How do you start planning the days inside the park??

[Tasscrapper]

I've got everything travel wise planned as well as tickets to the Medieval tournament thing but I can't seem to start on what to do inside the parks.. I don't know why not but I think it is because of a sensory overload of all the info I can't seem to organize it in my brain. For two adults coming as first timers and arriving in the afternoon what would you suggest we start with? I definately want to do things like ToT, Star Tours, TSMM, Pirates ect but don't know how to go about planning it. I definately want to do the teacups since that is the only thing besides Dumbo that I remember from my trip as a child. Do I need to just pick a land and start there or is it better to skip in and out of the different lands? When the parades and things happen are the rides significantly less busy? We'll be going for three days and although I plan on doing most the parades ect we will only do them once. I need help!

 

[abby]

My first suggestion is get the unofficial guide to disneyland. While it has touring plans, I don't use those, but the advice about how to approach the parks is helpful.
Make a list of what you want to do, figure out when the best time is to do those.
We usually go to the parks with a game plan for the first two hours, then just wing it from there.

 

[dmked]

I used the Unofficial Guide as a template somewhat to make my own plans. I stuck to the plan pretty good the first day, but we had plenty of time left so we started on some of Day 2's stuff. So I would make sure you write a list of must-dos I think that is more important then a planned out day.

 

[avalon451]

Read Hydroguy's tips thread. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1520483 He's got some great guides in there about how to do the parks with as little standing in line as possible. I think he actually "gets it" better than the Unofficial Guide or Ridemax, both of which I used extensively.

Ridemax is fun, though. You can put some rides in that you want to do, and it will spit out a schedule for you with the times all maximized for the best efficiency, and least waiting in line. It's fun to play with. It costs $15 to download for 3 months; I think it's $20 or 25 for a year. www.ridemax.com

Hope that helps!

 

[Hound 109]

What are the dates (& days) of your visit & how many days will you have MM?

(& read all of HydroGuy's tips for great background info AND great detailed info.)

 

[Tasscrapper]

I've been reading Hydro Guys tips this morning and now understand fastpasses. I loved the picture guide of it since it helped me visualize it.

Our dates are Aug 26 (getting there about 2 probably) to the 30th. We will be getting a rental car for the Friday and going to a beach and then the early showing of the Medieval Tournament. I'm not sure if we will go to Disneyland in the morning or possibly evening of Friday the 29th. It will depend on how we feel.

So I know Autopia has fastpass but I'm wondering is it worth going on? I don't know if I am missing something but just driving a round on a track doesn't seem like much fun unless it is like go carts. I watched a youtube video to see what it was but it didn't look like anything special. Am I missing something?

 

[Leofoenget]

I second Ridemax. Put in what you want and it tells you what lines are shortest.

 

[HydroGuy]

I've been reading Hydro Guys tips this morning and now understand fastpasses. I loved the picture guide of it since it helped me visualize it.

Our dates are Aug 26 (getting there about 2 probably) to the 30th. We will be getting a rental car for the Friday and going to a beach and then the early showing of the Medieval Tournament. I'm not sure if we will go to Disneyland in the morning or possibly evening of Friday the 29th. It will depend on how we feel.

So I know Autopia has fastpass but I'm wondering is it worth going on? I don't know if I am missing something but just driving a round on a track doesn't seem like much fun unless it is like go carts. I watched a youtube video to see what it was but it didn't look like anything special. Am I missing something?

First you should take a stab at which parks you will do each day. You will have at least one Magic Morning and I recommend using it as early in your trip as possible because you will have more energy and can wake up earlier.

Wednesdays are generally the least crowded days at the DL park and I try to spend most of a Wednesday at DL. Days that have Magic Morning but you do not (because you already used yours) are good days to start at DCA and spend more hours there.

You will also need to look at entertainment schedules to make sure you are at the right park on the right day at the right time to catch that. Mid-summer this is a non-issue because entertainment is at maximum every day, but by late August Disney is usually starting to ramp it down.

After you get an idea of which parks on which days, then you should guess which days you can arrive before the gates open to get a jump on the rides. Plan to use the mornings on slow loading rides and also FP collection. RideMax can be helpful in either creating itineraries or just giving you an idea of how lines build on different rides.

Some people like to plan out all their rides. We tend to follow "informed spontaneity" whereby we know which rides are best to do in the morning and which FPs to get, but we do not have a strict schedule of rides. We do need to know as much as possible before we enter park which rides are priorities that day so we can fit in the ones that are hard to fit (like Nemo Subs or Peter Pan). It just does not work well for someone to say mid-morning that they want to ride Nemo when the line is already 60+ minutes long. If you have young children it is harder because they may not know what they want to do until they see it. So some flexibility is needed on both your side and theirs. For instance, when they want to do the Subs and the line is 60 minutes long you may be able to say "Great idea! Let's do that first thing tomorrow morning when the line is short!"

Hope that helps.

 

[Tasscrapper]

Thanks HydroGuy. I absolutely love your tip sheets. Is there a place where the slow loading rides are listed that I haven't seen yet?

 

[chrissiecutie]

So this may seem silly but I've always planned my "route" in the park according to where I want to eat. Since this will be my son's 1st trip (we leave tomorrow!!!!) I am definately planning things around food. My son and DH are both picky eaters, so I read menus and decided what places they would most likely eat. Then circled those on a map and went from there.

I can tell you that we will be starting in Fantasyland our first day. My plan is for my son to ride Dumbo as his very first Disney ride! Plus that day we have magic morning so will get into the park at 7am. Most the rides in Fantasyland are open I believe.

Then other days, I did plan on where I wanted to start each day and tried to find a restaurant (on the map that I had circled) close to there for lunch. I then just picked a restaurant on the opposite end of the park for dinner. It's unlikely we will be criss crossing the parks much.

This way I can assure we get the busy/popular rides out of the way first and still accomodate my picky eaters. Just made sense for me...best of luck!