Last minute assistance needed

[birdman]

Apologies in advance for this last minute post but I am near the end of a family trip to California and while we originally did not plan on doing a day at Disney (we have been to Fla several times, did the D Dream this past Jan but never been to Disneyland or Calif Adventure) my schedule has changed and I have a free day tomorrow (!!)) so I am planning on taking 3 kids (7, 11 and 17) to Disney tomorrow.
I am thinking of doing 2 with park hopper (my younger one will want to do both parks) and 2 without (the older will likely plan of staying in Calif. adventure) and I have not done any research or board reading in advance ( I am long time member of this board and did tons of research for the Dis Dream trip etc but did not plan on going to Disney at all this time. I don't have wifi so can only search (and post) the boards on my phone.

Can anyone point me to some threads with some tips for getting the most out of DCA? The earliest I can get to the park tomorrow morning is probably about 8:30 and of course would like to make sure we get on Radiator Springs racer but not sure if I should rush to the fast pass first, wait in line etc.

Sorry again for the last minute post but appreciate any last minute tips or hints you can provide. Thx.

 

[CassieF]

Tomorrow the parks open at 9, so an 830 arrival will get you there for rope drop. I'd do FP for RSR since there will already be a line for RSR as EMH will be taking place. You could actually go straight to Soaring, loop around for TSMM, CS, then circle back for your RSR FP and probably end up with a later afternoon time then head to TOT and be done with all the big rides by 11.

If you want to maximize time you could skip Soarin and TSMM (as well as little mermaid) as they are identical to their WDW counterparts.

Do plan for possibly heavier crowds, as it will be the first day So Cal passes are not blocked for the summer and many will be taking advantage and visiting.

 

[Eeee-va]

Single Rider is also a viable strategy for Radiator Springs Racers, though I'd probably get a Fastpass first, especially if you're riding with the whole family.

I'd make sure the older kids really want to spend the whole day at DCA. I had a great time doing that by myself a couple years back, but I'm considerably older than them.

If they would be happy riding California Screamin' and Tower of Terror a bunch, that's understandable. Or if they want to spend the time soaking up the atmosphere in DCA and enjoying shows, it's a wonderful park for that. But if they're like I was at that age and primarily interested in rides, DCA might fall a little short of their expectations. Now, if they would be thrilled to spend a full day in Disney Hollywood Studios and not visit Magic Kingdom, then I think they'll be just fine in DCA, which has more rides than DHS. But if they'd be antsy in WDW, a hopper might be better if possible.

(If they skip DL, they'll be missing out on Indiana Jones and Matterhorn (not in WDW at all) and Space Mountain (different/generally accepted as better in DL), among other things. Indiana Jones and Matterhorn have Single Rider so they can ride those even if the parks are crowded and they don't get Fastpasses.)

Again, there's absolutely nothing wrong with spending a full day in DCA and I think there is plenty to do there. But if you don't anticipate them coming back to California and can swing it, hoppers will give them flexibility. (You can always upgrade to hoppers later in the day, but that will eat up a little time.)

Here was my trip to DCA a few years ago. Not much in the park has changed since then, but I didn't ride California Screamin' or Tower of Terror and only rode Radiator Springs Racers late via single rider.

Have a great trip!

 

[birdman]

Thx. This is helpful. I was thinking that I would take the younger kid to DL at some point in the day while my 2 older kids would just stay in DCA for the day but maybe they will also want to do some rides in DL. I was mainly thinking that lines would be bad so that would take up almost the entire day just trying to get through DCA.

From what I have been able to read on my phone consensus seems to be to play it safe, try and get the RSR fast pass first thing on the way to the ride. Maybe 1 can cut off to get the FP for RSR while the rest of us rush over to the line or will the line to get on at that point already be too long to he on right away?

 

[Tasscrapper]

birdman if your kids don't mind riding on their own do single rider for RSR. You can ask the cast mate how long the wait is for that if you aren't sure but riding single saved us a ton of time. I think we rode 3 times back to back in about a half hour.

 

[laughinplace199]

Get a map while you're in line to get into DCA to familiarize yourself with the park. The FP distribution for Radiator Springs Racers is not at the ride itself, it's actually next to It's Tough to Be A Bug.

We just got back yesterday and loved both parks!

Enjoy!

 

[Eeee-va]

I believe tomorrow is an early entry day at DCA for hotel guests. If so, RSR will almost certainly have a sizable line when you arrive. So I would probably stay away from Cars Land until your Fastpass window--crowds for Mater's Junkyard Jamboree and Luigi's Flying Tires may be slightly inflated first thing in the morning. (No pun intended!)

If you like Mater/bluegrass-ish music at all, don't be afraid of a 15-20 minute line at Mater's Junkyard Jamboree; I find it a pleasure to wait and listen to Mater sing. It's also a wonderful ride to visit at night, and I believe lines go down significantly then. If you time it right you can see some of Disneyland's fireworks from it! (Yeah, OK, it's my favorite. )

My course of action would be to start out in one park and spend probably 2 hours or less there before hopping back to the other to hopefully get a Fastpass. If it were me, I'd probably start the day in DCA just because you have a Magic Kingdom park in WDW and I'd be much more interested in seeing the unique offerings in DCA. You can get your RSR FP when you enter the park and hopefully ride the ride in the first few hours.

But if you really want to see both parks and if you would be OK with doing Single Rider on RSR if something goes wrong, you might consider starting at DL. You could knock out DL's headliners that you can't see in WDW, and then hop back to DCA to (presumably) get a RSR FP. It might actually technically make more sense to start the day at Disneyland because there won't be hotel guests in the park when you arrive, but I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to see DCA first...like I said, I would!

If you do visit Disneyland first, then if you want to see Alice in Wonderland, that one seems to be awful busy nowadays since it just came out of a refurbishment. So you might even do that first, maybe hit the Matterhorn just because it's on the way, and then Space Mountain. Like I said, Indiana Jones and Matterhorn have single rider lines, as does Splash Mountain, so I wouldn't consider them as big a priority. In DCA, California Screamin', Goofy's Sky School, Grizzly River Run, and Soarin' also have Single Rider...though I'm not a fan of Soarin's versus getting a Fastpass.

I might try to get each kid to tell you one thing they really want to do and try to plan around those. (Unless one wants to meet Anna and Elsa in which case I'd veto....) That way, anything else that gets done is a bonus.

 

[birdman]

Thx for this. I have one kid who definitely wants to see Anna and Elsa. Does that change everything? I like the idea of DCA first, get a fastpass for RSR maybe try and do a single rider line for the older kids at RSR and try and do as much as we can at DCA and then head over to Disneyland. I guess the problem with that approach is that if we don't even get to DL until after a few hours at DCA, all of the fast passes might be returning very late in the day.

I think I will go on line now and just get park hoppers for all 4 of us. Seems like both parks are doable at least to some extent in one day

 

[Eeee-va]

Again, I have not been there, but from everything I've read, meeting Anna and Elsa is going to be a 2-3 hour wait. Even if you ran to the meet and greet line first thing in the morning, you could easily have a wait of 1+ hours...otherwise, it sounds like 2+ hours is probably the norm.

The good news is that you can take turns waiting (or in your case, I'm guessing you'd be waiting while your kids run off and explore a while). When I was planning for a WDW trip early this year and the girls were at Epcot, I read some parents enjoyed the time to themselves waiting in line, reading a book, etc. I don't know if it would be quite as "peaceful" at DL, but if some alone time is up your alley then great. Personally, I'd try to avoid waiting 2+ hours during a one-day visit if possible, but that is all up to you and your family. I can certainly see why you'd want to do it, of course, and you might get some cute photos, but one has to make tough decisions on a one-day trip.

(My understanding is that there is also no GUARANTEE of meeting BOTH Anna and Elsa, though if you don't go FIRST thing in the morning, odds are they will be together.)

There are some horror stories of the Anna and Elsa line (mostly poorly-behaved adults) here.

 

[SMD]

I think that because tomorrow is the first day that So Cal and So Cal Selects APs can enter the parks in 2 1/2 months that you should do DL first and knock out as much there as you can before people get off work and flood the parks. DCA is the more manageable park when it's crowded because it's not as cramped and you can move. If RSR single rider will work for you, I'd skip FP as sending a runn might be a waste. I really think it will be extremely crowded in DL. The last day before the block was awful this year. And I've been on the first unblocked day after New Years and spring break before and it's very noticeable. This year the lower level APs have been shut out of the Monday Get Happier promotion and Legends of Frontierland because they started after the block and I think many will be anxious to go tomorrow.