I love
Disneyland!
The only was to do Disneyland IMHO is to get there when it opens, rush over to Tomorrowland and ride Buzz, THEN go immediately to Fantasyland. You MUST get on FL rides early in the a.m. if you don't want to wait in horrendous lines the rest of the day - they
never go down once they get long! FL is small and it's easy to go back and forth a bit without losing time. Here's how we do it:
1. Buzz (in Tomorrowland)
THEN
2. Peter Pan (this is not a FP ride like MK and had the worst line outside of Dumbo)*
3. Dumbo*
4. Dumbo (if your kids like the ride, do it twice in a row)
4. Casey Jr. Circus train
5. Storybook Land Canal Boats*
6. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride*
6a. Alice in Wonderland
7. King Arthur's Carousel (sometimes you can ride it twice without getting off if you plan it right!)
8. Pinocchio's Daring Adventure
9. Snow White's Scary Adventures
10. Tea cups
(* rides to hit first before heading over to Toontown due to the line lengths. You can always go backk and ride the other FL rides after visiting TT)
If they want to get their photos with Mickey & Minnie, just make sure you're over at Toontown when it opens. Early on each is in front of their respective houses, then move on. Mickey will be in his house all day, but the lines can get quite long all day long. Minnie is in front of her house only at TT opening, then dissappears! Then ride 11. Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin if you want - it is a
very rough ride, BTW. Then go back to FL and finish up the rides.
12. Ride Small World.
13. Atopia in TomorrowLand, and any other TL rides you may want to see.
From here we move over to Adventureland and see Jungle Cruise & Tarzan's Tree house, and Tiki Room if you want (don't forget to get your dole whip while waiting for the show to start!)
Then we go to Critter Country & ride Pooh & then on to Frontierland to ride the Davey Crockett canoes & do Tom Sawyer's Island. If they like boats, there's the Sailing Ship Columbia & Mark Twain.
We usually do New Orleans Square rides later on in the afternoon, mostly because the lines die down tremendously around 5:00, and it's been doing this for years. Strange, but true. Last summer the line for POTC was over 2-1/2 hours long, but by 5:00 we waited only 10 minutes. Same for BTMRR & a bit longer for Haunted Mansion.
Depending upon when you go, the new Nemo ride may be open where the old submarine ride used to be.
You can get FastPasses for these non-rollercoaster rides: Roger Rabbit, Autopia, Indiana Jones & Buzz. I haven't been on Indy because of a bad back, but your kids may like that.
We never do the parades since we'd rather ride the rides, so I can't help you out there. We also get dinner from Rancho Del Zocalo (just ask for talk-out plates when ordering) and bring them with us to eat while we're waiting for the Fireworks to happen.
For a special treat, make ressies for the Blue Bayou for lunch and ask for a waterside seat. We have no problems getting one if we have a late lunch (around 2:30 or so).
Sorry that I can't help you with California Adventure, but I've not been there! I'd rather spend my one day at DLR each summer at DL!
We usually do all of the rides I've listed here - plus most of the coasters - all in one day. Just plan on getting there when it opens and leave when it closes.
Please feel free to ask me any other suggestions or questions.
P.S. If you want a nice family photo, ask the Photo Pass photographer to bring you to the left of the castle (over where the roses are along the path). You can get a great shot of the castle there without getting all the people walking over the bridge into Fantasyland!
