First Visit - October 25/26

[vegs1]

Hello everyone,

We will be visiting Disneyland for the first time on Saturday, Oct. 25 and Sunday, Oct 26th. We only have the two days (although could possibly squeeze in the Halloween party on the 24th).

I was thinking it may be a good idea since we are WDW vets, to skip Fantasmic and the World of Color and just go on the rides then. We haven't seen World of Color before but think our time would be better spent touring the park and doing the rides.

Also, we weren't going to bother making any reservations but did want to ask where would be some really good counter service places to eat lunch and dinner.

Any other things you think we should know, please feel free to add.

I am assuming it will be very busy over that weekend but it's our only option.

Also...if we did do the Halloween party on the 24th, would we get on many of the rides?

Thank you!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Counter service: French Market in New Orleans Square.
Make most use of time: absolutely get there first thing in the morning, have a basic plan of what you want to do, utilize fast pass system, don't be afraid to park hop (it's not 2 min between the parks out here). Indy, Radiator Springs Racers are some non-WDW favs & I also recommend a ride through Alice In Wonderland dark ride as it's the only one in the world.

Have fun!!

 

[MermaidHair]

I can't comment on how many rides you would get at the party( this year will be my first!) but I can offer a couple of suggestions:

1) are you park hopping? I would. The parks are steps from each other and hopping is great.
2) I am not a big Fantasmic fan so I would agree, skip that. As World of Color, I would grab fast passes for it earlier in the day to keep your options open. It is a spectacular show.
3) for food, I like the Hungry Bear in DL, Paradise Grill in DCA and CORNDOGS in both parks.
4). Remember to get a list of rides that are exactly the same at both parks and keep them on the bottom of your list since you have likely ridden them before. I am no expert here but somewhere here there must be a list.

Have fun!

 

[Nonsuch]

...I was thinking it may be a good idea since we are WDW vets, to skip Fantasmic and the World of Color and just go on the rides then. We haven't seen World of Color before but think our time would be better spent touring the park and doing the rides...

I must disagree
World of Color is a unique show, and should be a priority
While I am in the minority, WOC is my favorite night show.

Fantasmic! at DL is a very different experience compared to DHS, so it's also worth taking the time to see it.

 

[allsaintsatx]

French Market, carnation cafe - not cs but cheaper than most ts, boardwalk pizza and pasta and the cs place right next to it they share a really nice outdoor seating area, kinda generic but village Haus has some great interior design

If you avoid the entertainment you will def be able to go on more rides. But, that being said, Fantasmic at DL is pretty phenomenal and from what I've heard it's way better than the WDW version.

You will absolutely get on more attractions if you pay the extra for the Halloween party. We did that last year, we paid for 2 nights - 1 to just go on rides and 1 to do all the Halloween festivities with our ds9. The first party we went on Matterhorn continuously so many times that we were almost getting tired of it. Almost. The CM just let us stay on a couple of times because there was no one else waiting. Even more popular rides like the Halloween layover of space mountain only had a 15 min wait.

Have fun!!

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

Fantasmic! has some significant differences at Disneyland, and most consider it a better show than the version at DHS. I would definitely not miss it. In the same vein, don't skip rides with the same name, either. Most have at least some differences and some are considered much better at DL (especially Space Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean.)

 

[kaills483]

I've never been to WDW so I can't speak to the differences. I've seen WOC and can't wait for our trip I'm a month to see it again. It's such a pretty show & I loved it.

Food wise there are so many options. We are planning to just graze this trip so that we can try out a lot of the snacks. For quick service the corn dogs are amazing, which says something because I don't ever eat corn dogs.

We are also going to MHP for the first time. I Called Disney & the CM said that the rides are open but not necessarily all of them. I asked some people on here & they said it's great because the lines are often shorter.

As for other tips...I wouldn't go get a fast pass for the radiator racers in cars land. We went to get in line for the ride as soon as CA opened and we only waited 45 minutes. You can easily wait an hour or two in the fast pass line & there's not even a guarantee that you will get a pass. If you are all old enough to go alone you always do the single rider, that's what we do & it's so much faster.

Have a great trip!

 

[vegs1]

Thanks so much to all of you. We now have some good ideas for food and may reconsider doing the shows too. At least World of Color. Looks like there is a dining package available for that so that may be an option. I don't want to wait around for it and have a terrible spot to watch.

Really looking forward to the trip. Thanks again.