20 years later i'm going back to Disneyland!!!

[overlyexcitedMEX]

Hi everyone, i've been reading these forums for about 2 months, and now i decided to post a thread... Let me paint you the picture...

I'm a 31 yr old mexican guy (living and working here in Mexico) that haven't been to disneyland since summer of 1995 (back then indiana jones was the hottest ride, and i remember enduring a 3 hour line... worth every second of it!) So back then my family used to go fairly often to the US for shopping and vacation, but then Mexican economy fell down, and my parent's couldnt afford vacationing to the US anymore. So here i am 20 years later, been married for the last 8 months, no kids yet, and finally doing well enough for my wife and I take a nice international vacation so we are going to southern California. We are going to Disneyland Resort on June 29th through July 1st, and i'm waaaaay more excited than a 31 yr old mexican that grows and exports Jalapeños for a living should be... And its mostly becouse of DLR, we'll be also going to Universal Studios, and Seaworld and the Zoo at San Diego. And thats all good, but Disneyland just sits close to my heart. I'm also excited about going with my wife, she´s never been outside of Mexico, obviously never been to Disneyland, so im really excited about seeing that amazed look in her eyes.

I'm staying at the Ramada Maingate, I'm expecting to be fairly crowded at the park, so i'm considering taking the internet's advice and go back to the hotel room to rest mid day, of course we'll be doing ropedrop, so we are going to Try to do most rides early in the morning or later in the evening. We are also interested in Fantasmic, world of color and the new parade, but since its almost like our first visit we don´t feel to keen on waiting 2 hours saving a parade spot, same with fantasmic and world of color... so we feel that we might not see the shows (or maybe try to catch them on the 3rd day).

So that's my story, this thread it's just a product of being overly excited about our trip, just wanted to share, and if anyone have any tips or advice in handling the crowds, or how to make our trip more enjoyable and/or memorable i would be happy to hear about it!

 

[ADLFAN]

My husbands first trip was as an adult, too, and he loved it so much more than I thought be would! You really get to feel like a kid again, which is partly from the excitement and magic, and partly because it is vacation and how stressful can things be when your only decisions involve what ride to go on and what food to try! Make sure you utilize the Fastpass system on the rides that have it, to avoid waiting in the long standby lines. Make sure you get her a Mickey Ear Hat and a Mickey shaped ice cream! You can walk up to the parade route last minute and see pretty well, through the people who lined up for hours. My favorite spot to see it without waiting is by the Tea Cup ride, against the railing. Have fun!!!

 

[LizzyS]

That's awesome! In my opinion, you are right on track for a good time by your strategy of getting to the parks early. Enjoy!

 

[chickapin parterre]

so I saw your concern about waiting two hours for fantasmic and WOC. There are fastpasses and dining option for those attraction, so no need to wait 2 hours. As for the parade, I always find easy spots on in the American flag hub area to watch. sometimes there is a street show in the area and when that is over, there is a large spot for sitting for 45 mins. but being that you don't have children, no need to hug the curb, you can stand three rows back and catch the parade. Correction, not in the actual flag hub but the sidewalk area across the street, as in next to the fire station or below the train station.

 

[chickapin parterre]

Wednesday morning will be the best hours in the park. And early is important if you can manage the magic mornings in Disneyland as a first time visitor to not get caught up in the majors like Peter Pan and Dumbo but ride the rest, then on Wednesday , when you have see seen how Peter Pan worked ( this all observed while walking on to Snow White, Toad, Pincohoo) in terms of the hordes of crushing riders and will know how to line up first thing in the morning.. dumbo is fun late at night.

 

[overlyexcitedMEX]

Thank you all for your replies. I think Peter Pan will be still closed on the week of the 29th, and it's quite a bummer since one my most fond memories from Disneyland are from PoTC and Peter Pan's Flight... well, you can't win them all... still being on the park this summer with all the 60th anniversary should be neat.

What would you recommend? I have one magic morning, so my current plan goes something like this:

Monday.- 6:40am Breakfast at denny's (or maybe at downtown disney, although I don't know if restaurants there open early, if anyone could help me on this one i will be very grateful)
7:30am Getting in trough security check for disneyland
8:00am Rope Drop, getting to Indiana Jones Stand by line, then PoTC and Haunted Mansion. All these stand by lines, i'm hoping that on the first hour or hour and half, we can do these three rides using stand by lines (am I right on this? or am i underestimating the crowds?)
9:30 am Check MouseWait to see if Lines at Big Thunder or Splash Mountain are bearable... and after that just go with the flow taking advantage of fast passes and wait time apps

Tuesday .- 7:00 am Magic Morning, Rope Drop, Do a few dark rides at Fantasy Land.

8:00 am Run to DCA to get Fast Pass for Radiator Springs Racers (I've been reading that RSR Fastpass builds up quite a line, how much time can i expect to spend in line for this fastpass?? )

8:30 am Spend the rest of the morning at DCA. (Never been to DCA so i'm pretty excited about Soarin' and Screamin')

12:00pm Lunch at the park then back Hotel for some down time and deciding what to do in the afternoon


Wednesday .- What ever we feel like doing. World of Color at night.


As you can see i only have the mornings kinda planned out, and leaving the rest of the day to improvise. Let's hope that turns out to be a good strategy for enjoying the parks more, even though we might not get into as many rides than if we planned everything.

BTW how reliable are wait time apps? the wait time listed it's the stand by line right?


What do you think? Any thoughts or recomendations are most welcome!

 

[overlyexcitedMEX]

My husbands first trip was as an adult, too, and he loved it so much more than I thought be would! You really get to feel like a kid again, which is partly from the excitement and magic, and partly because it is vacation and how stressful can things be when your only decisions involve what ride to go on and what food to try! Make sure you utilize the Fastpass system on the rides that have it, to avoid waiting in the long standby lines. Make sure you get her a Mickey Ear Hat and a Mickey shaped ice cream! You can walk up to the parade route last minute and see pretty well, through the people who lined up for hours. My favorite spot to see it without waiting is by the Tea Cup ride, against the railing. Have fun!!!

Will take your tip for Parade spot thank you!

 

[elaine amj]

Wooohooo!! I haven't been to DLR since I was 10 and am super excited to be there this July with my family. So so much to see...I totally share your excitement I'm way more excited than my kids!

 

[Meemoo]

Congrats on your trip. I didn't get to Disneyland until I was in my 20s. I'm coming for my 2nd trip this October (10 years since my last), I can't hardly wait and I am sure I will be losing sleep over the excitement soon!

 

[mgd]

Aside from peter pan and alice in wonderland, and possibly mr toad, I think doing the other dark rides during an early entry is a waste since their lines are normally no more than 10 minutes.

And I expect once peter pan comes back that mr toad will die down a little.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

How exciting for you and your wife! When you get her her first set of ears, have the date embroidered on the back so she can always remember when she took her first trip to DLR. Also, if you don't have to have a sit down breakfast, bring some granola bars or something easy like that, then later grab breakfast at Jolly Holiday or Starbucks (there is a Starbucks in both parks and in DtD now). That can help buy you some extra time in the mornings. Oh, don't forget to get your wife a "First Time Visitor" button from City Hall or one of the shops (ask at the registers).

 

[chickapin parterre]

Aside from peter pan and alice in wonderland, and possibly mr toad, I think doing the other dark rides during an early entry is a waste since their lines are normally no more than 10 minutes.

And I expect once peter pan comes back that mr toad will die down a little.

good advice but as a first time visitor, and that he will be after being gone for 20 years, aiming for Peter Pan, first thing in the morning is going to be a major task. With the hordes at rope drop, the unorganized lines that CMs don't bother to create until all the folks are backed up to the castle gate, the strollers, excuse me, the SUVs all jumbled in that area, and the gathering crowd, wouldn't be best for a first time visitor to soak in the environment of Disney by riding the minor rides first, observe and prepare for the next morning to board Pan. I can only think of his wife thinking after doing all the frustration to board pan. "this is magical?"

 

[4Siamese]

and i'm waaaaay more excited than a 31 yr old mexican that grows and exports Jalapeños for a living should be

Never feel you have to justify being happy and excited about something like this, revel in the excitement and ride the wave. I am ALOT older then you and I get super excited about any trip to Disney.

 

[overlyexcitedMEX]

Aside from peter pan and alice in wonderland, and possibly mr toad, I think doing the other dark rides during an early entry is a waste since their lines are normally no more than 10 minutes.

And I expect once peter pan comes back that mr toad will die down a little.

Really? I was under the impression that apart from Indiana Jones Adventure Fantasyland was the only part of the park open during Magic Morning?

What would be a good Magic Morning strategy???

 

[overlyexcitedMEX]

How exciting for you and your wife! When you get her her first set of ears, have the date embroidered on the back so she can always remember when she took her first trip to DLR. Also, if you don't have to have a sit down breakfast, bring some granola bars or something easy like that, then later grab breakfast at Jolly Holiday or Starbucks (there is a Starbucks in both parks and in DtD now). That can help buy you some extra time in the mornings. Oh, don't forget to get your wife a "First Time Visitor" button from City Hall or one of the shops (ask at the registers).

Thank you for the advice! Didn't know you cold get dates emroidered on mickey hats! that sounds amazing! will totally get them.

About the "first time visitor" button, We'll be arriving Anaheim on the afternoon of 28th, i was thinking in dining in Downtown Disney that day, could i get a "First Time Visitor" at the disney store there??

 

[overlyexcitedMEX]

Only 12 more days left!! i to excited!!!

I bought the photopass + package last Saturday (that's 15 days before our visit). I hope the photopass + package gets here on time. Since I'm in mexico i am a little nervous about it, although im kinda in the north side of mexico so it isnt actually that far away (1000 miles from here to Anaheim).

I've read a lot about the photo pass system, i think i have it all down. I was just wondering, with me being there on high season, do Photopass photographers get really busy and will have to wait a lot for my turn to take pictures??? Or isn't really that many people using photopass??
Also I read somewhere that when Photopass photographers see the PP+ lanyard you usually get some kind of + service, i mean nothing oficial but just them being very nice and being willing to spend a few more minutes taking many shots??? is that true, has anyone experienced that?

 

[whitneyebz]

I am so excited for you! My first visit was when I was 20 or 21 (sadly I can't remember the exact year...whoops!). It was so much fun, but crazy crowded. It was an adults only trip so we had a lot of fun just doing whatever. I am not a parade person, in fact we use that opportunity to get on rides with shorter lines . Parades often annoy me if I can't get from one place to another easily, though. I'm sure they're fun to watch, but we are all about the rides! I've been to disney world once (at 14) and disneyland paris at least 5x, if not more (i lived in france during high school). Disneyland has my heart now, though. We went in 2012, with our two oldest kids, and it was so magical seeing it through their eyes. And then again in January of this year, with our 3 oldest (we also have an 18 month old but he did not come with us). You will have a blast with your wife!

I recommend peter pan first (unless it's still closed), then I would get a fastpass for something you don't want to miss, like indiana jones or space mountain. Then keep getting fps throughout the day for those kinds of rides. Some of our other favorites are teacups, star tours, haunted mansion, pirates of the caribbean, astro orbiter (we call it the rocket ships), big thunder mountain, alice in wonderland. In DCA, we go straight to radiator springs racers, then when that ride is over get a fastpass to ride it again! Other rides over there that we love are toy story mania, mater's jamboree, and...well my husband loves tower of terror. Soarin' and a few other rides were closed when we went .

 

[RKKUNK]

Tomorrowland is open during EE/MM. You could get in Star Tours and Space Mtn. or go on Space and get a FP for Star Tours and then maybe get a couple of rides done in Fantasyland while you wait for your FP time.

 

[Gisele]

Really? I was under the impression that apart from Indiana Jones Adventure Fantasyland was the only part of the park open during Magic Morning?

What would be a good Magic Morning strategy???

Normally during MM Fantasyland and Tomorrowland are open.

 

[overlyexcitedMEX]

Tomorrowland is open during EE/MM. You could get in Star Tours and Space Mtn. or go on Space and get a FP for Star Tours and then maybe get a couple of rides done in Fantasyland while you wait for your FP time.

Really?!! hmmm that changes things! thank you!