oops I forgot about Disneyland Park.......

[Meech Loves Mickey]

So I have been so busy trying to plan my RSR strategy for DCA, that I completely forgot there is a whole other park to see!!!

What are the rides that are a must see first thing in the morning? (As a WDW vet we don't neccessarily need to ride Dumbo, Tea Party or Winnie the POoh....)

I know that Nemo, HM, IASW and POTC are MUST SEES for us, but what is the one thing we need to get to early in the morning to make sure we are able to ride?

Thanks!

 

[coaches24]

Generally FL is first on most people lists at DL because they dont have FP in the FL rides. PP and the several other FL rides have long lines most of the day unless you get there first thing. A lot of other popular rides either have slow times or FP thus making it easier to ride

 

[Meech Loves Mickey]

Generally FL is first on most people lists at DL because they dont have FP in the FL rides. PP and the several other FL rides have long lines most of the day unless you get there first thing. A lot of other popular rides either have slow times or FP thus making it easier to ride

I am assuming that FL = Frontierland and PP = Peter Pan?

or does FL =Fantasyland?

Is Nemo very popular? How long is the wait normally?

Also, is there long wait for Mr Toad?

 

[Flynn_Rider]

Dumbo is still a long wait, so is Nemo and Matterhorn. I might hit those as I grab a Star Tours Fast Pass. Storybook Canals is another option due to its low rider capacity and slow load time. If you can hit up Fantadyland early nearly everything else will be easy with Fastpass

 

[Girimama33]

FL is for Fantasyland.
Nemo is a good first ride. It loads slow, so the wait will be long later on.
Matterhorn is another good one. Don't forget to check out Toontown.

 

[DaveNinja]

If you get in right at opening, hit Matterhorn first (if you want to ride as a group, if not save it for later and Single Rider line it) and then Nemo since they're close together and their lines get long pretty quickly. If you hit Nemo first, its kind of a long ride and the line for matterhorn could get long while you're riding. Save pirates, HM and Small World since they usually have pretty short lines up until lunch time on crowded days. If you want to ride the 20 second long Gadgets Go Coaster in toon town, try to do it early on (toon town opens later in the morning still, i think) since its a slow loader and the line gets long. Big Thunder, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain and Star Tours (and Indy if its open) all have fastpasses so they can be spaced out through the day

 

[Huff]

My must do's:

Worst Lines, run out of FP's quickly:
Space Mountain (FAR better than WDW's version, smooth, in car sound etc).
Indiana Jones (similar cars to Dino at WDW but far better with IJ theme).

Moderate lines:
Splash Mountain (inline seating instead of side by side, long lines when warm)
Matterhorn (Fun ride but bumpy. Not scary, somewhat slow moving)
Nemo (similar story and effects to Epcots Nemo ride but inside submarine).
Star Tours (Same as WDW version)

Short Lines:
Pooh (Fun but not as good as WDW's)
Mark Twain & Columbia ships
Pirates (FAR better than WDW, walk on but moderate on crowded days)

Since the 2 parks are right next door to each other get hopper passes. This allows you to maximize your days such as seeing Fantasmic or Fireworks on same day you've spent at DCA. 2 minute walk between parks!

 

[dmband]

Marking thread

 

[Meech Loves Mickey]

Neither of my kids are tall enough to ride the Matterhorn so we will be skipping that.

I think we will head to Nemo first and then to Fantasyland and ride as much as we can there, then head to Toon Town.

Or should we do Toon Town before Fantasyland?

 

[Meech Loves Mickey]

My must do's:

Worst Lines, run out of FP's quickly:
Space Mountain (FAR better than WDW's version, smooth, in car sound etc).
Indiana Jones (similar cars to Dino at WDW but far better with IJ theme).

Moderate lines:
Splash Mountain (inline seating instead of side by side, long lines when warm)
Matterhorn (Fun ride but bumpy. Not scary, somewhat slow moving)
Nemo (similar story and effects to Epcots Nemo ride but inside submarine).
Star Tours (Same as WDW version)

Short Lines:
Pooh (Fun but not as good as WDW's)
Mark Twain & Columbia ships
Pirates (FAR better than WDW, walk on but moderate on crowded days)

Since the 2 parks are right next door to each other get hopper passes. This allows you to maximize your days such as seeing Fantasmic or Fireworks on same day you've spent at DCA. 2 minute walk between parks!

This is good to know. I think we will grab FP for Space Mountain either before or after Nemo. I would like to ride Star Tours, but I won't be upset if we don't get to it.

Do HM and POTC both have FP? We would like to ride these multiple times if possible.....

 

[ImDMous]

Neither of my kids are tall enough to ride the Matterhorn so we will be skipping that.

I think we will head to Nemo first and then to Fantasyland and ride as much as we can there, then head to Toon Town.

Or should we do Toon Town before Fantasyland?

Toon Town doesn't usually open until at least an hour after the park opening. I would definitely do FantasyLand first.

This is good to know. I think we will grab FP for Space Mountain either before or after Nemo. I would like to ride Star Tours, but I won't be upset if we don't get to it.

Do HM and POTC both have FP? We would like to ride these multiple times if possible.....

HM does have FP, but it's not always used. It depends on crowd levels. POTC does not have FP but the line is usually less than half an hour, sometimes only 10 or 15 minutes.

 

[Delilah1310]

Neither of my kids are tall enough to ride the Matterhorn so we will be skipping that.

I think we will head to Nemo first and then to Fantasyland and ride as much as we can there, then head to Toon Town.

Or should we do Toon Town before Fantasyland?

So if you have other things you want to do in the early morning arrival - such as other fantasyland rides - consider this :
The Nemo ride is slow loading - everyone literally has to climb down a narrow ladder into a sub
And the Nemo ride itself is long
Unloading is slow - everyone climbs back up that ladder.

This one ride alone could eat up a lot of time and take away any advantage you have by getting there early.

Just my two cents.

And although someone said Matterhorn is not scary, my 5yo would disagree - he was very upset by the way the yeti kept scaring him around each corner. Not crying, scarred for life upset ... But kept reminding us how he didn't like it for days afterward!

 

[Meech Loves Mickey]

So if you have other things you want to do in the early morning arrival - such as other fantasyland rides - consider this :
The Nemo ride is slow loading - everyone literally has to climb down a narrow ladder into a sub
And the Nemo ride itself is long
Unloading is slow - everyone climbs back up that ladder.

This one ride alone could eat up a lot of time and take away any advantage you have by getting there early.

Just my two cents.

And although someone said Matterhorn is not scary, my 5yo would disagree - he was very upset by the way the yeti kept scaring him around each corner. Not crying, scarred for life upset ... But kept reminding us how he didn't like it for days afterward!

Is the Nemo ride worth riding? I feel like this is a must see for us, as we have nothing like it at WDW.

What are the lines for Nemo like later in the morning? what about later in the afternoon?

 

[furb & dez]

Is the Nemo ride worth riding? I feel like this is a must see for us, as we have nothing like it at WDW.

Here's how Nemo goes:

1. Crawl slowly down into a claustrophobic ride vehicle.
2. Wait for the whole sub to load; door closes and traps you in there for 15 minutes.
3. While sitting on an extremely narrow plank of a seat, bend over at the waist and gaze through a small porthole for 15 minutes. If you're fat, or have a bad back, too bad for you. Enjoy your pain/anguish.
4. Watch a video of Nemo swim around, while another character screams "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" every 2.3 seconds.
5. Endure the screams (and continuing wimpering) from smaller children once you get to the anglerfish scene.
6. Ride mercifully ends.
7. Wait for the people who came into the sub after you to sloooooooowly get out of the sub.
8. Escape the sub and vow never to do it again.
9. Bonus for fat people/those with bad backs: pain for the rest of the day.

 

[Meech Loves Mickey]

Here's how Nemo goes:

1. Crawl slowly down into a claustrophobic ride vehicle.
2. Wait for the whole sub to load; door closes and traps you in there for 15 minutes.
3. While sitting on an extremely narrow plank of a seat, bend over at the waist and gaze through a small porthole for 15 minutes. If you're fat, or have a bad back, too bad for you. Enjoy your pain/anguish.
4. Watch a video of Nemo swim around, while another character screams "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" "NEMO!" every 2.3 seconds.
5. Endure the screams (and continuing wimpering) from smaller children once you get to the anglerfish scene.
6. Ride mercifully ends.
7. Wait for the people who came into the sub after you to sloooooooowly get out of the sub.
8. Escape the sub and vow never to do it again.
9. Bonus for fat people/those with bad backs: pain for the rest of the day.

You had me at claustrophobic! This does not sound like fun... maybe we will skip this and head straight to Fantasyland.

 

[DharmaLou]

The line for Nemo sucks. We were there Thanksgiving week and that was the ONLY line that I felt lasted forever and really, really sucked.

And my DD hated the ride.

 

[Delilah1310]

Is the Nemo ride worth riding? I feel like this is a must see for us, as we have nothing like it at WDW.

What are the lines for Nemo like later in the morning? what about later in the afternoon?

The line never really gets light because of the loading and timing issues. It's cute ... My 5YO enjoyed it more than me, it seemed, but it wasn't one he asked to go back on. We just did it once.

We went in late afternoon or evening ... We had taken the monorail in from downtown disney after a break and when it approaches the park, the monorail circles the Nemo ride a few times and it looks like it would be fun. It was not on our must-do list, but i wanted to try it if we had an opportunity.

The monorail drops off right next to it, so we just hopped in the line and waited it out. I want to say it was about 30 minutes wait about 4/ 5 pm in early June. But the line always seemed to be about the same.
Hope this helps!

 

[mouseymommy]

We did Nemo once, and I don't feel the need to ride again. Here is how we do our DL visits. When we have MM we head straight to FL and see if the line for Peter Pan is short. If it is, we ride and then hit all the other FL rides. Then we head to SM, ST, and Buzz. If we don't get in early, we get a FP for SM, ride the FL rides except for PP. Then head over to Pirates, HM, and splash/Pooh. Then we do Frontierland. We collect FP for ST on the way to lunch/nap. When we get back in the evening we use the FP's, and ride whatever has a short line at the time. Hope this help you!

 

[disneymom0104]

I think it is worth doing at least once. It is different than anything at WDW, other than the Nemo theming is similar to the Epcot Nemo ride. If your boys like Nemo at Epcot, they will probably like this. It is a slow loader and not super comfortable for adults, but it is fun and I think younger kids like it. My 7 year old (at that time) was borderline with liking it and thinking it was too long/boring. But I am happy we did it.

Now I'm debating whether we will it this time or not. I think my almost 3 year old will enjoy it.

 

[Meech Loves Mickey]

I think it is worth doing at least once. It is different than anything at WDW, other than the Nemo theming is similar to the Epcot Nemo ride. If your boys like Nemo at Epcot, they will probably like this. It is a slow loader and not super comfortable for adults, but it is fun and I think younger kids like it. My 7 year old (at that time) was borderline with liking it and thinking it was too long/boring. But I am happy we did it.

Now I'm debating whether we will it this time or not. I think my almost 3 year old will enjoy it.

My kids love the Nemo ride at Epcot! But I am clautrophobic and I don't know if I would be able to handle sitting in that submarine for very long. If the line is not too long in the afternoon, maybe DH will take them, but I don't think this is going to be a priority for us.

We have a WDW trip planned for May, so they will be able to ride Nemo in Epcot then.....