Midday Arrival or Full Park Day?

[UrsulaTime]

This is belated reply, OP, but I agree with pretty much everyone and think you'll have a great time exploring non-park Disneyland on your first day! I'm looking forward to hearing what you end up choosing to do!

We're arriving around 1:30/2pm on a Sunday, and we plan to head straight into DCA and begin the fun.

We'll be heading to the parks on our arrival day (we're doing a super quick trip and when I booked the flight I don't think boarding groups existed yet, nor was I sufficiently aware of how quickly fastpasses can go!) and I'm guessing we could be in the parks around 3pm. I would love to know your general plan, if you have one, for the first day!

 

[Canadian Harmony]

This is belated reply, OP, but I agree with pretty much everyone and think you'll have a great time exploring non-park Disneyland on your first day! I'm looking forward to hearing what you end up choosing to do!

We'll be heading to the parks on our arrival day (we're doing a super quick trip and when I booked the flight I don't think boarding groups existed yet, nor was I sufficiently aware of how quickly fastpasses can go!) and I'm guessing we could be in the parks around 3pm. I would love to know your general plan, if you have one, for the first day!

Sure!
First we need to get the family's photos attached to their tickets (I've already linked them to the app but those were the ones I bought online) at the gate. Then DD2 is herding us to Pixar Pier to enjoy our traditional first ride on the Incredicoaster! We've booked ourselves an early-ish dinner at Carthay around 5, but we'll probably grab a corn dog for DH before then. We have 5 days, so we're not in a rush to do everything right away. I think we'll probably head over to Carsland and do Racers and then make our way down to Carthay hitting Luigi's, Mater, and with luck Soarin', before dinner.

After supper, I know Guardians will be on the list as DD2 and I love that ride, but I'll want my food to settle, so we may wander back up to the Pier and do Ariel and Midway Mania (we'll see what FPs are available for that time), then check out Jesse's carousel and the Emotional Whirlwind. I would think Guardians would be my last ride though. We'll be tired as we'll have been up since 2:30 that morning, so we won't stay very late in DCA, especially since we're headed to DLR the next morning and I really want a boarding group for RotR.

Having said all that, we also like characters, so I'll keep an eye on who is out at what time and where in order to get some meet & greets in if possible.

I'm not allowed to over book us on family trips - just one-two meals/day max, and we only do rides as we go along, but we all have MaxPass to make life easier.

Hope that helps a little?

 

[UrsulaTime]

First we need to get the family's photos attached to their tickets (I've already linked them to the app but those were the ones I bought online) at the gate.

Same here, I forgot that might take a little time!

Hope that helps a little?

It does! It's so helpful to be on the boards and hear other people talk through their plans!

One more question: Do you think you'll be able to score a RSR fastpass that day? Or will you do standby? Single rider?

 

[Going2DisneyAZ]

Skip Monday and stick with your original plan.

I agree. That's not a short trip and you don't want to burn out. Get into hotel. Rest. Hit dtd. Hit hotel pool then get after rested on Tuesday

 

[Canadian Harmony]

It does! It's so helpful to be on the boards and hear other people talk through their plans!

One more question: Do you think you'll be able to score a RSR fastpass that day? Or will you do standby? Single rider?

I agree - it often twigs my memory to do something I had forgotten or gives me a new hack I can use.

I most likely won't be able to get a RSR FP, I know that. BUT, we're all old enough for single rider, so we'll probably go that way. It never hurts to try, though, especially for a night ride (my fave), so we may end up lucky with an evening drive through Radiator Springs as well. I rarely do a standby line for a ride with a FP or single rider line.

 

[violina]

I'm definitely a fan of midday arrivals and not going into the parks -- when I travel with my best friend and my husband, they definitely prefer that over trying to rush the park(s) half day. We've used that half day now to either stroll around Downtown Disney, use hotel amenities (it's still on our list to actually use the pools, lol), or try the restaurants at the hotels (Napa Rose & Steakhouse 55 being our favs). There's lots to do right there which has some of the Disney feeling without feeling like you're missing out at the park.