I am stressing out about our trip!!

[jacobsmommy]

We will be at DL/DCA from June 19th to the 22nd and then will head to San Diego. We are staying at Fairfield Anaheim. We were contemplating upgrading to Paradise Pier for the DCA magic mornings, but decided not to b/c we didn't think that three extra hours of magic mornings was worth almost eight hundred dollars!! Our plan is to do our magic morning at DL on our first day (the 19th) and see the fireworks/MM&Y show. On our second day we were going to do DL again first thing. We thought that could be our Fantasmic Dessert Package night. Our third day would be our DCA morning. That would be our WOC night (with FP). If the rumors are correct, that would be an early entry for AP holders. I'm a bit worried about this! Then our last morning we'd be back at DL. We would also be going to DCA during the days to do stuff (not Carsland of course!)

Should I be worried?? Does this plan sound feasible? The idea of having MM every day keeps nagging at me....

 

[Butterfly123]

I think your plan sounds good! The thing about MM is that, while they are great, it can be hard to get your family up and out and to the gates so early, especially when they are tired later in the trip. I wake up early and I love MM, but it can sometimes take a lot of "encouraging" to get everyone to move when they are tired after a long park days.

Are you worried about getting WOC fastpasses because of the MM for AP holders? I would think they will all be heading straight to Carsland, not for WOC FP's. If they are AP holders chances are they've been to WOC more than once, and I doubt it would be a big priority with the Carsland competition.

Enjoy your dessert seating for Fantasmic! I love that show...never done the dessert seating, but it sounds amazing!

 

[BlueBayou]

I think your plan sounds good! The thing about MM is that, while they are great, it can be hard to get your family up and out and to the gates so early, especially when they are tired later in the trip. I wake up early and I love MM, but it can sometimes take a lot of "encouraging" to get everyone to move when they are tired after a long park days.

I ditto this.. we almost always have MM because of staying onsite or multi-day passes - and we almost never make it to MM (We had no problems pre-kids). Now if we do it's usually only 20 minutes or so. When we went to WDW with the time difference - we had trouble making late breakfast (I'm talking after 10am breakfast ADRs) but we were able close down parks with the EMHs.

 

[jacobsmommy]

In Carsland we only want to do Radiator Springs. We definitely want a FP for that. They don't do FP during MM hours do they? We also want to do TSMM and Soarin. Those are the only big rides we want to do there.

 

[2boysmom1998]

We stayed at the Fairfield last year and had a three day park hopper. We had the MM entrance. You should have the MM entrance too. It was great, the kids got their pic with Mickey. Nobody was there.

I am stressing out as well. We will be there this year the same time as you. We have a two day park hopper this year and will be at DL/DCA on the 20 and 21. They say that the crowds are going to be unprecedented because of Carsland. I'm scared to think of what kind of crowds we are going to face. Last year I was there the week after Star Tours and Little Mermaid opened. There really weren't any crowds last year, it was nice. Not to mention grad nights are in there too.

 

[Butterfly123]

I would just encourage you not to stress! The thing is, yes, it will be crowded. But you'll still be in Disneyland! And it will still be fun! Just adapt your expectations to that reality, and it really will be okay. We've been at busy times, and not so busy times, and it's still always fun. We are going in July, and have the mindset that whatever we get done, it will be more fun than sitting at home.

 

[skiingfast]

In Carsland we only want to do Radiator Springs. We definitely want a FP for that. They don't do FP during MM hours do they? We also want to do TSMM and Soarin. Those are the only big rides we want to do there.

If you only want to get in three rides it shouldn't be a problem if you are ok with the waiting.

Currently FP machines do not operate until MM ends and regular guests are let into a park.

A problem you may run into, as I expect this will happen. The Grads will get two FPs as part of thier package. They will probably use one or both on RSR. Grad Nights will be on the 19th and 21st during your visit. This may mean less FP for RSR will be distributed and or the return line will not be short. There are not going to be a lot of grads, but enough that they can use up a major part of RSR daily capacity.

In either case probably for much of this Summer the first thing to do in DCA may be to get to the RSR FP distribution as it itself may have a 30+ minute wait and all of the day's FP may be distributed in 45 minutes.

To get to the RSR FP distribution, go down Route 66 make a right at the courthouse and the machines will be on your left. The line to get the FP may reach out into Route 66.

 

[taaren]

I can sympathize. I planned our June 17-19 getaway before anything about Carsland was announced. Fortunately we have both an on-site stay as well as AP's but we're still planning on getting crushed by the crowds, so just taking it easy. There's no FP's during MM, so if you want to ride Radiator Racecars, just get your FPs when the park opens, as skiingfast mentioned.

I think our plan of attack will be to try to do the new stuff in DCA first thing/get FPs then hike on over to DL the rest of the day, maybe grabbing a FP for Grizzly for the heat of the afternoon if FPing Carsland doesn't work out.

I'd actually edit your plan and think about hitting DCA on the morning of the hotel MM rather than the AP MM since there will be less people. Your Fantasmic dessert package can be on the same day as you'll be going back and forth between DL & DCA multiple times per day anyways, as most DL people do ...