yes. It was helpful but still clueless as to what to do and I read the DLR guide as well.
I know the feeling! HydroGuy's guide is great and I feel like it definitely helped me to get a good overview of DLR and the ways in which it is similar to and different from WDW. However, I'm still struggling to put together an actual plan. In our case, it's just a different touring style than were used to. We don't parkhop at all at WDW, but the ease of park hopping at DL means we will want to do it there. I'm not quite sure what the back and forth will look like in practice.
Also, it's easy for me to structure our days around our pre-booked FP+ reservations at WDW, but I have no idea when or where we'll be at any given time along with what availability will look like in this case. It's easy for us to go with the flow at WDW because we already know for sure that we'll get on our must-dos, along with what time.
I'm not stressing too much over it, as I know we'll have a great time regardless and I'm so excited to finally get to really see DLR. I'm just not used to only being 3 months away from a Disney trip and having no idea what it's actually going to look like. It will be an adventure.
Very grateful for the folks on this board!
I think Jfsag123 has the right idea. Although we have not been to DLR yet, I'm approaching this trip much like we did our previous WDW trips. I have not been to WDW since the implementation of FP+ mainly because I can't get my head around the notion of planning your day to that extent. For that reason I have been very hesitant to back to WDW.
Our plans have always been more about having ideas for what we want to do. We have a general idea of which park we'll be in each day. We've always rope dropped and park hopped. And we've always left time in the trip for "wandering." For this trip I've been reading through the rope drop strategies, mainly as a means to make sure we get in the rides we want to do. I'm also planning on getting a ridemax subscription for the trip and try setting up some plans for the days we have in mind. I'm not sure how close I'll follow those plans, but I'm interested in seeing what they have to say.
Here are some of the things we have in mind, to give you an idea of my thinking...
We'll be in the parks Monday through Friday, the last week of June. We'll arrive in the area on Sunday and are staying at BWPPI. When we arrive on Sunday morning, we plan to stop by the hotel and see if we can park and check in. If for some reason we have to wait until later in the day to park and check in, we're headed down to a mall about 30 minutes away for what's supposed to be some legit Dim Sum. Once we secure parking at the hotel, we plan to hit DTD and check out the Disney resorts. We hope to hit Trader Sam's at some point and maybe see some of the fireworks from DTD before calling it a night.
Monday, we're going to start at DL because I've always liked starting our trips at the Magic Kingdom. It just gets the magic started for us. We've got 5 days in the parks, so we mostly hope to get oriented, by wandering through both parks the first day. We're planning to eat at Blue Bayou for lunch and we want to see the DL fireworks that night (since the fireworks can be cancelled we'll make a point of seeing them as soon as we can). That's as far as we have our day planned for that day. We'll ride rides as they make sense. Most likely grab a couple fast passes where they make sense and enjoy.
As far as fast pass goes, I get how if you're sold on FP+ at WDW you might not get the old system. But it's the only system I've ever used, well aside from there being no fast pass back in the day. Once you know all the rules for the traditional fast pass, it's really a matter of following those rules. An app that keeps up with the fast pass return times is very helpful, so you know when fast passes are going fast. They also can help you plan your day as you go, based on return times and when you can pull new fastpasses. Our first time using this system was in 2004 and we took to it quickly. The only thing that has changed since then is the enforced return times and frankly I don't see that making a huge impact, based on how we used fast passes.
Tuesday, we'll rope drop and do our Magic Morning at DL. This will be our first "hardcore" ride day where we'll get there early, follow the guidance we've seen to hit the rides we want to ride. I've penciled in lunch at Cafe Orleans for this day and we'll likely head back to the room not long after lunch to hang out and rest, then head back to the parks later that day. Our general plan for each day will be to hit the "feature meal" of the day for lunch, which will either be a TS meal or another place that folks have said you want to hit early, if possible. Then we'll have counter service or snacks for our later in the day meals. We're going to try to do the WOC dessert party on Tuesday, with a plan to get 2 dessert party reservations during the week in case the first one is cancelled for some reason.
Wednesday, we're going to hit CA at rope drop. I understand this is an EMH day for Disney resort guests, but we'll work through that the best we can. We'll watch the apps for fast pass times. One item we have on our list of things to do, is a list of rides we want to ride both during the day and at night. I've always loved the Jungle Cruise at night, for example, so I always make a point of riding it during the day and at night. We've got the Matterhorn, Radiator Springs Racers and the monorail on that list as well. We'll plan some of our fast passes, where it makes sense around those ideas. Wednesday, since we'll be in CA, we want to try to hit the Cove Bar when it opens for drinks and lobster nachos. We also plan to break up the day by going back to the hotel in the afternoon. And we plan to try to see the fireworks at DL.
Thursday, we're hitting CA at rope drop again. This will be our only day when we're on even footing with the Disney resort guests in CA, so we'll try to hit our favorites again and anything we missed on this day. We don't have a specific lunch planned for this day. This is the day we plan to schedule our second WOC dessert party. Most likely if we make the first party on Tuesday, we'll cancel this one. But, if the experience blows us away, we're leaving the door open to do it again.
We're hoping by late Thursday we've hit most of our must rides, so Friday will be our do it again day. We're thinking River Belle Terrace for lunch this day. As far as food goes, I've got notes for all of the must try items folks have recommended. I have got to have churros at least once. They seem to be quite the lightning rod topic between WDW'ers and DLR'ers, so I need to form my own opinion there. There are also a ton of items, from corn dogs to bread bowls and of course a Disney trip isn't complete without a Mickey ice cream bar and a Dole Whip. This is one of the reasons we have very minimal scheduled meals for this trip. We find avoiding prime meal times and just snacking when we're hungry works in general. With the list of must try's we have, that plan works well for us.
I hope this helps. Worst case, you're at Disney, so it should be a grand time.
We're Going to Disneyland!!!
At DL, the early bird really does get the worm. You can go on A LOT OF RIDES in the first two hours that the parks are open. Seriously. Really. No joke.
