First day is a Sunday afternoon. What to do?

[maggieb9975]

Hi everyone, We are going to Disneyland for the first time this July 15-20. It is myself and DD age 20. We are staying onsite at DLH and planning on doing EMH every day. We have 4 full days after Sunday, leaving Friday morning after a breakfast at Goofy's.

I could really appreciate some advice on how to best spend Sunday at the parks. We will be arriving from LA after having spent 3 days there . We are taking a town car and arriving around noon.

We were thinking of mostly touring the 2 parks for atmosphere and getting a few fastpasses where available. We thought we would start in Disneyland and then go to DCA and wandering through carsland after dark to see it. I realize there wont be any FP's for carsland. We will parkhop as needed.

I figure I have my Mon - Thurs plans set pretty good starting every day super early with EMH and getting FP's etc. I have bought ridemax and feel these days are well planned but ridemax doesnt do Sundays and I am kinda lost showing up so late.

Any help with my itinerary would be great!

Thanks so much! I have been reading the Disneyland forum for months and have learned so much!

 

[disneychrista]

Our arrival day is Sunday too (in August). I plan our first day to just be an easy going day and like you not stress about getting on rides. The one thing I do plan to do is watch the fireworks. Our last trip we missed the fireworks because we waiting until the last day and they were cancelled. So this time I want to ensure we see them by trying day 1 and keep trying until we see them.

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

Hey there..
I'll be watching those thread
We will be also arriving on a Sunday afternoon..
I read that some people do a little FL and Toontown in the late afternoon..

I don't how it works in DL but in WDW this would be a bad idea!

 

[maggieb9975]

Our arrival day is Sunday too (in August). I plan our first day to just be an easy going day and like you not stress about getting on rides. The one thing I do plan to do is watch the fireworks. Our last trip we missed the fireworks because we waiting until the last day and they were cancelled. So this time I want to ensure we see them by trying day 1 and keep trying until we see them.

Thats a great idea. We are debating doing the WOC Sunday night cause we are having dinner at Carthay Circle but we are pretty hesitant to go because we are both 5' nothing!! LOL and just dont know if we can handle lining up and then not being able to see...but fireworks would work!

 

[Hound 109]

Welcome to the DLR Disboard!

First off, excellent post. Telling us dates, what hotel, ages of those visiting & what you already have planned, allows us to give you specific & accurate information & opinions. Comments below:

Hi everyone, We are going to Disneyland for the first time this July 15-20. It is myself and DD age 20.

Have a great time at Walt's Park!!


We are staying onsite at DLH and planning on doing EMH every day. We have 4 full days after Sunday, leaving Friday morning after a breakfast at Goofy's.

Sounds great!

I could really appreciate some advice on how to best spend Sunday at the parks. We will be arriving from LA after having spent 3 days there . We are taking a town car and arriving around noon.

We were thinking of mostly touring the 2 parks for atmosphere and getting a few fastpasses where available. We thought we would start in Disneyland and then go to DCA and wandering through carsland after dark to see it. I realize there wont be any FP's for carsland. We will parkhop as needed.

I think that is a great idea. Get the lay of the land your first afternoon & evening. In the early morning, you'll want to be productive the first 2 hours of each day.....but that first day, you can:

- Enter Walt's park first (of course ). Be sure to read his plaque as you walk under the Railroad Arch.

- Once on the Plaza, look down Main Street like you would at WDW for the castle & ........you won't see anything. Seriously, we love our little Castle, but it's best enjoyed AFTER you walk down Main St.

- But before walking down Main St. look for Walt's apartment above the firehouse.

- Might want to snag an Indy FP (or SM FP) as soon as you walk in (for later). & then two hours later snag a BTMRR FP prior to hopping.

- rides to consider in the afternoon:

- Indy single rider.
- Pirates (long line but moves quick).
- Storybookland & or Nemo (always hard to find a GOOD time to ride these slow loaders) if there's a 15 min. or less line, maybe ride them the first day?
- Buzz (fast loader)
- the JC or the Tiki room (after snagging a Dole Whip)
- IASW & Pinocchio are both rides worth doing that don't have long lines.
- Split some tacos & tres leches cake at Rancho Zocollo?
- Stroll over to Toon Town, look around & snag a FP at Roger Rabbit for later?
- Eyeball the location of EVERY single FP machines for future reference.

- Hop over to DCA & snag either a Soarin' or Griz Rapids FP.
- Get the lay of the land, eyeball Carsland.
- Split a Corny Dog &/or a Mickey Bar.
- Ride Screamin' single rider.
- If Toy Story is 30 minutes or less (it won't be) ride it?
- Use your FP at Soarin' or Griz.
- Hop back over to DL.

- Use your FPs you picked up earlier.
- Watch the fireworks.

That's a start.


I figure I have my Mon - Thurs plans set pretty good starting every day super early with EMH and getting FP's etc. I have bought ridemax and feel these days are well planned but ridemax doesnt do Sundays and I am kinda lost showing up so late.

Any help with my itinerary would be great!

Thanks so much! I have been reading the Disneyland forum for months and have learned so much!

Have a great time at Walt's park!

 

[SplashMo]

I would hit Fantasmic and/or jump in the single rider line for RSR before DCA closes or both if it works...

Pirates is also a great ride to hit...

 

[Hound 109]

Hey there..
I'll be watching those thread
We will be also arriving on a Sunday afternoon..
I read that some people do a little FL and Toontown in the late afternoon..

I don't how it works in DL but in WDW this would be a bad idea!

Don't do the following FL rides on a crowded afternoon (do them during MM or the first hour of a MWF day):

- PP
- Dumbo
- Matterhorn.
- Alice
- Toady
- Casey Jr.

You can consider doing these rides in FL on a Summer afternoon (if the lines aren't too long):

- Storybookland
- Tea Cups
- IASW
- Carousel
- Pinocchio & Snow White.

 

[maggieb9975]

Welcome to the DLR Disboard!

First off, excellent post. Telling us dates, what hotel, ages of those visiting & what you already have planned, allows us to give you specific & accurate information & opinions. Comments below:



Have a great time at Walt's park!

Don't do the following FL rides on a crowded afternoon (do them during MM or the first hour of a MWF day):

- PP
- Dumbo
- Matterhorn.
- Alice
- Toady
- Casey Jr.

You can consider doing these rides in FL on a Summer afternoon (if the lines aren't too long):

- Storybookland
- Tea Cups
- IASW
- Carousel
- Pinocchio & Snow White.

I would hit Fantasmic and/or jump in the single rider line for RSR before DCA closes or both if it works...

Pirates is also a great ride to hit...

THANKYOU soo much for all these ideas! I am going to print them out. Yes I am definately doing the fantasyland rides during our first Early entry. We may do Fantasmic not sure as we have seen it many times at WDW. We want to experience the RSR together first time so will wait til Monday morning for that. After we have done it once together we will do singlr rider after that.

 

[SplashMo]

Fantasmic at DL is diffrent than WDW. I prefer the DL version because the sailing ship is used as well as the steamboat. However I can never get my family to watch it with me...

 

[SplashMo]

If you are adventures you can ride splash mountain likely several times in the evening hours. ALso likely Thunder Mountain.

 

[disneychrista]

We may do Fantasmic not sure as we have seen it many times at WDW.

DO NOT skip F! the show is different (& better IMO) than WDW. In fact other than "movie based" rides do not skip anything just because WDW has the "same ride."

 

[Hound 109]

THANKYOU soo much for all these ideas! I am going to print them out. Yes I am definately doing the fantasyland rides during our first Early entry. We may do Fantasmic not sure as we have seen it many times at WDW. We want to experience the RSR together first time so will wait til Monday morning for that. After we have done it once together we will do singlr rider after that.

You're welcome.

Also, I haven't done this but others have mentioned this, & i like the idea.....ride around the park (or ride a stop or two) on the train.

Have fun.

 

[maggieb9975]

Fantasmic at DL is diffrent than WDW. I prefer the DL version because the sailing ship is used as well as the steamboat. However I can never get my family to watch it with me...

Same here my DD is not keen on it.

If you are adventures you can ride splash mountain likely several times in the evening hours. ALso likely Thunder Mountain.

Oh we are adventurous so will do this!

DO NOT skip F! the show is different (& better IMO) than WDW. In fact other than "movie based" rides do not skip anything just because WDW has the "same ride."

We definately will be trying rides not based on our WDW experiences, but as I said above my DD is not a fan of Fantastic

You're welcome.

Also, I haven't done this but others have mentioned this, & i like the idea.....ride around the park (or ride a stop or two) on the train.

Have fun.

I really like this idea too. I think we will get a FP then ride the train and get to get a feel for the park! Cant wait

 

[PinkBudgie]

We are arriving on a Sunday too! We used to go home on Friday and last year said to ourselves, we may as well stay Friday also and go home Sat. So that's what we do know. Although now I can see us next year arriving on Sat (block out day) and using that time to go to DTD, then have a full say Sunday too. We are also going to Goofy's Kitchen on the day we leave (Sat).

We plan to use our Sunday arrival as a day to check out CL ahead of time and see where things are located. I'm having a hard time picturing where things with all those walls that were up for so long. We don't even have an EE. Since you do, you may want to get an idea of where will be going first thing the next day so you don't have to stop and think while everyone rushes past you. I'm thinking it might also be the day to try out a meal or snack in CL since we have time to wait in a line there if we need to.

Since we don't have EE, we may see what the RSR single rider line looks like and hop in that if it's available. Afternoon is probably a good time for TSMM since that is usually when the line is about 40 min as opposed to 50. I've never seen it 30 in the summer and so far when I check MouseWait it is always 40-50.

And then we have the paperwork to take care of- getting our APs activated, getting our photopass voucher turned in.

 

[SplashMo]

Small World on the outside is very diffrent as well...

Before or after riding Pirates go to the Mint Julep Bar in
New Orleans Square and have beignets. Skip the Mint Julip though unless you know you love them... I bought them for everyone in our party and they went mostly untouched...

 

[maggieb9975]

.......
We plan to use our Sunday arrival as a day to check out CL ahead of time and see where things are located. I'm having a hard time picturing where things with all those walls that were up for so long. We don't even have an EE. Since you do, you may want to get an idea of where will be going first thing the next day so you don't have to stop and think while everyone rushes past you. I'm thinking it might also be the day to try out a meal or snack in CL since we have time to wait in a line there if we need to.

I agree that Sunday will be great to learn where everything is. We have never been to Disneyland and I really like the fact that we can get a feel where things are and not waste our early mornings doing that! Snacks sound good too

 

[Rosanne]

Your schedule sounds like what we did when we went to DL for our first time 2 years ago (can't wait to go back in August 2013). We wondered if it was worth it to go Sunday aft/eve but we just couldn't stand to wait another day so we did. We walked around a bit at both parks... Disneyland first. It just meant so much to me to finally be there. We did IASM a couple of times right off the bat. The girls were 4 and 9 then. It was so beautiful. We were surprised at how different the ride was from WDW (of which we are veterans). It is so pretty outside.

We got our bearings, soaked in the atmosphere, rode a few rides and then went to DCA to do the same. We had hoppers, of course.

By DCA we were pretty tired since we had gotten up early to fly cross country that morning so we just walked around a bit to get the lay of the land and think about it.

For me it was really important to get in to Disneyland right away to fulfill a lifelong dream.

It was really great to have that actual exposure to both parks to have a good grasp of how to plan for the four days we had available. Some people had said we had more than enough time but we think we could have easily spent another two or three days. We did not get everything accomplished but, then again, we did a few things more than once because we enjoyed them so much.

I loved the Indian Jones ride. Just wish my 9 year old hadn't had to do the whole thing with her hands over her ears, LOL. I would love to go back and do the haunted mansion without my kids. I would have loved it if they both weren't terrified. I felt so bad for taking them but the CM at the entrance told us it wasn't that scary when I said I was going to leave them with my sister. It is even better than WDW's but I won't take my kids until they are much older.

Also, just loved the POTC ride at DL.

Wonderful experience. Enjoy!

 

[maggieb9975]

Your schedule sounds like what we did when we went to DL for our first time 2 years ago (can't wait to go back in August 2013). We wondered if it was worth it to go Sunday aft/eve but we just couldn't stand to wait another day so we did. We walked around a bit at both parks... Disneyland first. It just meant so much to me to finally be there. We did IASM a couple of times right off the bat. The girls were 4 and 9 then. It was so beautiful. We were surprised at how different the ride was from WDW (of which we are veterans). It is so pretty outside.

We got our bearings, soaked in the atmosphere, rode a few rides and then went to DCA to do the same. We had hoppers, of course.

By DCA we were pretty tired since we had gotten up early to fly cross country that morning so we just walked around a bit to get the lay of the land and think about it.

For me it was really important to get in to Disneyland right away to fulfill a lifelong dream.

It was really great to have that actual exposure to both parks to have a good grasp of how to plan for the four days we had available. Some people had said we had more than enough time but we think we could have easily spent another two or three days. We did not get everything accomplished but, then again, we did a few things more than once because we enjoyed them so much.

I loved the Indian Jones ride. Just wish my 9 year old hadn't had to do the whole thing with her hands over her ears, LOL. I would love to go back and do the haunted mansion without my kids. I would have loved it if they both weren't terrified. I felt so bad for taking them but the CM at the entrance told us it wasn't that scary when I said I was going to leave them with my sister. It is even better than WDW's but I won't take my kids until they are much older.

Also, just loved the POTC ride at DL.

Wonderful experience. Enjoy!

Thanks for feedback Roseanne! It is great to hear your experiences. The more I think about it, I am glad we have Sunday to get our bearings. It will be nice to just slowly tour and enjoy. We are really looking forward to Indiana Jones, POTC and HM. Heck we cant wait for all the rides lol! It has been my dream for a long time to visit Walt's park!

 

[rramstad]

Another ditto. Last year we went for the first time in mid July arriving on a Sunday evening. We headed into DL and wandered about a bit, rode the Matterhorn a couple of times (important as it was going down for a major refurb the next day), saw the fireworks, got on Jungle Cruise (it's much better at night) and Indy. I think that's all we did, but it felt great to get our bearings, see where the fast pass machines were, walk through the various lands and whatnot.

Given all the emphasis on DCA these days if you have time I certainly would consider wandering over there and checking out the lay of the land, too. If you can get on TSMM without a long wait, do that, if the single rider line for RSR isn't too bad, do that, either of those would get you way ahead of the game for the next days.

I dunno, given the difference in cost between a four day and a five day hopper, or a five day and a six, even if you just get a couple of hours in at the end of the night on that first night, well, it can be super cool and well, well, well worth it, especially if you can pick your spots and either get a major show done (like Fantasmic! or the fireworks or World of Color) OR get a couple of notoriously slow rides in.

 

[zavandor]

You may also have a look at this thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2922903

It suggests a list of "no-ride" things to do that are easily overlooked even by expert visitors.
And then in the evening watch the shows: fireworks + second showing of Fantasmic! worked very well for me and this way in the following evenings you'll be able to skip the shows and experience attractions while many people will see the shows, with lower lines.