Just for a day...

[stindall]

Hi guys, DH and I going to Disneyland+DCA just for 1 day (first timers), staying off site so we can't get the extra hours but we are doing open to close. Does anyone have a good resource for a 1 day plan or can you help with one? We're ride orientated people so we want to hit all of those, we could probably take or leave any shows and character meeting. I'd really love to just wing it, but I've also heard lines can be super long at certain rides. We've been spoiled by fastpass+! Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[dtnrhi]

When are you going?

 

[stindall]

When are you going?

August 10, 2015. It's a Monday.

 

[Lizzards]

It will be hot and crowded but you can still have fun! Bring lots of bottled water. Good part is the operating hours will be long. After 10:00 pm you can get a lot done in Disneyland bc families with smaller children are usually gone. Try to time your fast passes well, like don't take one for 10:00 pm at night if it is only 10:30 am. However if it is the one ride you care about than go for it. Save shopping for the end because Main Street is usually open another hour so you can hit the stores at that point. I would plan on the fireworks bc it will be the special 60th birthday ones. Have a magical trip!

 

[Lizzards]

One more thought...save Small World and Pirates for the middle/heat of the day. It will give you a nice break and cool you down with a steady moving line before boarding.

 

[chickapin parterre]

Wednesdays are the best day for your plan if it is possible to change.

Monday, start with Disneyland, arrive hour early at the gate. photo entry process increases odds of gates opening onto rope drop. This allows for a great advantage to ride Toad, Alice, as folks are lining up for Pan. It is is hit and miss if Cassey and storybook land is open at rope drop. If not open, then over to Matterhorn, then back to storybook land. All three are very close together at their attraction exit gates, but the line for Matterhorn is a wrap around the mountain and very different for line up for Disneyland. Use the sub/lagoon side to wait on for matterhorn.

area done. Off to nemo, if time is pressing then use screen room instead of actual ride. Buzz must be passed as you leave tomorrowland, so enter that attraction. take time to look at the walls on the hallway

This should put you at 10:30 for a 8:00 rope drop. FAstpass indy and grab a bite to eat, hydrate, rest. 12:00 walk back down Main street, much faster then train ride and NOS train station is a very poor loading area.

Entering DCA, follow the plan you created. I would do single rider RSR first, ( RSR fastpass should be gone by the time you enter DCA) take in the area at daylight. But make sure you are there for evening neon lights. Day and night are two different lands in RSR.

Once single rider is done, then follow the plan you have created for DCA the rest of the day . If it is a hot day, then Grizzly will help with the heat. DCA has more buildings with modern air conditioning, so a great place, along with every other park hopper to escape the heat

When all done with neon lights and that last night time single rider RSR, return to Disneyland and complete your list.

 

[stindall]

Nope it's not possible to change our day, our main reason for going is Yosemite and then visiting a friend in San Fransisco, so DL is fitting in around our already scheduled visit to the state. (yes I realize that Yosemite is a ways away from Anaheim, we don't mind the drive!)

Thank you for the tips though, this will be very helpful!

 

[figment_jii]

With only one day, there is no way that you are going to be able to ride everything even if you skip the shows and character meet and greets. Assuming the schedule for 2015 is similar to 2014, the parks should be transitioning from the summer schedule to the fall schedule, but they should still be operating on fairly long hours (e.g., 8:00 am to 11:00 pm for DL and 8:00 am to 10:00 pm for DCA). If possible, I would highly recommend planning to be at the park at rope drop to maximize your time. You'll be there when the summer SoCal/SoCal Select APs are still blocked, so that should help to some degree (although, it's still summer so the non-AP crowds are expected to be high).

I would look through a list of the attractions, shows, and other activities and prioritize which one(s) you want to see the most. Most folks here on the boards can then help you identify which rides are the busiest and which ones are less busy and can be slotted in at any time.

You mentioned FP+, which is not at DLR (yet). DLR still uses the legacy/paper FP system. I would recommend looking through the FP Encyclopedia thread to get a sense of how FP works in DLR. The main things to remember:

• DLR enforces return times (just like WDW does). There may be a small grace period, but it's up to the individual CMs on duty so you cannot count on there being one.
• The two parks are "disconnected" from each other. Meaning you can get a FP in DL and then immediately get another FP in DCA without having to wait the normal amount of time (two hours later or when the window opens).
• All attractions within a park are "connected" to each other. Meaning you cannot get a FP for RSR and then immediately get another one for ToT. You have to wait two hours or when the time window opens.
• Once a ticket has been used to enter a park, that ticket can be used to collect FPs in both parks.
• A few of the shows and character meet and greets use a FP-style system, but they are not connected to the other FPs in the parks. WoC, F!, Frozen at the Royal Theater, and A&E meet & greet are in this category.

Another way to reduce wait times is to make use of Single Rider Lines whenever possible. The biggest drawback is that you will have to ride apart from your DH. You may be in the same ride vehicle as your DH, but it's also possible that there will be a long wait between when you are seated and when your DH is seated. Disneyland.com has a list of the attractions that have SRL. I like the idea of SRL, but know that you cannot request a seat/row and you will (probably) be split up from your DH.

 

[chickapin parterre]

Yosemite might be closed. here in oregon we should have 100 inches of snow in the mountains. we only have 33 , and this is on the Mt Hood complex. Where snow should be at pass level, it is bare. Nothing to melt into may to keep dead wood fuel wet, and will probably loose some of that by this time next week. This is an indicator that forest fires will be record high thru the Pacific mountain ranges. So watch the news before your visit. The beauty of Wednesday is that it is not a travel day in California and is the least empty of the seven.

 

[tiffjoy]

You might check out this recent thread on what not to do.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/dlr-in-a-day-mistakes.3384488/