First visit!

[BroadwayHermione5]

BroadwayHermione5- if we are only at the parks for two days- Saturday and Sunday- do you think it would be too much to do a Fantasmic dinner on the Saturday and a WoC dessert party on Sunday?
Would that take too much time away from the parks?
We’d love to see both, and would love to have seats for both.

My family and I honestly didn’t do fantasmic but that would make sense to me from what I’ve read.

 

[alleighboo]

Well it sounds like hoppers are a must!

I was looking at DLH too.

Where do you get into the parks for EE from there?
Is it crowded first thing in the morning?

We went to DL for the first time in October and LOVED it! You're going to have so much fun! We are east coast had only done WDW in the past and I've already got a trip planned in June to go back to DL!

We stayed at Paradise Pier and took advantage of EE and got SO much done. It wasn't crowded at all and like someone else said, the locals don't start coming until mid-morning/lunch time. I just went back and looked and our first day using EE we did: Snow White, Mr. Toad, Pinocchio, and Space Mountain in that 30 minutes. We also got a picture in front of the castle with no one in it! We got on Space Mountain as the park opened at 8 and by 9 we had ridden Indiana Jones, Pirates, and Pooh before a beignet break. 10/10 recommend using EE (as a the worst morning person in the world).

 

[glocon]

So I think we will be going June 3 & 4. We could go either in June or July but I wanted to go earlier in the summer rather than later.
(I’m just so excited to go!)

But June 4 is a Grad Night so I’m conflicted on how to schedule park days.

Should we start at DL on Saturday and hop to CA for rides and WoC later that day, then start at CA on Sunday then hop to DL for rides and F!? (Really want to see both shows). The Sunday is a Grad Night.

Would that be our best bet for avoiding the worst of the crowds and seeing both shows?
We’d hopefully be staying at DH or GC so will have EE to help as well.

Thanks for any advice, thoughts or suggestions!

 

[ktlm]

Usually they have WOC at 9:00 p.m., and then kick everyone out and start grad nights at 9:30 I think- but grad night is showing a start time of 9:00 p.m. this year, so who knows. They may not be planning to have it those nights.

I think your plan is good. For grad night they can get a hopper but it is about $80 more than just the California Adventure ticket, so many will stick to just the California Adventure ticket. They can also get just a party ticket, but in our experience of being there on a grad night-- there are a lot that spend the full day in the park. The high schools kids with day tickets start flooding the park in the afternoon (many teens are not morning people), so starting there at rope drop in the morning and then moving to DLR later is probably a good idea. The first 2 hours the parks are open are always the best time in the parks for getting a ton of stuff done. We rarely make EE in the morning (unless there is a new popular ride on the top of our list)- but we always get there right around regular park opening.

The WOC dessert party is a great way to see WOC. We have done it several times. It is great to have a chair, drinks and snacks, and no one standing directly in front of you blocking your view. If you can only do one of WOC or Fantasmic, I would pick WOC because there is nothing like it at WDW.

If you have to give one of the shows up, I would give up Fantasmic since you have seen it before. We do like it better than WDW's version because of the pirate ship. You can book a Fantasmic dining package and with the new rules on ADR cancellations, you don't even have to decide whether to cancel it the day before, you can cancel up to 2 hours before your reservation. Realize that with a Fantasmic dining package, you sit on the ground in the viewing area, there are no seats. If you are looking at the River Belle Terrace Fantasmic dining where you sit at the restaurant in chairs, know that the view from there is not great. I would only want to sit there if we had someone with mobility problems that couldn't do the ground in the regular dining package area. I don't know what the cancellation policy is for that specific package. If I were you, and if sitting on the ground was okay (which is a great view in the dining area), I would book the regular Fantasmic dining package for Sunday night, and then decide on Saturday after you see how much you get done that day whether you still want to see Fantasmic, or cancel and do other things instead.

We have been the exact weekend in June that you are looking at many times, we have also been on the weekends in July many times. Both are good times to go- and both have passes blocked out on the weekends which make the weekends the best days in the parks at either time.

 

[glocon]

OMG- I did it!
Made the reservations!
We are going on our first DL trip in 106 days!
Staying at GC, got the best rates using UT in case anyone else is looking.

 

[glocon]

Well, I made park reservations. I am SO excited for our first DL trip!!!

Saturday start at DL and Sunday start at CA.

We will drive in on Friday from San Diego, hopefully by lunch time.
Since we are staying at GCH I want to spend time there, maybe have lunch and sit by the pool or in the lounge with a drink while we wait for our room.

Maybe head to DS for dinner, or maybe try a different restaurant at GCH for dinner.

I’d like to maybe go to the patio where you can see WoC that night to see it from that perspective.

Then park reservation for DL on Saturday (do EE) and hop to CA later for rides and WoC dessert party if we can get it.

Then Sunday (which has a Grad night party) do EE at CA and in afternoon hop to DL for rides and hopefully the seated dinner for F!

It will be busy and short, but hopefully just a first visit of many to DL. I can’t wait!

Any tips or suggestions?

 

[mdmost]

Can you get a Trader Joe's reservation for that Friday night? It's great. Wife and I went for the first time on our last trip while the kids were riding rides at CA. It's on the list to do every time going forward. You can eat there as well.

Your plan seems good. You can get so much accomplished at both parks before 11am.

 

[glocon]

Can you get a Trader Joe's reservation for that Friday night? It's great. Wife and I went for the first time on our last trip while the kids were riding rides at CA. It's on the list to do every time going forward. You can eat there as well.

Your plan seems good. You can get so much accomplished at both parks before 11am.

Thanks!
That does sound like fun- definitely want to try there!