A (very quick) disney visit - itinerary suggestions please!

[farmfresh]

Hi Everyone

My 16 year old daughter is heading to Disneyland as part of a school trip. They only have the day there, from 11 till 6. Luckily, she's been before...but that also means some of her friends would like her to help them enjoy the parks. She is really happy to help.

But... they don't arrive until 11am, and will leave around 6 pm so our usual half an hour before park opening strategy is out the window. They do however have park hoppers.

I have suggested they choose two FP rides in each park (not RSR though!) She is happy to be the runner. I've also suggested they select a ride they are happy to go single rider on.

But I'd love your thoughts, especially on which Fps to get and in what order, as well as best standby ride choices. It's a Wednesday at the end of April, park hours 9-9.

 

[SMD]

I'd say download the app and check to see if FP are even available for Hyperspace Mountain at 11am with a return before 6pm. If so, grab that first. Other than that, school trips don't tend to be commando style trips where kids try to ride as much as possible. I'd say go with the flow and if other people want to do something, be ready to offer advice like single rider or the closest place to buy food or bathroom.

 

[farmfresh]

Good ideas on hyperspace - thank you. As for the trip, well, the kids are from NZ so they will want to do everything!!!

 

[kristabelle13]

Have them get a FP for HSM or ST, but I don't think they'll be able to get one for both that late in the day) and immediately also snag a Buzz Lightyear FP.

Single ride as much as possible and save the FPs for the other rides. RSR and Indy, specifically (And Screamin' if they like big roller coasters).

At 1pm (2hrs after FP pull for HSM), they should be able to get a FP for BTMR and/or HM and/or Splash Mountain (usually they are available for return times 40 mins out on an average day) (Note: I recommend they ride Splash not SR cuz that's kinda fun to have a pic of them all in the same log -even if they just take a pic of the pic ).


In between, they should choose other things they want to ride w/less of a wait (Small World, Fantasyland rides, SR Matterhorn, Little Mermaid, Monsters, ToT (maybe), Toy Story (if it's like 30 mins -hey it's possible). And then, the other boardwalk rides are often a walk-on.

At least, that would be my strategy.

 

[farmfresh]

That's exactly what I was after. Thank you!

 

[SplashMo]

Add pirates to the list of rides that may be available w/o FP.

Have everyone in the party photograph the back of their tickets in case one is lost they can replace it. It is often possible to ride SCREAMIN easily. Sometimes over and over. Grabbing FP in both parks is a great plan. This will increase the FP gathering. Everyone in the party must enter one of the gates before they can have a FP runner run for them. It does not matter which gate.

If you want to get really detailed you could try ridemax. However I am not sure how it handles two parks... I use it for more of a rough estimate than anything else...

 

[tarheelalum]

The fast pass return times for space mountain and radiator springs racer both will likely have return fast pass times past 6pm or close to it. You might be able to get one for star tours with enough time but anything related to star wars has gotten very popular in the last few months. They might be better off starting their day with getting a fast pass at one park, then going to another park and getting another one there and playing them like that since the 2 parks fast passes systems are not connected. They will need the disneyland app to be able to quickly check the wait times and fast pass return times. It's a lot of walking but since they are teenagers they will have lots of energy! Also note the single rider line for radiator springs racer is usually not that bad. Often 45 minutes or less.

 

[SMD]

If they get to the park at 11am they will have a good shot to get Space FPs with a return time before 6pm. I've gotten FPs with a return 3-4 hours later several times, including twice the first week of the HSM overlay. They should at least try, otherwise they're likely going to wait anywhere from 40-90 minutes. I wouldn't bother with FP for HM or BTMRR as a second FP, the lines just aren't that long. On the other hand, if the return times for FP are short, like 30 minutes, it's worth grabbing one, then doing POTC or grabbing food and you don't have to wait a full 2 hours to get another FP, you can get the next one when the window opens. You want to be careful being tied to only using FP, you can end up eating up just as much time going back and forth getting and using FP than if you just waited in the line and didn't go back to ride later. Splash is an ok choice. Even though it has single rider, it's more fun and you get a good pic if everyone is together. Although I can see why SR is more attractive because you can just get that part of the park knocked out and not have to go back. You have to be careful with SR and large groups. You can end up waiting longer for everyone in your group to go through SR than you would if you just waited and they put you all on together. I've been with 3-4 people on Matterhorn and had the first person off the ride while someone was still waiting to ride.

 

[farmfresh]

All great info everyone - thank you! Looks like they'll need to decide if HSM is on their list. I have a feeling they will prioritise other rides over Tomorrowland, so that might help. But a tentative start to the plan will be 1) all enter DL 2) DD goes to pick up Fps for first DL ride whilst group goes to IASW 3) DD hops to DCA to pick up Soarin or TOT 4) DD meets them at the end of IASW and they all head down to NOS area to stand by for Pirates or BTMRR or HM. (she's happy to skip a ride to get the whole thing rolling)

The key might be counting HSM in or out. If it's out then their first FP might be for Indy, and then a second for Splash so they can all ride together. Pretty sure once they are at splash they will have to go on Winnie

Over in DCA, I'm thinking to go for Soarin first as the FP return time might be longer so it doesn't conflict with the DL rides, then Screamin once they are over there. In between they can try LM and maybe the midway rides.

I'm thinking that if they get that done, anything else would be a bonus in the time they have!

 

[farmfresh]

and this!!

Have everyone in the party photograph the back of their tickets in case one is lost they can replace it

I think I will pass that suggestion on to the whole group.....