Arriving mid-day... tips?

[emsstacey]

I will be visiting DL next Wednesday (22nd) at the end of a conference. It will be my first visit and we will get there around 4pm and stay, hopefully, until close. It will just be myself and two other adults... so single rider is a good option for us.

I'm a WDW vet but never arrive in the afternoon at a park. Any tips on best way to make it work? Will fast passes for evening entertainment likely be long gone? If not, where should we head first?

Thanks!

 

[disneychrista]

Is this going to be your ONLY day to visit? Will you be visiting Disneyland ONLY or will you have hoppers ?

I have not been since Fanstamic got FPs, I do not now how fast they "sell out." The parades / fireworks do not have FP so no issue other than spending most of your time sitting & waiting.

As far as rides figure out what you want to do and prioritize it. You will not be able to get a lot done if you are wanting to see the Parade/Fireworks/Fantasmic.

 

[emsstacey]

It's my only day and no hopper. I was torn and almost got a park hopper, but decided to do try to do too much.

 

[llump41]

IMHO don't parkhop. You'll only have 8 hours so I just don't think it's worth it. First thing I'd do is figure out which rides are unique to the DLR that WDW doesn't have. Single rider is a good choice but only available on Splash and Indy. Make sure you get a FP for an attraction then ride a ride or two. It's very likely you will only be able to get a couple, maybe three FP unless you get one at 4, then 6 etc.. Also, make sure your in a queue before midnight(park closing) If your in line you'll get to ride that ride.

 

[emsstacey]

Thank you! I was going to park hop and was afraid I would just be running around crazy instead of truly enjoying one park. I guess I need to look at the park map and figure out directions to head and fp locations!

 

[ADLFAN]

I'd recommended getting a FP for Indiana Jones early, because it is awesome but breaks down semi regularly so you might find you aren't able to ride when your Fastpass time comes around. They'll let you return to use it later if that's the case.

For F! we have gotten Fastpasses but decided to skip the line up and watch from the seating area for the Stage Door Cafe. It was a pretty good view for being partially obstructed. We have also gotten pretty good second or third row viewing for the Soundsational parade just by hanging out towards it's end of the route by Small World.

With two Paint The Night parades, I think you should definitely try for the 2nd run.

Make sure to run through ToonTown as well, it is just too cute and adults have as much fun pushing buttons and discovering the interactive jokes as the kids do!

Have fun! I bet you'll find a reason to come back soon!

 

[hiroMYhero]

I agree with the 11:00 Paint the Night. We watched it on Thursday after finding spots in Town Square at 10:30. We had entered the park at 4:30p - after we picked up a WDW CM who had been flown in for an event. We let her set the agenda - she is a DL vet who hadn't been back to DL in two years.

We were able to fit in:
Mint Juleps, beignets, and Pirates when we entered the park
Snow White, Pinocchio, and Indy after PTN
RSR (75 minute wait) and dinner at Carthay Circle in DCA

We also browsed stores, bought 60th souvenirs, Starbucks mugs in DCA and DL, and Pandora charms.

I was surprised we accomplished that much. Our only must-do things were RSR, Carthay, and PTN - the 3 things that took up the most time. Peter Pan's line was about an hour wait right before closing so we headed straight to Indy with no wait at all.

Definitely try for a FP for Indy and if they aren't available, you can wait until right before closing.

 

[disneychrista]

IMHO don't parkhop.

I agree...with one half day, park hopping would be too much.

Make a list of what you want to ride, where you want to eat dinner (I would do a counter service, not waste time with a sit down), Do you want watch Fatasmic, parade, fireworks? If so this will take up much if not all the second half of your visit. Do the first Fantasmic (stand-by) and watch Fireworks from there, then move to Main Street for the Parade.

 

[bellanapoli]

Matterhorn and Indy have single rider lines. Virtually no wait.

 

[bluebirdie]

I imagine you'll still be able to access a few FPs for some of the big rides (space, Indy, BTMRR). If you want to focus on rides, definitely wait for one of the late performances instead of camping out for the early shows. Not sure if you're more interested in Fantasmic or PTN parade, but you should be fine getting late Fantasmic FPs when you get into the park. Last month, we forgot to get ours in the morning on a Friday, but they still had FPs at 8:30pm for the late show (and there was a ton of open space where we were). Also, the day before we watched the 11:00 PTN and it was pretty easy to get a spot on Main Street around 10:30 after the early crowd cleared out of the park.

 

[emsstacey]

I'm honestly not sure what our priorities are... I would like to see Fantasmic but I want to ride rides more. I'm hoping to be able to do a mix of both. I think we will all agree on counter service food... I'm thinking Cafe Orleans for that from my research. I appreciate everyone's help so much! I wish I had longer at the park but I'm still excited to get to go at all!

 

[hiroMYhero]

Cafe Orleans is table service; French Market is counter service. If you want the Monte Cristo sandwiches, that's Cafe Orleans.

 

[emsstacey]

Ok. I mixed them up. Need to check menus!