First time in Disneyland

[addicted2dizney]

Hi Guys,
I have been to WDW more times than I can count! (At least 30 vacations over my nearly 40 years!) Living in NJ it's a lot easier to scoot down to WDW. I have been all over the country but never to California. DH wants to take a trip to California the end of June 09. I will be able to wrangle 1 day in DL. Any advice where to start with planning that day? I am eager to see DL since it was Walt's "original" park and compare the differences between FL and CA. Are there any touring plans for the parks? Any information on where to start would be appreciated! Also I hear there are no fast passes in DL... is this true?

 

[HydroGuy]

Alright, first we need to get your lingo down. "DL" is short for Disneyland which is a park at "DLR" - Disneyland Resort. If you are visiting for one day then you may in fact just want to visit the DL park. Although I and most everyone else around here will try to convince you - er, your DH - to take at least two days. Three would be even better and is considered the minimum days to see DLR.

DLR has Fastpasses which function like WDW. No worries.

I like RideMax for touring plans. See www.ridemax.com

Here is some reading material for you that gets a lot of mileage around here:

"A DLR Guide for WDW Vets" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

 

[avalon451]

Hi, welcome to the left coast DIS!

Don't let Hydroguy be modest. Read his entire tip compilation: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1520483

Many of us here have used Unofficial Guide to DLR, Ridemax, and various other touring guides and plans; but Hydroguy has pretty much condensed it all into the most useful, practical info in the above collection of tips and links.

I'm going to echo, though: if you want to explore Walt's park, please try to take more than one day. You can only rush around and do highlights in one day; in two or three, you can see both parks and get a better sense of the whole thing, and appreciate the compact, magical, unique and experience-dense park that Walt built.

Have a great time planning, and please c'mon back and ask any other questions you have!

 

[addicted2dizney]

LOL! thank you both for the information and the humor! Yes, it makes me a bit crazy to know NOTHING about DLR being I consider myself a WDW expert! It's a busy day today for me but tomorrow morning I plan to sit down once the kiddos are off to school and read up on all you have provided! I would LOVE 3 days at the DLR however at this point I'm gonna take what I can get and try to negotiate for a bit more later on. Thanks so much and I'll post after I read everything with my questions.