One day in the parks Strategy needed!

[oceanrose]

I am taking a group of friends to Disneyland Oct 5th for one day.

People include 1 former CM who hasn't been to any parks for years, 2 never ever been to Disney Newbies, and myself.

We are flying in Tuesday night, spending the night at a Good Neighbor Hotel, then making it to the park at opening. So far itinerary looks like this:

In line for park by 7:00 AM
Disneyland first, hitting main attractions. Then head to Cal Adventures.

We have Halloween tickets purchased so will be heading back to DL that night.

We will have park hoppers. Can we hop during the Halloween party? How does that work?

Any must do's? Any suggestions?

 

[WonkaKid]

Sounds like you have a good plan in place. At the rope drop, I suggest hitting Fantasyland first. Do Peter Pan, Alice, Dumbo and then Mr. Toad. Then head over and get Fast Passes for Space Mountain (Ghost Galaxy by then?) and Buzz Lightyear. Then hit Pirates and HM (FP if the line is too long). This would be my plan of attack, in any case. Hope this helps.

Have a great time!

Rob

 

[jammyjam25]

I'll be at the same party on October 5!

I'm not sure if you CAN hop during the Halloween Party but not sure why you would? DCA will be busy and full of all the non-party attendees. Plus you paid the extra $80 to be in DL during the Halloween Party so why then just hop over to DCA. Seems like a waste of money to me personally.

I'd do fantasyland rides, Ghost Galaxy and Haunted Mansion Holiday rides in the morning before hopping over to DCA. Other ride lines in DL should be short during the Halloween party and you can do them then. If you're interested in the Halloween parade and fireworks during the party be sure to set aside time for them as well. Also not many dining options are available during the party so I'd plan on eating before the party starts.

 

[tlovesdis]

If you have a hopper ticket and a halloween party ticket, then you could hop, just make sure to give them your hopper at DCA, but not sure why you would during the party? The whole idea of the party is to be in DL!

 

[MikeRx]

Buzz is disconnected so you can hold a Buzz and another fast pass at the same time...helps with Star Tours or SM (Ghost Galaxy). Also do HMH and Pirates in the early AM as they will be bonkers later in the day and the party crowd arrives..

If you go over to DCA get a FP for RSR, ToT (hot ticket due to re-theming in January) or Soarin' as they will be the top priorities and manage between the three as the day evolves. Remember getting back into DL could be busy at 3pm and the party crowd arrives.

Mike

 

[Becca1007]

I am taking a group of friends to Disneyland Oct 5th for one day.

People include 1 former CM who hasn't been to any parks for years, 2 never ever been to Disney Newbies, and myself.

We are flying in Tuesday night, spending the night at a Good Neighbor Hotel, then making it to the park at opening. So far itinerary looks like this:

In line for park by 7:00 AM
Disneyland first, hitting main attractions. Then head to Cal Adventures.

We have Halloween tickets purchased so will be heading back to DL that night.

We will have park hoppers. Can we hop during the Halloween party? How does that work?

Any must do's? Any suggestions?

Send a runner to get the next fastpass for the group while the rest of the group gets snacks, uses the restroom, rides something with a short wait. This way your group won't be slowed down by you all having to traipse all over the park to get a fastpass.

Honestly, I never do Peter Pan first. The internet is awash with that advice and now everyone runs there so you end up waiting 45 minutes anyways. If you are at the front of rope drop and your group is fast and it isn't a magic morning than this strategy can work well. If it is a magic morning don't bother. I tend to head to the left side of the park first and the strategy often works great, HM will be decked out as Holiday and the lines can get long during that time of year (and there is only sometimes a FP option), so I typically hit that first, then pirates, grab FP for BTMRR, walk on to Splash and Pooh and then head towards Fantasyland. The early mornings will be key to doing everything you want to do, so eat before you get to the park or have snacks to munch on in line.

Don't bother hopping during the Halloween party.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[dorchrislen]

If you are Star Wars fans then Star Tours will be a must for you. It gets very crowded. I'd suggest getting a FP for Space and Buzz first, then ride Star Tours, then Buzz. But if you have a prior CM, they might get a kick out of the Nemo Sub since it'll be so different than they remember, so you might want to do that before Star Tours.
After these, go get a fastpass for Haunted Mansion if they have them. If not, ride it and then Pirates. The only reason to do HM before the party is that it'll be sooo packed during the party. And Pirates will be a quick line if you do it early.

Once in DCA, first get the FP for Radiator Springs Racers, then do the line for Toy Story Mania if you want to do that. If not, I'd suggest Little Mermaid and It's Tough to Be a Bug until your time to get another fastpass is up, then get one for either Soarin' or ToT. RSR, Soarin, and ToT are the biggies here (and maybe CA Screamin if you have big coaster fans). Once you've done those and worked lunch in, the party should be starting back in DL.

 

[smartlabelprint]

If you can be a fast pass runner you can get fp's for DCA after you get DL FP while they're on something at DL.