Plan Feedback

[nutshell]

What do you think of the following? I know there's not much detail. There will be 7 in the party (Me, DW, DD(8), DS(5), DM, DB, DF). And FYI: My kids prefer the faster rides over the kiddie rides. Example: DS would rather do Space Mountain than FL and DD's favorite is BTMRR (it was mine too growing up!). The following is for a week in August.

Monday
• Arrive and check-in
• Downtown Disney
• Dinner at ESPN Zone at 4:30
• Swimming
• Fireworks from Hotel

Tuesday
• Early entrance to Disneyland: Nemo
• 9:00 Follow RideMax schedule
• 2:40 Lunch at Blue Bayou
• Break
• 6:30 Parade
• 7:00 Follow RideMax schedule
• 8:30 Get spot for Fireworks
• 10:30 Fantasmic!

Wednesday
• 8:00 Early entrance to ToonTown
• 10:00 California Adventure – follow RideMax Schedule
• 2:00 Food and Break
• 5:45 Pixar Parade
• Finish RideMax
• 10:00 Hop to DL and hit some more rides!

Thursday
• Early entrance to Disneyland: FL
• Follow RideMax schedule
• Lunch at Plaza Inn
• 2:00 My Disneyland Birthday Party
• Play it by ear

Friday
• Lilo and Stitch’s Aloha Breakfast 7:30
• Check out
• Final rides and shopping

 

[JadeDarkstar]

looks good to me i take a brake after lunch or for lunch and dont go back till more evening time. looks good

 

[DLR29]

A couple things:

1) Just making sure you are ok with getting to the park around 6-6:15 on your first MM day because you want to ride Nemo. If you aren't there until 6:30, then you might have to wait a while for Nemo. It's crazy but true.

2) Just clarifying, you are seeing the fireworks from the hotel your first night, but in the park on the second? If so, I wouldn't do Fantasmic that night as well. Why see both fireworks and Fantasmic on the same night and be rushed if you have 3 nights to spread them out?

3) On Wednesday, I would recommend after Mickey's Toontown Morning Madness grabbing a FP for one of your favorite DL rides and then immediately rushing over to DCA's gates so that you can line up for the rope drop as close to the rope as possible. Assuming that you want to do Toy Story Midway Mania, you will want to get to DCA ASAP because lines will be long and stay long all day.

Otherwise, looks great!

 

[avalon451]

It looks like you'll be there for 5 days, but you are just getting 4 day hoppers and using your first afternoon/evening for DTD. Have you looked at the difference for 5 day hoppers instead of 4? I think it's like 10 bucks apiece. Not much. You might really enjoy taking that first evening to go into the parks after your early dinner, and just soak it in, because you will NOT have time to do that the next morning at MM! Especially when running for Nemo! That first evening is wonderful for taking those pictures by the Floral Mickey, wandering around Main Street, seeing "Disneyland: the First 50 Years" as an intro to your trip. Also, Hydroguy sez: See the fireworks at the earliest opportunity, because you never know when they might be canceled due to high winds. So you could catch the fireworks that very first evening-- they are the best from Main Street! And then you wouldn't have the rather stressful task of struggling upstream against the crowd, to get from Main Street over to the mobbed Rivers area for Fantasmic the second night. Better for that is to hang out over by HM and Splash during the 9 p.m. F! and fireworks your second night; then come in behind the departing early show crowds that are headed out of the Rivers area for the gates.

 

[S. S. Columbia]

Wednesday
• 8:00 Early entrance to ToonTown
• 10:00 California Adventure – follow RideMax Schedule
• 2:00 Food and Break
• 5:45 Pixar Parade
• Finish RideMax
• 10:00 Hop to DL and hit some more rides!

Since you asked ...

Wednesday
• 8:00 Early entrance to ToonTown
• 10:00 California Adventure – follow RideMax Schedule
• 2:00 Food and Break
• 5:45 Pixar Parade
• Finish RideMax
• 8:45 Disney's Electrical Parade
• 10:00 Hop to DL and hit some more rides!

HTH

 

[DangerMouse]

You don't have the DEP on your schedule!

 

[nutshell]

Thanks for all the feedback. I don't know how I missed DEP! We also might add Alladin since it's the last year and one person in our party hasn't seen it. We might add one more day to our park hoppers so we can go in Monday night. As for doing the parade, fireworks, and Fantasmic all in one night, my reasoning was earlier the better so I don't feel pressured later in the week to catch these things. Isn't one of Hydro's tips to get them done early? Maybe I read that somewhere else.

Thanks again! And if anyone has more advice, please share!

 

[DLR29]

As for doing the parade, fireworks, and Fantasmic all in one night, my reasoning was earlier the better so I don't feel pressured later in the week to catch these things. Isn't one of Hydro's tips to get them done early? Maybe I read that somewhere else.

Yes, he does day that; however, in August (probably) the weather will be nice and not windy enough to cancel them. I think it's more pressure to try and go from the fireworks and make the next Fantasmic, than it is to try and catch them later in the week. It's doable, but you won't get great seats at both.

 

[nutshell]

Yes, he does day that; however, in August (probably) the weather will be nice and not windy enough to cancel them. I think it's more pressure to try and go from the fireworks and make the next Fantasmic, than it is to try and catch them later in the week. It's doable, but you won't get great seats at both.

Thanks for the tip. For some reason I was under the impression that the 10:30 Fantasimic isn't crowded. Thanks again.

 

[Denton]

I agree with the PP that said to go to the park on your arrival day. We do the same thing. Leisurely strolling through Disneyland and soaking up the Disney atmosphere is great.

As for your Tuesday EE day, I would skip Nemo and hit Fantasyland and try to get all the slow loading rides out of the way. You should be able to ride Nemo at some other point during your trip and wait no longer than 30-45 minutes. I was at DLR last week and the longest wait for Nemo was 45 minutes but if you timed it right, your wait was much shorter. I don't think it's worth the trouble waiting for EE at the gates for 45 minutes inorder to avoid a 45 minute line later in the day.

 

[DLR29]

As for your Tuesday EE day, I would skip Nemo and hit Fantasyland and try to get all the slow loading rides out of the way. You should be able to ride Nemo at some other point during your trip and wait no longer than 30-45 minutes. I was at DLR last week and the longest wait for Nemo was 45 minutes but if you timed it right, your wait was much shorter. I don't think it's worth the trouble waiting for EE at the gates for 45 minutes inorder to avoid a 45 minute line later in the day.

Normally I would agree with this, but since they have 2 MMs, I there isn't a huge problem with using one for Fantasyland and one for Nemo. Unless one happens to be a Fantasyland ride junkie.

 

[DangerMouse]

Normally I would agree with this, but since they have 2 MMs, I there isn't a huge problem with using one for Fantasyland and one for Nemo. Unless one happens to be a Fantasyland ride junkie.

Like me!! I will ALWAYS choose FL over Nemo.

 

[avalon451]

Thanks for the tip. For some reason I was under the impression that the 10:30 Fantasimic isn't crowded. Thanks again.

I think it IS less crowded, but the problem is getting there. If you are watching the fireworks on Main Street, the majority of the crowd afterward is heading out to exit the park. They have literal squadrons of CMs directing traffic flow, and it like swimming upstream in the rapids to get through the crowds toward Rivers of America. Literally wall-to-wall, shoulder -to-shoulder, shuffle, stop, shuffle, stop. You will be directed to follow a very narrow path of humanity that is sidling past the huge crush of people that are coming out of the Rivers area from the earlier F! show and from watching the fireworks over in that area afterward.

That's why some people recommend hanging around up in Critter Country and coming in behind the departing hordes.

 

[bumbershoot]

I definitely agree with getting one more day's admission for Gayle's idea of

That first evening is wonderful for taking those pictures by the Floral Mickey, wandering around Main Street, seeing "Disneyland: the First 50 Years" as an intro to your trip.

Love that little movie!

And wandering around is fun to do. See the flick, wander around, watch the fireworks your first night.

You could still see the fireworks the next night; they don't really get old!

 

[S. S. Columbia]

I think it IS less crowded, but the problem is getting there. If you are watching the fireworks on Main Street, the majority of the crowd afterward is heading out to exit the park. They have literal squadrons of CMs directing traffic flow, and it like swimming upstream in the rapids to get through the crowds toward Rivers of America. Literally wall-to-wall, shoulder -to-shoulder, shuffle, stop, shuffle, stop. You will be directed to follow a very narrow path of humanity that is sidling past the huge crush of people that are coming out of the Rivers area from the earlier F! show and from watching the fireworks over in that area afterward.

That's why some people recommend hanging around up in Critter Country and coming in behind the departing hordes.

FWIW, here’s what HydroGuy wrote about seeing the late Fantasmic show (10:30 p.m.):

...it is not very hard to see the late F! showing. We saw the RDCT fireworks in the hub from over in front of the Frontierland entrance (on the left side of the hub as you face the castle). After RDCT ends you just head thru Frontierland. One thing of which to be aware is that DL usually sets up a traffic management system in the hub before RDCT starts. This system in my experience directs everyone counter-clockwise around the hub in a one-way traffic lane. After RDCT they try to keep this going for awhile and hence if you are too far away from the Frontierland entrance you might have to go against one-way traffic to get there which might be difficult. My advice is before RDCT starts ask one of the CMs who directs traffic in the hub where you should be in order to make it to Frontierland and F! and go with that.

 

[mommyof2boys1girl]

I think it IS less crowded, but the problem is getting there. If you are watching the fireworks on Main Street, the majority of the crowd afterward is heading out to exit the park. They have literal squadrons of CMs directing traffic flow, and it like swimming upstream in the rapids to get through the crowds toward Rivers of America. Literally wall-to-wall, shoulder -to-shoulder, shuffle, stop, shuffle, stop. You will be directed to follow a very narrow path of humanity that is sidling past the huge crush of people that are coming out of the Rivers area from the earlier F! show and from watching the fireworks over in that area afterward.

That's why some people recommend hanging around up in Critter Country and coming in behind the departing hordes.

I just have to take a minute to put in a plug here for the CM's who direct traffic after F! During our trip, we watched F! @ 9, and then watched the fireworks from our spot on ROA. Afterwards ds, who wasn't all that thrilled with F! or the fireworks and only wanted to ride Buzz one more time before he passed out from exhaustion, demanded quite strongly that we head STRAIGHT for Buzz. One problem. Traffic! Going with the flow out of ROA and to Main St wasn't bad, even pushing a double side by side stroller. But when we saw the sea of humanity heading out of the park via Main St, Ds broke down and began to cry, because "we're never gonna get across with all these people in the way!" A nearby CM who was directing traffic heard my Ds's cries, and came over to help. When we explained that he was trying to get to Buzz before we went home for the night, this fabulous man actually WALKED OUT into the sea of humanity and literally stopped traffic for us so we could get through!! I felt sort of bad for those we were stopping, but he explained that they were due for a long halting walk anyway to get out of the park, so a few extra seconds to let a family with 3 little ones pass really wasn't going to make much difference.
God bless the CM's that just go that much farther to make the DL experience magical and special - he could have just kept on motioning traffic through and let us wait till the crowds died down...but he chose to help us out, and that made a world of difference!!