We will be in Anaheim from June 25-July 3. We are staying at Hojo for 8 nights. My husband will only have 3 possible DLR park days during which we need to hit the "big" rides with our 8 year old because the 5 year old isn't a fan of the big rides. He will be in the parks with us June 25, 26 and July 3. We have planned to go to
Lego Land on June 27 and the beach June 28. Other than that, we are flexible.
June 25-Arriving in late afternoon-Should we head into the parks that day? I will assume that most fast passes will be gone. We want to make an early start the next day, I am not sure if we should attempt the parks. Perhaps see a show or try a ride that isn't a headliner?? Any suggestions? Would we be able to see Aladin?
I would go to the park the first day you get there and plan to make it a show day. You can probably catch F! and Fireworks or Aladdin and DEP at DCA. Several times last week DEP started late and people were unable to make both DEP and Fireworks. I would go for the fireworks for sure just in case it gets canceled due to high winds. Even if it's not windy on the ground, it has been canceled to due winds at higher elevations. (They send out a weather balloon to test what the winds are like because the fireworks can be blown over homes in the surrounding area.) It was canceled for us before on several trips and many times for our entire trip, so I don't risk it. I always go to Fireworks first and then F! at 10:30 after that. Then on another day, I'll reverse it and catch F! and then fireworks from the F! area. (It's nice, but different! You've got to see it over the castle at least once! So magical!)
If you go to the park early enough, (i.e. late afternoon to early evening even up to 8pm) you should still be able to get a decent view on Main Street. Also, your DH & DS8 can do single rider on Indy if there are no FPs available. We were able to go on my favorites Pirates and HM several times with minimal waits. Even when the line extends out beyond the Pirates entrance the wait is about 15 minutes. It's when it starts lining up and doing the back and forth reversed line thing into the entryway that it becomes 30 minutes or more. They'll have a sign that says "wait time from this point is 30 minutes" so you'll know if you see it snaking around several times beyond that, the wait time obviously will be longer.
HM wait time was listed as 13 minutes, but was more like 20 minutes. At night during fireworks and F! and even immediately following it, you can walk on HM.
SM still had a short wait during F! even with FPs. Without it, my DS said it still was a long wait like 60 minutes. However, that day SM was shut down for extended periods of time because the rides were at full capacity, and apparently they can't handle it continuously throughout the day. SM may be a problem that first night as FPs will probably be gone and I don't think it has SR. (I can't ride that one so we FP it and DS uses it.)
You should be able to get FPs on BTMRR no problem.
Splash also has SR and I would use it because lines will be long and FPs will most likely be gone.
The longest wait I saw for Star Tours was 30 minutes, even on the craziest day/night. So that's also still doable.
Screaming and Soaring also have SR.
Re SR use for your 8 yo: This can work if your son is mature enough. Just make sure that DS knows to call you when he's done and have a specified meeting area after the ride. (assuming he has access to a cell phone, or buy a cheap $40 disposable w/prepaid minutes) The cell phones came in handy for us because all 3 of us got separated several times when DH & DS got swallowed up by crowds. Even holding hands, I saw many people having to separate and get swallowed up by the crowds. I saw a kid about 10 years old who was lost and separated from his parents. They had to call security who was taking a report and going to walk him somewhere (the parents are told where missing kids are taken I guess). All I could think was thank God for cell phones! If that kid had one, the parents wouldn't have had to panic/worry as much and waste precious time in a crazily packed park trying to find him by having to fight insane crowds and hiking halfway across the park to where ever they take them. (I'm guessing City Hall?) My DS for some reason really dislikes SR use at first, but I love it. And by the end of our trip, DS loved it too. It sure beats not being able to go on as much, especially since your DH has limited days in the park for big rides. Utilizing FPs and SR really help to avoid frustrations with peak capacity, ride closures and long lines/crazy crowds.
I think it's prudent to plan for possible ride closures and include that in your planning because the crowds are nuts right now, rides are at full capacity for hours on end and as one CM told a complaining guest, they are not designed to handle that much stress so they break down, then they have to troubleshoot, fix, restart and test the rides before opening them back up again. There are many more DAP holders due to the specials they've been running, and DAP holders are not blocked out except for Saturdays and a very few select dates in July (3-5) and during the Christmas season. The reason DAP holders are blocked out of those dates is because they are already anticipating peak crowds.
If we are at the gates 30 minutes prior to park opening, is that enough time?
If we are walking out the door of our Hojo garden pool view room, how long will it take us to get to the gates? We are not going to be walking briskly. We will have a stroller and 2 kids, (8 and 5). If a child is in the stroller, it is heavy and I will walk slower, if they are not in the stroller, then they will walk slower! Either way, we are not going to be moving that fast!
Is it too late for me to make our plans using Ridemax? I forgot all about it until yesterday and now I only have a few days to create the plans. Being realistic, how much time will it take me to create touring plans.
My final question! Is it really only 71 degrees in Anaheim right now?? It is 95 degrees where we are in Texas! I wondering if I should pack a light jacket for the kids. It looks like the lows are in the 60's and the highs in the upper 70's. That just blows my mind!
I feel a little bit panicked about our trip, which I shouldn't because I have been planning for months! I have read the tips here and the Undercover Guide. Now that it is almost here, I am feeling overwhelmed! Thanks for any help.
Plan on a minimum of 15-20 minutes walk with kids in the stroller if you/they walk slow.
Due to the crowds this past week, I was wishing I had tried Ridemax. A friend used it last October, and another one used it in March, and they both said it was awesome and that they got to go on so many more rides than normal and no one was panicking or freaking out because they had a plan. However, they are very analytical people and like having all the data. So if one is not like that, all that data, info and directions can be overwhelming. I've heard of people in groups using RM rebelling against the use of it because it does dictate your every move. So only you can decide what works for your group. As for me, I would have liked to have had the data on this past trip, but getting my DS and DH to follow it would have been another story!
They tend to have their favorites and to be honest, that's pretty much all we did on this past trip. We just didn't want to deal with fighting all the crowds. Everyone said the parks would be pleasantly slow the first half of June, so I honestly didn't plan much. I've been to the parks when it was overwhelmingly busy before right before Christmas and NYE, and this past Tuesday was like that with all the local SoCal, DAPs, PAPs, 5 for 3's, and $99 special people who were in the parks apparently all at the same time!
I can't imagine what the parks are going to look like in the busy part of summer.
Saturdays are the best days from what I recall from my January trip because they DAPs are blocked out. It was actually more pleasant on a Saturday even w/ the EE/MM people than it was on Sunday because all the DAPs and PAPs are also in the parks.
Good luck, have fun, have plans and also be prepared to go with the flow!
