Please Help Me Prioritize My Research

goofballs

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Sep 11, 2013
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Heading to Disneyland in four weeks. Haven’t been since FP days. This trip will be DH and me, Wed evening through Sunday morning,
one day at DCA, one day at DL, both with LL and no hoppers.

I have so much to learn - where should I start?
Lightning Lane 101 (literally know nothing) - Dining options - touring itineraries - nighttime shows?

Thank you for any advice!
 
To be clear, you are going Wed evening though Sunday morning, but only 2 park days? Which days are your park days?

I'm not an expert on Lightening Lane, I just don't stay in the parks long enough to make it worthwhile because the times push out past when I want to leave. My strategy for the parks always involves rope drop. We arrive at parking by 7AM and get in the parks before rope drop, ready to head to our first attraction. For your trip, I would decide which attractions are your must dos and then plan the rest of the early morning around that. For example, if Space Mountain is your thing, go to that first, then hit Star Tours and the Matterhorn (and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters if the wait is 5 minutes). Then you head to It's a Small World -- basically you choose a starting point and then hit as many attractions as you can in that area before moving to the next adjacent land and doing those. Even with LLMP, you might want to rope drop Fantasyland as most of the attractions don't have LL. Occasionally we rope drop Haunted Mansion, then head to Indy and the Jungle Cruise.

Have you already made dining reservations for the places you want to go? Those open up 60 days in advance, so you are past that time and some of the restaurants will be fully booked already. If you are flexible a lot of times reservations start opening up the night before, and even the morning of. A lot of the dining decisions depend on your budget. If you have the funds, I like the World of Color Dessert Party, mostly because I like to be center-ish for the show and I like to sit down. I'm also very fond of the Carnation Cafe which isn't has hard to get reservations for. Cafe Orleans is hit or miss for me -- I love it on a beautiful day when I can sit on the patio. I don't love sitting inside. Blue Bayou is unique. But maybe you've been to these restaurants before?

4 weeks from now is the week before Christmastime starts, but you mentioned arriving on a Wednesday, is that 11/5 or 11/12? That will make a difference in terms of entertainment.
 
Since you've been to the park before I'd research things that are new to you, like lightning lane. Then I'd decide what restaurants you might want ADRs for. I don't do touring plans but usually have a few things in mind that I want to do on any given day. The night time shows are great so it's worth choosing which of those you'd like to see, and also decide if you want to make time for the parade.
 
Am I reading it right that you only have two Park days?

If so, and since you haven’t been in so long, I wouldn’t focus on Dining research. Just plug in your dates and see what’s available and if something appeals to you then just grab it because things go really fast and likely most of the more popular dining options are already taken.

I would strictly focus you research on lightning lanes and have to maximize them to their fullest extent
 
Heading to Disneyland in four weeks. Haven’t been since FP days. This trip will be DH and me, Wed evening through Sunday morning,
one day at DCA, one day at DL, both with LL and no hoppers.
Have you been to WDW in the past few years? If so, you can skip Galaxy's Edge unless you really want to spend time there, because it's the same at DL as at WDW.
 





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