disney Virgin!! Booked to go to DLP March 2009 - info please???

[jaykey]

Hello, I am new to this site. We have just booked our 2 day trip to DLP. We aim to get to the park mid morning on the 1st day, stay over night, have another day in the parks and then stay in our hotel for the final night. All booked through the deal The Sun is running

There is so much info out the on DLP I feel a bit overwhelmed. Would any one mind sharing their tips and suggestions of how to make the most of our time. There is 3 of us going, my husband, our daughter (3 years) and me.

Where is the best place to meet the characters?
Where are the studios located? How much time for that? What is there?
Good places to eat in DLP?
Best way to plan our time?

To be honest, the questions I have are endless.

Can anyone get my planning started?

many thanks

 

[DLPdaft]

Hi jaykey,

Elaine, Jackie, Elaine and Reid welcome you to DLP DIS board

We are a friendly bunch here so please join in on any other thread, or if you have a number of questions then just start a new thread for each

If you have not had a look yet, DLP posting rules are here
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1477038 ,
DIS posting guidelines can be found here
http://www.wdwinfo.com/guidelines.htm .

Do you have any idea so far what you and your family would prefer to see/do on your trip? You won't have time to see and do everything in less than 2 days in the parks, so if you have an idea of what your preferences are, that would be a good place to start

 

[Tinkjon]

Hi, congrats on your upcoming trip!

I can answer a few questions - personally, with only 2 days (and with a 3yo) I wouldn't bother with the Studios at all. They are located right by the entrance to the Disneyland Park, so you can't miss them. There's not much there for a 3yo to do there, but there are some good adult rides (Tower of Terror - aaaarrrgh! and a couple of decent coasters). So I'd save that for when you have more time on another trip You can usually see everything at the Studios in one day.

Good places to eat - the Agrabah Cafe and The Blue Lagoon are by far my favourite places to eat in the park. But with only 2 days you might be better grabbing a sandwich from somewhere and then eating at night, in The Disney Village (Annette's Diner is the best place to eat there, imo), that way you'll have more time in the park. Or if your DD is princess-mad then lunch at Auberge Du Cendrillon is an expensive must

Best place to see the characters - you can pick up a leaflet on the day showing you where and when to find the characters. But we found that the best place was at Woody's Roundup/Critter Corral in Frontierland - it's fairly out of the way there, so there isn't the scrum around the characters like there is elsewhere.

I think that the best way to plan your time is to read up on the rides and make a list of the ones you definitely want to do - you can do this on the official site. Then do those rides systematically, land by land.

 

[DLPdaft]

Where is the best place to meet the characters?
Where are the studios located? How much time for that? What is there?
Good places to eat in DLP?
Best way to plan our time?

To be honest, the questions I have are endless.

Can anyone get my planning started?

many thanks

Meeting characters at DLRP can involve quite a scrum, which can be really offputting for young children. You could opt for a character meal while you are there - this means no scrum, as the characters come to each table and spend time with you there, for autographs, pictures etc. There are character breakfasts, character lunches, and also character dinners at Cafe Mickey as well as the restaurants inside the Disneyland Hotel itself.

The Studios is located next to the main park, and is only 5 minutes walk away. I love the Studios and think it has lots to offer young children. The Studios is my daughters favourite part of DLRP, apart from Fantasyland in the main park. I can easily spend most of one whole day there, but you might not want to do that in less than 2 days.

There are many restaurants in DLRP, in both parks, in the Village, and at the resort hotels. You don't have to be staying in a hotel to eat at a restaurant there .

My daughter is older than your little one, so I can't give much advice on planning for you. The only thing I would say is, because you are doing less than 2 days in the parks, is get to the parks in the morning as early as you can (including doing Extra Magic Hours if they are available to you) and keep going as long as you all can, to make the most of your park time.

 

[dlpfan]

hey im sure u will be enjoying your trip because there is so much magic at disneyland resort.

a great place to eat and also meet with several characters is at cafe mickey (in disney village) the food is good and there is also character interaction which im sure your 3 year old will enjoy. (im 20 and was so excited when i went lol)

the studios are just beside the parks and there is a lot to see there too. we managed to go round all the studios in one afternoon but im not sure if u will have enough time for this.
i would suggest that u first start with the parks have a browse through main street shops, visit the castle.
then the parade is something that u shouldnt miss!!! its beautiful! (check times of parade later on - march dates not yet issued)
after that i would start to experience the 4 lands in the park starting off with fantasyland (ideal for your daughter)

if u r staying at an onsite hotel make use of extra magic hours which give u entrance into certain attractions in the parks before opening hours...with no need to queue
feel free to ask further question i might be able to help.

enjoy ur trip planning

 

[poppyolivia]

Hi there!

Welcome! How are you?

Wow you are going to enjoy yourself and your princess is going to love it! My son is 3 and talks about disney all the time now! For the last month or so he wanted to be called 'Mcqueen'!!lol

I reckon one thing if anything you need to do is have a shot on Tower Of Terror! Its horrific in a good way!!

Not much else to say apart from have a great time and let us know if you will be planning your 2nd trip after you are back!

 

[Tinkjon]

I reckon one thing if anything you need to do is have a shot on Tower Of Terror! Its horrific in a good way!!

No, it's horrific in a horrific way

 

[manxtatt2]

i so didnt like the studios , thought they were naff compared to the main park

only decent thing in studios is the stunt show lol

 

[jillrobinson]

I think most things have been covered all I'd add is that the weather in March is really unpredicatable, next year will be out 4th March trip and we've had all kinds of weather in the past, but pack expecting it to be cold and wet.

What dates are you going, weekends at DLRP are a lot busier than weekdays, although I'm banking/praying on it not being "Christmas Season Weekend" busy in March.
and are you staying in a Disney hotel, as mentioned above you may benefit from the Extra Magic Hours, whereby you can enter the park 2 hours before official opening, this is a fabulous time to make the most of Fantasyland, which is where you'll probably spend most of your time. My niece was 3 the first time she went and she did most of the attractions and shows, she loved the Lion King show.

I'm not sure about WDS, if you have time leftover and this will be dependant on how busy the park is, I think it's worth a visit, Animagique would be a must do for your daughter in there, Cinemagique, Art of Animation, Cars, Aladdin's Carpets, Stitch Live would all be suitable for her too and are good reasons to visit. We haven't been into the Studios since 2006, we just didn't have the time on either of our 2 day trips last year, so we're really looking forward to spending a day in there

Forgot to say welcome to DIS and enjoy planning your trip it's half the fun.

 

[jillrobinson]

No, it's horrific in a horrific way

Oh, now don't say that, I'm easily put off and I'm so looking forward to it, mind you I've said every time that I am going to ride Space Mountain and still haven't.

 

[sophin]

I would second Cinemagique with Donald Duck which my three year old loved. Also the Cars ride - a cross between the tea cups and the dodgems. Also Stitch - we had to buy my son a Stitch which he now goes to bed with every night Flying Carpets was great too. We also loved the Stunt Show but you need a good hour and a bit spare to see it.

Plus we found a couple weeks ago that the Studios Park am and over lunch was the best place to see most of the Characters to get autographs & photos etc.

 

[Cyrano]

Looks like you are being well looked after so just popping in to say hiya

 

[mandy99]

Hi
We wet in april with our 3 year old (he turned 3 on the trip) and just loved it!

Recommendations would be to spend most of your time really in fantasyland as it has most of the rides suitable for a 3 year old.

try to get into the disneyland hotel for 4 pm as the characters do a sing and dance routine - the other character meet and greets are too pushy (except for woody in the critter corral - that was fun!)

Definately try to see the parade.

I think the best advice i can give you is for a 3 year old try not to plan too much. I went with a plan of what i wanted to see and do every day and ended up pushing him too mch and not doing what he wanted so we had some major tantrums which could have been avoided by going with the flow.

x