1-evening DL touring plan?

June Mommy

Earning My Ears
Joined
Dec 30, 2007
Messages
18
We are visiting Anaheim on business and will have only 1 evening at Disneyland. Can anyone help me with a possible touring plan? It is just DH and I, and we like bigger rides. I know we want to do Space Mtn, Indiana Jones, Big Thunder Mtn., POTC and definitely see the fireworks. Ideally I would lilke to do Star Tours but since we have such a short time at the park I don't want to spend a long time waiting in lines. Since we won't be arriving until about dinnertime, I'm afraid that my FP opportunities will be limited. What are the best possibilities for a touring plan? Thanks!
 
POTC and BTMRR probably won't have big lines and should be easy to get on later in the day. Especially if you can time it to go while F! is going on.

Star Tours you probably want to get in the line a minute before the park closes, because it could have a wait that will take the majority of you time.

Indy and Space will be tough. If it's a busy time they could be out of FPs. More likely for Space than Indy, but both may have long lines. I'd try to FP Indy if you can accept a long wait for Space.

While Fireworks can be viewed from most places I would watch from near Small World. You can view projections on Small World like the castle and see the fireworks to the left of it. Back there is lots of room and you can come much later than if viewing from the Hub or Main Street. You can get a good view from being where the parade starts near IASW but will miss seeing Tinkerbell and Dumbo(if Magical) fly.
 
I'm doing something similar soon. I haven't been to DL since I was 5, so I'm not sure how this will actually work, but I used the wait times on TouringPlans.com as my source.

Here is what I planned out:

  1. Arrive around 6pm, walk down Main Street and turn left at the hub
  2. Pick up a Fast Pass for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
  3. Follow the rivers of america to Splash and ride it in the single-rider line
  4. Head back through Liberty square and ride Pirates of the Carribean (I'm skipping Haunted Mansion, but you could choose that).
  5. Go next door to Adventure Land and ride Indianna Jones via the single-rider line.
  6. Skip Jungle Cruise (I'm taking a family trip to DL next summer, so I'l wait to do some rides then)
  7. Next I'll head over to Tomorrow Land.
  8. By now I'm thinking my feet will need a rest, so I'm planning a ride on the monorail and the train. I want to see the dioramas on the train that freaked me out as a kid. I'll probably get off at the Frontier Land stop and use my FP at Big Thunder.
  9. Next I'll head over to Fantasy Land and ride whatever looks interesting that has a 15 minute or less wait. This is my unplanned time to just do what looks like fun. I might even re-ride Splash or Indy if I really enjoyed them.
  10. I do want to see the Magic, Memories, and You show on it's a small world, but likely won't stick around for the fireworks.
  11. The last thing I plan to do is get in line for Space Mountain just before closing.

Anyway, that's my plan and I hope it works!
 

Here's my quick and dirty read as someone who has only been to DL once, but it was just a couple of weeks ago.

Star Tours could be pretty tough. The best way to get on it without lines is via FP or standby at park opening, and the FP are all gone first thing in the morning. The only way you'll be able to ride this in a limited time situation would be to get in line at the end of the day after you've done everything else.

Space Mtn and Indiana Jones are good candidates for FP. Both are also located very close to the main entrance, so you can get an FP right away when you enter the park.

I would probably do this.

Enter park, head to Space Mountain. Grab FP. If the wait isn't too long, and you want two rides, ride it once now in standby.

Walk over to BTMRR. This is a high capacity ride, long lines are pretty rare. I'd ride it in standby.

Walk over to POTC, which is very close. Again, high capacity ride, long lines are rare, ride in standby.

Check the time. If you are close to FP return time, head to Indy, and get an FP there. If standby is not too bad, you could ride it that way too.

(I'd also consider single rider line, as the cars are big and it's common for two singles to end up in the same car, just different rows.)

If the FP return time isn't close, consider very seriously walking over to Haunted Mansion (it rocks) and/or the Winnie the Pooh ride (it's got some great dioramas, especially the Heffalumps and Woozles). Rare for either of these to have lines. (Then go to Indy, grab FP and/or ride standby or single rider.)

At this point your FP for Space Mountain is good, so head there, and use it.

Once you've done that, if you have FP for Indy, I'd recommend checking out another attraction or two in Tomorrowland (perhaps Buzz Lightyear, which is a hoot, or take a ride around the park on the monorail or railroad) OR heading back to Frontierland and Adventureland and checking something out there (re-ride POTC, HM, BTMRR, maybe Tiki Room? pretty fun), then use the FP for Indy.

Finally, head back for Star Tours. On one of these cycles back and forth, fireworks will happen, and IMHO if you don't have a lot of time it's not worth spending a lot of effort getting a "prime" viewing spot -- they are fireworks, if you can see the castle, you can see them fairly well.

In a nutshell, your main rides are grouped in two areas of the park, and you are grabbing FP in one area and then heading to the other to ride other things that are high throughput before grabbing an FP there, and then heading back. Back and forth, while it's more walking, you aren't waiting in lines.
 
The only FP's you will probably be able to get is the FP for BTMRR. I'd assume that Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Indy, and Star Tours will all be gone by the time you get there.

Assuming that you are arriving around 6:00, I would recommend the following plan:

1. Grab FP for BTMRR
2. Grab a quick bite to eat if you need
3. Ride Splash Mountain in Single Rider line (try to get there by about 6:30)
4. Winnie the Pooh
5. Haunted Mansion
6. Space Mountain (this will be a long wait - but not much you can do about that).
7. Find a spot for fireworks and watch
8. Jungle Cruise
9. Indiana Jones (another long wait that can't be avoided)
10. POTC
11. BTMRR (using FP)
12. Buzz Lightyear
13. Star Tours (getting in line a few minutes before closing - still a fairly long wait)

Obviously, I added a few rides in there to fill out the time, but I believe that this plan is totally possible. There isn't much resting time in there outside of the fireworks, but considering you'll only have a couple hours before and a couple hours after the fireworks, I don't know that a rest is really that necessary.
 
Thanks everyone! I forgot to mention that this is happening this week! So your suggestions really help since not much time to plan. Thanks!
 
9. Indiana Jones (another long wait that can't be avoided)

Sure it can ~ single rider :thumbsup2

OP I wouldn't bother trying for FPs for Indy & Splash - just hop in the SR lines *go up the exit - get a pass 1st.

Try for a Space FP 1st, Thunder FPs should still be available.
 
Sure it can ~ single rider :thumbsup2

OP I wouldn't bother trying for FPs for Indy & Splash - just hop in the SR lines *go up the exit - get a pass 1st.

Try for a Space FP 1st, Thunder FPs should still be available.


Forgot about the Indy SR line. That would make things even easier to fit in.
 





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