First trip to DL - traveling in 2 weeks - not prepared

[DisneyCrazMom]

This will be our families first trip to DL (family of 4 DD-9 & DS 7). Well we kept changing our plans literally just booked everything two weeks ago and now I feel panicked. We are driving and our first DL planned day is May 24, we have a four day park hopper. We have to change hotels morning of the 24th so that kind of messes up my plan. Trying to research as much as possible but feel so behind.

So I need help -

Do I really need to consider a package for the PTN or WofC?
Character dinning? I don't want to do the princesses as I don't think DS would be into it like he was when he was little.
Favorite place to eat? Starting to look at menus, will I ever get a reservation this close?

RSR - I know this is must for my son but as he is a little scared of rides I am concerned he won't want to ride again once he does it the first time so do we try during EMH or for an evening FP which I have heard riding it at night is a must.

I am a planner and usually have touring plans and everything planned out for WDW and have zero planning done for this trip. Help a momma out. Links to info is great as well.

 

[poohnpigletCA]

I am also also a planner and Disneyland is totally doable on short notice, Disney World is much harder.

We might be going next week, still not sure. So 2 weeks, no problem!

Our favorite character meal is Minnie and Friends in the park on Main Street. Even fun with my teen. It has a mixture of characters.

A reservation to Blue Bayou might be difficult but other places are doable. Are you looking for breakfast lunch or dinner? Does your hotel have breakfast? Picky eaters? What are you looking for and we can help narrow it down for you.

Disneyland is so different from Disney World as far as making plans.

 

[DisneyCrazMom]

A reservation to Blue Bayou might be difficult but other places are doable. Are you looking for breakfast lunch or dinner? Does your hotel have breakfast? Picky eaters? What are you looking for and we can help narrow it down for you.

I would say for character probably breakfast. I know I would like a dinner reservations somewhere but we could do lunch. I figure for lunch we are more snackers through the day. We are staying at Disneyland Hotel so I don't believe breakfast is included, but I think we will try to eat at Trader Sams. Not even sure that is the name, see I am totally not prepared. My kids are't really picky eaters, I probably fall into that category more then them. I am reading such great things about Blue Bayou so that might be a disappointment.

 

[poohnpigletCA]

Ok I went to the Disneyland website and searched Blue Bayou on May 24 for a party of 4 and several reservations are available. So it looks like you will have no plroblem booking there during your trip once you pick which day.

Some of our favorite restaurants are at The Disneyland Hotel. The tangoroa Terrace is a quick service restaurant serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is on the same patio as trader sams so you can order from there and then send one of the adults to Trader Sams for drinks. Steakhouse 55 is also at your hotel. Our kids went at the same age as yours. Dinner is slower paced but breakfast is also very good and a nice calm way to start your day. I personally would avoid Goofy's Kitchen, it is a little too hectic for us. We much prefer Minnies in Disneyland or any of the other character breakfasts at Disneyland.

At the Grand Californian we like Storytellrs for lunch, you usually do not need a reservation here. The quick service at the hotel White Water snacks is also very good. The Grand Californian is connected to California adventure park. We also enjoy Flo's V-8 cafe (quick service) and the cozy cones (different snack items) in Carsland.

 

[figment_jii]

Do I really need to consider a package for the PTN or WofC?

Personally, I don't think you have to do a package, but you have to be willing to invest some time to find a good viewing spot for PtN and/or WoC. I would get a FP for WoC and go from there.

Character dinning? I don't want to do the princesses as I don't think DS would be into it like he was when he was little.

There aren't a lot of character meal choices at DLR, and most are breakfast.

• Plaza Inn (breakfast) - Minnie and friends (e.g., Eeyore, Tigger, Max, Rafiki, Fairy Godmother, Chip & Dale, Captain Hook - not all, some combination, varies)
• Ariel's Grotto (breakfast and lunch) - Ariel and Princesses (e.g., Rapunzel, Belle, Snow White, Cinderella, Tiana - not all, some combination, varies)
• Storytellers (breakfast) - Chip, Dale, and other woodland friends (usually Koda and Meeko)
• Goofy's Kitchen (all meals) - Goofy and friends (usually Chip & Dale, Pluto, and Minnie)
• PCH Grill (breakfast) - Mickey and friends (usually Pluto, Daisy, and Stitch).

I've done the PCH Grill Surf's Up with Mickey and Friends and it was fun. The characters spent a good amount of time with the kids and the food was pretty good.

Favorite place to eat? Starting to look at menus, will I ever get a reservation this close?

Yes, you can often find good dining reservations with relatively short notice. The toughest ones are usually the dining packages and Blue Bayou. I would make reservations if you know you want to eat somewhere specific and/or at a specific time. I really like Carnation Cafe, Cafe Orleans, and River Belle Terrace in parks. Storytellers, Jazz Kitchen, and House of Blues are also good.

RSR - I know this is must for my son but as he is a little scared of rides I am concerned he won't want to ride again once he does it the first time so do we try during EMH or for an evening FP which I have heard riding it at night is a must.

I think RSR is fun in both the day and night, so either time is a good time to ride the attraction. If you're a pre-opening family, then I would try to ride it during EMH (just to make sure, are you're staying at one of the on-site hotels? Only they have access to EMH) and then once the park opens get the FP for an evening ride. That way, if he does like it, he can ride it a second time.

I don't know which part of RSR might be scary for your child, but you might want to have him watch a video of RSR before riding it. There is a section right when you enter the mountain that might be a bit startling. I went with a little one and he loves Cars and was very excited to ride the attraction, but when Mack appeared it freaked him out and it took a lot of convincing (and explaining) to get him to go again.

 

[smartlabelprint]

With 4 days, first trip I'd skip character meal. I'd go to blue bayou instead.

http://allears.net/dlr/dining/newdlrmenusystem.htm/menu/menus.htm This is good for meal planning.

What rides is he scared of. I think RSR is rather tame.

 

[Disney Lvr of Old]

I agree having the leisure for a character breakfast on you first trip might not be the best use of time. But if you decide to I recommend Surf's Up! At the Paradise Pier hotel. It's not as crowded as the others in my opinion and they do a fun dance party with all the kids every 30 minutes. If your son is like mine and likes Pirates then Blue Bayou is super fun to do.

As far as RSR, night time is amazing but you can always do rider swap or single rider at either time if your son doesn't want to go again. My son is terrified of roller coasters but absolutely loved this as a 5 year old. The dark part where the combine pops out is startling but as PP said, maybe YouTube it first?

Have fun planning!

 

[LizzyS]

With 4 days, first trip I'd skip character meal. I'd go to blue bayou instead.

http://allears.net/dlr/dining/newdlrmenusystem.htm/menu/menus.htm This is good for meal planning.

What rides is he scared of. I think RSR is rather tame.

The racing part scared me, thanks!

 

[agamble]

If you're moving to DL Hotel your first morning, you can go early that morning and still get EMH just by checking-in even though your room isn't ready. Plenty of others have said that was their experience. Just make sure you get a room key for everyone because they will ask to see it when you use EMH.

We enjoy Minnie's breakfast. I don't think character meals are a waste of time if you're going to have to see character anyway. Just pick the meal with the characters your son wants to see the most, then you won't have to wait to meet them in the park. The line to see Mickey in the park can be long, getting to meet him for breakfast can be nice. Plus you get EMH, so you could do EMH at DCA one morning and then walk over to the Paradise Pier and do breakfast with Mickey at a later seating.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

This thread will help you with the similarities and differences between DLR and WDW: A DLR Guide for WDW Vets
The tips and info there can help make your planning easier.

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

We love Minnie's Character breakfast. It's a buffet type and you get tons of time with characters. They even came around twice to hang out. I also adore blue bayou. You can't go wrong with either...but honestly if it's your first trip I'd probably do Blue Bayou. You can't beat the ambiance!!

I have never done WoC but some people swear by doing the Ariel's Grotto character dining for dinner so you can get the pass for better seats. Others here may know more if that's worth it. We don't do shows..we ride rides when other people do shows LOL!

I would ride RSR at night FOR SURE if you're worried he won't get back on. but I bet he will. It's one of the coolest rides ever. Very tame and fun. That way if you wanna do it in the day and he wants to ride it you can give that a try AFTER making sure to do it at night.

Planning a trip to DLR is way easier than WDW...not much actual planning is NEEDED but I am a total planner so I know how it feels to want to nail stuff down. Just know that sometimes those things may end up going by the wayside. Flying by the seat of your pants in DLR is pretty easy

 

[DisneyCrazMom]

I agree having the leisure for a character breakfast on you first trip might not be the best use of time. But if you decide to I recommend Surf's Up! At the Paradise Pier hotel. It's not as crowded as the others in my opinion and they do a fun dance party with all the kids every 30 minutes. If your son is like mine and likes Pirates then Blue Bayou is super fun to do.

As far as RSR, night time is amazing but you can always do rider swap or single rider at either time if your son doesn't want to go again. My son is terrified of roller coasters but absolutely loved this as a 5 year old. The dark part where the combine pops out is startling but as PP said, maybe YouTube it first?

Have fun planning!

My son decided last year he is scared of rides in general. We can get him on a few things but roller coaster and things that go fast scare him. He will ride a ride and love it but not want to do it again sometimes.

My children really want to do a character breakfast so maybe we will do a later breakfast and just do snacks for lunch.

 

[DisneyCrazMom]

We love Minnie's Character breakfast. It's a buffet type and you get tons of time with characters. They even came around twice to hang out. I also adore blue bayou. You can't go wrong with either...but honestly if it's your first trip I'd probably do Blue Bayou. You can't beat the ambiance!!

I have never done WoC but some people swear by doing the Ariel's Grotto character dining for dinner so you can get the pass for better seats. Others here may know more if that's worth it. We don't do shows..we ride rides when other people do shows LOL!

I would ride RSR at night FOR SURE if you're worried he won't get back on. but I bet he will. It's one of the coolest rides ever. Very tame and fun. That way if you wanna do it in the day and he wants to ride it you can give that a try AFTER making sure to do it at night.

Planning a trip to DLR is way easier than WDW...not much actual planning is NEEDED but I am a total planner so I know how it feels to want to nail stuff down. Just know that sometimes those things may end up going by the wayside. Flying by the seat of your pants in DLR is pretty easy

Thanks for the encouragement! I hate flying by the seat of my pants but we are probably going to do that a bit this trip

 

[Cats2]

My son decided last year he is scared of rides in general. We can get him on a few things but roller coaster and things that go fast scare him. He will ride a ride and love it but not want to do it again sometimes.

My children really want to do a character breakfast so maybe we will do a later breakfast and just do snacks for lunch.

If you have a 4 day ticket, how many nights will you be staying at the DLH? We usually do a character breakfast the AM of check out (I.e. Surf's Up or Storytellers since they are not in the parks). Have never done Goofy's for breakfast, and still not willing to give up morning park time for Minnie's.

Also, be aware that Ariel's Grotto WOC dinner is NOT a character meal. The breakfast & lunch are character meals (but are not WOC packages).

 

[MomForFrozenAddicts]

I'm a planner too--well trained from WDW. However, when I was there a few weeks ago, I found DLR really doesn't need as much planning. It requires tour plans if you only spend a day or two there, but you have plenty of time to experience with 4 days. Keep in mind some shows are on weekends only, so you do want to put aside time for those.

ADR is nice, but not a must. The only 2 places where they were turning people away were Plaza Inn (Minnie & Friends Breakfast--must do by the way) and Ariel's Grotto. I also didn't want to spend precious morning park time with a table meal, so I booked Minnie breakfast for 10 am when the park opened at 8 am. Especially for WDW veterans, that plaza breakfast is a dream comes true. So many rare characters. When was the last time you saw Max at WDW? Never. The food is good as well. I love the Mickey Waffle with Banana Foster sauce. The snacks are the best. Forget our Turkey Leg (not as good at DLR). Try the churro, the corns, the pickle and chimichanga. Let's not forget about the Dole Whip Float, somehow the little umbrella & cherry really do some magic to it. LOL

FastPass: I spent the first day running for FPs. I was actually holding 5 FP at the same time. RSR, WOC, Soaring, HyperSpace & Buzz. With the higher than expected crowd, my plan went out the window. My original plan was to do everywhere in the first 2 days, and go back for favorites/shows on the other 3 days. After the first day, we took a slowly pace. We spent the morning either at Carsland or at Fantasyland then moved to other part of the parks. Got FP for headliners on the other days, but didn't chase one after another. We got on most of the rides at least once, and did our favorites more than a few times.

RSR & EMH: My younger one is a scary cat. She did went on RSR twice on the first day, but refused to ride it again on all the other days. She didn't mind the speed but the up & down. Not a fan of the "free-fall" feeling. We did it first time at EMH at rope drop. We were not the middle in line at the turnstile and waited close a hour to get on. By the time we got off RSR, the wait at Luigi was at 45 mins. We tried again at a non-EMH morning. Much less people at the turnstile. Since my little refused to get on, we went on Luigi 3 times & Mater once before my sister and my older girl finished RSR. They were still able to walk on to Luigi once before the line started to build. We were able to moved on to Toy Story & Screaming with minimal wait. EMH works great if you are the head of the herd (especially when it opens at 7am) If you can't make it to EMH, then start your day at the other park so you are at the same footing as everybody else. I really wanted an evening FP for RSR, but the time between getting an evening FP & before it went out is tricky. FP went out by 11:00am the first time I tried. The second time I got to the park at 10am and the FP window was 4:45-5:45. I didn't want to hang around so I took the time slot.

Enjoy your DLR vacation.

 

[Baklava]

We like the Minnie and Friends breakfast pre-park opening.
We like Storyteller's Cafe for dinner (not character) but we may try their character buffet this trip.
We prefer Cafe Orleans to Blue Bayou which we have felt went down hill.
Goofy's Kitchen is noisy fun!

 

[JayLaLa]

I don't have much to add, but I'm sure you'll LOVE DL! I haven't been to WDW for 15 years, but as I've been planning our trip there (which is now cancelled ) It's made me appreciate DL more for the easiness of it! I can't wait to get back there!