How much planning?

[SecretPoohLove]

Hi everyone! This is my first post on the Disneyland board. I am a WDW veteran...you know the usual story...plan like crazy, plan other people's trips for them, etc.
well, we are headed to California for the first time Nov 9-19 with 13-19 staying at GCV and the rest of the time in San Diego. We have our to be 7 year old son with us...how much of an intense daily plan do I need? We are rope drop people, so I know we can get a lot done early, and will be doing DL for 5 days. ANy advice would be appreciated. We are celebrating our 10 year anniversary, DS's 7th bday and my 50th this trip so any special things would be great. if we put DS is the kids club for an evening is there a recommended Adult dinner? Thanks so much!

 

[gottalovepluto]

10 year anniversary & your 50th! Congrats!! I say Napa Rose AT GCH for your adults dinner. If the menu does not appeal check out Steakhouse 55 at DLH. As a fellow rope dropper & 5 day ticketer the amount of planning needed is 1 on a scale of 10. Make your dining reservations ahead of time (especially Napa Rose & Blue Bayou, idk how hard ressies are at S55) the window is 60 days. And then sit back & chill until your trip!

 

[mom2rtk]

10 year anniversary & your 50th! Congrats!! I say Napa Rose AT GCH for your adults dinner. If the menu does not appeal check out Steakhouse 55 at DLH. As a fellow rope dropper & 5 day ticketer the amount of planning needed is 1 on a scale of 10. Make your dining reservations ahead of time (especially Napa Rose & Blue Bayou, idk how hard ressies are at S55) the window is 60 days. And then sit back & chill until your trip!

Yes. WDW this is not.

 

[PoohsFan1]

We are WDW vets too and are taking our second venture to Disney's original park in June. I am like you were when I plan out my WDW trips I am always in planning mode about 7 months or more (we are DVC members therefore we always have our resorts booked at either 7 months out or 11 months out) and I too plan other family members/friends trips for them. The biggest difference with planning a WDW trip compared to a DLR trip (at least what I have experienced) is at DLR you really have to wait to get everything set in stone (dining reservations, park hours, etc.) and with me being an OCD planner, it sometimes gets really hard to do this. At WDW you have to plan out your restaurant reservations 180 days in advance, at 60 days you plan out your FPs, there is just so much to planning a WDW vacation which you already know about. On the other hand, planning out a DLR vacation is so much more relaxed, you can't even make dining reservations until 60 days out and even then you don't really have to worry about getting the reservations that you want right at the 60 day mark because people aren't up at 6am trying to get the hard to get reservations (no OCD planning here). Also at DLR you don't have to worry about FP+, magic bands, and MYW, they don't have that system....yet, it looks like FP+ may be coming in the future though (no MBs though), but for now DLR is still using the legacy FPs like WDW used to have way back when (so excited to be going back to this when we are there). There is a really great thread on here that is called Hydroguy's DLR guide for WDW vets (it is in one of the stickies towards the top of the page). That and all of the wonderful DLR vets on this board really helped me out when I was planning our first trip.

To answer your second question, if you are looking for a date night meal, I would highly suggest dining at the Napa Rose which is located in GCH. If you want to go into a park to eat, then at DCA I would suggest Carthay Circle and over at DL Park I would highly suggest the Blue Bayou. BB was our favorite meal on our last trip, we loved it so much that we will be dining there twice on our upcoming trip. Happy planning .

 

[Butterfly123]

I usually only make a couple of dining reservations, and have an idea of which park to start with each day, and which land/ride to head for first. I also like to plan which evening entertainment to shoot for each day. I do like to make a list of "must do's", food or rides or shows. But that's about it! Five days is plenty to get everything done. It's my favorite amount of time! Have a great visit!

 

[Indiana Scott]

We plan nothing and find it's a lot less stressful and more fun to just roam the park and do what ever we feel like doing.
If there's a place that requires RSVP's we just call Disney Dining (714 781 34630) and make a reservation.But, most of the time we go to dinner early and there's no problem just walking in most places. Keep in mind we go during the slower times though!

 

[SecretPoohLove]

Thanks everyone! It is so hard to not plan!!! What will i do for the next 4 months! One last question. Would it make sense for us to do the holiday time at disneyland tour?

 

[SecretPoohLove]

Also are the weekdays the week before thanksgiving usually a slower time?

 

[PoohsFan1]

Thanks everyone! It is so hard to not plan!!! What will i do for the next 4 months! One last question. Would it make sense for us to do the holiday time at disneyland tour?

Do what I do....go on Youtube and watch the different ride videos, watch different Disneyland vloggers on Youtube (my favorite is Fresh Baked Disney), watch Disney movies...classic and newer ones, etc....

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Also are the weekdays the week before thanksgiving usually a slower time?

No. Unfortunately, for the last few years, the days leading up to Thanksgiving have been PACKED. It's because a lot of Southern CA people are off for the whole week, but no APs are blocked.

With five days, you'll still have more than enough time to get everything done, but just be aware that it will probably get very congested.

I always enjoy the DL tours and think they're definitely worth doing if it's in the budget. I haven't done the holiday one in particular, but we've done a couple of others and really enjoyed them.

 

[SecretPoohLove]

Thanks! We are actually going the week before thanksgiving week, so hopefully we will get lucky with crowds!

 

[GatorChris]

It's a pretty hard switch to make, but once you make it, DL becomes such an easy going vacation. There aren't a lot of great TS dining choices like at WDW, and most people don't spend time going to them. So if you want a ressie, it's fairly easy to make, even 30 days out.

For planning parks, I just like hitting one park per day. Then let the wind blow you where you want to go. With that many days there, you'll hit everything multiple times, so just take it nice and slow.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Thanks! We are actually going the week before thanksgiving week, so hopefully we will get lucky with crowds!

Oh, that will be less crowded then - allegedly, anyway! Hopefully they won't be running everything at stupidly low capacity anymore and slashing hours. (Don't mind me, I'm currently bitter on behalf of some out-of-town friends who flew out last week and got pretty shafted by the higher-than-expected crowds, evening hour cuts, and many rides running half capacity in spite of huge lines... I don't care on our behalf because we can go anytime, but it sucks for people who are doing their big Disney trip and then get unexpectedly bad conditions.)

Like I said, with five days, you'll be able to do everything and then some anyway, but that sounds like a good week - I just checked my phone pics, and it looks like I was there twice that week last year and the crowds look minimal and the park is festive and pretty!

 

[SecretPoohLove]

Thanks everyone! Can't wait to see the holiday ride overlays! Lots of grumbling on the east coast as well about the lower ride capacities in this cost cutting era, hopefully that will get to the ears of the folks in charge and they will sort it out.