1 man and 2 children at DL

[kaiimi]

Thank you again for filling in the gaps that a guidebook can not fill. I am taking my 2 daughters to DL (leaving on Wednesday morning) and I am trying to be really prepared for any event. My wife could not get vacation time, so it is just going to be the 3 of us for what amounts to our first Disneyland Experience.
I am planning on using ridemax for our first 2 days to ensure that we ride everything. The other 3 days will be used for shows, random experiences, and repeats of favorite rides with ridemax as a guide for times.
Does this sound like a good plan? Realistic?

Based on the suggestions from this board and the books, in addition to clothing and multiple pairs of footwear, I have packed a small Walgreen's.

Do you guys have any last minute tips? Are there any suggestions for a great memento to bring home for mom (other than a family too tired to move)?

 

[darph nader]

How old are your girls? That 'might' help.

 

[tinkerbelt]

It sounds like a good plan - and depending on how old your kids are, you might want to make note of the family restrooms, if they are not big enough to go into the restrooms alone. In DL, there is a family restroom to the left of the castle in Carnation Plaza, and there is one in DCA over in Bug's Land. Both DL and DCA also have child care centers, with kid-sized potties, but the kids have to be really young to use them.

Most rides will accomodate 1 adult + 2 small children, so you should be ok there. If your girls are older, they can also ride some stuff by themselves.

 

[kaiimi]

Sorry. They are 9 and 6. I measured the 6 year old and she is tall enough for everything except the Maliboomer so we discussed that prior to her being dissappointed.

 

[abby]

At our house tall enough is not the same at that age as brave enough. If there is something the 9 year old is dying to do that the 6 isn't you will have to decide if she is old enough to go alone. If not set the ground rules before, all go or no one. (It helps with the whining later.)

Take your time, and relax, the kids will have more fun. Remember with ride max, it does not account for the kid who has to stop at every character or ride they want now.........good luck.

 

[limace]

My ten year old was pretty nervous about some rides at 6. To prepare for this trip, we're spending a lot of time watching ride videos on visionsfantastic.com. It's a good way to figure out if something is too scary or not without waiting through a long line and turning away at the last minute.

I think it's good to have clear discussions about souvenir purchasing/money, because in my experience, girls this age love to linger in gift shops and spend their money on tiny little things and stuffed animals We've tried to make a deal that all souvenir shopping happens on the last day.

I think a great (and cheap) souvenir for your wife would be silhouettes of your girls from the place on Main Street. Or buy photopass and bring her back a lot of wonderful pictures of the three of you.

 

[kaiimi]

Thank you for the suggestions. We have been watching the video podcasts of the different rides. After reading your suggestion Abby we had a meeting and decided that we would ride every ride once. My DD6 told DD9 "Don't worry because Mickey wouldn't let you die so you will be ok."
We already decided that Sunday would be shopping day. They are each allowed to buy 1 Mickey ears hat, 1 other hat, 1 piece of clothing, and 1 toy. They recycle cans and bottles every weekend and have earned/saved $200, so they each have a budget of $100 for this.
limace thank you for the silhouette suggestion, I remember seeing those before. I think she would like that for her office. I will definately try and do the Photopass thing but I hoping we take enough pictures to make it worth while.
Again thank you to all the members of this board! You guys have been so helpful.

 

[airalynn]

You are a brave man! My family and I will be there Thursday til Sunday afternoon. Maybe we'll see ya around the parks and such! Also I'd be more than willing to help out with child swap if you need a little extra help. PM me if so that way I can keep an eye out for you!

 

[ter-moo]

I would change your plan slightly to give yourselves TWO days at DL and ONE at DCA upfront to fit everything in. Otherwise you'll really be running around at DL.

Have a wonderful time with your daughters!

 

[Hound 109]

Thank you again for filling in the gaps that a guidebook can not fill. I am taking my 2 daughters to DL (leaving on Wednesday morning) and I am trying to be really prepared for any event. My wife could not get vacation time, so it is just going to be the 3 of us for what amounts to our first Disneyland Experience.
I am planning on using ridemax for our first 2 days to ensure that we ride everything. The other 3 days will be used for shows, random experiences, and repeats of favorite rides with ridemax as a guide for times.
Does this sound like a good plan? Realistic?

Based on the suggestions from this board and the books, in addition to clothing and multiple pairs of footwear, I have packed a small Walgreen's.

Do you guys have any last minute tips? Are there any suggestions for a great memento to bring home for mom (other than a family too tired to move)?

As a dad who has several times taken his daughter & then his son to a Disney Park while Mom rested....we both know that you are very much looking forward to this trip.

I've got a few questions that might help in your planning:

- When is your 3 day trip scheduled? (month or exact days?)
- Are you staying on property....or on Harbor Blvd (easy walking distance)..or will you have to drive to the park each day?
- Have you bought tickets yet? (Will you have EE no days, one day, or 2 of the 3 days?)

A few general thoughts:

- You get to run the show (no silly shopping for trinkets etc.)
- A rest period should be scheduled daily for maximum touring & enjoyment.
- Meals, Food stops should be thought out ahead of time.
- Ride Max (from what i read) is great for advising what ride to ride when given what you enter in, but planning ahead maximize your day (& then using Ride Max) is better still.
- Generally speaking....planning to start in DL (using EE if you have it), hopping to DCA then back to DL (with a rest in there somewhere) is the best way to maximize your touring. As opposed to "2 days at DL then 1 day at DCA".

Have a great time.

hound -

 

[SunDevilDaddy]

- Generally speaking....planning to start in DL (using EE if you have it), hopping to DCA then back to DL (with a rest in there somewhere) is the best way to maximize your touring. As opposed to "2 days at DL then 1 day at DCA".

Have a great time.

hound -

I agree with everything the distinguished Mr Hound wrote except this. In my limited experience (take that into considerations please). DCA was way too hard to do in a single day alone, let alone park hopping to fit DCA in.

If you plan to attend the numerous shows, plays, etc at DCA try and schedule a full day at DCA. You can always go to DLR at 8 and spend a couple of hours there hitting some rides before heading over. And you can return after 9 when DCA closes, but I wouldn't use DCA as a safety valve as has been recommended on DIS before.

If you are only concerned with rides, than park hopping is appropriate.

Also - with two girls I would highly recommend Ariel's Princess Lunch at DCA. As a father it was one of the highlights of my trip. My DD5 was awe struck the entire lunch!

Have a great trip!

 

[kaiimi]

I bought the park passes online and have them printed out. We have 5 day passes. We are planning on using the early entry our first day on Thursday. With the Ridemax plan we have a 4-5 hour break in the afternoons that can either be used to hop over to DCA, take an easier stroll through DL, watch some of the shows, or go back to the hotel to rest. We have been taking 6-8 mile hikes daily for the past month so I know they can handle whatever walking they have to do.
I kind of combined both options presented by the wonderful people on this board and I have printed out the Ridemax schedules for both parks for Thursday and Friday and just DCA for Saturday. This schedule leaves Sunday open for shopping and shows and repeats of favorite rides. My wife will be adjusting and providing revised Ridemax schedules if needed. Our flight back to Hawaii is at 7PM on Monday. So we will have some more time to take it easy through the parks.
What time should we schedule the shuttle to pick us up from our hotel (across the street from DL) to get to LAX in time?
We are so excited I feel like I am going to explode. I am going to DL woohoo! Oops. I mean . . . we are going to DL woohoo!
Taking your advice, I am going to try to schedule the meals this afternoon. I am currently thinking of putting in more character meals. From the boards it seems that this is where the best interactions happen. Because we will be following Ridemax for the first 2-3 days, we will not have any unscheduled character interactions unless it happens during our break or meal times. So far I only have Goofy's Kitchen scheduled for 1 on Saturday.

 

[Hound 109]

With 5 days, no worries. I thought you were trying to max out in 3 days.

Also since you are staying (i think i read this right) "across the street" it sounds like you're planning a nice break each day.

I don't know if you have "ridemaxed" EE, but my opinion is to use it for the wonderful FL rides.

Regarding "park hopping"....I merely suggesting that one uses the early DL opening time (earlier than DCA) to it's advantage (& if logical, the later closing time...though with your youngsters, i doubt you'll stay real late except for the fireworks etc.).

I'm sure you have already planned this, but definitely do Alladin's show in DCA, Bugs Life area in DCA, & the Griz area in DCA.

In DL in addition to FL rides (& all other wonderful rides for their ages) look at the Jedi warrior training if your older daughter is interested. The highlight of the trip for my 8 y/o son.

Say hi to Mr. Toad for me.


Have a great time & report back.

 

[abby]

. Because we will be following Ridemax for the first 2-3 days, we will not have any unscheduled character interactions unless it happens during our break or meal times. So far I only have Goofy's Kitchen scheduled for 1 on Saturday.

Good luck with this, no unscheduled character interactions may backfire when they see their favorate character standing there. Our first trip I planned like crazy and was running my kid around and around to fit my timetable, I finally learned to relax a little and devote some time to just doing whatever she wanted. Made for a happier vacation. I still plan like crazy, but catch myself and slow down.

 

[SunDevilDaddy]

Because we will be following Ridemax for the first 2-3 days, we will not have any unscheduled character interactions unless it happens during our break or meal times. So far I only have Goofy's Kitchen scheduled for 1 on Saturday.

We followed ridemax and ran into quite a few characters out and about the first morning of our trip. Of course the interactions were important to my wife and kids so we sent them over to get autographs and say hello. It really didn't throw our schedule off balance too much. I found that ridemax over-estimates the wait times for rides and as a result you start getting ahead of the schedule after the 1st hour. Also, generally speaking (very generally) 10 minutes does not throw your itinerary into a whirlwind of chaos. The line cues for most rides don't change much over the 10 minute span it takes to meet that favorite character, and so my advice would be to seize the moment if you see someone your kids want to approach. After all, that is as much what DLR is about, as the rides.

You can always abandon ridemax for 30 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours, whatever, and pick it back up later. And with 5 days and ridemax/dis advice you will have plenty of time to do everything more than once.

My one regret was that we only scheduled 1 character meal. After the fact I wish we would have bypassed on Blue Bayou and did another character meal or two. Those experiences are priceless and if you have the money and time to do a couple of them I would.

Have fun!

 

[kaiimi]

We're back! We survived! We thrived!
Thank you again to all of you on this board as your suggestions and advice came into play daily. Thank you to the people who make Ridemax, angels from heaven smile upon them. We rode almost every ride on the first day. We missed Dumbo, Gadget's Go Coaster, and Alice in Wonderland because they were having issues when we tried to get on. The only ride we stood in line for was Nemo. We arrived at the park just at opening (not at the gates prior to opening as was suggested) and we stood in line for about an hour which was not bad considering it is a 2 hour line throughout the day.
Goofy's Kitchen was fantastic. I would have eaten there everyday if it was closer to the park and didn't interfere so much with our ride time.
One day some nice people with children too young to ride most of the rides gave us their Dream Fast Passes which was extremely nice.
Somebody should have warned me about the pin thing. We didn't start pin trading until the 3rd day in the parks. The kids were addicted instantly. They won 4 of those dream pins which made them feel very happy. A portion of the last day at the park was spent to pin trading so that they were happy with all of the pins on their lanyard.
Shopping: We bought gifts for everyone (antenna balls). We bought ourselves Mickey Crocs. We bought the photopass cd which was only $60 if you buy it at the park (vs. >$100 on line). We bought the recommended sillouhettes for both Grandma and mom.
We saw Aladdin and Fantasmic twice. Ridemax's suggestions for parades and Fantasmic are fantastic. Everyone should get Ridemax. I need Ridemax for all portions of my life.
There were so many recommendations to go back to the hotel in the afternoon and sleep but we could not. We tried to do it one day and found we were too wound up to wind down so we walked back to the parks. Our first day at the park we went from 6 AM to midnight. The next day from 8 to midnight. We closed the park everyday. Disneyland training walks were of great benefit because we moved.
5 day passes were just enough for us. We experienced every ride at least once by the end of the second day. We spent one day focussed on the shows and rode rides in between. Then we did 2 days of favorite rides and shows. This was the perfect length of time to feel satisfied.

 

[teacups]

I havent read all the post so forgive me if Im repeating stuff.

For your wife... Depends on what she likes and where you live. I myself HATE nick-nacks! (no place to put them, they get dusty, etc.) but if she isnt like that, maybe a nice snowglobe? I myself am a sweatshirt or PJ's fan (since they dont have shrunken heads anymore) Maybe you could do Tshirts and beach towels... Another thing to bring home? LOTS of pictures! Is there a reason she can not go? Is she bummed? Take a 8X10 pic of her face and get a pic of someone holding it (over their face) with Mickey Mouse with the rest of the family in it. (Yes, Im a dork!)

Have fun!

 

[teacups]

Thats me... a day late and a dollar short.

Glad you had fun!