Making a first impression magical??!!

[KiwiMouseGirl]

HELLO DISERS!

Me and my friend Alicia (First timer) will be travelling to the land next Halloween season! Being the compulsive planner that I am i'm already planning ways in making her first impression MAGICAL! I've decided on a fair few character meals, and am going to see if I can get us into the wheelhouse of the Mark Twain to ring the bell (AWESOME!) to make her first Disney experiance the best that it can be! We will be travelling from New Zealand and are staying in Anaheim for approx. 14 days-ish, so will be getting delux annual passes. We will be arriving on the 21st of October 2013, most likley in the afternoon. What I want to know is what to do on the first afternoon. I know for me, half the fun of our first day at Disneyland was getting there before opening and counting down till opening. Then being able to run around all the rides with no wait! I can't decide if I should book a nice dinner at the rainforest cafe or the likes of, and just meander DTD, buying sparkly minnie ears and autograph books to use the next day We will be staying at the PPH, so I thought that if MNSSHP was on that night we might do our shopping, go to dinner and get dessert to take away and stake out seats on the roof to watch the fireworks and eat dessert. Good plan??

What would you suggest to make a first timers first impressions of Disneyland amazeballs?

 

[Brisal73]

Here are some of my ideas:
1st Time Button. You can pick this up at Guest Relations or any indoor retailer at the Disneyland Resort
Make a reservation for the Blue Bayou and Carthay Circle
Dessert reservation for Fantasmic
Get an early spot viewing location in front of the castle for the fireworks. If the how starts at 930pm get to the front of the castle by 745pm
Disney's Picture Pass
Trader Sams Enchanted Tiki Bar at the Disneyland Hotel
White Water Snacks at the Grand California Hotel. It is next to the GCH entrance to California Adventure and makes a nice eating venue when you go to DCA
Visit other parts of Southern California... Like
Universal Studios... Splurge for the VIP tour it is AWESOME especially if you are a movie fan
The Cellar restaurant in Fullerton. It's near Disneyland and created by some of the Imagineers that works on Pirates
Hollywood Boulevard and if a Disney movie is going to be released, check out the El Capitan Theater
In N Out Burger... A Southern California treat
Santa Monica Pier. It's near the beach and has some good shopping. Go to Huntington Beach if you only care about the beach
If you are a huge Disneyland or Walt Disney fan go to Griffith Park and search for the carousel that Walt use to take his daughters too and eventually gave him the idea about Disneyland.

 

[KiwiMouseGirl]

Bump Bump Bump

 

[KateDrake]

Since you'll have plenty of time later in the trip, I'd suggest just wandering down Main Street and following her bliss. Let her see whatever she feels like, without the rush to get to rides. I always think that is hard when your first day is a sprint to Dumbo or whatever, because you don't have time to soak up the magic. So take your time, get some pictures in front of the castle, hop on some rides if there is a short wait. Maybe ride the Main Street vehicles and get a treat. Be sure to pick up a First Visit button though!

The other thing I'd suggest is making a dinner reservation on your arrival night. Maybe for a character meal or some other cool experience. It's a great time to see fireworks or one of the nighttime spectaculars. For example, we arrive mid-afternoon on the 9th, so we are just strolling through DCA to see Cars Land and BVS before we try to ride anything, and then we are doing dinner at Carthay Circle and WOC. Should make for a great first day!