Excited and worried at the same time - taking a first timer to DLR

[Vala]

I know I’m extremely early with this, but I’m a worry wart who plans ahead way too much.

I’m going to California in fall for a convention with my boyfriend’s mother. She had expressed interest in coming with me to Disneyland before, and of course I agreed. I’m usually going with some friends from the area, but the more the merrier.

Usually I am the one organising everything. But out of the blue she presented me with reservations for the complete Disney leg of our trip this morning. I was (and still am) totally overwhelmed.

I’ve stayed for three days before, but she insisted on treating me with an „upgrade“ to a six day Park Hopper ticket to make sure we have enough time for everything. She even managed to find a cheap flight at the end of October, that has been impossible in the last two years.
I’m beyond excited. I never made it to Disneyland in time for Halloween before, and now we are staying from October 29 to November 4. Halloween isn’t a big thing in Germany, especially not where we live, a really tiny village.

Anyway, before I start rambling completely: now of course I’m trying to make this trip really memorable for her.

She’s not that much of a Disney expert. She knows the main characters, but that’s about it. I think she wanted to go because I liked DLR so much when I went.
So I’m looking for ways to „show her the magic“ so to speak.

I saw that there were hard ticketed Halloween events going on in DCA last year. Does anybody know when info will be released if they’ll be doing those again this year?
I think she’d like that. And I know I’d love it.

I know that the park’s usually more busy on the week end. But can anybody give me an idea how busy it will be on Halloween itself? We went on Veterans’ Day weekend this year and I didn’t think it was too bad if you used FP wisely.

Do they take off the Halloween decoration right away after the 31st? I was hoping that she may get to see part of the Christmas decoration too. As we’re staying until November 4, I know it’ll probably be tight.

I’m also going to get her a „1st visit“ button from City Hall, and will probably book priority seating for Fantasmic for one night. It should be running during the week end in November, right?
I wasn’t too impressed with the value of the priority seating last year. But I don’t want to tell her that we’ll have to go and look for a spot at least an hour before the show starts. It will be enough to convince her to hold out for the fireworks in front of the castle another night. She hates to sit around and wait.

Also character meals... that’s something I’d like to show her as well.
I was thinking about dinner at Goofy’s Kitchen and the breakfast with Minnie at the Park Plaza Inn, possibly also the Storyteller’s Cafe. I know she always enjoyed the Pooh stories and from the reports it seems as if at least some Pooh characters usually are at the Park Plaza breakfast?
I really enjoyed the Lilo & Stitch breakfast last year. But I don't think she knows who Stitch is, so I'm really looking for breakfast with characters who've been around longer, like Pluto or Chip & Dale.

If somebody has further suggestions, I’d love to hear them.
This will probably a not heavy organised trip. She’s only been to one German park near where we live before and that one doesn’t even come remotedly close to DLR or DCA. So I’m calculating lots of time for her to be overwhelmed and just walk around open mouthed looking at everything.

 

[tofubeast]

Might I recommend that you purchase the 2008 edition of the Unofficial Guide to Disneyland. It is SO helpful. Also check out some of those "sticky" threads at the tops of this board, because they have tons of info that will help you with all your planning. If DL is decorated anything like WDW during Halloween, you are in for a huge treat. Make sure you book your PS ressies for dining as well in advance. Might I also suggest you do a tour, such as the "Walking in Walt's footsteps" tour, for that might give your bf's mother a nice overview of the history of the park etc.

 

[Vala]

Might I recommend that you purchase the 2008 edition of the Unofficial Guide to Disneyland. It is SO helpful. Also check out some of those "sticky" threads at the tops of this board, because they have tons of info that will help you with all your planning. If DL is decorated anything like WDW during Halloween, you are in for a huge treat. Make sure you book your PS ressies for dining as well in advance. Might I also suggest you do a tour, such as the "Walking in Walt's footsteps" tour, for that might give your bf's mother a nice overview of the history of the park etc.

I'm glad you recommended this book. I ordered it this morning, but I wasn't sure what to think about it. There's tons of guide on German sites and most have very low ratings. And of course all guide have delivery times of like 2 or 3 weeks.

I've been to Disneyland before myself, but I discovered something new myself. Who knows what will happen when I show a newbie around.
After seeing the lines for Ariel's Grotto I had certainly learned my lesson about PS.

The tour is a fantastic idea, thanks! That's something I've not thought of at all!