Helping My Parents

[shb5007]

Hello, my parents are heading out to California for the Rose Bowl in a few weeks, but they want to spend a day around the Disneyland area. We are all Disney World regulars, but have only been to Disneyland once (back in 2009, spending 1 day in Disneyland). They only have ONE day for BOTH parks. They are thinking December 28th, depending on the weather. I realize this is a VERY busy time, but they are limited on options. They are getting peak 1-day hopper tickets. They don't care for certain things, but they have a few "wants" in both parks. Can someone help me develop a plan for them? I have already done some digging around.

DISNEY CA WANTS
1.) Radiator Springs Racers
2.) Soarin'
3.) Toy Story Mania

DISNEYLAND WANTS
1.) Haunted Mansion
2.) It's A Small World
3.) Star Tours
4.) Entertainment - Christmas Fantasy Parade (4:30pm), Paint The Night Parade (9pm), and Fireworks (9:30pm).

OTHER INTERESTS
1.) Nemo
2.) Pirates of the Caribbean

The park hours this day are DCA (8-10) and DL (8-12). Both parks have EMH from 7-8am.

They want to start at DCA, so based on my reading, they should head to FP for Radiator Springs and then head to ride Toy Story. After that they could hit up Racers or Soarin' based on their FP time. That is really all they want to do in that park. I was thinking they could get all of this done by 11am including walking around the Cars Land area a bit. Does that sound reasonable? Does this strategy make the most sense? Any other tips? They WILL be there at rope drop.

Any strategy ideas for entering DL around 11am-12pm? I know it will already be full. Will capacity be a problem that week? I want to make sure they can get in. If so, what is the best strategy with FP and order of rides. They basically have until 4:30 to get their 3-5 rides in before their shows start.

Also, after the fireworks (10pm) they want to head to Trader Sams. Any tips on that? Should they walk? Or take the monorail? Anything else you think they should check out in that area?

Thanks for any help, you can also provide any other tips as you might see fit. I appreciate it.

 

[shb5007]

Another new question: Any benefit to buying parking online ahead of time? Will it save any time?

 

[Darkbeer1]

Another new question: Any benefit to buying parking online ahead of time? Will it save any time?

NO, all parking toll booths have the same lines, no special pre-paid lines. When you get to booth, you can hand over your credit card and the swipe it and no signature is require, since the price is low enough. (Also, AP holders with parking, some AAA members with travel packages and pre-paid vouchers also show their entry media and it is scanned in the same amount of time. Cash actually takes the most time, as at $18, change has tobe made. But most Parking CM's will try and prepare sets of 2 $1 bills to make the transaction move faster.

 

[Darkbeer1]

OK, let's get to the main question, not sure which direction your parents will be coming from, but I would try and park at the Mickey and Friends Structure, for easy of return to the car after Trader Sam's. I ti will take some time to park, then go through the security check and get a seat on a tram to the Main Entrance Plaza. I would want to be at the Structure entrance by 7 AM, but Disney might be forcing cars to an alternative parking area, more than like the Toy Story lot, in which case, you are just stuck going there.

The DCA part sounds good, if anything, you could skip Soarin', as the ride and movie is exactly the same as WDW.

For Disneyland, just head to the Main Entrance as soon as you can, I would go straight to Star Tours and get an FP, then head to "iaswh" and then the Haunted Mansion (and if the lines are long, and it is running late, get an FP. Though you need to use the F in the 1 hour window, there is a normal courtesy time that would be longer than normal due to the large crowds. To get a decent seat for the parade, 1 hour before is about the wait period, so with that in consideration, maybe ride Pirates of the Caribbean after the Haunted Mansion, based on time of day and wait time. As for Nemo, well, play that one by ear, you could try and fit it in between the Christmas Parade and Paint the Night. Since you will watch the Fireworks from whenever you are for the parade, p,an for that. And yes, the Monorail would save some time to get to Trader Sam's, you avoid the Main Street mess, and less walking, if the line isn't too long. Disney might also be restricting it to the Disney owned Hotel guests only, so walking might be the only option.

After Trader's Sams, you will need to get back to the car, if you got forced into Toy Story or other lot, you will have to walk back through Downtown Disney and the Main Entrance Plaza to access the Main Transportation Hub off of Harbor.

Hope that helps.

 

[SMD]

They should do DL first. At minimum they should walk into DL and walk out before they head to DCA. There's a high likelihood of a gate closure at DL and they may have an advantage getting back in as a re-entry depending on the level of closure.

 

[mom2rtk]

They need to load the DL app on their phone and learn how the FP system works. It will make a big difference in whether they are able to accomplish all of that.

 

[mom2rtk]

FP in the 2 parks is disconnected. Not sure how easy it will be on such a busy to to hop over just to pick up a FP, but it's worth considering.

The DL app shows current wait times and FP distribution times for each attraction.

RSR will run out very early.

Nemo is going to be a big challenge. That line is as slow as molasses and there is no FP. Even if you do it at rope drop, it takes a long time loading and running.

In that big of a crowd, I would definitely take the monorail if it's running. Escaping the crowds in Tomorrowland is a gift from the heavens on a busy day like that.

 

[Tasscrapper]

If they don't have to sit next to each other on Racers single rider line might be an option too. A lot of the time you can end up racing someone on your group that way which I think is actually funner.

 

[SMD]

I haven't waited more than 20 minutes for Nemo is years, including 24 hour events, peak of summer, race weekends, holidays, and this past Dapper Day. Even right now, it's the last day before AP blockouts, and Space is 55 min, Star Tours is 80 min, Matterhorn is down, so those crowds are likely dispersed and Nemo is only 15 min.

But, looking at their date, PTN is at 6:30 and 10:30. Christmas parade is at 1:30 and 4:15. They should probably find a spot for the 4:15 parade at least an hour early and just hold it for the 6:30 PTN (unless they want to stay for the 10:30 PTN, hard to say if it will be less crowded with a 4 hour gap between them. They should probably do a package in this case.) If they hold the spot, this would be a good time to check the app for FP return times and one goes to get FP for after PTN.

 

[mom2rtk]

I haven't waited more than 20 minutes for Nemo is years, including 24 hour events, peak of summer, race weekends, holidays, and this past Dapper Day. Even right now, it's the last day before AP blockouts, and Space is 55 min, Star Tours is 80 min, Matterhorn is down, so those crowds are likely dispersed and Nemo is only 15 min.

But, looking at their date, PTN is at 6:30 and 10:30. Christmas parade is at 1:30 and 4:15. They should probably find a spot for the 4:15 parade at least an hour early and just hold it for the 6:30 PTN (unless they want to stay for the 10:30 PTN, hard to say if it will be less crowded with a 4 hour gap between them. They should probably do a package in this case.) If they hold the spot, this would be a good time to check the app for FP return times and one goes to get FP for after PTN.

I'm not just talking about the ride wait time for Nemo, although the lines we saw in mid-November were frequently longer than 20 minutes. (The DL app shows the wait time right now at 25 minutes and it's still early.) I'm talking about total time to accomplish the ride, including loading and actual ride time. When we do it during early entry, it takes close to half of the hour just to do it. I don't consider that an efficient use of time, but do it because my daughter wants to.

Hopefully the OP can ride with a minimal wait, but I only wanted to offer them a heads up that it can take a deceptively long time to ride.

And I agree that if they want to see the 2 parades, getting a spot early for the 4:15 and staying through for PTN is the best bet. We enjoyed the PTN packages, but it would seem less helpful since they are already waiting for the Christmas parade.

 

[Darkbeer1]

OK, I just checked the schedule, so do the 4:15 Christmas Parade (Main Street to "iaswh"), and get a good viewing area by 3:15 PM. Then at 8:30 or so, maybe a bit before, find a place you can watch the 9:30 PM fireworks,and the 10:30 Paint the Night and plan to stay there until after PtN is over. Then head over to Trader Sam's

 

[shb5007]

So here is what I am working with so far, I appreciate the information. Does this seems reasonable and doable?

01.) Obtain FP - Radiator Springs Racers (at rope drop at 8am)
02.) Ride - Soarin'
03.) Ride - Toy Story Mania
04.) Ride - Radiator Springs Racers (with FP)
05.) Area - Cars Land
06.) Transfer - Head Towards Disneyland (around 11am)
07.) Obtain FP (if available) - Star Tours / Haunted Mansion
08.) Ride - Star Tours / Haunted Mansion (non FP)
09.) Ride - It's A Small World
10.) Ride - Star Tours / Haunted Mansion (with FP)
11.) Christmas Parade (4:15pm)
12.) Paint The Night Parade (6:30pm)
13.) Ride / Food - Open
14.) Fireworks (9:30pm)
15.) Monorail - Trader Sam's

A few more questions, then.

What are the chances Disneyland is closed (capacity) by 11am? How do you find out if the monorail is running? How do you find out when they only allow resort guests on the monorail?

I will have them download the Disneyland app.

Thanks again for all of the help, thus far!

 

[starry_solo]

I would do it in this order:
1. Obtain FP for Radiator Springs Racers (at rope drop at 8am)
- yes, have one person run ahead (if possible) to get that. Have the other two people slowly walk towards Toy Story Midway Mania. However, if the return time is way too long, you might consider single rider'ing this ride too.
2. Ride Toy Story Midway Mania (no single rider lines anymore). Depending on how long it's been, you might also be able to go get a Soarin' FP (again, one person runs over there while the others in the group wander over to RSR)
3&4. Ride RSR via FP and then look around Cars Land
5. Ride - Soarin' so it will be your last ride then walk out of the park
6. Transfer - Head Towards Disneyland (around 11am)
7. Obtain FP (if available) - Star Tours / Haunted Mansion
8. Ride - Star Tours / Haunted Mansion (non FP)
9. Ride - It's A Small World
10. Ride - Star Tours / Haunted Mansion (with FP)
11. Christmas Parade (4:15pm)
12. Paint The Night Parade (6:30pm)
13. Ride / Food - Open
14. Fireworks (9:30pm)
15. Monorail - Trader Sam's

If you don't have the Disneyland APP (or can't download it), right down Main Street, there is a booth with estimated waiting times. They will also tell you whether a FPs are available for HM (sometimes they have them, sometimes they don't).

 

[SMD]

I highly doubt that if they pull an FP for RSR at opening that they could get through TSMM and Soarin standby within the likely return period. They might have to do, RSR FP, ride TSMM, Soarin FP, ride RSR, then see what time their Soarin FP ends up.

If the monorail is hotel guests only there will be a sign at the DTD entrance. The monorail is not reliable for transportation, it's down a lot. It's been down for the last 4 hours today. If they're on Main St for fireworks it makes more sense to walk to DLH than TL.

Where are they planning to watch PTN and Christmas parade? If it's near IASW, they should rush to that after PTN. Going back and forth between HM and Star Tours for rides and FP, especially if it's before or during the 1:30 parade is going to be hard enough, I wouldn't add a trip to IASW in there. (Though during the parade is a good time to do IASW, if they were to be on Toontown side of the route, it's really easy and you can get glimpses of the floats from the queue.

 

[mom2rtk]

Just as a follow-up, the current wait time for the Nemo Subs on the app is 60 minutes.

 

[mom2rtk]

I second the idea of writing Small World during one of the parades. Getting there while everyone else has camped out for the parade makes a huge difference in your wait time. And without fastpass that line can be very long and slow this time of year.

 

[SMD]

I second the idea of writing Small World during one of the parades. Getting there while everyone else has camped out for the parade makes a huge difference in your wait time. And without fastpass that line can be very long and slow this time of year.

And 120 for Space and 60 for Star Tours. Interesting that ST went down.

 

[Nevada Jen]

For the DCA portion, I think I would get FP for Soarin, ride Toy Story, ride soarin and then single rider RSR. My concern with Getting the RSR fastpass first is that I suspect that unless you literally run that day, you are going to get a fastpass that is at least a couple of hours out minimum and potentially 3 or 4 hours out and you have now lost the prime toy story time and the soarin fastpass return time that starts 30 minutes after opening. Or if I am really off on how fast the RSR fastpasses will go that day, they could get a fastpass for RSR after riding toy story (assuming their fastpass window for Soarin has opened).

For the DL portion, I'm not as good with the ride planning because my DD is in a wheelchair and that totally changes the strategy but a really good way to save time waiting for parades is to get the Alladin's Oasis PTN grab and go package. That will get them a reserved area for PTN for a really good price (and an edible meal, which if the park is super busy, they might really appreciate.

 

[SMD]

There are 2 ways you could go on this. Here's sort of a worst case scenario for FP. If you pull a Soarin FP first at park open, the latest you could get an RSR FP is going to be 2 hours after the park opens. But, it will likely be an afternoon or early evening return for RSR after 2 hours. In that case you could just use SR before leaving the park. However, if your second FP is that late, that means your Soarin return time would also be 2 hours or more after the park opened. If the Soarin FP are moving that quickly at park open, I'd actually get in the line for Soarin, send a runner for RSR and do standby for Toy Story as long as it's under an hour, which it likely would be even after a 30-40 min wait for Soarin.

If you pull an RSR FP first, it's the same, the latest you could pull a Soarin FP is 2 hours after the park opens, and if your return time is a lot later, then I'd do Toy Story first, and either check the standby for Soarin, or pull a really late Soarin FP just before leaving the park and hop back for that at the end of the night. Soarin is near the front of the park, and if you had to do it that way, it's not horribly out of the way.

The other thing I would keep in mind, if you're already planning to go back and forth across DCA to TSMM and Soarin and then back and forth between Star Tours and HM in DL, plus walking to Trader Sam's at the end of the night, that really adds up by the end of the day. Sometimes waiting a little bit longer in a standby line ends up being a better choice than crisscrossing the parks to save a little bit of time in a few lines.

 

[shb5007]

Thanks for the help and input all. I sat down with them yesterday and feel like we came up with a few pretty good plans / ideas. No matter what, I know they will have an amazing day!

On the Fast Passes, do you HAVE to show up within window? I know with the older system at WDW you could show up a little after expiration of the window.