exwdwcm
wishes she was Wendy Moira Angela Darling
- Joined
- Aug 19, 1999
- Messages
- 5,046
So I happen to be heading to San Diego for a workshop in August. I had two free AA tickets I needed to use, so I am flying DH and my almost 4yo son out to join me. My workshop is on Thursday, August 25th. So that Friday, we will hit the SD Zoo and then drive to Anaheim that afternoon or evening.
I know traffic will be a nightmare, so we will either leave the zoo and plan to leave by 2:30pm or wait until after 7pm? Any tips on the traffic from SD to Anaheim?
We have a room using our points at Disneyland hotel for that Friday and Sat night (GCV was booked for DVC). So we will just hang at DTD or the hotel Friday night. If we get in early, might try for a nice dinner or even Goofy's.
Saturday, we will plan to spend the entire day at DL. We are skipping DCA since we only have one day. We are hitting WDW for a week in October, so we will see some of those attractions at WDW later anyhow. I also just visited DCA/DL last year. This is my DH and DS's first DL visit, so we just want to focus there and accomplish as much as we can in a day.
So given you have two late 30 somethings and a 3.5 yo, what sort of touring plan would you recommend? I don't need to plan the entire day ride to ride, but I want to have a strategy for at least the morning, so we can maximize fastpass use and hit all the biggies.
We will get to use the magic morning, so we will get in at 7am and plan to do rope drop. The park is open until midnight. We will need to take a midday break back at the hotel to let the little guy nap a few hours. We typically do this on our WDW trips and it works well, so that we can do rope drop and stay late too.
Even though he is 3.5, our little guy does like thrills. He's done Splash, Test Track, Big Thunder, Soarin etc. at WDW. So we want to do some of the thrills. He is 42" now (tall for his age). Not sure we will put him on space, that might be too intense for him. The only ride he won't be able to do is Indy. I do want to do that, as DH LOVES Indy, so we might just child swap that one (it says 46").
So with that in mind- knowing we want to:
So what should we hit in those first 2 hours or so and what order? We are happy to split up to send DH for a FP to something while i take DS to Dumbo or something etc.
Appreciate the help! I am a WDW pro/DVC owner and ex WDW CM, but have only been to DL twice and only once in the last 25 years! Given we only have one day, it's a tough challenge!
I know traffic will be a nightmare, so we will either leave the zoo and plan to leave by 2:30pm or wait until after 7pm? Any tips on the traffic from SD to Anaheim?
We have a room using our points at Disneyland hotel for that Friday and Sat night (GCV was booked for DVC). So we will just hang at DTD or the hotel Friday night. If we get in early, might try for a nice dinner or even Goofy's.
Saturday, we will plan to spend the entire day at DL. We are skipping DCA since we only have one day. We are hitting WDW for a week in October, so we will see some of those attractions at WDW later anyhow. I also just visited DCA/DL last year. This is my DH and DS's first DL visit, so we just want to focus there and accomplish as much as we can in a day.
So given you have two late 30 somethings and a 3.5 yo, what sort of touring plan would you recommend? I don't need to plan the entire day ride to ride, but I want to have a strategy for at least the morning, so we can maximize fastpass use and hit all the biggies.
We will get to use the magic morning, so we will get in at 7am and plan to do rope drop. The park is open until midnight. We will need to take a midday break back at the hotel to let the little guy nap a few hours. We typically do this on our WDW trips and it works well, so that we can do rope drop and stay late too.
Even though he is 3.5, our little guy does like thrills. He's done Splash, Test Track, Big Thunder, Soarin etc. at WDW. So we want to do some of the thrills. He is 42" now (tall for his age). Not sure we will put him on space, that might be too intense for him. The only ride he won't be able to do is Indy. I do want to do that, as DH LOVES Indy, so we might just child swap that one (it says 46").
So with that in mind- knowing we want to:
- tackle the usual toddler fantasyland stuff
- plus thrill rides
- are using magic morning with 7am entry (8am for off site guests)
- taking midday break, probably 1 or 2pm for 2 hours, then come back
- don't care about afternoon parade, can skip
- fireworks- would like to see, but not a must
- fantasmic, if we see, will be later show (10;30pm)
- magic memories and you- can miss- or catch, don't care
So what should we hit in those first 2 hours or so and what order? We are happy to split up to send DH for a FP to something while i take DS to Dumbo or something etc.
Appreciate the help! I am a WDW pro/DVC owner and ex WDW CM, but have only been to DL twice and only once in the last 25 years! Given we only have one day, it's a tough challenge!
).... within your post below. But first....read Hydroguy's DLR for the WDW vet thread if you haven't already done so. 
