Ideal ride plan with small children

[Laurie86]

Hey all! Going to DL first time Oct 24 (thursday)! I've always been a DisneyWorld fan but I am excited to see the original!

People coming are myself, DH (who gets motion sickness so he will probably not ride anything), DS7, DD4, DD7 months, and my parents (mid 60s very active). As a result some of the rides like Space Mountain are not really on our radar because my kids are short and not interested in scarier rides.

There is early entry that day but we don't qualify so we will get in at 8 AM with the general crowd. Knowing this what would your ideal ride schedule be with young children? I've read the first two hours are really when you can get the most rides in without crazy waits. Which of the more adult rides have the single rider option so either myself or my parents might get in a few?

All of the calendars I've seen show moderate crowds on the date we've chosen but I understand those are really subjective.

Also I read IASW is closed end of Oct? When do they traditionally close and reopen in the fall? Is there any chance it could be open for Oct 24? DH has never been to disney and I really wanted him to experience this classic ride but i know it might not happen. Thanks everyone!

 

[agamble]

I think your best bet is to head to Fantasyland and hope those who did have early entry are heading to other areas. Go for Dumbo or Alice first. Pinochio and Snow White should both still be walk ons. Try to ride as many Fantasyland rides as you can the first hour then head to Toon Town a little before 9. They have an opening ceremony and the characters come out. Take your 7 and 4 year old to Gadgets Go Coaster. It has a 35 in requirement and is very mild. The line will be short at first and it will be easy to reride if they love it. If your kids enjoy Gadgets consider taking them on Big Thunder Mtn later. It is the best coaster for kids who want a bit of coaster fun but are timid. My son loved Big Thunder at 4 and he was pretty ride timid.

As far as riding a few big rides you and your parents can use Fast Pass machines for free FP to get on the rides with less wait while your husband stays with the kids.

 

[HydroGuy]

Hey all! Going to DL first time Oct 24 (thursday)! I've always been a DisneyWorld fan but I am excited to see the original!

People coming are myself, DH (who gets motion sickness so he will probably not ride anything), DS7, DD4, DD7 months, and my parents (mid 60s very active). As a result some of the rides like Space Mountain are not really on our radar because my kids are short and not interested in scarier rides.

There is early entry that day but we don't qualify so we will get in at 8 AM with the general crowd. Knowing this what would your ideal ride schedule be with young children? I've read the first two hours are really when you can get the most rides in without crazy waits. Which of the more adult rides have the single rider option so either myself or my parents might get in a few?

All of the calendars I've seen show moderate crowds on the date we've chosen but I understand those are really subjective.

Also I read IASW is closed end of Oct? When do they traditionally close and reopen in the fall? Is there any chance it could be open for Oct 24? DH has never been to disney and I really wanted him to experience this classic ride but i know it might not happen. Thanks everyone!

All of the calendars are wrong. I mean all of them. Unless they randomly are right. So just forget that.

In your case, for DL MM/EMH days, when you do not have MM/EMH, it is best to "turn left" when you enter DL. Because only Fantasyland an TomorrowLand is open. However, that is not that much to do for young kids to the left.

So...options...which really depend on whether you are truly hitting rope drop or not. If so, then these are options.

1. Turn left and do what you can on the left
- Jungle Cruise
- Pirates of the Caribbean (your judgement if your kids will enjoy this - I think most 7-year-olds would at least)
- Tarzan's Treehouse (which is walk-on any time of day - so you can wait on this)
- Tiki Room (also a walk-on and time of day - so you can wait on this)
- Winnie the Pooh (usually very short at DL all day - so you can wait on this)
- Haunted Mansion (depends on the children of course - this will be the Halloween/Holiday version with Jack Skellington Nightmare Before Christmas)


2. Head straight to Fantasyland and focus on the rides that have not built to much during MM/EMH
- probably Pinocchio
- probably Snow White
- possibly Mad Tea Party
- probably the Carrousel
- probably Casey Jr RR
- For sure StoryBook Land Canal Boats (which I believe do not start until one hour after official park opening)
- possibly Mr Toad

After those see if Nemo Subs queue has grown yet and do that if it is 15-20 minutes or less (which I think would be likely)


3. Head to Toontown when it opens (usually an hour after official DL opening, 2 hours after MM/EMH starts)


Yes IASW will be down for it holiday refurb around that time. See "Historical DLR Park Hours, Entertainment and Refurbs" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2291124

 

[avalon451]

Just curious, is there a particular reason, since you’re planning so far in advance, that it has to be a Thursday? And only one day? That’s pretty rushed.
If it would be possible to go on Wednesday with no early entry, you’d be on a level playing field with everybody. Also, the Halloween party over at California Adventure happens on Tuesday and Thursday nights, so DL might be more crowded from the overflow, and with guests planning on going to that later in the day.
As far as touring plans for kiddos, you might want to take a look at the Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2019 (should be available at your library, and for your purposes an edition from an earlier year would probably be fine). They have some canned plans in the back of the book for touring with kiddos, that you might find helpful. I think one of them is called “Dumbo or Die in a Day” LOL.

 

[Laurie86]

Just curious, is there a particular reason, since you’re planning so far in advance, that it has to be a Thursday? And only one day? That’s pretty rushed.
If it would be possible to go on Wednesday with no early entry, you’d be on a level playing field with everybody. Also, the Halloween party over at California Adventure happens on Tuesday and Thursday nights, so DL might be more crowded from the overflow, and with guests planning on going to that later in the day.
As far as touring plans for kiddos, you might want to take a look at the Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2019 (should be available at your library, and for your purposes an edition from an earlier year would probably be fine). They have some canned plans in the back of the book for touring with kiddos, that you might find helpful. I think one of them is called “Dumbo or Die in a Day” LOL.

Only reason for that particular day is we are inn town for a wedding that weekend...so unfortunately we don't have the ability to give more time. There might be the ability to go Friday morning but I won't know for a few weeks what the wedding weekend plans are. I've also read Fridays as a rule of thumb are crazy all the time?

 

[midnight star]

Only reason for that particular day is we are inn town for a wedding that weekend...so unfortunately we don't have the ability to give more time. There might be the ability to go Friday morning but I won't know for a few weeks what the wedding weekend plans are. I've also read Fridays as a rule of thumb are crazy all the time?

They can be, but I think the days are manageable. Friday nights after work can be crazy.

Just FYI with October 24, there is a Halloween party that night. So DCA will close early. This can/will impact crowds. When DCA closes to regular guests, many guests with parkhoppers or passes might head over to DL causing it to be more crowded.

 

[avalon451]

Only reason for that particular day is we are inn town for a wedding that weekend...so unfortunately we don't have the ability to give more time. There might be the ability to go Friday morning but I won't know for a few weeks what the wedding weekend plans are. I've also read Fridays as a rule of thumb are crazy all the time?

Ah, I see. You wouldn't be able to take an extra day off, and fly in early, to go Wednesday and maybe part or all of Thursday? That would be pretty ideal. Then if things get crazy because of the Halloween party, you could ditch and go back to your hotel and swim. And depending on your wedding activities schedule, maybe even go part of Friday.

But then, I'm a DIS addict and will always try to talk people into more days.

 

[Laurie86]

Ah, I see. You wouldn't be able to take an extra day off, and fly in early, to go Wednesday and maybe part or all of Thursday? That would be pretty ideal. Then if things get crazy because of the Halloween party, you could ditch and go back to your hotel and swim. And depending on your wedding activities schedule, maybe even go part of Friday.

But then, I'm a DIS addict and will always try to talk people into more days.

LOL I'd love to come on Wednesday...but work schedules won't work out for DH. That would be the most ideal. DH has never done any Disney so the hope is to get him hooked. I grew up on WDW but think there is something special about the original and I have been plotting ways to go for a long time. ;-)

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... All of the calendars I've seen show moderate crowds on the date we've chosen but I understand those are really subjective.

Also I read IASW is closed end of Oct? When do they traditionally close and reopen in the fall? Is there any chance it could be open for Oct 24?...

Good information here regarding crowd calendars for DLR: Most accurate crowd calendars?. As a pp noted, your best bet is not to depend on them.
As for IASW, it goes down every year in late October for the holiday overlay and comes back for the first day of Holiday Time as IASWH. Last year, I remember IASW was down by Oct. 26th because we had MHP that night with no IASW. And the first day of Holiday Time was Nov. 9th. So you can use those dates to guesstimate.