by Tinker Belle Diva
Are you a Disneyland Resort Hotel guest that wants to make sure you keep your workout regimen intact while on vacation? Then the Get Up & Go Power Walk is for you! I joined the Power Walk on a morning in early July and found it fun! It is also a great way to burn some extra calories and see the activities in the park before it opens to the public.
There are a few things you need to know first:
- The Power Walk is only available to guests staying at one of the three Disneyland Resort Hotels – Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa, the Disneyland Hotel or Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel.
- There is no cost for this!! In other words, it is FREE! This is one of many great perks of staying at a Disneyland Resort Hotel.
- You must be 14 years of age or older and anyone 17 and under must be accompanied by an adult guardian.
- Strollers and cameras (or any recording device) are not permitted.
- You need to be able to maintain a 15 minute per mile pace for the 2 miles loop. Bring a good pair of walking shoes!
- It starts at 6 am. Yes, 6 am. As in super early in the morning. But you are going to use your early admission perk for staying at a Resort Hotel anyway, right?
Entrance to DCA from GCH
Does all that work for you? If so, your first step is to sign up with Guest Services at your hotel. I signed up upon check-in for the Power Walk the next morning. I was told to show up around 5:45-5:50 am at the Disney California Adventure (DCA) entrance within the Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa (GCH). This entrance is located on the far east side of the GCH past the pool and adjacent to the Napa Rose restaurant. If you are staying at the GCH, it is easy to find. If you are at either of the other hotels, like I was, it is a little bit harder. First, you need to enter GCH from the entrance in Downtown Disney. From there, you will turn right, go past the conference center, and follow the signs to the main lobby. Once in the main lobby, take the exit out of the lobby past Acorns Gifts & Goods, go by Storyteller’s Cafe, turn right at Napa Rose, and you will see the entrance to DCA.
CMs preparing for the Power Walk
I arrived at 5:45 and there was one other person there waiting with me. Since I arrived early, I took a quick restroom break. They are located just past the DCA entrance next to Madera Spa. The Cast Members (CMs) arrived about 5:55 am to set up a registration table for us to sign a waiver. There was one person there that did not sign-up ahead of time, and was able to do the walk by showing his room card. Diva Tip: I would still recommend registering ahead of time to make sure there is room for you, as they will cap the number of guests allowed to go on the walk. We were all given safety vests after signing our waivers, and also given the opportunity to use the restroom. We were reminded again that absolutely no cameras, videos or any recording devices would be allowed. Once everyone was back from the restroom, they brought us through the gate to DCA to start our walk.
Your walk will go past or maybe into Redwood Creek Challenge. Photo by Disney Magic Diva
The path the walk takes varies every day, so you could walk each day of your vacation and not have the same path. On this day, our path took us just about everywhere except to Pixar Pier. We were told that since they are still making improvements in the Pier, that we were not allowed in the construction zone. We did have to pause a couple of time for trucks and other vehicles that were getting DCA ready for guests.
We had three CMs lead our walk – two in the front and one in back. The two in the front lead the way while giving us some tidbits about the areas where we were walking within DCA. We were showed a Hidden Mickey in Cars Land that I had not seen before. Hidden Mickey Hint: Look up at the power lines after you exit Radiator Springs Racers and before you take the turn down Route 66 at Stanley’s statue. During our loop down Buena Vista Street, we did see a couple of Resort Hotel guests lining up for their early morning admission. We waived at them like the celebrities we were for being in DCA before opening.
Our Power Walk route is shown in green
I enjoyed this walk and the behind the scenes view it gave me of the park as it was about to be ready to let in the guests. The walk itself was brisk, but I never felt it was too fast and it was easy enough to keep up. Diva Tip: There are no planned pauses during the walk except the ones where we let vehicles go past. If you can walk 2 miles briskly without stopping, this walk is perfect for you. We concluded our walk back where we started. The CMs took our vests and we headed back to our Resort Hotel, refreshed and ready for the day. Or you could grab breakfast at Whitewater Snacks, just to the left as you exit DCA into the GCH.
Would you like to experience the Get Up & Go Power Walk and the other perks for staying at a Disneyland Resort Hotel? Please contact Patricia Payne at All For Dreams Travel to make those arrangements for you.
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I did this last fall, and it was great! However, it is not well publicized, and the hotel cast members aren’t well informed and give out contradictory information. I ended up going to three different locations before I got the right one. I don’t know why they can’t get their story straight on this.
Peter,
May I ask which location was the right one in the end? We weren’t able to do this on our last visit because the power walk every day of our stay was already filled up. If I can save 20, 30, or 60 minutes of hopping between people that don’t know what’s going on may be the difference of us getting in or not.
TIA