Making the most of 1 day only

[Kerri D]

Hi everyone!
First of all I just want to say I've been a long time lurker on this site, just joined yesterday so I could finally post some questions. I've had a look through the search function however i'm having trouble finding answers (so please feel free to link me to another thread if I am doubling up here - I apologise in advance)

My partner and I (we are 24 and 34) are headed over for a 4 week USA trip in 2 weeks and 6 days (who's counting). this will be our first time visiting your country and (obviously) our first time visiting Disneyland.

we're limited for time, so unfortunately we are only able to spend 1 night and 1 day in the park. We arrive on a Halloween party night (29/10) and I have already purchased these tickets, we then plan on visiting Disneyland again the next day (not too worried about park hopping, however we're open to upgrading on the day if we have time).

My questions are
does anyone have a game plan that will ensure we cover as much of the park as possible during our time here? are there any free planning apps or sites that people have had good experiences with?

Is there anything we MUST experience at the Halloween party? (big one for me is characters in costume photos, the parade and obviously the special fireworks) - i'll be keeping an eye on the superthread, I love reading everyone's experiences!

Essential things for us are:
- the normal character visits/photos, mickey and Minnie being the absolute musts anyone else from here is just a bonus
- the main attractions I would like to experience; space mountain, matterhorn, tea cups, haunted mansion, Indiana jones, pirates, splash mountain

Being first time visitors, I've tried to look over numerous maps and work out a bit of a plan, however it would be great to hear from experience on what works and what doesn't! My initial thought was to enter the park and basically go straight to space mountain and then just work in an anti-clockwise direction until we end up back in main street??

thanks for any input anyone can provide, i'd just love to be prepared so I don't get overwhelmed in the park and completely run out of time.


Kerri & Joel

 

[PigletSeeker]

I definitely think you will be able to do all those things in just 1 day. I've never been to the Halloween Party, so can't speak to that. But for your full day at Disney, definitely go to Space Mtn first thing- it will be a pretty quick walk-on if you go at park opening. You may even be able to squeeze in Star Tours before a line builds too much. Also, Buzz Lightyear usually has a short wait early in the morning. Then go over and get your Indy FP. While you wait for your return time, ride Pirates. Normally, we walk straight from Pirates to HM with little wait, but you might need a FP with the holiday overlay. You should be able to walk on Splash in the morning- but you might end up cold. If you need to kill more time before you can get another FP or ride Indy, go to Matterhorn. Since there are only 2 of you, I highly recommend you do Single Rider on that one. Tea cups will be easy to ride any time- I've never waited more than 5 or 10 minutes even on busiest days.

Edited to add: Just remembered Indy has single rider, and it is brilliant. Do that instead of a FP. Then you could get FP for HM or Big Thunder.

 

[bouds]

The trick will be to spend as much time in the parks as you can. I would not recommend the strategy of starting at Space and working your way around the park. The park is not that big, so you can crisscross the park strategically pretty easily. On the MHP day, you can get in 3 hrs before the party starts and the party is 5 hrs, so that gives you 8 hrs the first day. Then the second day, get there as early as you can and stay as late as you can, but early is more importatnt. That is a Magic Morning day, so if you are not staying onsite, you will have to wait until normal park opening to get in, which will be 10 am. Get there by 9:30. If you're staying onsite, you can get in an hour early.

You have listed your must sees as including Indy, Space, and Splash. I would add Big thunder mountain railroad to this list. These all have Fast Passes, so don't spend any time waiting in standby lines for these. Keep in mind you might get really wet on Splash, so plan appropriately on timing. If you're OK with Single ridere line, that's a good option on Splash and Indy.

On the first day, before the party starts, I wouldn't expect to hit many rides. It will be crowded. See if there are FPs available for one of the above rides, but otherwise soak in the atmosphere, maybe catch a show (Beauty and the beast, Mickey and the Magical Map, or Great Moments with Mr Lincoln, Jedi Training, Golden Horshoe) or the parade. At 5pm the Toontown preparty starts and you can try to meet some characters wearing costumes and ride Roger Rabbit. I would focus on Tea Cups and Matterhorn after the regular Halloween party starts (later if you can,) as well as hitting some other favorite rides like Small World, Peter Pan, and Jungle Cruise. Matterhorn and Peter Pan would probably have the longest lines of these, but I wouldn't expect more than 20 mins, expecially late in the party. If you're OK with Single Rider, Matterhorn will be quick. Most people will be focused on character meets and treat trails rather than rides (except HM, SM, and Pirates, which are all popular during the party.) As adults, I think you can skip the halloween calvalcade. Just before and during the calvalcade is a great time for rides. The regular parade is much better and you can try to see that at 4pm or the next day at 7pm, if it interests you. Plan to stake out a spot for the fireworks around 9. If you want to go on Fantasyland rides or other rides for little kids, the end of the party is a good bet, since most young kids will go home earlier.

First thing in the morning on the 30th, go toward Adventureland and New Orleans Square and focus on Pirates and Haunted mansion. Also, get your first fast pass (since you'll be in the area, probably BTMRR or Splash would be a good choice.) Do fast pass rides all afternoon and into the evening when it's most crowded.

Meeting characters can really suck up a lot of time. You can meet most of them in Town Square at random times throughout the day and lines are usually 10-30mins. You can meet Mickey and Minnie in Toontown any time, again 10-30 min waits. Pluto, Goofy, Donald, and Chip and Dale are also often found in Toontown. Many of these characters can also be found throughout the day in the Halloween carnival, wearing Halloween costumes, and you can also conjure villain there (~20 min wait). Tinkerbell and often one of her friends can be found in Pixie Hollow. I've never waited less than 15 mins for this, and it's often 30-45 mins. Meeting the princesses at Fantasy Faire is usually about 25 mins wait to see 3 princesses, plus you may see Belle or Rapunzel by the theater. I would prioritize meeting a few important characters (Mickey and Minnie), then meet others as you see shortish lines. Jack Skellington is a great one to meet, and you can combine him with a trip to Pirates and haunted mansion in the morning, when the line is shorter.

I don't think Fantasmic and the regular fireworks show will be playing on the 30th, so your night is free to have a nice sit down meal and hit rides. Character meets usually end by 7pm, so get that out of the way before then.

You might even have time to park hop. If you think you'll do this, I'd suggest making the decison by mid-day and head over at that time to CA to get a RSR and WOC FP before they run out. After you upgrade to a hopper, it'll take you about 15 mins to go to CA, get these FPs and get back to DL. Keep in mind that CA closes at 8 (WOC is at 8:15, so the park really doesn't close until that's over) when making your decision on whether to upgrade.

 

[bouds]

I forgot about Star Tours (my favorite!). Another FP ride, but the lines usually seem a little shorter for this than some, so you can probably get this ride in without a problem. A good one to ride more than once because it changes.

 

[ehrawn]

I would not recommend the strategy of starting at Space and working your way around the park. The park is not that big, so you can crisscross the park strategically pretty easily.

I (partly) disagree with this advice. The accepted strategy is to take advantage of the FP system in both parks, jumping back and forth across each park and park hopping. Maybe it’s because I grew up before FP and don't know it as well as others, or maybe it's because I have young kids that can't handle that kind of running around, but I take a slightly different approach. Here's the main points, in the FP era:

1) The basic cycle is grab a FP, ride non-FP attractions in the area while you wait for your window, grab another FP, then ride the original FP ride.
2) Don't stress about 1) because:
3) Never be where a crowd is: don't wait for rides that have lines. Lines compound waits because as the day progresses, more people enter the park and make longer lines.
4) Know which rides are slow and which are fast-loaders. This will help you decide if you should jump on a ride or can afford to skip it until later.
5) Since there are 2 adults in you party, take full advantage of the single rider lines (you won't be more than one "load" apart).

Probably the most important point is to get to the park before opening; I can't stress this enough. At the same time, don't be afraid to take a break mid-day. Nothing ruins the magic like being overtired, even if you only have one day at DLR. Especially since it's your first trip, it's not about "ride count;" it's about maximizing your experience and enjoying everything the park has to offer, including all the small details that you might miss if you spend your whole time running around to the next ride.

I hope you enjoy your trip.

 

[bouds]

I (partly) disagree with this advice. The accepted strategy is to take advantage of the FP system in both parks, jumping back and forth across each park and park hopping. Maybe it’s because I grew up before FP and don't know it as well as others, or maybe it's because I have young kids that can't handle that kind of running around, but I take a slightly different approach. Here's the main points, in the FP era: 1) The basic cycle is grab a FP, ride non-FP attractions in the area while you wait for your window, grab another FP, then ride the original FP ride. 2) Don't stress about 1) because: 3) Never be where a crowd is: don't wait for rides that have lines. Lines compound waits because as the day progresses, more people enter the park and make longer lines. 4) Know which rides are slow and which are fast-loaders. This will help you decide if you should jump on a ride or can afford to skip it until later.

I'm not sure what you're disagreeing with about my post. I think we generally agree. OP asked if she should start at SM and go counterclockwise around the park ending up back at Main st and I explained why this is NOT a good strategy and gave ideas of how to tackle the park.

 

[ehrawn]

The "partly" part is that i'm a fan of starting at one location in the park and working attractions geographically, rather than bouncing around. I prefer a counterclockwise rotation, personally, but FL with all the slow loaders and no FP is also a good starting point.

So, yes, agree with most of your advice, except for the "crisscrossing" because I think you lose the little things that make the park so magical if you're too focused on running between attractions.

 

[bouds]

Makes sense. But if your priority is riding the big ticket rides that have fastpasses and you have limited time, there will have to be some cross crossing. I am also a "commando" visitor and love the challenge of strategizing.

 

[ehrawn]

Makes sense. But if your priority is riding the big ticket rides that have fastpasses and you have limited time, there will have to be some cross crossing. I am also a "commando" visitor and love the challenge of strategizing.

I don't think it has to be one or the other, though. Example from one Aug morning:

FP for BTMR, Dumbo, Carousel, SLCB, MTP, Alice, Matterhorn, CJRR, back to BTMRR, Splash Standby line, HM, POTC

Note just one FP for the morning, though the standby line was empty when we returned to BTMR. This was a group of three kids under 6 and seven adults; the rides were obviously kid-focused. We also spent a good hour in the shops before leaving the park at 1200. With just two adults, you could easily hit up a couple more slow loading FL rides before your first FP window expired, and maybe grab another FP from TL before heading to BTMR. Plus, you could hit up Materhorn, Indie and Splash as single-riders, which would get you through those lines faster.

 

[ColdNeverBotheredMe]

In our experience, crossing has never been much of an issue. It usually takes us about five to ten minutes to walk all the way across the park (like from Splash to Space) depending on the crowds. And park hopping has always been fairly quick for us as well, although I'd recommend not doing it more than once or twice. It really isn't that big. Although it works to go around too.

I would also recommend going to Indiana Jones first and then Thunder Mtn. Frontierland is virtually deserted in the morning (or at least it was when we were there in August, which is peak season), I've never seen Thunder with a wait more than 10 minutes before like ten in the morning.

Then you could go back to New Orleans Square and do Pirates and HM? Then maybe Splash, or pick up a FP? Or cross and grab a FP for Space and then head back, maybe riding Matterhorn? I'm just throwing out ideas, no need to take this as a solid plan.

We don't usually have detailed plans, but have learned enough that we can play it by ear and usually be fine. However we have never made character greeting a priority so I have no idea how long that would take or what the best strategy for that would be.

Have fun on your trip! It's really great to go with just two people!

 

[Kerri D]

First of all, thank you so much to everyone who's replied! It seriously helps to have the input of people who have experience!

I had this image in my head that the park was huge and would take us a long time to cross it, so I figured working around would be easiest. However now I know that it is quite easy we may just go back and forth as needed. I've found a map now which will help me decide on the best route to take. Like I mentioned, because our time is limited, I just don't want to miss out on anything, but we're two able bodied people so a lot of walking wont hurt us

Once I get a bit of an idea, I might put an itinerary up and see what people's thoughts are

thanks again!!!