Leave in 23 days!!

[eskgwin]

We are leaving on July 26 for our first family trip to DL. We will be there until August 2. We are driving from the Bay Area and have 2 days planned for traveling, 4 days planned at DL and CA Adventure Land and 2 days of hanging. I made PS reservations for dinner at Goofy's kitchen. We are staying at Paradise Pier hotel. We have one 10 year old and 8 year old twins (all girls). I do not have a plan. I have looked at the guides and advice of all the stickies and it is just so overwhelming. We know we want to go on rides and will get some fast passes for some of them. I really want to have a good time and not be rushed or have many expectations. But we want to go on rides. The 10 year old is thrill seeker, but the 8 year olds and I are not. DH and DD10 will go on the thrill rides and we will go on the less scary ones. I just don't know if I should plan (like get fastpasses for these rides while in line for other rides and plan on when to go to the rides and stuff) or just wing it. Is there a happy medium so I will not get stressed? Has anyone else just winged (wung?) it? Thanks.

Allyson

P.S. I am so excited because I need a vacation. I can't wait. I have been counting down for months now!!!!

 

[PinkBudgie]

I'm from Bay Area too and have 15 year old twin boys.

We usually have one ride in mind that we agree we will go to first when it opens. After that we see about picking up a FP and wing it from there.

You may want to have a time on one of the days where you split up for several hours so no one is just sitting around and waiting. We did this when we went with grandparents.

For the thrill seekers, Tower of Terror and California Screamin are a must.

This trip, the first ride we will head to is Nemo because it is new. After that, we will probably get a FP for Splash Mountian. I've been reading these intense schedules some people have, but I know my family would never stick to that so I'm just making up a few guidelines.

 

[caligirl stuck in va]

I am so envious that you are going soon! We went this year (four months ago) and I am JONESING to go again - not to mention my four year old who DAILY climbs into my lap and says "can we talk about Disneyland, Mommy?".... I would say, plan loosely - decide in which park you will start your day, plan your first ride so you can go right at rope drop (you have to go early - you can get so much more accomplished and the park is not yet crowded - even thought it may feel crowded on Main St waiting for rope drop). At this point, it is easy to get sidetracked from any plan you may have - what if you see a character you HAVE to meet? what if you really wanted to save Pirates for later in the day but there is NO line and the kids want to ride it NOW? Just go with the flow! Grab a map and soak it all in. For us, a Disneyland vacation with the family, there is nothing better!!!

 

[avalon451]

If you don't want to wing it, but you feel like you don't have enough info to make a plan yourself, you could use a pre-made plan; they usually work pretty well. Unofficial Guide to DL (in bookstores) has a 2-day plan for DL and a one-day plan for CA that you can just cut out and follow. It pretty much knows what rides are going to fill up faster so it tells you what to ride first. Some people think this is too "commando" but other people say that it's really a lot less stressful-- if you just follow the plan you'll get to ride everything in the parks. Then you'll have time left over to see anything you want to do again, or anything you missed. Plus the UG is kind of nice to have on hand for referring to, when you don't know what a ride is like, or where a show is, or what kind of dining is available in different areas of the parks, etc.

You could download Ridemax, too, which helps you make your own plan, and is fun to play with. But you might not have enough time to get a feel for it and tinker with it. It's only $15 for a 3 months subscription.

We used both the UG and Ridemax, kind of to learn what to do. They both have good tips. Hydroguy's tips really put it all together, though.

Whatever you do, have fun!