorry the lines, crowds were so bad.

Gosh, I thought that the Indiana Jones ride WAS a thrill ride! I had no idea what we were in for!

Bobbi, you are right in that Indiana Jones is a pretty wild ride. That and Guardians are as close to thrill rides that we do. And even with the crowds we were able to do most of what we wanted to with the MaxPass. It would have been nice if more attractions were FastPass. For example, we didn’t see a Pirates of the Caribbean wait time under 30 minutes and usually 45-60 minutes, so we didn’t experience that.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

DISNEYLAND and DCA Parks


Quick Summary: Disneyland Resort parks in general are a nice alternative for west coast denizens but are severely crowded and hampered by the antiquated FastPass system.


Pros:

• Lots of attractions in a relatively small area between the two parks. Park hopping from a physical distance standpoint was fairly easy if there were no admission lines.

• The Frozen show at the Hyperion Theatre…simply awesome! We really didn’t know what to expect with this show and it completely blew us away with the affects, the quality of the singing/acting and the overall production value. It makes the DHS counterpart look like a Spanky and Our Gang production! And we like the DHS show. But the Frozen show at DCA was really outstanding!

• The Paint the Night parade was fun. We booked a Sonoma Terrace reception to have something to eat and watch the parade. The reception was very nice with wine/mixed drinks, a plate of finger food like grapes, cheeses, meats and such. And since it was a cool evening our server was happy to switch us over to hot chocolate before the parade. The reception afforded a nice view of the parade which was a fun experience with lots of characters and lively music and parade dancers between the floats.

• We enjoyed those attractions not found at WDW such as the Guardians of the Galaxy version of ToT, the Indiana Jones version of Dinosaur, etc. Also some attractions like It’s a Small World were just much more nicely presented at DL than at WDW. Overall, there is a good group of attractions at each park. We didn’t do any of the thrill ride attractions but they looked very good, especially the Radiator Springs Racers.

Cons:

• The crowds. Oh my goodness. We were under the impression that we were going at a slow time of the year, and we avoided the weekends which we had read were congested with locals. But we found the crowds to be very high, with long wait times at many attractions. We even saw 30 minute wait lines for corn dogs and another equally long one for Dole Whips! Having no other barometer for crowd sizes at Disneyland Resort parks, we were taken aback by the crowds.

• Entrance lines. Since we weren’t expecting the big crowds, we were surprised at the lengthy entrance lines especially for Disneyland park. When we first used our Park Hopper passes, we were surprised that the turnstile CM had to scan our phone ticket confirmation, issue the paper passes, and then take our pictures. No wonder the lines were so long and moved rather slowly!

• FastPass. View attachment 318720 Ugh…this trip completely confirmed that FP+ is far and away superior FOR US to the old FastPass system. Our first day we just used the FastPasses the old fashioned way, going to an attraction and getting the paper reminders of our return time. We were able to get one for Haunted Mansion at about 1:00 in the afternoon but after that we couldn’t get anything before about 5:30 pm. Since we had taken the red-eye from Hawaii the night before and were working with little or no sleep, we didn’t want to stay in the park that late. So we did some other non-FastPass attractions until we got our text that indicated our room was ready at 3:45. So we went back and got into our room, showered and went back into the parks. All the FastPasses were gone for the day so we didn’t get a lot of value out of Day 1 of our park hopper tickets. The next day we went into the parks about 10:00 am (early for us but not bad) and bought the MaxPass. What a difference that made! The ability to find FPs in either park allowed us to do much more than we had the day before. Due to the park entrance lines, we didn’t find it easy to park hop though. We almost had a couple of Fast Passes expire due to the length of time it took to go park-to-park. I had thought this would be much easier but we had significant entrance wait lines most times that we did this. So I would give the Max Pass two thumbs up, except it kind of riles me that you have to pay to be truly able to use the FP system at DLR while it is free at WDW and not as good as WDW since it only operates while you are in the parks.

• Attractions down. We were disappointed that Disney decided to close both World of Color and Fantasmic during our stay. I don’t think Fantasmic was being refurbished since they still had it scheduled on the weekends. But it was a bummer not to be able to see either of these night shows. Also down during our stay was the Matterhorn Sleds, though we probably wouldn’t have done those anyway.

Bottom line is that we would love to go back to Aulani at some point and spend more time there. And we are glad that we went to Disneyland Resort, but don’t anticipate wanting to go back there in the foreseeable future.

Sounds like overall it was a successful trip! Out of all Disney resorts I think they did the best at Aulani. They did have to fix some mis-calculations of how many visitors would just hang out at the resort but they stepped up and did so and I give them credit for that. It's always a good place to head to!

With DL it may just be a matter of familiarity as even if it's crowded we get a lot done - even with that darn old paper fastpass sytem! haha I actually still prefer it and then Maxpass is a game changer. I hate nickel and diming but that's the one that after the first time using it I just didn't care it was that awesome. True that you do have to enter the park before you can activate but once that's done you no longer have to be in the park to use it so I'd often be making FP's for later in the evening while taking a break. I do suspect it was a slow time but DL is rarely ever "quiet" because so many locals will hit it up after school or work. Just a more laid back crowd IMO as most will definitely be back - either the next week or might be the next day. That also makes them willing to wait 30 minutes for a corn dog!

 

[Granny]

Sounds like overall it was a successful trip!

Yes it was a very successful trip. And I hope people don’t read too much into my criticisms. I just wanted to include all my impressions.

Out of all Disney resorts I think they did the best at Aulani. They did have to fix some mis-calculations of how many visitors would just hang out at the resort but they stepped up and did so and I give them credit for that. It's always a good place to head to!

With DL it may just be a matter of familiarity as even if it's crowded we get a lot done - even with that darn old paper fastpass sytem! haha I actually still prefer it and then Maxpass is a game changer. I hate nickel and diming but that's the one that after the first time using it I just didn't care it was that awesome. True that you do have to enter the park before you can activate but once that's done you no longer have to be in the park to use it so I'd often be making FP's for later in the evening while taking a break. I do suspect it was a slow time but DL is rarely ever "quiet" because so many locals will hit it up after school or work. Just a more laid back crowd IMO as most will definitely be back - either the next week or might be the next day. That also makes them willing to wait 30 minutes for a corn dog!

I think your points are very well taken. I need to also emphasize that we had only a short time at DLR and were a little punchy the first day from no sleep. Also, Disney does provide an EMH that we could have taken advantage of but we opted for sleep.

And MaxPass really is a game changer. Even arriving at the parks in mid-morning we were able to do five or so FP attractions total in both parks that day.

I hope I didn’t come off as too negative on DLR. We still enjoyed our visit and are glad we made it part of our trip.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Yes it was a very successful trip. And I hope people don’t read too much into my criticisms. I just wanted to include all my impressions.




I think your points are very well taken. I need to also emphasize that we had only a short time at DLR and were a little punchy the first day from no sleep. Also, Disney does provide an EMH that we could have taken advantage of but we opted for sleep.

And MaxPass really is a game changer. Even arriving at the parks in mid-morning we were able to do five or so FP attractions total in both parks that day.

I hope I didn’t come off as too negative on DLR. We still enjoyed our visit and are glad we made it part of our trip.

Oh no Granny, not at all. Just sharing your thoughts and preferences.

A couple things made me chuckle since more than once last week we were commenting on how such and such was better at DL! Then Epcot had like no people last Wednesday. As in 15 minute stand by for Soarin. Getting Soarin FPs as our 4th FP after 4:30. I realized it was freaking me out - I've become too accustomed to crowds at Disney. MK on Saturday should have made me feel better since it was packed!

 

[jimmytammy]

Happy Birthday DiznyDi!!!!

Happy Birthday luvvwl!!!!

 

[DiznyDi]

Good Morning Groupies!
I can't thank you enough for thoughts, concerns, prayers, and birthday wishes! You are one special group of people that I'm honored to call friends.

I was discharged late yesterday afternoon feeling oh so much better and breathing easier than I have in months. This stay really was a long time coming.

My friend provided a fabulous feast for dinner and included a birthday pie. Dinner was waiting on my porch when we arrived home. I took a nice hot shower (sink baths don't quite cut it), had dinner and relished in the fact I was home with Rich and would be sleeping in my own bed.

Ahh yes, refreshed and counting the days - 10 - before heading south.

Di

 

[DiznyDi]

Wishing luvvwl a Happy Belated Birthday!!

 

[Dizny Dad]

Granny - GREAT trip report! Loved the Pro/Con lists. And you were correct - she is a True Princess!

 

[Granny]

I am late for the party, but...

Happy Birthday LuvVWL !!!

I think you have the best user name of any of us!!!

 

[twokats]

Di, can't remember if I told you Happy Birthday! I know I told you to get well soon and it looks like you did.

 

[twinklebug]

Happy Birthday DiznyDi!

Happy Birthday Luvvwl!

​

 

[Granny]

And to wrap up my trip comments, I wanted to share a few photos and final comments.

As I thought about the DLR park visits, I remember that I was struck by how DL conveys a great feeling of nostalgia and "old timey" kind of vibe. I think a lot of this is due to the presence of operating Main Street vehicles...a lot of them and quite a variety. And DL has some nice landscaping along Main Street to add to the feeling that you are in Small Town, USA. I really liked the vibe of Main Street, and yes that includes the castle that you can actually walk through!

Also, I noticed that there were a fair number of characters that showed up in all sorts of places...kind of like they used to do at WDW before they were all banished to Meet & Greet designated prison areas. I liked coming across characters unexpectedly and they even had a nice Mickey cameo to come out and lead the Main Street band for a couple of songs!




And I couldn't help but think of the Groupies when I saw this topiary in front of It's a Small World....

 

[Granny]

And I belabored the crowd situation, but here's a few shots that kind of show what I was talking about.

Here's that lengthy line for the Corn Dogs...it was mid-afternoon and the line stretched back and out of sight for this shot:




And at one of the stations for the train, the line completely filled the station and went back down the sidewalk. Only about half the people in the station were able to board since the train was already crowded...



And here's a shot I took of Main Street with a good view of the number of people....




And lastly, here's a shot of the lines we ran into for entering DL as we park hopped throughout the day. In fairness, the DCA lines were only about half as long...

 

[ArielSRL]

Good Morning Groupies!
I can't thank you enough for thoughts, concerns, prayers, and birthday wishes! You are one special group of people that I'm honored to call friends.

I was discharged late yesterday afternoon feeling oh so much better and breathing easier than I have in months. This stay really was a long time coming.

My friend provided a fabulous feast for dinner and included a birthday pie. Dinner was waiting on my porch when we arrived home. I took a nice hot shower (sink baths don't quite cut it), had dinner and relished in the fact I was home with Rich and would be sleeping in my own bed.

Ahh yes, refreshed and counting the days - 10 - before heading south.

Di

So glad you were discharged. And so nice of your friend to provide dinner! Now it is time for you to finish getting better for your trip!

I broke down and called out of work today to rest (on a suggestion from my assistant principal) as talking and teaching all day do not equate to rest. Called the doc and got an antibiotic called in as when I went last week, I was only given a steroid. Here's hoping I get this kicked!

 

[ArielSRL]

So glad to not be involved in that free dining promo mess today. I like to watch and learn from afar though. So very glad that buying into DVC provides us the opportunity to not ride the discount train! It seems to be getting harder and harder to find something. And for our October trip, I discovered agency exclusive deals (we were out of points) from an agency that is not to be named, so we will continue to use that for our non DVC trips.

As far as DLR, I do want to take my boys out there one year to experience the original and also see CarsLand and all the Marvel stuff. I've gone twice in my lifetime. Once when I was a kid and once as an adult, solo, on a 7 week road trip out west. I've always lived in GA so WDW is so much easier to get to. I'd love to stay at VGC but know it is probably better to rent our points for that trip and stay offsite at a good neighbor type hotel.

Thanks for sharing, Granny!

 

[Granny]

Ariel...I hope your medicine kicks in and that you are feeling better quickly!

As far as DLR, I do want to take my boys out there one year to experience the original and also see CarsLand and all the Marvel stuff. I've gone twice in my lifetime. Once when I was a kid and once as an adult, solo, on a 7 week road trip out west. I've always lived in GA so WDW is so much easier to get to. I'd love to stay at VGC but know it is probably better to rent our points for that trip and stay offsite at a good neighbor type hotel.

Thanks for sharing, Granny!

I would definitely hold off until the Star Wars addition is complete. The Cars Land and Pixar themed areas are really well done...I noted that they really did a fine job of working the transitions of the various lands that are so close to each other yet provide their own distinctive look and feel.

And by the time you are ready to go, the new hotel should be complete which even our front desk CM agreed will include significant DVC villas. Disney is fully aware of how quickly the VGC villas sell out...I think they were initially concerned that DVC might not work as well at DLR because of the heavy local visitation but clearly there is demand for more.