help! totally unexpected trip - no plans, no idea!

[clerkshipwanted]

we are stuck in california because of hurricane sandy so decided to make lemonade out of lemons and go to disneyland. we just got here late tonight and leave friday. tomorrow is california adventure b/c DL has halloween party. i have no idea what to do and what our plan should be.

we went to WDW a year ago and I planned for months.

any tips would be helpful. so far only plan is to get there 30 min or so before opening (early admission) and get to RSR. what should we do next? i have two young adventurers in tow.


thanks!

 

[Girimama33]

Stay to the right of the rope drop line while they walk you down CL.
Ride RSR
Luigi's
Mater's
Toy story
Get in line for RSR FP before park opens.
Do whatever else you want to do in DCA. Redwood Creek Challenge is cool for adventurers.
Have fun!

 

[lisachrystine]

decided to make lemonade out of lemons and go to disneyland.

Way to make the best of the situation! Go with the flow and have fun. Sometimes these spontaneous trips end up being the best (for me at least)!

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

Call Disney Dining 1st thing and book yourself some dinners, so you aren't stuck waiting in long lines for dinner at counter service. Especially Halloween night!

Go early, collect FPs, and see WOC! There is a sticky, read it to get the best place to stand to watch it! Oh and you should see Aladdin since you are there too... it is really great and something WDW doesn't have!

 

[Cinderpamela]

For counter service, if you cant get any reservations we love :

Pacific Wharf in DCA
Whitewater snacks in the Grand Californian... its a great spot for a meal.
Corn Dogs
Rancho Del Zocalo

We haven't tried Flos yet but have heard lots of good things.

Have Fun!!

 

[clerkshipwanted]

We had a great first day!
There were no lines - the longest we waited was 30 minutes for RSR (after riding it with no wait twice earlier in the day).
Kids had a blast. Now its DL so any advice would be great.
Thanks.

Oh and we saw both Aladin and WOC - they were both fabulous.

 

[Girimama33]

Get there early and start in FL. Use FP when it is available. BTMRR may not have FP running, but the line moves fast. Make sure you ride HMH. A few rides will be down like Indy, IASW, storybook and Casey Jr.
For quick meals/snacks, we like French Market, corn dogs, turkey legs.
Sound like you had a great day at DCA.

 

[CourtFool]

Now its DL so any advice would be great.

Just walk around and ride whatever catches your fancy. Plans are over-rated.

 

[clerkshipwanted]

Just walk around and ride whatever catches your fancy. Plans are over-rated.

Thanks! That's basically what we did - but the park was not very crowded so it made that "un"plan very manageable. Tomorrow the park will be more crowded, i presume, because its Saturday and unfortunately the parade taping. We missed peter pan so that is first on our list. and my son wants to see the Abraham Lincoln thing. We hit most of the other popular rides yesterday. Anyone have a favorite hidden gem?