Help Us Plan Which Parks Which Day/Basic Itinerary

[princess_jamie]

My sister and I are headed to DL in ... *eek* 16 days!! We will be there Dec 3-7 and will have 3.5 park days. I know the best option is to go to whatever park doesn’t have early entry, but the way that things are looking.. we will be in those parks on those days.

Basically I want to be in DL on our first half day and our last day (with the option to park hop on the last day if we wanted to) so the way I’ve scheduled it is..


Saturday Dec 3 – arrival day
– head to Disneyland around 3pm until close
– this wasn’t originally a park day, but got an upgrade in our tickets for a screamin’ deal so we get this bonus park time
– goal is to see PTN, fireworks, and ride a couple rides
– may try to see Mickey and the Magical Map at 530pm


Sunday Dec 4
– head to DL for rope drop
– hit peter pan asap and hopefully knock out a couple other fantasyland rides
– maybe grab a HM Holiday FP
– see Mickey and the Magical Map 12pm if didn’t see it yesterday
– around noon (or after MMM), park hop to DCA
– get FP for TOT and WOC– rides (likely based on app wait times) and get more FP when available (for RSR, Soarin)
– see the Buena Vista Street tree lighting at 5pm and then the Viva Navidad Street party around 515pm
– line up for TOT late check out
– see WOC (still debating the 9pm show versus the 1015pm show, but leaning towards 1015)
– park hop to DL and ride BTMRR (*because apparently BTMRR is getting refurbished on Mon/Tues)


Monday Dec 5 – Plaza Inn Breakfast 840am – after breakfast head to DCA for opening – get RSR FP and head to TSMM– rides (likely based on app wait times) and get more FP when available– be in Carsland at dusk when the lights come on – ride TOT for sure one more time– park hop to DL at DCA close


Tuesday Dec 6
– rope drop DL
– potentially wait for candy canes (tbd) if not, start on rides
– rides all day utilizing FP and the app; aim to do HMH and IASW early
– Christmas parade at 130pm – potentially see Tangled at the Royal Theater at 5pm
– fireworks at 930pm – rides and/or main street shops wandering


I know this itinerary may sound a little crazy, but we are fully prepared for long full days at Disney and are very, very happy to rope drop to park close. This is our first sister only trip, first trip as adults to Disneyland together, first time seeing Disney during the holidays, and possibly one of the only times we can crush out this many park hours with no one else around to complain We will definitely stop for food but are pretty flexible and only have the one character breakfast and no other table service. We are also happy to spend time meeting characters or wandering in stores if there is time for it or to kill time between rides.


Does anyone have any thoughts or better suggestions of when to do what park days? We are decently open – the only considerations we have is we want our first steps in a park to be at Disneyland, our Plaza Inn breakfast on Monday at 840am, BTMRR refurbishments Mon/Tues means we need to ride multiple times on Sat/Sun, we’d prefer to end our park days in Disneyland for more than just the last 3 hours, Mickey and the Magical Map doesn’t show on Tues and I’d really like to see it, and we do really want to try for a candy cane.


Also, how early should we get to rope drop to be close to the front and make a difference in our mornings?


Thanks in advance!!

 

[Elima2015]

Seems like you have a great plan. A few suggestions:
* You will probably want to arrive an hour before rope drop in order to be at/near the front. If PP is important for you, definitely hit it up first, as you said. If it isn't a big deal (and I know this is Disney blasphemy), but so many people head there that if you don't, you can do a bunch of rides in its place.
* On Sunday, you mentioned pulling FPs for ToT and RSR after you hop at 12. They will run out of FPs before you are able to do both. Send someone over earlier in the AM to pull ToT FPs and then then monitor the app for the RSR FPs and pull before they run out
* RSR is pretty cool at night - I'd plan to do that one evening (use FP or single rider, though the SR line gets long at night)
* They do not issue FPs for ToT late check-out, so just be aware as the FPs will run out earlier as a result
* While one of you holds a spot for parades and other festivities, the other can go collect FPs at DL and DCA.

Have fun! I would love to go with my sister sometime!

 

[lcp9]

FP for TOT run out on busy days by 11am at a 10am open. Even FP waits for us were about 45 mins, standby was like 120 minutes (this was on a relatively uncrowded weekday.) I would go do PP and watch FP returns very carefully on the app, and prepare for a runner to go over. I would try this your first day, BECAUSE - we were there 4 days and ToT broke on 2 of them. We were in the elevator and had starting ascending when the thing broke, after waiting in a FP line for 45 minutes, and it was broken the rest of the day. AND they did not issue FP the next day due to one elevator being down. So I'd try early in your stay to account for the possibility of it not running.

*I just noticed you want late checkout - yeah they don't do FP for that, so prepare for super long waits. If you are in the FP line around 6pm, it's possible they will convert your elevator to late checkout while in line but CM were unclear about how that all worked.

You have a little more time with RSR, depending on how busy the day was. Our goal was to pull 7pm return time, and usually that was around 1-2pm.

TSMM is supposed to have FP by then? Not sure what the update is. They said mid-november.

 

[cptmemo]

Your plans sound crazy like ours. We plan on taking advantage of 1 person parkhopping for FPs as needed. I can't decide if I want to try for a candy cane or not...

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Just keep in mind that the Candlelight Processional will make it harder to move around DL on your first two days. Looks like your plans are accounting for that already, but never hurts to mention it.

 

[chickapin parterre]

Saturday, Christmas eve, is the only T day that has candy canes, the rest of the Disneyland dates are on non-emh. so monday is the day you want for the candy cane. If you line up early at the gate, then candy cane should not be a rproblem, as long as you understand the process. YOu are lining up for one of 120 wrist bands. The first step you must take is to find the tape on the sidewalk or the line forming behind the person who arrived first at the tape. In my experince with the wrist bands, they were distributed before the rope drop, as in 5 mins or less before rope drop. But because it is an all park open rope drop, your choice of NOS should not be a problem to seek advantage.

 

[princess_jamie]

Your plans sound crazy like ours. We plan on taking advantage of 1 person parkhopping for FPs as needed. I can't decide if I want to try for a candy cane or not...

I saw the candy canes being made on a show on the food network once and thought it was amazing. I love candy canes and the timing lined up perfectly so I definitely think it's worth trying.

Ha, our plan does sound crazy, but I think it's manageable? There's only two of us, so if we do the parkhopping for FPs, I'm wondering if it'll make sense for both of us to go. I guess it depends what we are doing. If we are waiting for a parade, one can save a spot and the other can park hop. We'll see. We are trying to have a general plan, but also be flexible without compromising most of the things we want to do.

 

[princess_jamie]

Seems like you have a great plan. A few suggestions:
* You will probably want to arrive an hour before rope drop in order to be at/near the front. If PP is important for you, definitely hit it up first, as you said. If it isn't a big deal (and I know this is Disney blasphemy), but so many people head there that if you don't, you can do a bunch of rides in its place.
* On Sunday, you mentioned pulling FPs for ToT and RSR after you hop at 12. They will run out of FPs before you are able to do both. Send someone over earlier in the AM to pull ToT FPs and then then monitor the app for the RSR FPs and pull before they run out
* RSR is pretty cool at night - I'd plan to do that one evening (use FP or single rider, though the SR line gets long at night)
* They do not issue FPs for ToT late check-out, so just be aware as the FPs will run out earlier as a result
* While one of you holds a spot for parades and other festivities, the other can go collect FPs at DL and DCA.

Have fun! I would love to go with my sister sometime!

Thanks! An hour before seems reasonable.

I've actually never been on Peter Pan *gasp* (at least not as an adult that I remember, maybe as a child) so a part of me kind of feels the need to have this.. rope drop to Peter Pan kind of experience!

Yikes.. they are running out of TOT and RSR FP before noon?! Boo.. okay that is a good thing to note. I have done RSR in the day and night so it's definitely a priority to do it both times if possible. I know TOT doesn't do FP for late check out, so am prepared to wait in line. I haven't heard much about what it is besides "riding in the dark" (although.. it's always dark is it not?) but with TOT leaving in Jan I feel like I need the full experience!

Thanks so much - two weeks today and I'll be at the airport drinking my coffee waiting to board!!!

 

[princess_jamie]

Just keep in mind that the Candlelight Processional will make it harder to move around DL on your first two days. Looks like your plans are accounting for that already, but never hurts to mention it.

Thanks for the reminder, I did know it was going on. We considered entering the park on the Saturday from the monorail into Tomorrowland to avoid those crowds (and because we may be getting in during the middle of the Christmas parade) but someone in another thread mentioned entering on Main Street might have some cool photo opportunities if the parade is on. So still up in the air.. We are going to Earl of Sandwich for lunch before we go into the parks so monorail seems like a better option but we'll see!

 

[Elima2015]

Thanks! An hour before seems reasonable.

I've actually never been on Peter Pan *gasp* (at least not as an adult that I remember, maybe as a child) so a part of me kind of feels the need to have this.. rope drop to Peter Pan kind of experience!

Yikes.. they are running out of TOT and RSR FP before noon?! Boo.. okay that is a good thing to note. I have done RSR in the day and night so it's definitely a priority to do it both times if possible. I know TOT doesn't do FP for late check out, so am prepared to wait in line. I haven't heard much about what it is besides "riding in the dark" (although.. it's always dark is it not?) but with TOT leaving in Jan I feel like I need the full experience!

Thanks so much - two weeks today and I'll be at the airport drinking my coffee waiting to board!!!

If you have never done PP, then you should. It is a cute ride!

Just to clarify on the TOT and RSR FPs - I'm not sure what crowds will be like the week you are there, but our experience a couple weeks ago is that you could definitely pull one earlier in the AM and still pull the other after the two hour window or ride time comes up before they ran out for the day. What you most likely could not do is wait to pull your first one (say TOT) until 12:00pm with maybe a 3:00 return time AND wait until the two hour window at 2:00 pm to still get a RSR FP. The week we were there, we could pull TOT at like 10:45 am that had a ~1:00 return time and pull RSR at 12:45pm that would have a ~7:00-8:00 return time.

 

[princess_jamie]

Thanks for that update - that's great to know..

RSR at 7-8p is such a great time! What day of the week was that? Just curious.. I'm sure the crowds will be different but it's good info to know!

 

[Elima2015]

Thanks for that update - that's great to know..

RSR at 7-8p is such a great time! What day of the week was that? Just curious.. I'm sure the crowds will be different but it's good info to know!

We were there Wed Nov 2- Fri Nov 4. We pulled RSR FPs every day for evening rides. We were able to pull two RSR FPs on Thursday (one for a ride in the late morning, the next was an evening return). The day we pulled both ToT and RSR was Fri Nov 4. We were also able to pull Soarin' at rope drop. Our order was this: pull Soarin' FP at rope drop (10:40 return time), pull WoC fast pass (blue), TSMM with max 10 minute wait, rode it again because the line was still very short, at 10:45 pulled a ToT FP, rode Soarin, rode GRR, rode Screamin, ate lunch, pulled RSR FP for an evening return, rode ToT. We then hopped over to Disneyland to repeat a few rides, back to DCA.