Help me plan a super fast Disney weekend in October

[mouschievous]

I've mentioned before that we have an industry summit in Disneyland on October 10 & 11. I have my tickets, some colleagues and I booked a VRBO and we're getting our plans in order.

This is the first year of the summit so a lot is up in the air right now. What we do know is

• We'll arrive sometime the evening of Thurs 10/9
• The summit runs 9 am to 5 pm on both Friday and Saturday 10/10 and 10/11
• Our summit registration includes a 2 day park hopper for Fri/Sat (already loaded into my Disneyland app)
• We're on our own for all meals, including lunches during the summit, which we'll eat in park to save time (but we don't know the time of our lunch break or how long we'll have)
• We'll go home sometime on Sunday 10/12

We looked at adding a day (either Thursday or Sunday) but the cost was more than we wanted to spend ($170 for one park, $240 for park hopper), so we'll just be in park on our two summit days.

Some questions -

• Assuming the parks open at 8 am and I need to meet the summit folks at 9 am (location TBA, but somewhere in one of the parks), is there any point in rope dropping? I usually do, but I'm worried that with the crowds I'll end up being late for the summit.
• What are your favorite quick service GLUTEN FREE options in each park? I have some faves, but I haven't been for 3 years so I'm guessing some things have changed.
• We have from 5 pm (end of summit) until park close each night to enjoy the parks. What would you prioritize in October? (I have NBC Haunted Mansion, so no need to prioritize that!) I do enjoy entertainment, but I don't ever need to line up hours early to see it - I'm happy to show up 5-10 minutes early and get an ok view.
• I'm thinking about the Storytellers Character Dinner on Thursday when I arrive. Anything I should know about that? I've done the Storytellers character brunch before but never dinner.
• Ant other words of wisdom for a Disney veteran whose never done a trip like this or been in October?

 

[bakofarmgirl]

if you rope drop and youre able to go on your phone in the meetings, you can stack LL up for after 5pm

 

[wench]

If you want to add a day you should be able to do so at a ticket booth. You would pay the difference between a 2 day PH & a 3 day PH. You wouldn’t have to buy a single day ticket which seems to be the pricing you were quoting.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

• Assuming the parks open at 8 am and I need to meet the summit folks at 9 am (location TBA, but somewhere in one of the parks), is there any point in rope dropping? I usually do, but I'm worried that with the crowds I'll end up being late for the summit.

Yes to rope drop.
I stay offsite and I am at the bag check security for 7.15 and scanned into the park by 7.30am. When the parks open at 8am you will have time to do one or maybe 2 rides. BUT as you have scanned into the park it opens Lightning Lane booking

if you rope drop and youre able to go on your phone in the meetings, you can stack LL up for after 5pm

^^^^
THIS
As you know you wont be in the parks until after 5pm, you have the opportunity to stack everything for later.