New to Disneyland

[LKing]

By April though the new steakhouse will be open in downtown Disney. I can’t wait for that! Keep your eyes open for that one

Is it supposed to be open by April? I haven't seen much progress. They demolished Tortilla Joes, but so far no new structure can be seen above the construction barrier. Earl of Sandwich seems to have stalled as well. It was moving so quickly but I barely see anyone working on it.

 

[mouschievous]

As I mentioned earlier, if you have a multi-day ticket and want any hopping, you'll have to pay for hopping for the entire duration of the ticket. You can't just add it to one day as you had on your original schedule. It sounds like you're now planning to hop on other days, but just be aware that even if you don't, you'll still need to add that option to your entire multi-day ticket.

See here:

https://plandisney.disney.go.com/question/add-park-hopper-option-single-day-multiday-visit-617706/

Unfortunately you often can't make changes to conference tickets. The tickets provided for my conference next week are 2 day hoppers. There was no way to add a 3rd day. Our only option was to buy a single day ticket. For the family likely they'll just buy a 3 day hopper, but for OP they will have to wait to see what is included in their conference and then go from there.

 

[maleficent55]

Is it supposed to be open by April? I haven't seen much progress. They demolished Tortilla Joes, but so far no new structure can be seen above the construction barrier. Earl of Sandwich seems to have stalled as well. It was moving so quickly but I barely see anyone working on it.

I read somewhere, “early 2026”…
Guess we will see. I’m excited for that one but who knows, it has been slow going, so maybe summer at this rate!

 

[irlandaise]

Unfortunately you often can't make changes to conference tickets. The tickets provided for my conference next week are 2 day hoppers. There was no way to add a 3rd day. Our only option was to buy a single day ticket.

Yeah, that's what I figured, which is why I was trying to get a handle on what the OP's ticket options were. It sounds like a three-day hopper would be ideal, if it's available. If they can't get that, then maybe they can get a two-day single-park ticket and add a one-day hopper. Hope it all works out for them.

 

[LKing]

I read somewhere, “early 2026”…
Guess we will see. I’m excited for that one but who knows, it has been slow going, so maybe summer at this rate!

This is what it looks like today.

 

[BriannaRuth]

I haven't read through all the replies you've received, but my main recommendation would be -- be sure you reserve a table at Blue Bayou, and wait for a table at the water (but not the one that's by the water next to the kitchen/server area). Several threads talk about how to do this, but ask here if you have questions!

 

[Dulcee]

Thanks everyone, you have all been really helpful! Would love some additional feedback as I've tweaked and added things below.

I think we've settled on 3-day park hoppers with multi-pass (or whatever it's currently called) to make the most of our time (likely not to be even close to what is discounted by the conference but c'est la vie)

We plan to skip Star Wars attractions (we get this plenty in WDW) and Fantasmic.

We could shift Blue Bayou to Saturday if we have trouble with getting an ADR earlier.

May need to shift evenings depending upon night time shows but this is ballpark for now.

Tuesday, April 14​

• Fly in from the East Coast, arrive ~12pm local time
• Afternoon: Downtown Disney (no park tickets for today)
• Dinner: Paseo or Centrico?

Wednesday, April 15

• Rope drop Disneyland (Fantasyland first, first LL for Space or Indy around 8:30 am)
• Follow with Tomorrowland or Frontierland, Adventureland (LLs as possible)
• QS lunch, try to get 1 or 2 LL for DCA in the evening (Web slingers/Guardians)
• Break: I’ll check in at the conference + attend the keynote session (5-6:30)
• Evening: use evening LL in DCA, dinner quick service
• World of Color (Worth it to try for the VQ for this?)

Thursday, April 16

• Kids + DH sleep in, conference for me
• Need to decide DCA or DL around 11 am (low wait attractions, QS lunch)
• Grab LL for the evening in DCA (Soarin/Incredicoaster)
• 1:30 pm Conference, Break for DH/Kids
• Head into DCA around 5
• (~7) Blue Bayou Dinner, Fireworks in DL

Friday, April 17

• No park tickets
• Kids + DH: Sleep in, pool time, conference for me
• Lunch: Downtown Disney, Black Tap Craft, Lego shopping for kids
• Evening: Monorail ride, dinner at Storyteller's Cafe, catch fireworks from outside the park

Saturday, April 18

• DCA at opening for Radiator Springs Racers
• Conference sessions 10 - 1 pm, Stack LL for later
• Park time 2 pm to close, repeats, and/or things we've missed
• QS for Dinner
• Paint the Night Parade

Sunday, April 19

• Early flight home

 

[Dr. G]

Someone else can confirm this, but I don't think you'll be able to ride the Monorail Friday night without tickets. Unlike WDW where the stations are outside the parks and you can travel between MK & Epcot, one of the two monorail stations at DLR is in Tomorrowland. They will check you for tickets at the Downtown Disney station.

Have a wonderful trip! I'm so excited for you to get to experience the original park. It really is magical, and much easier to navigate than WDW. Enjoy!

 

[BrianL]

Someone else can confirm this, but I don't think you'll be able to ride the Monorail Friday night without tickets. Unlike WDW where the stations are outside the parks and you can travel between MK & Epcot, one of the two monorail stations at DLR is in Tomorrowland. They will check you for tickets at the Downtown Disney station.

Have a wonderful trip! I'm so excited for you to get to experience the original park. It really is magical, and much easier to navigate than WDW. Enjoy!

That is correct. At DL, the monorail is "in-park" meaning you have to have a ticket to enter. They scan at the DTD entrance and of course if you entered from Tomorrowland, you are already in the park. The DTD Monorail station is basically an alternate park gate.

 

[Dulcee]

Someone else can confirm this, but I don't think you'll be able to ride the Monorail Friday night without tickets. Unlike WDW where the stations are outside the parks and you can travel between MK & Epcot, one of the two monorail stations at DLR is in Tomorrowland. They will check you for tickets at the Downtown Disney station.

Have a wonderful trip! I'm so excited for you to get to experience the original park. It really is magical, and much easier to navigate than WDW. Enjoy!

Ah bummer, good to know though, thank you!

 

[LKing]

Couple of notes in green

Tuesday, April 14​

• Fly in from the East Coast, arrive ~12pm local time
• Afternoon: Downtown Disney (no park tickets for today)
• Dinner: Paseo or Centrico? Personally, we love Paseo, however dinner is $$$. We tend to go for brunch (weekends only) when it is a littler cheaper

Wednesday, April 15

• Rope drop Disneyland (Fantasyland first, first LL for Space or Indy around 8:30 am)
• Follow with Tomorrowland or Frontierland, Adventureland (LLs as possible)
• QS lunch, try to get 1 or 2 LL for DCA in the evening (Web slingers/Guardians) LL for Guardians fill quickly. I would try to book them as close to 11 am as possible and then modify.
• Break: I’ll check in at the conference + attend the keynote session (5-6:30)
• Evening: use evening LL in DCA, dinner quick service
• World of Color (Worth it to try for the VQ for this?) Yes, if you aren't doing a dining package or dessert package, VQ is absolutely worth it.

Thursday, April 16

• Kids + DH sleep in, conference for me
• Need to decide DCA or DL around 11 am (low wait attractions, QS lunch)
• Grab LL for the evening in DCA (Soarin/Incredicoaster)
• 1:30 pm Conference, Break for DH/Kids
• Head into DCA around 5
• (~7) Blue Bayou Dinner, Fireworks in DL - Fireworks should be viewed from an area where you can see the projections. They start right after Paint the Night so ideally watch the parade and then fireworks. Fireworks with projections can be seen from Main Street, Small World, Rivers of America. Of course, ROA is not on the parade route so if you were watching from ROA, you would want to watch Fantasmic (9 pm - 9:27 pm) and then fireworks from the same location at 9:30 pm. Having dinner at BB at 7 pm means you will leave around 8-8:30 pm. It would be tough to get a spot on Main Street that will give you a good view of the fireworks at that time of night. On Main Street, as soon as the last float passes, everyone sitting on the curb to watch the parade jumps into the street for fireworks viewing. It would be difficult to work your way into the crowds on Main Street to watch fireworks. Since the parade starts at Small World, you wouldn't have time to get there from NOS. I suppose you could take the train from NOS to Toontown. Get off the train and wait behind the crowds that are watching the parade. After the parade, a little more space opens in the area in front of Small World so you might be able to work your way in there.

Friday, April 17

• No park tickets
• Kids + DH: Sleep in, pool time, conference for me
• Lunch: Downtown Disney, Black Tap Craft, Lego shopping for kids
• Evening: Monorail ride, dinner at Storyteller's Cafe, catch fireworks from outside the park - Mentioned up thread that this is not possible without a park ticket. The monorail is considered an attraction at DLR.

Saturday, April 18

• DCA at opening for Radiator Springs Racers
• Conference sessions 10 - 1 pm, Stack LL for later
• Park time 2 pm to close, repeats, and/or things we've missed
• QS for Dinner
• Paint the Night Parade - Figure out where you want to watch this. If you are watching by Small World, make sure you stay for fireworks and Tapestry of Happiness. If you are watching from somewhere else along the parade route, make your way to a fireworks viewing location immediately after the parade.

Sunday, April 19

• Early flight home

 

[Kit Jackson]

@Dulcee If you are trying to watch the fireworks from outside the parks, you may want to book a dinner at Pixar Place Hotel. They used to have a rooftop deck that had a great view of the fireworks. They even piped in the music. I think to get the deck you either had to be staying at the hotel or have a dinner reservation (I was able to watch because I was staying at the hotel when it was still Paradise Pier). I'm not sure if this is still true, so hopefully someone who has been to the park more recently can confirm or correct me on this.

 

[LKing]

@Dulcee If you are trying to watch the fireworks from outside the parks, you may want to book a dinner at Pixar Place Hotel. They used to have a rooftop deck that had a great view of the fireworks. They even piped in the music. I think to get the deck you either had to be staying at the hotel or have a dinner reservation (I was able to watch because I was staying at the hotel when it was still Paradise Pier). I'm not sure if this is still true, so hopefully someone who has been to the park more recently can confirm or correct me on this.

You can still watch the fireworks from up there. I've heard that people not staying at the hotel can watch from the deck as well. I don't know what the process is to get up there.