DL & DCA in a day 8/15 trip report

[White_Sox_Fan]

We made a one day stop at DL prior to our Mexican Riviera cruise. This was our second visit to DL, the first being in 2001. We are WDW experts and visit there frequently. As it was a Saturday in August I decided to purchase Ridemax and used it to compile a minute-by-minute itinerary for this trip. Our plan was to see as many of our favorite attractions at DL & DCA as possible. I didn’t follow the Ridemax itineraries to the letter but used them as a guide as I tweaked and rearranged the itinerary to one which I felt would work better. I had non-expiring WDW hopper tickets that I planned to exchange for DL tickets.

Travel Day

Flew United from O’Hare. The flight left on time and arrived at LAX a little early. We had reserved a shuttle to Disneyland with Karmel shuttle. Upon retrieving our luggage from the carousel we called Karmel and were given a van number to look for. About 10 minutes later the van arrived. We had reserved a shared van, however, upon pickup we were immediately taken, by ourselves, directly to our hotel at Disneyland, The Grand Californian Hotel. It took only one and a half hours from the time the wheels hit the tarmac until we were checking in a the hotel.

We had a park view room, which we paid for with DVC points. The room was north of the monorail track and had a great view of the Grizzly River Rapids, Soarin and the Tower of Terror. We proceeded to go out to Downtown Disney and arrived in time to watch the Disneyland fireworks. As we intended to be up early the next day we returned to the room and selected a couple of breakfast items from the express room service menu. We asked that breakfast be delivered as close to 6:00AM as possible.

Pre-cruise day.

We were up a little after 5:30AM. It helped coming from Chicago as it was 7:30AM to our bodies. Breakfast arrived right at 6:00AM and we were happy we only ordered two breakfasts for the three of us. A mountain of delicious food arrived. What we did not eat we saved in the refrigerator for later.

We left the room, and after getting all the way to Downtown Disney, realized we did not have all the room keys, a requirement for Magic Morning entry. After a dash back to the room to retrieve all the keys, we made our way back to the Disneyland gate. We arrived about 5 minutes to 7:00AM and there were not a great deal of people in line, maybe 150-200. When we got to the gate I informed the CM we had Disneyworld tickets we would like to exchange for DL tickets. She called someone over who took our tickets and returned shortly with our DL hopper tickets. We entered the park at about 7:10AM.

At this point there were only a few hundred people in the whole park. We headed down Main Street, thru Sleeping Beauty’s castle and into Fantasyland. As a WDW veteran I have been amazed both times at DL by how small the castle really is. Upon entering Fantasyland we went to Peter Pan’s Flight where the wait was only a few minutes. We then proceeded to ride Pinnochio’s Daring Journey, the Carousel, Mad Hatter’s Tea Pary and Alice all with absolutely no wait. We then strolled to Tomorrowland and rode the Astro Orbiter and Buzz Lightyear. At this point it was just shy of 8:00AM and, while my wife and daughter shopped for pins, I headed to Space Mountain where I was one of the first to get fastpasses. I went back to meet the family and we then headed over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. We then made a quick stop to get a FP for Indiana Jones and rode on the Jungle Cruise. We then left the park at about 9:15AM, headed back to the hotel were we dropped off our jackets & snacked on some of the remaining food.

At this point we headed down to the GCH entrance to DCA. We walked over to Soarin’ and got a FP. We then walked back to where the line forms for TSMM. We waited about 15 minutes for the park to open at which time the line of people followed a CM back to TSMM. The line from the GCH entrance got to TSMM slightly ahead of the line from the main entrance. We rode TSMM with a very short line. We then rode California Screamin’ after which my daughter and I rode it again. We then walked over to get a FP for Tower of Terror and then rode Monsters, Inc. We went over to Animation next and after 25-30 there we headed to wait for the first Aladdin show. After the show we headed over to the Bountiful Valley Farmers Market for some lunch.

After Lunch we headed back toward Paradise Pier where my wife and daughter rode the Zephyr while I got a Mulholland Madness FP. We then went over to ride Mickey’s Fun Wheel, in the swinging gondolas of course. After riding this we headed back to the hotel for a stop at the pool.

After a swim we got dressed and headed back to DCA to use our Soarin’, TOT & MM fastpasses. We then went back to Disneyland to use our Space Mountain and IJ fastpasses. On our way from SM to IJ we noticed quite a few people camping out on Main Street. I don’t know if there was something else besides the fireworks that these people were waiting for but there were still around two hours until the fireworks. I’m sorry but no fireworks are that good. We got in line at IJ where the standby line was 95 minutes. Unfortunately, the FP line for IJ merges quite a ways back and we still had a fairly substantial wait. Had I realized this I would have ridden it early in the AM with less wait. After IJ we were hungry and wiped out so we grabbed a quick burger over by Splash Mountain. We then started out trek back to the hotel past the crowds waiting for Fantasmic. We got past that area just as the show started. We just didn’t have the energy left to fight the crowds and stay for the fireworks.

Overall I considered the day a success and we exceeded our expectations as we managed to see even more attractions than Ridemax computed we would get in. We moved around the parks at a leisurely pace (for us, I say that even when we take our time we move faster than 75% of the population). It just goes to show you what you can do if you get there early and have a good plan of attack.

[blue donkey]

Wow, you spent your day at DL/DCA like a pro. I hope you had a fun cruise as well.

[05MM08MM]

Thanks so much for this TR

I will also be doing 1-day at the parks on my upcoming trip and it will also be my first (but hopefully not my last) to CA. I hope we will be able to get it all in. I'm sure we will be exhausted, seeing as how DL will be open till midnight

[White_Sox_Fan]

I think the biggest key is be there at opening, if you can take advantage of Magic Morning all the better. Even though we had to wait for the ticket exchange we still got in 11 attractions and got 2 FP's in 2:15.

[Hound 109]

Excellent Report, Sox Fan.

I think i remember you posting a few weeks ago. Were you requesting info on the WDW for DL ticket process at the gate (along with other items)?

I've got some comments & questions below:

Originally Posted by White_Sox_Fan

We made a one day stop at DL prior to our Mexican Riviera cruise. This was our second visit to DL, the first being in 2001. We are WDW experts and visit there frequently. As it was a Saturday in August I decided to purchase Ridemax and used it to compile a minute-by-minute itinerary for this trip. Our plan was to see as many of our favorite attractions at DL & DCA as possible. I didn’t follow the Ridemax itineraries to the letter but used them as a guide as I tweaked and rearranged the itinerary to one which I felt would work better.

THIS IS ALSO HOW I USE RIDEMAX.

I THINK THE PROCESS OF READING/TWEAKING/REARRANGING WITH RIDEMAX HELPS ONE WITH DLR LOGISTICS & GIVES ONE THE COMFORT TO WORK THE PARK...EVEN IF THEY ARE DEVIATING FROM RIDE MAX.


I had non-expiring WDW hopper tickets that I planned to exchange for DL tickets.

Travel Day

Flew United from O’Hare. The flight left on time and arrived at LAX a little early. We had reserved a shuttle to Disneyland with Karmel shuttle. Upon retrieving our luggage from the carousel we called Karmel and were given a van number to look for. About 10 minutes later the van arrived. We had reserved a shared van, however, upon pickup we were immediately taken, by ourselves, directly to our hotel at Disneyland, The Grand Californian Hotel. It took only one and a half hours from the time the wheels hit the tarmac until we were checking in a the hotel.

We had a park view room, which we paid for with DVC points. The room was north of the monorail track and had a great view of the Grizzly River Rapids, Soarin and the Tower of Terror. We proceeded to go out to Downtown Disney and arrived in time to watch the Disneyland fireworks. As we intended to be up early the next day we returned to the room and selected a couple of breakfast items from the express room service menu. We asked that breakfast be delivered as close to 6:00AM as possible.

Pre-cruise day.

We were up a little after 5:30AM. It helped coming from Chicago as it was 7:30AM to our bodies.

THIS IS MY EXPERIENCE AS WELL (ALSO CENTRAL TIME ZONE). IT'S SO EASY TO GET UP THE FIRST TWO DAYS....VISITORS SHOULD PLAN TO TOUR ACCORDINGLY (IMO).


Breakfast arrived right at 6:00AM and we were happy we only ordered two breakfasts for the three of us. A mountain of delicious food arrived. What we did not eat we saved in the refrigerator for later.

LAST TIME I STAYED AT THE PIER I DID THE SAME THING. ONE ROOM SERVICE BREAKFAST COMPLETELY FILLED TWO PEOPLE. SO MUCH EASIER (& probably more economical) THAN TRYING TO FIND A QUICK BFAST IF STAYING ON SITE. (since there's no quick McDs around there).


We left the room, and after getting all the way to Downtown Disney, realized we did not have all the room keys, a requirement for Magic Morning entry. After a dash back to the room to retrieve all the keys, we made our way back to the Disneyland gate. We arrived about 5 minutes to 7:00AM and there were not a great deal of people in line, maybe 150-200. When we got to the gate I informed the CM we had Disneyworld tickets we would like to exchange for DL tickets. She called someone over who took our tickets and returned shortly with our DL hopper tickets. We entered the park at about 7:10AM.

RATS.....I WAS HOPING YOU WERE GOING TO BE AT THE FRONT OF THE LINE & YOU'D BE ABLE TO TELL US IF THEY WOULD DO THE WDWtoDLR TICKET SWITCH PRIOR TO 7:00AM.

BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE IT ONLY TOOK A FEW MINUTES.

QUESTION:

DID THEY LET OTHERS (behind you) THRU THE TURNSTILES WHILE YOU WERE WAITING? (i would assume so)


At this point there were only a few hundred people in the whole park. We headed down Main Street, thru Sleeping Beauty’s castle and into Fantasyland. As a WDW veteran I have been amazed both times at DL by how small the castle really is. Upon entering Fantasyland we went to Peter Pan’s Flight where the wait was only a few minutes. We then proceeded to ride Pinnochio’s Daring Journey, the Carousel, Mad Hatter’s Tea Pary and Alice all with absolutely no wait.

VERY COOL.

COULD YOU SEE IF THERE WAS A WAIT FOR THE MATTERHORN?


We then strolled to Tomorrowland and rode the Astro Orbiter and Buzz Lightyear. At this point it was just shy of 8:00AM and, while my wife and daughter shopped for pins, I headed to Space Mountain where I was one of the first to get fastpasses.

CLASSIC DIS MOVE.


I went back to meet the family and we then headed over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion.

I'M GUESSING ALL WITH LITTLE OR NO LINES.


We then made a quick stop to get a FP for Indiana Jones and rode on the Jungle Cruise.

We then left the park at about 9:15AM, headed back to the hotel were we dropped off our jackets & snacked on some of the remaining food. At this point we headed down to the GCH entrance to DCA.

THAT'S REALLY AN INTERESTING & SMART MOVE FOR THE GCH VISITOR.


We walked over to Soarin’ and got a FP. We then walked back to where the line forms for TSMM. We waited about 15 minutes for the park to open at which time the line of people followed a CM back to TSMM. The line from the GCH entrance got to TSMM slightly ahead of the line from the main entrance. We rode TSMM with a very short line. We then rode California Screamin’ after which my daughter and I rode it again.

SCREAMIN's A HOOT, ISN'T IT.


We then walked over to get a FP for Tower of Terror and then rode Monsters, Inc. We went over to Animation next and after 25-30 there we headed to wait for the first Aladdin show. After the show we headed over to the Bountiful Valley Farmers Market for some lunch.

After Lunch we headed back toward Paradise Pier where my wife and daughter rode the Zephyr while I got a Mulholland Madness FP. We then went over to ride Mickey’s Fun Wheel, in the swinging gondolas of course. After riding this we headed back to the hotel for a stop at the pool.

After a swim we got dressed and headed back to DCA to use our Soarin’, TOT & MM fastpasses. We then went back to Disneyland to use our Space Mountain and IJ fastpasses. On our way from SM to IJ we noticed quite a few people camping out on Main Street. I don’t know if there was something else besides the fireworks that these people were waiting for but there were still around two hours until the fireworks. I’m sorry but no fireworks are that good. We got in line at IJ where the standby line was 95 minutes. Unfortunately, the FP line for IJ merges quite a ways back and we still had a fairly substantial wait. Had I realized this I would have ridden it early in the AM with less wait.

THAT'S A GOOD POINT. THIS HAS HAPPENED TWICE TO ME (where the line backs up almost to the outside entrance). IT'S ENTIRELY UP TO THE CM ON HOW MANY PEOPLE HE LETS IN (same with Space Mountain). NORMALLY THEY'LL LET FEWER PEOPLE INSIDE AT A TIME, SO WHEN YOU ENTER WITH FP, YOU CAN USUALLY WALK ALMOST TO THE BAMBOO POLL BEFORE THE LINE FORMS....BUT GOOD POINT ON USING IJ EARLIER IN THE EVENING.


After IJ we were hungry and wiped out so we grabbed a quick burger over by Splash Mountain. We then started out trek back to the hotel past the crowds waiting for Fantasmic. We got past that area just as the show started. We just didn’t have the energy left to fight the crowds and stay for the fireworks.

Overall I considered the day a success and we exceeded our expectations as we managed to see even more attractions than Ridemax computed we would get in. We moved around the parks at a leisurely pace (for us, I say that even when we take our time we move faster than 75% of the population). It just goes to show you what you can do if you get there early and have a good plan of attack.

Thanks for posting Sox Fan.

[White_Sox_Fan]

Hound,

I did ask a CM prior to opening about the ticket exchange and they said to give them to the CM at the gate so no luck getting it handled early.

Yes they let others thru the gate while we waited but honestly after the initial opening rush there weren't too many people. I was really surprised by the number of people waiting to get in when we got there at 6:55. Not nearly the crowd I expected, we were back about 15 people in line. My plan was to get there about 6:30 but we got going a little later and I had to return to get the room keys but it didn't really hurt us at all.

Based on the total number of people I saw in the park the Matterhorn could not have had any real wait. We would have ridden it but last time we did we just didn't care for it.

Yes we pretty much walked on BTMRR, POC, HM & Jungle Cruise.

[Hound 109]

Originally Posted by White_Sox_Fan

.....Based on the total number of people I saw in the park the Matterhorn could not have had any real wait. We would have ridden it but last time we did we just didn't care for it....

Here i was....thinking here's a person who works the park like i do....& then you mention the above.

Then....then.... you said you rode Astro Orbiter instead.





Sounds like a very fun & productive day Sox Fan.