First timer! Need touring plan advice/strategy

[meljean]

Hi all! My husband and I will be touring just the 2 of us in just a few short weeks. This will be our first visit. We have been to WDW and know which rides will have the longest waits. Being our first time, I am looking for some good plans on which way to tour or which rides to hit first/fastpass for each park. I know this is a lot but if we could at least have a starting point that would be great. Thanks!

 

[VandVsmama]

How many days will you be there? Disneyland just came out with a new smartphone app two days ago that has times & locations of meet & greets, ride wait times, etc.

 

[ADLFAN]

Yep, I was going to mention the app also. I have been stalking it since it came out on the 4th, and you can get a pretty good idea of crowd patterns.

I made a little reminder list of which rides to do in the busy morning, which shows to catch before we head out for a break, and which rides have low lines all day so we save them for the busy evenings when we get back.

So far, I see that Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, lots of the Pier rides, and Bugs Land in DCA are usually all under 15 minutes, so I plan to save them for night time when most other rides have standby lines that I would not want to attempt with three tired kids.

The morning is the best time, and lines for everything except Radiator Springs Racers stay short for the first few hours.

Make sure you pull your RSR Fastpass near the end of distribution one day at least, the ride is so beautiful at night!!

In Disneyland, you can get FP's for Indiana Jones (my favorite!), Splash, Space Mt., Big Thunder and Star Tours. Which is good, because it is a bit tough to wake up and get shaken around! I would try to use FP and stay out of those standby lines. Matterhorn is fun, but offers no FP. Hit that one early, or the line will get to 45 minutes and stay there. I always recommend exploring Toontown in the early part of the day, when the lines for Roger Rabbit are low and before it gets too hot back there.

Have fun planning!

 

[ADLFAN]

The app is called 'Disneyland'!

 

[ktlm]

Don't assume because you know WDW, you know which rides will have the longest waits at DL. For example, Star Tours is walk on or at least under 20 minutes for a good part of the day at WDW- it has a consistently long line at DL. DL's Star Tours has less bays than WDW's and it is right in the middle of tomorrowland. Also, where TSM typically is a hour or more at WDW, it often stays around 30 minutes for a good part of the day at DL. It is still one of the busier rides at CA, but not nearly as bad as at WDW. Also, it does not have FP at CA. Also, we don't even FP Soarin at CA that much- unlike WDW where the lines are 60 minutes most of the day, at DLR, we have walked by mid afternoon and found the line at 20 minutes. We have even walked on it at CA, which would be unheard of at WDW. We have also pulled FPs for it in the late afternoon or even occasionally evening- unlike how it was at WDW back when they had regular FP and they ran out before noon.

As far as FPs for CA- RSR will be the one you want first. Unless you are trying to get the earliest time possible, we usually wait a little bit until the morning rush has been through the FP line. I have gone in and gotten a FP about 20 minutes after the park opened with very little wait to get the FP- just a couple of people as opposed to the first rush line that is huge if you aren't at the front. Also for RSR, it has a single rider line- we were at CA a few weeks ago and we rode RSR a bunch of times using the single rider line. You can ask the CM at the entrance about how long the line is. We never spent more than 20 minutes in the single rider line and one day it was 10 or less, so we rode it a few times in a row. Typically at rope drop, we will go back and ride TSM before the line gets too bad, and then I go get the RSR FP.


At DL, right now Peter Pan is awful because it was closed for a while and enhancements were made. When we were there a few weeks ago, if you were not at the front of the rope drop crowd you could expect at least a 40 minute wait and the line was an hour or more for most of the day. There is no FP. If that is a priority, you might want to plan to be at the front of the rope drop crowd and bolt straight there. If you don't get there before the line is 45 to 60 minutes, don't get in the line- you don't want to waste the lower line morning crowds in a line that long and you will be able to get in a line about that same length for it at some time later in the day. The Matterhorn line is often crazy, so I would hit that one next (or first if you don't do PP) as it does not have FP. It does have a single rider line, but it can get pretty long too. If not a fan of that ride- too rough for my taste- but if you have never been to DL and like roller coasters, you ought to try it once! If you are at DL at rope drop, the first couple of hours are usually great- most of the lines stay fairly short for awhile. While you are over by Matterhorn, I might also do Nemo- because that is another one that the lines get long fairly early in the day and there is no FP. Then, as you are WDW vets, I would go get FP for Indiana Jones (or ride it if the line isn't too long). There is nothing like Indiana Jones at WDW (well- Dinosaur has the same vehicle and type track, but I hate Dinosaur and love Indy) and it is a great ride. It also has a single rider line if you decide you want more rides. It isn't anywhere near Nemo- but that is one you don't want to miss- and nothing is too far away at DL which is nice. Other things you want to FP at DL are Splash, Star Tours and SM. The Splash lines can get huge in the afternoon during warm weather time, and FPs do run out for it. That is a matter of timing when to pull the FP, to get you on in the afternoon. In terms of closeness, if you did not care about Indy or Splash, what we would do is ride PP (if you are at the front of the rope drop crowd), Matterhorn, Nemo, and then I would pull a FP for Star Tours, and check the line for SM. You could do a run and pull a FP, between the rides- but in our experience the Non FP ride lines build up a lot faster than FPs run out. BTMRR is another one you might want to FP at some point-- we have found the lines sometimes long, and sometimes not so bad on that one.

Others will probably have totally different plans for you, but he above is what works for us!

 

[meljean]

Don't assume because you know WDW, you know which rides will have the longest waits at DL. For example, Star Tours is walk on or at least under 20 minutes for a good part of the day at WDW- it has a consistently long line at DL. DL's Star Tours has less bays than WDW's and it is right in the middle of tomorrowland. Also, where TSM typically is a hour or more at WDW, it often stays around 30 minutes for a good part of the day at DL. It is still one of the busier rides at CA, but not nearly as bad as at WDW. Also, it does not have FP at CA. Also, we don't even FP Soarin at CA that much- unlike WDW where the lines are 60 minutes most of the day, at DLR, we have walked by mid afternoon and found the line at 20 minutes. We have even walked on it at CA, which would be unheard of at WDW. We have also pulled FPs for it in the late afternoon or even occasionally evening- unlike how it was at WDW back when they had regular FP and they ran out before noon.

As far as FPs for CA- RSR will be the one you want first. Unless you are trying to get the earliest time possible, we usually wait a little bit until the morning rush has been through the FP line. I have gone in and gotten a FP about 20 minutes after the park opened with very little wait to get the FP- just a couple of people as opposed to the first rush line that is huge if you aren't at the front. Also for RSR, it has a single rider line- we were at CA a few weeks ago and we rode RSR a bunch of times using the single rider line. You can ask the CM at the entrance about how long the line is. We never spent more than 20 minutes in the single rider line and one day it was 10 or less, so we rode it a few times in a row. Typically at rope drop, we will go back and ride TSM before the line gets too bad, and then I go get the RSR FP.


At DL, right now Peter Pan is awful because it was closed for a while and enhancements were made. When we were there a few weeks ago, if you were not at the front of the rope drop crowd you could expect at least a 40 minute wait and the line was an hour or more for most of the day. There is no FP. If that is a priority, you might want to plan to be at the front of the rope drop crowd and bolt straight there. If you don't get there before the line is 45 to 60 minutes, don't get in the line- you don't want to waste the lower line morning crowds in a line that long and you will be able to get in a line about that same length for it at some time later in the day. The Matterhorn line is often crazy, so I would hit that one next (or first if you don't do PP) as it does not have FP. It does have a single rider line, but it can get pretty long too. If not a fan of that ride- too rough for my taste- but if you have never been to DL and like roller coasters, you ought to try it once! If you are at DL at rope drop, the first couple of hours are usually great- most of the lines stay fairly short for awhile. While you are over by Matterhorn, I might also do Nemo- because that is another one that the lines get long fairly early in the day and there is no FP. Then, as you are WDW vets, I would go get FP for Indiana Jones (or ride it if the line isn't too long). There is nothing like Indiana Jones at WDW (well- Dinosaur has the same vehicle and type track, but I hate Dinosaur and love Indy) and it is a great ride. It also has a single rider line if you decide you want more rides. It isn't anywhere near Nemo- but that is one you don't want to miss- and nothing is too far away at DL which is nice. Other things you want to FP at DL are Splash, Star Tours and SM. The Splash lines can get huge in the afternoon during warm weather time, and FPs do run out for it. That is a matter of timing when to pull the FP, to get you on in the afternoon. In terms of closeness, if you did not care about Indy or Splash, what we would do is ride PP (if you are at the front of the rope drop crowd), Matterhorn, Nemo, and then I would pull a FP for Star Tours, and check the line for SM. You could do a run and pull a FP, between the rides- but in our experience the Non FP ride lines build up a lot faster than FPs run out. BTMRR is another one you might want to FP at some point-- we have found the lines sometimes long, and sometimes not so bad on that one.

Others will probably have totally different plans for you, but he above is what works for us!

Wow thank you! I don't assume that I know anything about DL waits which is why I am asking I don't want to race to the rides that I assume will have the wait and then miss the ones that I should be going to. We plan on spending 2 days there. I will download the app!! This is our first time to California and I don't know if we will get back out there so I want to be sure that I can do as much as I can. Thanks!

 

[ktlm]

Wow thank you! I don't assume that I know anything about DL waits which is why I am asking I don't want to race to the rides that I assume will have the wait and then miss the ones that I should be going to. We plan on spending 2 days there. I will download the app!! This is our first time to California and I don't know if we will get back out there so I want to be sure that I can do as much as I can. Thanks!

I will warn you that DL/CA can become addictive! We are WDW vets and were only going to take one trip out there with DD so that she could see the Aladdin show (which if you like shows is fantastic and a don't miss- it is better than any show at WDW). DD was 4 then. She is 9 now and we have been to DL/CA every summer since she was 4! We do WDW in the fall or winter. At some point we really are going to have to broaden our vacation horizons with her!!!

2 days is not that much time, but it is definitely more doable with 2 adults that do not have kids in tow. Are you planning on nighttime entertainment? The new nighttime parade at DL is the best Disney parade I have ever seen. DH even really liked it and he doesn't care that much about parades. With 2 adults, you can probably do the later one (I'm assuming it will still run twice a night when you are going?). We found it was really easy to get a great spot just about 20 minutes before the later one- people were waiting on the curb for the earlier one for hours. We were there for 5 days- so we tried that one of the first nights just to see- and it worked great. Since you won't have the days to catch a different one, I would get a spot a little earlier than 20 minutes to be safe.