Disneyland Planning Advice/Suggestions needed!

[DisneyMommy403]

Aloha All,

I need a few answers & suggestions! I booked a vacation package through Disney for early November, and we will be in the parks for 4 days (8th-11th).
I have 2 girls (ages 4 & 5) and 1 drooling little boy (1). I plan on taking the girls to BBB and AG. Also we have MM, MTTM, and Breakfast with Minnie & Friends.

Also, included in our package is the Character Calls and the Disneyland Express.
What do the Character Calls entail? Is that an option for Disney wake up calls? Or do the characters invite your kids to the park?
If anyone has taken the Disneyland Express, do I need a car seat for my 1 year old? I've seen people post that they think you do, and some that think you don't... but never saw a conclusive 'I've-been-there-done-that-yes-or-no' type of answer.

I plan on tackling Carsland on Thursday, which is our first day in the park, due to the crowd level being lower.
Suggestion needed : Should I opt to use my MM passes on Thursday, or save them for Saturday? My Husband thinks the first morning in the park, the girls should be eating breakfast with Minnie... What do you guys think? And BBB and AG will take place the same day, any suggestions on which packages to book for my girls? I think we're taking them the second day (Friday), just in case we miss any princess at AG's lunch, my girls can try to find them in the parks the remainder 2 days.

We're staying at the HoJo, is the walking distance too much? Should I add the ART to my package?

Do you guys have suggestions on a sequence so we can see and do everything in the park? Some people suggest hopping around to tackle all the popular/longline rides first, other's suggest going by land & park...

This isn't my first time at the parks, I used to go a lot... but that was before children, and all these expansions and new shows! I want to see and do everything, since I'm flying my family 5,000 miles!

Thank you all in advance!

 

[canadian_ehngel]

All I know for sure is that you do NOT need a carseat for Disneyland Express. We brought our 1.5 year old on it in 2010 and didn't need a carseat.

 

[chrissiecutie]

Aloha All,

I need a few answers & suggestions! I booked a vacation package through Disney for early November, and we will be in the parks for 4 days (8th-11th).
I have 2 girls (ages 4 & 5) and 1 drooling little boy (1). I plan on taking the girls to BBB and AG. Also we have MM, MTTM, and Breakfast with Minnie & Friends.

Also, included in our package is the Character Calls and the Disneyland Express.
What do the Character Calls entail? Is that an option for Disney wake up calls? Or do the characters invite your kids to the park?
If anyone has taken the Disneyland Express, do I need a car seat for my 1 year old? I've seen people post that they think you do, and some that think you don't... but never saw a conclusive 'I've-been-there-done-that-yes-or-no' type of answer.

I plan on tackling Carsland on Thursday, which is our first day in the park, due to the crowd level being lower.
Suggestion needed : Should I opt to use my MM passes on Thursday, or save them for Saturday? My Husband thinks the first morning in the park, the girls should be eating breakfast with Minnie... What do you guys think? And BBB and AG will take place the same day, any suggestions on which packages to book for my girls? I think we're taking them the second day (Friday), just in case we miss any princess at AG's lunch, my girls can try to find them in the parks the remainder 2 days.

We're staying at the HoJo, is the walking distance too much? Should I add the ART to my package?

Do you guys have suggestions on a sequence so we can see and do everything in the park? Some people suggest hopping around to tackle all the popular/longline rides first, other's suggest going by land & park...

This isn't my first time at the parks, I used to go a lot... but that was before children, and all these expansions and new shows! I want to see and do everything, since I'm flying my family 5,000 miles!

Thank you all in advance!

Personally- I would do a character breakfast on either your 1st day or your last day. They are very special events & I like to either "start my vacation" or "end my vacation" with a big bang! Make sense?? I also make a special invitation for DS that arrives in the mail, inviting him to breakfast with his friends. I tend to go a little overboard in my planning and prep work....

HoJo is within walking distance if you've got a stroller for the little ones. DS has NO problems walking to DL in the AM but after a day in the parks, he's done for! So the stroller really saves us! I will admit though that even DH & I detest the walk back "home" to the HoJo.

I can't help you with the "girly" stuff because it's just not a part of our vacation. But I can tell you that we ALWAYS start our Disney vacation off with DL being the 1st park. There's just something about walking through Main St towards that castle that signifies "you are here!". Our preference is also not to do alot of park hopping. Especially with little ones, I would recommend 1 park per day. Hydroguy recently did a thread about NOT park hopping- several interesting points in there.

That week in Nov is the "in between" time. They are taking down Halloween decor & setting up Christmas, so it tends to be a bit slower. You should have no problem with the crowds. Just decide what you want to do 1st, what you're priorities are and go from there. For us, we usually do MM, start in Fantasyland then head to ToonTown. If you can- I wouldn't do MM & MTTMM on the same day. Not sure if this is even possible?? And if you wanted to do the "girly" stuff, it's my understanding that it's very close to the enterence to Toontown.

Hope this helps!

 

[DisneyMommy403]

Personally- I would do a character breakfast on either your 1st day or your last day. They are very special events & I like to either "start my vacation" or "end my vacation" with a big bang! Make sense?? I also make a special invitation for DS that arrives in the mail, inviting him to breakfast with his friends. I tend to go a little overboard in my planning and prep work....

HoJo is within walking distance if you've got a stroller for the little ones. DS has NO problems walking to DL in the AM but after a day in the parks, he's done for! So the stroller really saves us! I will admit though that even DH & I detest the walk back "home" to the HoJo.

I can't help you with the "girly" stuff because it's just not a part of our vacation. But I can tell you that we ALWAYS start our Disney vacation off with DL being the 1st park. There's just something about walking through Main St towards that castle that signifies "you are here!". Our preference is also not to do alot of park hopping. Especially with little ones, I would recommend 1 park per day. Hydroguy recently did a thread about NOT park hopping- several interesting points in there.

That week in Nov is the "in between" time. They are taking down Halloween decor & setting up Christmas, so it tends to be a bit slower. You should have no problem with the crowds. Just decide what you want to do 1st, what you're priorities are and go from there. For us, we usually do MM, start in Fantasyland then head to ToonTown. If you can- I wouldn't do MM & MTTMM on the same day. Not sure if this is even possible?? And if you wanted to do the "girly" stuff, it's my understanding that it's very close to the enterence to Toontown.

Hope this helps!

It was a great help! Thank You. I think we'll do breakfast with Minnie on Thursday, MTTM, BBB and AG on Fri, MM on Saturday... and Sunday - whatever we haven't tackled.

I don't have a stroller for my kids, only the 1 year old. I guess we'll see how it goes. I'm sure walking to the park won't be a problem... walking back, we'll probably opt for the ART ride.

Thanks again!

 

[JacksGirlz]

I have done the character calls for the Disney Cruise Line and you go online and pick the character you want to call your kids (or you) out of a handful of characters and then choose what they will say, out of a list. You set up the date and time and give them your phone number. When they call, put the phone on speaker and watch your kids eyes light up. My DD is 14 now and I still have a character call her to let her know when we're going on vacation and she loves it. The wake up call is different and I believe you can only get the character wake up call if you're staying at a Disney hotel. But it's pretty cute when you hear Mickey's voice telling you to wake up, he's excited you're here!

 

[chrissiecutie]

I have done the character calls for the Disney Cruise Line and you go online and pick the character you want to call your kids (or you) out of a handful of characters and then choose what they will say, out of a list. You set up the date and time and give them your phone number. When they call, put the phone on speaker and watch your kids eyes light up. My DD is 14 now and I still have a character call her to let her know when we're going on vacation and she loves it. The wake up call is different and I believe you can only get the character wake up call if you're staying at a Disney hotel. But it's pretty cute when you hear Mickey's voice telling you to wake up, he's excited you're here!

Aww! That is really something that I would love to do before DS gets much older. But sadly, I can't see us ever staying at a resort hotel & spending that much.

 

[DisneyMommy403]

I have done the character calls for the Disney Cruise Line and you go online and pick the character you want to call your kids (or you) out of a handful of characters and then choose what they will say, out of a list. You set up the date and time and give them your phone number. When they call, put the phone on speaker and watch your kids eyes light up. My DD is 14 now and I still have a character call her to let her know when we're going on vacation and she loves it. The wake up call is different and I believe you can only get the character wake up call if you're staying at a Disney hotel. But it's pretty cute when you hear Mickey's voice telling you to wake up, he's excited you're here!

Really?! Oh my gosh that's so exciting! I set up a call for Minnie to call my daughter on her 4th birthday this last April and she still talks about it! That's the perfect way to end my kids' scavenger hunt surprise that they'll have the day before. Thank You for your response!