First time DLP

[manicdave]

HI All going out Sunday for my first time.

very excited.

just wanted to know what i should not miss. I know my 4 days will not be enough.

My party will be myself the good wife and the 1 and 2 year old.

 

[kizzabel]

Ooooh brilliant You will love it!!

My top must dos (with kids in mind) are
Its a small world
Dumbo
Casey Jr
Storybook Boats (Les Pays des Contes Fees - beside Casey Jr)
A ride on a Main St vehicle
Buzz Laser Blast
Lancelots Carousel
Teacups
The Parade..... All in Disneyland Parc

and

Stitch Live
Playhouse Disney Live
Cars Quattre Rallye
Slinky Dog
Stars n Cars Parade
Flying Carpets.... All in Walt Disney Studios

My other advice would be::
make sure you have loads of batteries/the battery charger for your camera to capture every minute.
pack very comfy shoes as you'll do loads of walking without realising until your feet are aching!
buggies for both kids as they get exhausted with the walking.
the best way to meet characters is the que'd meets as the spontanious ones can get a bit pushy.

What hotel are you staying at?

Have a great trip

 

[smallpig]

Don't miss all the 'non ride' attractions - Adventure Isle caves, the dragon under the castle, the castle itself, the Aladdin walk through. Great for if you're fed up of queuing, or it starts to rain!

Make sure you use the two covered walkways on either side of Main St - great to avoid crowds, shelter from the rain, and take it a bit slower (also found the loos there quieter!)

Oh and make good use of fastpasses to avoid cueing with little ones, and baby swap if there's a less kid friendly ride you want to do!

Have a great trip!

 

[markpsych]

Great advice so far. And don't forget the Pocahontas Indian Village which is a great place to escape the madding crowd if the weather's okay: http://www.dlrpmagic.com/guidebook/disneyland-park/frontierland/pocahontas-indian-village/

 

[Brummig]

depends where you are staying but check the tv channels - we've stayed in Cheyenne and Santa Fe and there was not much choice - not a problem if you are out most of the time, but at this time of year, and with small ones you could be looking at being there from 7 or 8pm. We take laptop so we can watch a movie, and a have a glass of wine in the room - to be honest we are generally shattered too and happy to crash!

 

[manicdave]

Thnaks for all the advice.

We are staying at the Cheyenne.

Great Idea about the Laptop Brummig. Will deffo do that. is there WIFI in the Hotels?

kizzabel

thanks for the advice I think ill have to do everything on the list. I think im more excited than the Kids are.

 

[Florida2012]

Maybe an obvious one, but it may be worth taking a few packs of "fruit shoots" or whatever as drinks for the kids are DEAD expensive!!

Do they still do the vouchers for the hot drinks? Buy a tea in the morning and it entitles you to a free drink after 4pm

Lastly, get ready for the walking! Ensure they take your most comfy (and no doubt oldest) trainers as if you buy a new pair now you will know about it! Lol

 

[manicdave]

Fastpass. do you get one a day or what way does it work?

 

[Carrie_Cat]

Do they still do the vouchers for the hot drinks? Buy a tea in the morning and it entitles you to a free drink after 4pm

Free drinks - tea, coffee, hot chocolate and sodas and sml bottle of water are offered from 15h-17.30 on presentation of the vouchers.

It's one drink per voucher which is given with the till receipt so best thing to do is to buy everyones drink/snack/counter service separately before 14pm ish and then everyone can have a free drink later.

 

[DLPdaft]

Fastpass. do you get one a day or what way does it work?

you can use your park tickets in the fastpass machines at the fastpass rides (not all are fastpass) as often as you like in your park day. It depends on how busy the parks are how many fastpass rides you can do.
In Fantasyland the only fastpass ride is Peter Pan, you can also fastpass Buzz Lightyear Lazer Blast in Discoveryland, and the Flying Carpets ride in the Studios. To be honest, with the ages of your children, I'm not sure you'll use any of the other fastpass rides.

To get a fastpass ticket for the ride of your choice, go to the entrance of the ride - nearby you will see a row of fastpass machines, with a time above them. You swipe your park tickets in the fastpass machines, and you get your park ticket and a fastpass ticket back. The fastpass ticket has a 30-minute time window on it (ie 11.30am-12noon for example). You can leave the area, do what you like, then come back within your fastpass window, go to the fastpass line at the entrance to the ride, hand over your fastpass tickets, and enter the ride in a different line to non-fastpass queuers.

The only rules regarding fastpass at DLP are these - you can't use your fastpass to ride earlier than your fastpass window (or generally later at DLP, they can be pretty strict about this). And you can't hold more than one fastpass before your fastpass window opens (so in my example above, you can't get another fastpass ticket before 11.30am for any fastpass ride). In very busy times in the parks, there is another rule which applies, but I don't think you'll need to be concerned with it if you're going at a quiet time.