Help! Disneyland in less then 3 weeks..hardly anything planned!

[metta4]

Help...we leave for our trip in less then 3 weeks and I really have nothing figured out. Life has just gotten too crazy and my planning time for this trip disappeared. When we went to WDW 6 yrs ago I have ervything planned to a T, used Tour Guide Mike, read up and had a perfect trip!!! This time I am in a panic. We wil have 3 full days at DLR

This is what I have:
tickets
hotel reservations--HOJO
1 character dining scheduled at some early hr of the am on our 2nd day


Pretty pathetic.With the kids out of school I have had zero planning time..plus this is a surprise so i cant do stuff when they are around.

Any suggestions for last minute planning? I was thinking of Ride Maz...is it worth it? I loved Tour Guide Mike but I am clueless right now.

Any suggestions is appreciated. I am really upset with myself for not getting this down but our lives have just been unexpectedly insane.

The kids are boys ages 5,7,9.
Thank you in advance...

 

[HydroGuy]

Have you been to DLR before?

 

[TeddiBarra]

Don't feel bad. That's normal! That's all I have planned and I'm going next week. The beauty of DLR vs WDW, is that you will have a perfectly fine time w/little preplanned. You *might* enjoy keeping it lax too, I say that because we may be getting the summer heat by mid July, and it's easy to walk to HOJO from DL and DCA- so take a break and swim mid-day.

Unless you want to do WOC dinner packages, or eat at BB, or F! dessert package, those are the only ones you *really* need to book ahead of time. Otherwise, you should still be able to do walk up almost anywhere else. Though if you like to do breakfast in the park- and are considering Carnation Cafe- don't wait to late in the morning- they can do same day ressies but need to do them 45 mins ahead of time (ie before closing from breakfast to lunch). It's usually not a problem to make ressies for the next day either- if you see something that catches your eye.

As far as rides- do take advantage of Magic Mornings and if you are trying to do Star Tours, get those fast passes or in the ride ASAP. Those FPs are the ones going like hotcakes.

Read up on the WOC superthread or whatever to get an idea of how to do WOC. It's very much worth seeing, but so much more worth seeing with a good view.

 

[Susie63]

That's just how I like my holidays.....no itinerary. A plane ticket,hotel reservations and a ticket to get in the parks. Eat off hours,before or after the lunch or dinner rush and go with the flow. Have fun!
Maybe they will have the promo again for a % off your bill if you dine off hours.

 

[ArchOwl]

I think Ridemax might be helpful for you as you don't have a lot of time to scour the boards for all the information. Not sure if you have been to DLR before, but if you haven't, you will want to hit up the attractions that are not at WDW.

Maybe let us know if you want to see any of the shows and we can help with the best way to see them.

Do you have a Magic Morning on your ticket? This could help a lot with some of the Fantasyland rides (including Matterhorn) and Star Tours.

I see you have boys, are they into Star Wars? Obviously Star Tours is going to be a big draw for them. You might want to check out Jedi Academy if you think they might want to train to be a Jedi and fight Vader.

Have fun!

 

[Jazziered]

I think Ride Max is worth it. Even if you don't use it all the time, if you get caught in one of those, what do you want to do? I don't know, what do you want to do? moments, you can look at the list for your day and see what is not busy at the moment, and go on that. I hate wasted time doing that routine, especially at Disneyland. I just ask everyone in my group what are you most wanted rides and go from there.

 

[gokdog]

Help...we leave for our trip in less then 3 weeks and I really have nothing figured out. Life has just gotten too crazy and my planning time for this trip disappeared. When we went to WDW 6 yrs ago I have ervything planned to a T, used Tour Guide Mike, read up and had a perfect trip!!! This time I am in a panic. We wil have 3 full days at DLR

This is what I have:
tickets
hotel reservations--HOJO
1 character dining scheduled at some early hr of the am on our 2nd day


Pretty pathetic.With the kids out of school I have had zero planning time..plus this is a surprise so i cant do stuff when they are around.

Any suggestions for last minute planning? I was thinking of Ride Maz...is it worth it? I loved Tour Guide Mike but I am clueless right now.

Any suggestions is appreciated. I am really upset with myself for not getting this down but our lives have just been unexpectedly insane.

The kids are boys ages 5,7,9.
Thank you in advance...

I would absolutely read some of the post here on how to maximize the fastpass, some recent trip reports and if your phone supports it, one of the many good phone applications for Disneyland, such as Mousewait or Lines.

 

[furb & dez]

This is what I have:
tickets
hotel reservations--HOJO
1 character dining scheduled at some early hr of the am on our 2nd day

No worries, this is pretty much is all you have to plan to enjoy DisneyLand. Go, and have fun!

 

[metta4]

Have you been to DLR before?

nope..thats why I am worried

 

[blackjackdelta]

Everyone, please let us know how your trips went.

Jack

 

[Susie63]

I have only been to DL once. For us, we didn't plan out our day but just did one land at a time and looked at everything and rode what we wanted and then moved on to the next land.My daughter was 8 and that seemed to work well for her. We weren't rushed and never "felt like we had missed something".It depends on how many days you will be in the parks,but it was for us the perfect way to experience Disneyland.
Also,everything is so close together.Other than riding the train to give our poor feet a rest,we just walked everywhere.Don't forget to ride the monorail and ask the conductor on the platform if you can sit up front. They will take 5 people.It's worth it if you have to wait for the next train.

 

[HydroGuy]

nope..thats why I am worried

Well, you are in luck that DLR requires a lot less planning than WDW. You should figure out which major shows you want to see and on which nights, as well as any dining you want to do.

Read Mary Jo's sticky thread:

* DLR Info/Links - Maps, Hotels, DISer Reviews, Hydroguy's tips, NEWBIE INFO here!

 

[WonkaKid]

My only suggestion would be to have a "plan of attack," at least for your first day. Rides like Peter Pan and Matterhorn tend to have very long lines all day. If it's important to you to ride those, might be best to hit those right at rope drop (when the park opens and runners are asked repeatedly to walk ;-)).

Best of luck and have a great time!

Rob

 

[CarolAnnB]

sounds like we are going around the same time. I am in somewhat the same boat as you, I am used to lots of planning at WDW but I have not planned as much for this, our first DL trip. I made 1 character res and 1 dinner at the BBQ. I am going to set aside a night each for WOC, F! and fireworks. We always go to rope drop and get the big rides and everyone's "must-do's" done early and collect some fastpasses for later. Other than that, we want to just look around and see everything, whereas after so many trips to WDW I think we just buzz past a lot of interesting stuff.

 

[metta4]

thanks for all the info! I have made our fantasmic reservations now too!!! I just download ridemaxx so I will be working on this over the weekend. Its so hard b/c the kids don't know so I have to do it later at night or when they are not around. I am soooo excited!

 

[MickeyBA]

We just booked a trip for August 3rd - 9th and I am freaking out too. Haven't been to DL in several years and only once so I am a little clueless!

 

[MyYearWithTheMouse]

Honestly I think this is one of the biggest differences between a WDW vacation and a DLR vacation. You really don't need to plan. You need a place to stay, and if you want to do a character meal or the Blue Bayou then make reservations, but other than that you really can just play it by ear and make your daily plan the night before. Having to do extensive research and pre-planning was one of the things I really disliked about our WDW vacation. I hated having to make my dining reservations months in advance, being locked in to certain activities at certain times, and having very little flexibility. I felt like I needed a vacation from my vacation planning. DLR is doable, especially if you have multiple days. Even when it's the most crowded, a few tips for getting to see the attractions you really want are all you need.