Experienced DISers...first 3 Hours in the park routine

[texasgingerbread]

Experienced friends...what is your ideal way to utilize the first 3 hours in the park on an early entry for DL and CA? I would love to know YOUR routine. Or even on non-early entry. I know there is no right or wrong way to do it, but I'd like to hear how others utilize their time wisely if you don't mind sharing. TIA!

I'll be there for 5 days so could have different plans of actions each morning.

 

[jrsharp21]

On a non early entry, if we are there at rope drope we usually head over to Indy first and get on. Then when we get off we grab some fast passes for Indy. If the wait is still almost walk on, we get on again. If there is like a 15-20 minute wait, we will head over to POTC and get on there. Then we head over to Haunted Mansion. After HM, we hit up Thunder Mountain. By that time the FP for Indy is about time to use again. We will get on Indy again. Then usually we will get on the Jungle Cruise while we are right there. Then after that it is usually time for a break and something to eat.

 

[mom2rtk]

We sort of have DCA divided into 2 experiences, Carsland and Paradise Pier. RSR is sort of a necessity one day, but we love love love our Paradise Pier day. We ride CA Screamin several times, then follow up with TSMM if we're in the mood. Since everyone goes to Carsland, it's awesome to have that area almost to ourselves.

We do early entry almost every morning, so at DL we head for the Matterhorn. We like Peter Pan, but since everyone heads there, we hate to give up 15 or 20 minutes of our early entry just to do it. If we find it with a shorter line later in the trip, we ride it then. After the Matterhorn, we do whatever else strikes our fancy, maybe Alice since that stays fairly long all day. It's fun to knock off most of Fantasyland in such a short time.

Overall though, the goal is to get as much done as possible so that when things (inevitably) slow down in a few hours, we can slow down too, happy in knowing we are already ahead of the game. When crowds pick up in the afternoon, we are typically seeing a show or parade, or heading back for an afternoon break.

 

[VandVsmama]

1st 3 hours at DL:

• be at gates preferably 30 min before rope drop
• get a FP for Star Tours
• go to Fantasyland and ride Dumbo, Mad Tea Party, Snow White, Pinocchio, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, King Triton's Carousel
• Sometimes we also go on the Storybook Land Canal Boats
• if we get up extra early that day, we might try Peter Pan first thing. Otherwise, we have skipped it because the line is SO long within even 10 minutes of park opening
• At start of the Star Tours FP time slot, 1 of us runs to Indiana Jones and gets FP for that
• Then we go on Star Tours, Autopia, Buzz Lightyear, and grab a Buzz FP to use for later because Buzz FP is disconnected from other FP
• If Indiana Jones FP time slot hasn't started yet, we go on Jungle Cruise and/or the Tiki Room. And we eat a dole whip while we watch the show!
• At start of Indiana Jones FP, get a FP for Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The other adults entertains the kids in the Adventureland Bazaar shops and hopefully gets a prescription for each kid from the Shrunken Ned booth!
• Go on Indiana Jones. If it's not lunch time yet and if we aren't tired, then we go on Haunted Mansion or Pirates or the Caribbean. And when that ride is done, if the wait for the other ride isn't too bad, then we go on whichever other one we didn't go on (HM or Pirates).
• Based on FP return times, the return time for Splash Mtn or BTMRR is probably right around lunch time at this point, so if we are hungry, we'll eat at the Hungry Bear and then go on Splash Mtn or BTMRR. Otherwise, we'll go on the ride and then eat. DH usually sits out on Splash Mtn or BTMRR since he hates rides with big drops.

I'll cover 1st 3 hours at DCA separately!

 

[VandVsmama]

1st 3 hours at DCA:

• Again, get to gates about 30 minutes before the gates open.
• Head straight for Toy Story and go on that once, maybe twice.
• Go on King Triton's Carousel.
• Then go on Little Mermaid.
• 1 of us gets in line for RSR FP.
• Then we all go to Carsland to take a bunch of pictures and go on Mater's Junkyard Jamboree.
• DH & YDD go on Soarin' Over CA. ODD hates this ride, it makes her nauseous. ODD & I go on Monsters, Inc, or some rides in Bugsland.
• I take the kids on Grizzly River Rapids. DH gets a break. He doesn't go on GRR since he hates steep drops.
• Then hopefully YDD & I go on Soarin' Over CA. DH & ODD go on Monsters, Inc. or some rides in Bugsland.
• If 2 hours have passed since we got the RSR FP, then I grab FP for Soarin' Over CA since YDD really loves this ride.
• If 2 hours haven't passed yet, then we all go on some Bugsland rides, maybe go to the Olaf meet & greet.
• We also go to the Animation building and will do Turtle Talk With Crush as a time filler. Last time, we discovered that we all love Animation Academy and we enjoy doing that over and over again. The Animation Building is also a wonderful place just to sit and relax.
• If we have a PhotoPass+, then we still stop along the way all throughout the morning to take PP pictures. I've learned that the PP photographers get really busy with longer lines in the afternoon.

After lunch, we see Aladdin and/or the Frozen Sing Along show. Then we head back to the hotel to rest and go back later in the day...time slot will vary depending on when our RSR FP return time is.

Our family doesn't really care for most of the rides on Paradise Pier...Golden Zephyr, Silly Symphony Swings, California Screamin', Goofy's Sky School. Those all pretty much get a thumbs down for us, so we skip over most of that "land." All of us hate the Tower of Terror, so we skip that, too.

 

[TrySomethingNew]

Great ideas!

 

[texasgingerbread]

Do I need to worry about Jedi Training Academy in the morning or afternoon? Will the afternoon be crazy packed?

 

[dtnrhi]

Our usual mornings:

Disneyland
Grab Star Tours FP
Grab Buzz FP (Disconnected)
Ride Space Mountain Stand-By
Grab Space Mountain FP
Use Star Tours FP
Use Buzz FP if Space Mountain FP hasn't opened yet
Use Space Mountain FP
Grab a FP for Indy
Ride Big Thunder Stand-By
Grab Big Thunder FP
Use Indy FP
Ride Haunted Mansion if it is not NBC
Grab Splash Mountain FP
Use Big Thunder FP
Ride Pirates Stand-By
Use Splash FP

If done at opening on a busy, but not peak season (Christmas, 4th of July) day, this is totally doable in three hours. We'll do FL rides just before the park closes.

Our DCA mornings vary by season, and whether there is one or two showings of WOC. If there's two showings, Grizzly Peak area is the last we visit. If there's only one, we make a point to be there about an hour after opening.

I went with my friends in Spring Break 2013, and we had all of DCA (except Jellyfish, Monster's Inc., and Bugs Land) done by noon when the park opened at 9AM. It was a VERY efficient morning.

 

[texasgingerbread]

Our usual mornings:

Disneyland
Grab Star Tours FP
Grab Buzz FP (Disconnected)
Ride Space Mountain Stand-By
Grab Space Mountain FP
Use Star Tours FP
Use Buzz FP if Space Mountain FP hasn't opened yet
Use Space Mountain FP
Grab a FP for Indy
Ride Big Thunder Stand-By
Grab Big Thunder FP
Use Indy FP
Ride Haunted Mansion if it is not NBC
Grab Splash Mountain FP
Use Big Thunder FP
Ride Pirates Stand-By
Use Splash FP

If done at opening on a busy, but not peak season (Christmas, 4th of July) day, this is totally doable in three hours. We'll do FL rides just before the park closes.

Our DCA mornings vary by season, and whether there is one or two showings of WOC. If there's two showings, Grizzly Peak area is the last we visit. If there's only one, we make a point to be there about an hour after opening.

I went with my friends in Spring Break 2013, and we had all of DCA (except Jellyfish, Monster's Inc., and Bugs Land) done by noon when the park opened at 9AM. It was a VERY efficient morning.

I'll be going with one showing of WOC, thanks. Did you do TSMM or RSR first?

And what does NBC mean on Haunted Mansion? THANKS for your feedback.

 

[dtnrhi]

I'll be going with one showing of WOC, thanks. Did you do TSMM or RSR first?

And what does NBC mean on Haunted Mansion? THANKS for your feedback.

NBC=Nightmare Before Christmas. While I don't hate the ride like some others do, I don't love it, and the overlay coupled with FP on the ride seems to make the wait times double.

We grabbed a FP for RSR and then went and rode TSMM and the rest of the Pier rides. At that point, I think we were able to get another FP as soon as we had our RSR one, though, so that changed things a bit. It isn't disconnected anymore.

You said you're going for five days. You should be able to get everything you want done, and then will still have time to prioritize what you want to revisit. What are your dates?

 

[smilezlie]

Oh good question!

Disneyland:

-Rope drop
-FP Space Mountain
-Matterhorn (there is no fast pass, so the earlier the better)
-Star Tours
-Buzz Lightyear (depending on time of Space FP)
-Space Mountain

-FP Indiana Jones
-Big Thunder
-Jungle Cruise
-Tarzan's Tree House
-Pirates (if you have time before Indiana Jones, if not switch)
-Indiana Jones

If Winter:

-FP Haunted Mansion Holiday
-Splash Mountain
-Winnie the Pooh
-Haunted Mansion Holiday

If Summer:

-FP Splash Mountain
-Haunted Mansion
-Winnie the Pooh
-Splash Mountain


Depending on day of the week/time of the year (even during the holidays) it can be done in 3 or just over 3hrs.

Tip: Avoid Fantasyland and Toon Town like the plague until the evening/nap time (for Toon Town) and until after the fireworks for Fantasy land. Lines drop when the kids fall asleep.

 

[texasgingerbread]

You said you're going for five days. You should be able to get everything you want done, and then will still have time to prioritize what you want to revisit. What are your dates?

I'll be in CA from March 1-9. Still trying to decide if we should do Wed, Thurs, Fri, Mon, Tues at the parks or Wed-Fri plus one weekend day Sat/Sun and Mon, or just go 5 days in a row Wed-Sun. I'm hoping fireworks for the 60th will still be every night in the off season (fingers crossed) if they are I might avoid the weekend. The only issue is Mon Tues the next week is getting into spring break dates. Thoughts? Or I could potentially change my flights and do Feb 29-March 9. Then do Tues-Fri in parks plus one more day.

 

[nikkislaght]

Do I need to worry about Jedi Training Academy in the morning or afternoon? Will the afternoon be crazy packed?

we did it first thing in the morning.. on our second to last day...
we did all that we wanted to do in the early part of our trips.. and then do the Jedi.. first thing in the mornings its not too busy and you have a better chance of getting chosen.. although saying that we go in April so crowds are a bit lower.. and if my son doesnt get chosen then we still have two full days to get it done..

 

[texasgingerbread]

\

we did it first thing in the morning.. on our second to last day...
we did all that we wanted to do in the early part of our trips.. and then do the Jedi.. first thing in the mornings its not too busy and you have a better chance of getting chosen.. although saying that we go in April so crowds are a bit lower.. and if my son doesnt get chosen then we still have two full days to get it done..

Good to know. I need both of mine to be chosen so it might take more than one showing.

 

[TalkDisnerdytome]

So if you say a rides FP is disconnected does that mean you can get a FP for that ride even if you have a FP for another ride and it isn't time for you to get a second FP?

 

[califlorican]

So if you say a rides FP is disconnected does that mean you can get a FP for that ride even if you have a FP for another ride and it isn't time for you to get a second FP?

Yes exactly! I think right now in DL only Buzz is disconnected.
And the Fantasmic! FP too of course.

 

[TalkDisnerdytome]

Cool I did not know that was even a thing!

 

[sparkysfriends]

At CA go straight to Cars Land as soon as you enter.

 

[nikkislaght]

\

Good to know. I need both of mine to be chosen so it might take more than one showing.

Tell your kids to be really REALLY animated.. they have a better chance of getting picked...

 

[Angel Ariel]

Our usual mornings:

Disneyland
Grab Star Tours FP
Grab Buzz FP (Disconnected)
Ride Space Mountain Stand-By
Grab Space Mountain FP
Use Star Tours FP
Use Buzz FP if Space Mountain FP hasn't opened yet
Use Space Mountain FP
Grab a FP for Indy
Ride Big Thunder Stand-By
Grab Big Thunder FP
Use Indy FP
Ride Haunted Mansion if it is not NBC
Grab Splash Mountain FP
Use Big Thunder FP
Ride Pirates Stand-By
Use Splash FP

If done at opening on a busy, but not peak season (Christmas, 4th of July) day, this is totally doable in three hours. We'll do FL rides just before the park closes.

Our DCA mornings vary by season, and whether there is one or two showings of WOC. If there's two showings, Grizzly Peak area is the last we visit. If there's only one, we make a point to be there about an hour after opening.

I went with my friends in Spring Break 2013, and we had all of DCA (except Jellyfish, Monster's Inc., and Bugs Land) done by noon when the park opened at 9AM. It was a VERY efficient morning.

Is Buzz currently a disconnected FP?