Anyone want to help me develop a plan of attack?

[cooniez]

We will be going June 17-22 with our 2-year old & pre-teen and I have NO idea where to begin my itinerary. If anyone is willing to offer me suggestions based on your experience, I would love and appreciate the help!

A little background:

• we're arriving Thur. & checking out Tues. morning so I doubt we'll visit the parks on those days
• Our Costco package includes: 1 MM pass, 1 TTMM, 1 Premium Dining/Character breakfast (so I'll need to decide which days to do each), and preferred seating to a couple of shows at DL & DCA
• We'll be going to church Sunday morning around 9-10am, so we can't get an early start at the parks that day

I know we're limited on the dates we can do MM & TTMM so will have to work around that. Again, I appreciate any advice you can offer!

 

[jacobsmommy]

We actually are also booked through Costco (just booked last night). We arrive the day you are leaving. I thought we only get one character meal per person. Did you get a different package than I did?

 

[rentayenta]

Would your kids rather meet Mickey and Goofy or the Princesses? That's a place to start as far as the character meal. I would also find out which premium seating the package comes with. That will make a world of difference if it's for World of Color or Fantasmic as far as planning an evening.

 

[cooniez]

We actually are also booked through Costco (just booked last night). We arrive the day you are leaving. I thought we only get one character meal per person. Did you get a different package than I did?

We only get the 1 character meal. Sorry, I should've clarified that I don't think we should do the MM, TTMM, and Character Meal all in the same morning since they seem like things that should be done 1st thing (assuming we do a breakfast for the character meal).

Would your kids rather meet Mickey and Goofy or the Princesses? That's a place to start as far as the character meal. I would also find out which premium seating the package comes with. That will make a world of difference if it's for World of Color or Fantasmic as far as planning an evening.

Hmm... I have 2 daughters, but one is too old to care and the other doesn't really understand lol So really I would pick the one with the best food. I'm leaning towards Goofy's since many who replied to my other post said it had the best food. I'll have to ask Costco if anything besides Goofy's or Ariel's was covered in the package. We don't get WOC or Fantasmic...the only shows that are approved are Aladdin, Bug's Life and 2 other ones.

 

[farmfresh]

A few ideas for you....
1. Given your schedule, Saturday is the only day you will be able to use your MM. So that's easy!
2. Goofy's kitchen is a good choice for the character meal, and i would take it for dinner on the Thursday you arrive (if you are there early enough) (also note that I think June 17 is a grad night,so that's another reason to look at t dinner instead.)
3. Again, given your days, you can choose between Monday and Friday. for the TTM. I'd leave it till Monday.
4. You may want to factor in world of colour and fantastmic as evening activities...Ops can probably help with WOC info.
5. Keep an eye on the official Disney calendar, just to see if anything moves around close to the date.

Good luck.

 

[cooniez]

A few ideas for you....
1. Given your schedule, Saturday is the only day you will be able to use your MM. So that's easy!
2. Goofy's kitchen is a good choice for the character meal, and i would take it for dinner on the Thursday you arrive (if you are there early enough) (also note that I think June 17 is a grad night,so that's another reason to look at t dinner instead.)
3. Again, given your days, you can choose between Monday and Friday. for the TTM. I'd leave it till Monday.
4. You may want to factor in world of colour and fantastmic as evening activities...Ops can probably help with WOC info.
5. Keep an eye on the official Disney calendar, just to see if anything moves around close to the date.

Good luck.

Crud I forgot MM are only on days that start with T or S! I also forgot about those grad nights; IIRC both DL & DCA close by 6pm on grad nights?

So far I def. have MM Sat. since it's the only day we can, TTMM Monday morning & if we do dinner for Goofy's one option is the Thur. we arrive. Too bad they don't have MM on Fridays as I heard weekdays aren't as busy as Sat. is for DL. Thanks for your advice!

 

[jacobsmommy]

I looked at last year's schedule and it looked like DL closed at 9:00 on grad nights. DCA closed at 6:00.

 

[AmericanItGirl]

If I were you, since you're not visiting the parks on Thursday, def. do the character meal that night so that way you can get it out of the way and not have to worry about waking up extra early or leaving the parks just to hit it up (I wouldn't try to do it on Sunday before church because you'll want to not rush the meal and give yourself plenty of time to find the church that you're going to). Since you have MM, I'd say to plan on having Saturday be your DL day and Sunday be your DCA day (esp. because DCA opens later than DL, so you won't be hit by the same wall of crowds).

If you haven't found a church yet, some synod/denomination websites have church locators (I'm Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and use their church locator whenever I travel/move for school).

 

[cooniez]

I looked at last year's schedule and it looked like DL closed at 9:00 on grad nights. DCA closed at 6:00.

Thanks for the info. The June 2010 schedule is still not up at the Disney site, so I'll have to keep checking to be sure of what nights it is this year. Basically how it works is only on a few selected nights mid-June they will close the parks early?

If I were you, since you're not visiting the parks on Thursday, def. do the character meal that night so that way you can get it out of the way and not have to worry about waking up extra early or leaving the parks just to hit it up (I wouldn't try to do it on Sunday before church because you'll want to not rush the meal and give yourself plenty of time to find the church that you're going to). Since you have MM, I'd say to plan on having Saturday be your DL day and Sunday be your DCA day (esp. because DCA opens later than DL, so you won't be hit by the same wall of crowds).

If you haven't found a church yet, some synod/denomination websites have church locators (I'm Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and use their church locator whenever I travel/move for school).

I was thinking of Thursday, but since we'll be driving I'm worried I'll be too tired (or the LA traffic will get us & we won't make the reservation). Thank you for the info. The church we attend actually has a locale down in Anaheim; it's pretty close to DL as I remember we could hear the fireworks from inside the chapel when we went with my parents in 2004

 

[richardgolino]

We are also thinking about going in early to mid June . . .if there are Grad Nights set for then, it may be a determining factor on which dates we pick. WHat exactly are Grad Nights? Do they close the parks early for high school graduates?

ALso, we are probably going to buy the vacation package through Costco . . . does anyone know if you can make your character dining reservation before you actually get the stuff from Costco . . .or do we need the 'coupon' inside to make the reservation?

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

whoops. double post.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Too bad they don't have MM on Fridays as I heard weekdays aren't as busy as Sat. is for DL.

You might be surprised. Sometimes we have found Saturdays to be really manageable in the park. It's often a travel day for many (coming or going), and locals with the cheaper annual passes are blocked out. You can get a lot done early in the day and then take a nice, long afternoon break when the crowds surge in.
I suspect that your dates will be really busy since schools will have just let out, there will be lots of graduation celebrations, and your dates are some of the final days before the southern CA passholders are blocked out for the summer. Still, with the right attitude it's all manageable, especially if you're going to have 3 or 4 park days. Plan well but have some flexibility, use fastpasses, take afternoon rest breaks, and don't be afraid to split your party up occasionally since I'm sure your 2 year old and pre-teen won't be interested in all the same things.

 

[richardgolino]

According to the Disneyland Youth Programs website, Grad Nights for June are:

• Thursday, June 3rd:
• Thursday, June 10th
• Wednesday, June 16th
• Thursday, June 17th
• Thursday, June 24th

 

[cooniez]

You might be surprised. Sometimes we have found Saturdays to be really manageable in the park. It's often a travel day for many (coming or going), and locals with the cheaper annual passes are blocked out. You can get a lot done early in the day and then take a nice, long afternoon break when the crowds surge in.
I suspect that your dates will be really busy since schools will have just let out, there will be lots of graduation celebrations, and your dates are some of the final days before the southern CA passholders are blocked out for the summer. Still, with the right attitude it's all manageable, especially if you're going to have 3 or 4 park days. Plan well but have some flexibility, use fastpasses, take afternoon rest breaks, and don't be afraid to split your party up occasionally since I'm sure your 2 year old and pre-teen won't be interested in all the same things.

Thanks for letting me know about your personal experience! It's so confusing trying to plan because I keep reading "Don't do DL Saturday and don't do DCA Sunday", but then people have said their experience differed. We're going during the peak season, and supposedly June isn't as crazy as July and August....but then I'm also reading a lot on the boards now that DL is now just as crazy in June as it is late Summer!

We are also thinking about going in early to mid June . . .if there are Grad Nights set for then, it may be a determining factor on which dates we pick. WHat exactly are Grad Nights? Do they close the parks early for high school graduates?

ALso, we are probably going to buy the vacation package through Costco . . . does anyone know if you can make your character dining reservation before you actually get the stuff from Costco . . .or do we need the 'coupon' inside to make the reservation?

I just now found out about grad nights so I can't help there, but Disney Dining will let u make reservations oer the phone (no cc or anything req'd) then the CM said we'll either show vouchers when we check in or we pay then.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

We are also thinking about going in early to mid June . . .if there are Grad Nights set for then, it may be a determining factor on which dates we pick. WHat exactly are Grad Nights? Do they close the parks early for high school graduates?

ALso, we are probably going to buy the vacation package through Costco . . . does anyone know if you can make your character dining reservation before you actually get the stuff from Costco . . .or do we need the 'coupon' inside to make the reservation?

I don't have any personal experience with grad nights, but my understanding is that both parks will close early. I know there's a thread on grad nights somewhere on here. The search function isn't always great, but you might want to try it anyway.

You can make dining reservations as far out as 60 days by phone: 714-781-3463.

 

[HydroGuy]

We are also thinking about going in early to mid June . . .if there are Grad Nights set for then, it may be a determining factor on which dates we pick. WHat exactly are Grad Nights? Do they close the parks early for high school graduates?

See "The Scoop on Grad Nights at DLR in May and June" - www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2298400

Also see - "Understanding AP Blockouts and Impact on Crowds" http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2365983

 

[cooniez]

See "The Scoop on Grad Nights at DLR in May and June" - www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2298400

Also see - "Understanding AP Blockouts and Impact on Crowds" http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2365983

Thanks for the info! I just started the AP thread & finished the Grad Night thread. I'm a bit disappointed as I was thinking I'd try to get WOC or Fantasmic done the Thur. night we arrived (since the Fri.-Mon. nights we'll be there will probably be crazy). My head is spinning trying to keep all these things in mind while trying to plan: MM, TTMM days plus the AP blockout days + grad nights (park closing early & only fireworks/no WOC or Fantasmic). It's a lot to keep in mind (or maybe my brain is just fried from researching)??!!