Luv Bunnies
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2006
Here's a mini-report from our pre-Thanksgiving trip. We drove from the SF Bay Area on Saturday, picked up our Miami college boy at LAX, spent the night in LA, then drove to Anaheim early Sunday morning. By the time we actually arrived at DL, it was around 9:30 a.m. We immediately purchased Max Pass and booked our first FP for Space Mt. with a 12:30 - 1:30 window. After that, we made sure to book another FP as soon as we were eligible (every 90 minutes). With the holiday crowds, we really felt that Max Pass was the only way we were able to get on the big rides without excessive waits, continuously crossing the parks, or park hopping just to get FPs.
What we liked about Max Pass:
- Booking FPs from wherever we happened to be: The minute our window opened, we could book our next FP. We could be eating a meal, in line for a ride, or in the other park. No one had to run anywhere, and we didn't waste our eligible booking time if we were in line for another ride.
- Booking across parks: We could be finishing up some rides at DL and start planning a hop to CA. By the time we hopped, we had FPs booked for GOG, Toy Story and Soarin'. We just walked in and started using the FPs we had booked while still at DL.
What we didn't like about Max Pass:
- The app is a bit clunky to use at first. It's not as intuitive as it could be. It took some trial and error to figure out the quickest way to navigate the various screens. Several times we simply could not get the screens to load, but that was probably more a function of DL's funky wi-fi. A few times we pulled out our tickets to scan at rides since the app. wouldn't load.
Other info. about our trip: We stayed at the Homewood Suites near the Convention Center and used the Toy Story Parking Lot shuttle to get to and from the parks. This is the furthest we've ever stayed, as we usually stay at one of the hotels right across the street from the entrance. My husband and boys didn't mind the shuttle. Personally, I wasn't a fan. On Sunday morning, there was quite a line just to get on a bus. The other two days, we ended up taking Uber from the hotel. At night, it was still quite a walk from the shuttle drop-off area back to the hotel. The lines to get a return shuttle also took at least 20 minutes of standing and waiting. In that time, we could have been back to our room if we had stayed closer.
Speaking of Uber, it was easy and convenient to be picked up at our hotel and dropped off at the passenger loading area on Harbor. Taking Uber back at night was another story. One morning, I asked our driver where we would get picked up if we took Uber back at night. He said the passenger loading zone gets crowded with Uber and Lyft cars and it's hard for passengers and drivers to find each other. He recommended waiting outside the Grand, or the IHop across Harbor. My son and I went to the IHop one night, but there was a sign prohibiting Uber and Lyft cars from pulling in. We walked over to the Denny's and were able to get a car from there. It wasn't bad, but kind of a hassle that we would avoid by staying at a closer hotel.
In terms of the Homewood, it's really a great hotel. The rooms were spacious and clean. We had two queens in the bedroom and a sofa sleeper in the living room. Our older boy said the sofa was comfortable. He likes to watch TV late at night, so it was nice for him to have his own TV and his own space. We did have an issue with a smoke alarm beeping intermittently (like the battery was dying). in the bedroom at 5:00 a.m. We had to make a judgement call. We planned to get up at 6:30. Our son in the living room was sound asleep. If we called someone to fix it, we would have had to wake him up and tell him someone was coming in. He has autism and really needs his sleep. If we didn't wake him up and warn him and he was awakened by the door opening and a stranger walking in, it wouldn't have been pretty! We decided to tough it out and let him sleep. I told the front desk when we got downstairs. The clerk was very apologetic and said it would be fixed immediately. They ended up taking off the $18 daily parking fee for all three days we were there, which I thought was fair and a nice gesture. The hotel breakfast was very good and substantial (eggs, bacon or sausage, waffles, bagels, toast, muffins, cereal, yogurt, etc.). There were lots of choices and everything was kept well-stocked.
Overall, it was another great trip for us. Lessons for next time: Use Max Pass again; stay at a closer hotel.
What we liked about Max Pass:
- Booking FPs from wherever we happened to be: The minute our window opened, we could book our next FP. We could be eating a meal, in line for a ride, or in the other park. No one had to run anywhere, and we didn't waste our eligible booking time if we were in line for another ride.
- Booking across parks: We could be finishing up some rides at DL and start planning a hop to CA. By the time we hopped, we had FPs booked for GOG, Toy Story and Soarin'. We just walked in and started using the FPs we had booked while still at DL.
What we didn't like about Max Pass:
- The app is a bit clunky to use at first. It's not as intuitive as it could be. It took some trial and error to figure out the quickest way to navigate the various screens. Several times we simply could not get the screens to load, but that was probably more a function of DL's funky wi-fi. A few times we pulled out our tickets to scan at rides since the app. wouldn't load.
Other info. about our trip: We stayed at the Homewood Suites near the Convention Center and used the Toy Story Parking Lot shuttle to get to and from the parks. This is the furthest we've ever stayed, as we usually stay at one of the hotels right across the street from the entrance. My husband and boys didn't mind the shuttle. Personally, I wasn't a fan. On Sunday morning, there was quite a line just to get on a bus. The other two days, we ended up taking Uber from the hotel. At night, it was still quite a walk from the shuttle drop-off area back to the hotel. The lines to get a return shuttle also took at least 20 minutes of standing and waiting. In that time, we could have been back to our room if we had stayed closer.
Speaking of Uber, it was easy and convenient to be picked up at our hotel and dropped off at the passenger loading area on Harbor. Taking Uber back at night was another story. One morning, I asked our driver where we would get picked up if we took Uber back at night. He said the passenger loading zone gets crowded with Uber and Lyft cars and it's hard for passengers and drivers to find each other. He recommended waiting outside the Grand, or the IHop across Harbor. My son and I went to the IHop one night, but there was a sign prohibiting Uber and Lyft cars from pulling in. We walked over to the Denny's and were able to get a car from there. It wasn't bad, but kind of a hassle that we would avoid by staying at a closer hotel.
In terms of the Homewood, it's really a great hotel. The rooms were spacious and clean. We had two queens in the bedroom and a sofa sleeper in the living room. Our older boy said the sofa was comfortable. He likes to watch TV late at night, so it was nice for him to have his own TV and his own space. We did have an issue with a smoke alarm beeping intermittently (like the battery was dying). in the bedroom at 5:00 a.m. We had to make a judgement call. We planned to get up at 6:30. Our son in the living room was sound asleep. If we called someone to fix it, we would have had to wake him up and tell him someone was coming in. He has autism and really needs his sleep. If we didn't wake him up and warn him and he was awakened by the door opening and a stranger walking in, it wouldn't have been pretty! We decided to tough it out and let him sleep. I told the front desk when we got downstairs. The clerk was very apologetic and said it would be fixed immediately. They ended up taking off the $18 daily parking fee for all three days we were there, which I thought was fair and a nice gesture. The hotel breakfast was very good and substantial (eggs, bacon or sausage, waffles, bagels, toast, muffins, cereal, yogurt, etc.). There were lots of choices and everything was kept well-stocked.
Overall, it was another great trip for us. Lessons for next time: Use Max Pass again; stay at a closer hotel.
