DL and DCA advice, please

[mom2dzb]

Greetings fellow Disney fans! I've been researching on the web for our upcoming trip and found this wonderful board. I'm hoping to find some advice regarding the Disneyland Resort. Our party consists of:
Me: roller coaster and thrill ride enthusiast, enjoys every detail planned
DH: roller coaster and thrill ride enthusiast, would rather not be shackled to a schedule
DS9: thrill-ride-aphobic
DS7: will try anything once
DD2: loves princesses and her afternoon nap
All of us enjoy the shows, aren't too picky eaters, and are "okay" with getting up early to fit in as much Disney as possible.
We are staying at the Grand Californian Hotel, arrive late Tuesday night, have 4 day park hopper bonus tickets, and leave Sunday afternoon. We'll be there in early May.

Here's what I'm curious about:
We'll be at the parks on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We plan on at least two days at Disneyland (where we hope to see Fantastmic) and at least one day at DCA. I think our tickets entitle us to early admission on some days. Any suggestions on which parks to hit on which days?

We get two character dining experiences. I'm planning on breakfast the day we leave (so not in a park that requires admission). I'm thinking Storytellers Cafe, which is right in our hotel, but Goofy's Breakfast at the DL Hotel looks funner. Is one better than the other?

I've been reading "The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2006." Anyone out there followed the itineraries from the book? I'd love to try it, but it seems too structured for my husband.

What about pin trading? Do they still do this? I've ordered some cheap pins from the Disney outlet online. I'm assuming they'll be tradable, but I don't see much about this on the internet.

Thanks!

Brandie

 

[hlbtimes2]

Your EE (early entry) can be used on Thur and Saturday (out of the days you'll be there). Because you are staying on site, you can use both days. You'll want to bring your hotel charge slip to the gate with you, the day you use the 2nd EE. EE is offered one hour before the parks scheduled opening time. I would recomend getting to the gate about 1/2 hour prior to that. Fantasyland and part of Tomorrow land will be open. I would recomend Peter Pan and Dumbo first. The lines for those get long, and never die down.

With park hoppers you can split your days how ever you want. Wed and Thurdays are the best days to be in DL, because they are not as busy. But, you'll want to catch the evening fireworks and Fantasmic- those are typically on the weekends only, unless you are going during the peak season. We often hit DL in the morning and evening, and DCA mid day.

For your character breakfast- between Goofy and Chip and Dale- the food is better at storytellers, but the character interaction will be better at Goofys. For your other character meal I would say either Minnies at the Plaze ( a late breakfast on a EE day is a nice break) or Ariels at DCA for lunch or dinner. Your little girl would LOVE it! Not sure how the boys would feel (its a princess meal).

As for doing a schedule vs not- I say do a day of each. Do a schedule one day to get the very most out of the rides. Then do a day with out a schedule. Take in the park as it comes- stop and see some characters, listen to the band play, people watch, etc.

 

[JulieNMM]

Another thing, you don't have to be tied to only one park a day. Unlike at WDW where you have to drive for hours to get to another park, at DLR, DL and DCA are literally a 2 minute walk away from each other!! Just walk across the admission plaza and you're at another park. We often go back and forth.

I have not been to Storyteller's but I would recommend Goofy's Kitchen. There are a lot of characters there and the food was fine. Ariel's grotto is nice, too.

JULIE

 

[HydroGuy]

Wednesday is the best day of the week to do DL, and you should plan that day for DL, IMO.

Thursday should be your EE day at DL. Go Sat EE if you want and they are still offering this perk.

The most crowded day at DL will probably be Saturday, and that would be a good DCA day if you can wait until Day 4. If not, hop to DCA on Thursday, Friday, and/or Saturday. As posted already, hopping is much easier at DLR than at WDW.

 

[mom2dzb]

Thanks Julie, Hydro and hbl for your responses. Unfortunately, all of my plans went mostly unused. My party was less than excited about getting up early for EE. They were happy to let me run around getting fast passes but had no intention of using them. Their idea of experiencing Disney was to walk around all afternoon trying to find a corndog for dinner. <sigh>

Character dining was a success . . . we had Dinner with Goofy & Friends and breakfast with Lilo & Stitch. Both were wonderful experiences. Pin Trading was also a success. My kids love their new collections.

 

[flipturngirl]

So it sounds like you guys will have fun! I know alot about rides and not as much as the dinning since i have been to one sit down i believe. or that I remember. Well anyways if your DH does not like planned schedual then he belongs in my family since we plan a trip in two days before we leave. I would suggest using single rider and child swap for thrill rides since you have kids that are young and might not like rides. Also I have not used the guide to disneyland but I have read it. HAve a great time on your trip!!

 

[hlbtimes2]

Thanks Julie, Hydro and hbl for your responses. Unfortunately, all of my plans went mostly unused. My party was less than excited about getting up early for EE. They were happy to let me run around getting fast passes but had no intention of using them. Their idea of experiencing Disney was to walk around all afternoon trying to find a corndog for dinner. <sigh>

Character dining was a success . . . we had Dinner with Goofy & Friends and breakfast with Lilo & Stitch. Both were wonderful experiences. Pin Trading was also a success. My kids love their new collections.

Last weekend was a good weekend to be there. We used a total of 3 fast passes all weekend. We did all of the big rides, some of them 2,3 or 4 times. We missed a few little rides in fantasyland, and never made it toon town. But, compared to my past couple trips, it really was an ideal time to be there.

So, where did you find your corndogs? The red cart on main street or Corndog castle? We had corndog castle corndogs on Saturday afternoon, around 3 or so. Very yummy!

 

[mom2dzb]

Linda,

I don't believe we ever found corndogs, but we were in DCA on that day.

Right, this last week (and weekend) were ideal times to be vacationing. I'd have loved to ride on rides multiple times. Unfortunately my party didn't recognize the opportunity. (I failed to mention that we were vacationing with my in-laws, who commandeered my carefully outlined plans to search for hotdogs and have multiple sit-down dining excursions out of the parks. Needless to say, I'm already planning for another trip . . . without inlaws.) I've read that you can do DCA in less than a day. We were there two days and still didn't hit everything.

On a positive note . . . my SIL is in a wheelchair, so we were able to get on most of the Fantasyland rides without much wait.

 

[HydroGuy]

If everyone had a good time, then that is all you can ask for.