Can I get planning help? Going during reservations period to GE

[RomCom]

I had so prepared myself to not get reservations to Galaxy's Edge I am torn on if I need to add another day to Disneyland. Right now we just have a two day, no hoppers ticket. We have entry 8am-12pm so the rest of the day to do Disneyland and we will have maxpass so we can start reserving stuff for later in the afternoon/evening. Do I need to add another day? How much will I be able to get done after GE? If it helps my kids aren't super into Disney. We've done Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom before and they had fun but still would say they liked Legoland Florida better. They have no expectations of what we are going to see/do in Disneyland other than being excited about GE but I just don't know if it is terrible to go all that way and not do more of Disneyland. I don't know if we'll ever get out to Disneyland again with them since it is a cross country trip for us (though I am sure we'll do Disney World again in a year or two).

 

[disneylover102]

If you can add a day, of course you should! The more Disney, the better! But if you can’t, it’s hard to say if you’ll get everything done. How much do you want to do? Do you want to do every ride and see every show? If you do, that might not be enough time. But if you only care about doing a good number of rides, many of which have Fastpass, you would probably be fine. It’ll probably be very crowded as those who have SWGE reservations at other times of the day will be doing Disneyland.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Personally I would add another day. I also have 8am-12pm reservations and I’m planning on being at security between 6:30 and 7am. I don’t know how old your kids are but I don’t think I could get up that early and go until midnight even with a break. And extra day would allow you to spread things out a bit.

 

[RomCom]

We could add a day but we have a full itinerary with a couple days in San Diego and of course Legoland (haha) so that was supposed to be our down, relaxing day with the beach and maybe something in the evening so I don't know if adding a day would push them too hard. Outside of GE I'd like to get in Space Mountain, Indiana Jones (while our youngest does jungle cruise), Dumbo, Star Tours, the Tea Cups, the parade, and Fantasmic with the Hungry Bear package. Is that doable?

 

[RomCom]

They are days away from 5 and just 8. We are from the east coast so we'll be up early every day.

 

[NorthernCalMom]

There are probably limitations to how much you can realistically plan for right now. Since GE will throw a kink into crowd predictions, all wait list estimates by planning softwares such as Touring Plans or Ridemax for this year are probably to be regarded with caution. Sorry if I missed it, but I didn’t see your travel dates.

If you don’t go right around May 31, you can use the Disney app to see more or less typical wait times for different weekdays during your stay. We usually go in August, when it’s pretty busy. One of my pre-travel routines is to log wait times and FP return times of our must-do rides for two to three weeks before our trips hour by hour (of course, any logging you would do before May 31, since the time before then as well as May 31 itself are unlikely to give you much useful information for subsequent weeks’ crowd patterns).

Also, looking at Disboarders’ trip reports between May 31 and your travel date will probably very helpful.

Once you have this information, you can come up with a plan that avoids potential pitfalls and bottlenecks. I’m sure if you post your preliminary plan here, helpful Dis-ers will be happy to offer feedback.

Regardless of what you come up with, it might be a good idea to use high wait time estimates and low expectations about what you can get done. We have been there during the opening of Cars Land and for the Diamond Anniversary, both of which came with substantial crowds. Busy times at the parks can come with moments of frustration, but it can also be a lot of fun to allow yourself being drawn into the collective, passionate excitement about something big and new unfolding with you right in the middle of it!

 

[RomCom]

That is true. I am going the 17th so towards the end of the reservations period so I will have lots of time to read reviews I am just anxious now that GE has become a reality (can you tell I am a type A)

 

[NorthernCalMom]

That is true. I am going the 17th so towards the end of the reservations period so I will have lots of time to read reviews I am just anxious now that GE has become a reality (can you tell I am a type A)

Greetings from one type A to the next! As you can see from my above mentioned, nifty pre-travel routines, coming up with the (hopefully) perfect touring plan is actually my favorite part of the trip. Fortunately my daughters are very appreciative of my “minimizing wait times” magic! I expect this August to either become my planning master piece or to break me... This summer will separate the planning novices from the planning Jedi... May the Force be with us!!!

 

[twodogs]

They are days away from 5 and just 8. We are from the east coast so we'll be up early every day.

With these ages, I would highly recommend Carsland in DCA, boys or girls. It is impressive, and RSR is our favorite family ride. There are other fun rides for young ones in Carsland, and the theming is great. Ariel’s is a fun easy ride that usually has a minimal wait. Jumping Jelly fish is a fun diversion if the wait isn’t long. Also the characters are often easier to hit here than at WDW so if they like characters, that can be fun. We love Animation Academy in DCA for a little break for our feet, and it makes a fun souvenir. Have fun!!