please review my plan for first DLR Holiday trip

[princess lovers mom]

OK first DLR trip planned for week after Christmas finishing with Rose Parade New Years Day! please review my tentative plan below - I need to make meal plans next week...does anything look completely out of whack and undoable?!?! My plan is to get to parks early - do rides, get FP's for later and then in afternoon see shows and plan on waiting for a few hours for the planned evening activity- fireworks, WOC, Fantasmic....don't plan on leaving parks as afraid we might not get back in due to crowds...

Sunday 12/26 - arrive Burbank 1115 - Super Shuttle to DLR - hope to arrive by 1ish check into Grand Californian then to the park hope by 3pm...wander park to get our bearings; hop a ride or get a fast pass if possible (not mandetory) - have dinner ressies at Storyteller for 6pm (but may cancel if we do not want to leave park) then see fireworks from Main Street - plan on getting a spot by 8pm

Monday 12/27 - breakfast at White Water in hotel - in parks by 9am hopefully (anticipating some jet lag) - do some rides and hoard some FP's - 2pm lunch at Carnation Cafe - Holiday Tour at 4pm- evening parade with tour...fantasmic dessert buffet (will be our dinner!) stay to see fireworks from here too

Tuesday 12/28 - MM 7am !! get a bunch done this am I hope...breakfast at bakery - bengal BBQ for small lunch - Ariel WOC dinner at 530pm - in line area by 7pm to get front row in pref area for show

Wed 12/29 - sleep in a bit breakfast at GC- parks by 10 am latest - more rides and shows - see the parade during the day - hit Aladdin - Blue Bayou for dinner at 6pm - fireworks from Main Street again (our last night)

Thur 12/20 - morning in park at 8am - breakfast at bakery - no reservations or tours/packages - free day to hit anything and everything we need to...pick up rental car at DTD in afternoon - driving to Pasadena this evening so can stay as long as we want


please fell free to offer ANY advise - nothing in stone yet

 

[csjordan]

OK first DLR trip planned for week after Christmas finishing with Rose Parade New Years Day! please review my tentative plan below - I need to make meal plans next week...does anything look completely out of whack and undoable?!?! My plan is to get to parks early - do rides, get FP's for later and then in afternoon see shows and plan on waiting for a few hours for the planned evening activity- fireworks, WOC, Fantasmic....don't plan on leaving parks as afraid we might not get back in due to crowds...

Sunday 12/26 - arrive Burbank 1115 - Super Shuttle to DLR - hope to arrive by 1ish check into Grand Californian then to the park hope by 3pm...wander park to get our bearings; hop a ride or get a fast pass if possible (not mandetory) - have dinner ressies at Storyteller for 6pm (but may cancel if we do not want to leave park) then see fireworks from Main Street - plan on getting a spot by 8pm

Monday 12/27 - breakfast at White Water in hotel - in parks by 9am hopefully (anticipating some jet lag) - do some rides and hoard some FP's - 2pm lunch at Carnation Cafe - Holiday Tour at 4pm- evening parade with tour...fantasmic dessert buffet (will be our dinner!) stay to see fireworks from here too

Tuesday 12/28 - MM 7am !! get a bunch done this am I hope...breakfast at bakery - bengal BBQ for small lunch - Ariel WOC dinner at 530pm - in line area by 7pm to get front row in pref area for show

Wed 12/29 - sleep in a bit breakfast at GC- parks by 10 am latest - more rides and shows - see the parade during the day - hit Aladdin - Blue Bayou for dinner at 6pm - fireworks from Main Street again (our last night)

Thur 12/20 - morning in park at 8am - breakfast at bakery - no reservations or tours/packages - free day to hit anything and everything we need to...pick up rental car at DTD in afternoon - driving to Pasadena this evening so can stay as long as we want


please fell free to offer ANY advise - nothing in stone yet

Your plan looks like so much fun! We went to DLR in August and stayed in VGC. It is a beautiful hotel! I loved it there!

We did WOC dinner, but not at Ariel. I think it was a Trattoria (sp?) restaurant. The choices on the WOC show menu were not all that great. We were disappointed to find that the menu was not the same as the regular dinner menu. There were very few choices. We were also disappointed witht the "preferred" viewing spot. It was standing room only, with no seats. Although we were some of the first ones in, the people who came in behind us sandwiched themselves in right in front of us. To make matters worse, they put their kids on their shoulders and it was REALLY hard to see. I hope you don't have this same problem.

In fact, this same problem was prevalent throughout our trip. We got in our spot to watch Fantasmic and a family with daughters at least 6.5 feet tall jumped right in front of us. I was shocked. Again, it's not like WDW where you are seated in a theater. It is standing only. I not so politely told the man they had to move. They moved over a little, but his wife wouldn't budge. Then, no joke, a japanese man jumped the rope and ran in front of us to take pictures. I not so politely tapped him on the shoulder and told him to take a hike. It really ruined the show for us.

As far as your schedule, it looks good. We arrived at LAX at 10 am and were in the park by 1 pm. However, we rented a car, which took a while, and then got lost for a few minutes, at which point, we decided to grab a fast meal at McDonalds just down from the park.

Sounds like you have the perfect holiday planned...Have fun!

 

[Ariel224]

You MAY need to tweak your fireworks plans a bit. Looking at the schedules that are posted for Nov and Dec thus far, the fireworks are starting at 8:40....20 minutes BEFORE the first Fantasmic! show.

 

[JustAKid]

OK first DLR trip planned for week after Christmas finishing with Rose Parade New Years Day! please review my tentative plan below - I need to make meal plans next week...does anything look completely out of whack and undoable?!?! My plan is to get to parks early - do rides, get FP's for later and then in afternoon see shows and plan on waiting for a few hours for the planned evening activity- fireworks, WOC, Fantasmic....don't plan on leaving parks as afraid we might not get back in due to crowds...

Sunday 12/26 - arrive Burbank 1115 - Super Shuttle to DLR - hope to arrive by 1ish check into Grand Californian then to the park hope by 3pm...wander park to get our bearings; hop a ride or get a fast pass if possible (not mandetory) - have dinner ressies at Storyteller for 6pm (but may cancel if we do not want to leave park) then see fireworks from Main Street - plan on getting a spot by 8pm

Monday 12/27 - breakfast at White Water in hotel - in parks by 9am hopefully (anticipating some jet lag) - do some rides and hoard some FP's - 2pm lunch at Carnation Cafe - Holiday Tour at 4pm- evening parade with tour...fantasmic dessert buffet (will be our dinner!) stay to see fireworks from here too

Tuesday 12/28 - MM 7am !! get a bunch done this am I hope...breakfast at bakery - bengal BBQ for small lunch - Ariel WOC dinner at 530pm - in line area by 7pm to get front row in pref area for show

Wed 12/29 - sleep in a bit breakfast at GC- parks by 10 am latest - more rides and shows - see the parade during the day - hit Aladdin - Blue Bayou for dinner at 6pm - fireworks from Main Street again (our last night)

Thur 12/20 - morning in park at 8am - breakfast at bakery - no reservations or tours/packages - free day to hit anything and everything we need to...pick up rental car at DTD in afternoon - driving to Pasadena this evening so can stay as long as we want


please fell free to offer ANY advise - nothing in stone yet

It would seem, looking at the event schedule for the rest of the month of December that IS posted, that Aladdin does not play on Wednesdays and Thursdays so if it's something you really want to see I would suggest moving some things around a bit.

 

[SplashMo]

You might want to make the following change. Seems to flow better...


Sunday 12/26 - arrive Burbank 1115 -

Have dinner ressies at Storyteller for 6pm (but may cancel if we do not want to leave park)

Might change to reservations in the park like BB or CO.


Wed 12/29 -

Go to storytellers for breakfast here...
Also make reservations for Dinner in park

 

[princess lovers mom]

You might want to make the following change. Seems to flow better...


Sunday 12/26 - arrive Burbank 1115 -

Have dinner ressies at Storyteller for 6pm (but may cancel if we do not want to leave park)

Might change to reservations in the park like BB or CO.


Wed 12/29 -

Go to storytellers for breakfast here...
Also make reservations for Dinner in park

thanks - what is CO?
we have Blue Bayou for wed in the park
is breakfast as good at Storytellers as the dinner - have seen good reviews for dinner....

 

[princess lovers mom]

It would seem, looking at the event schedule for the rest of the month of December that IS posted, that Aladdin does not play on Wednesdays and Thursdays so if it's something you really want to see I would suggest moving some things around a bit.

thanks - that is flexible - I will keep an eye on the calendar - thanks for bringing my attention to that

 

[princess lovers mom]

You MAY need to tweak your fireworks plans a bit. Looking at the schedules that are posted for Nov and Dec thus far, the fireworks are starting at 8:40....20 minutes BEFORE the first Fantasmic! show.

well that would be different huh!!! wonder if they will let us in to the fantasmic dessert area to see the fireworks - I assume we are in place at least 30 minutes before the show???

 

[csjordan]

well that would be different huh!!! wonder if they will let us in to the fantasmic dessert area to see the fireworks - I assume we are in place at least 30 minutes before the show???

I could be wrong, but I thought I remembered being able to see the fireworks from where we were standing while waiting on Fantasmic to start...again, I could be wrong...

 

[skiingfast]

Monday 12/27 - breakfast at White Water in hotel - in parks by 9am hopefully (anticipating some jet lag) - do some rides and hoard some FP's - 2pm lunch at Carnation Cafe - Holiday Tour at 4pm- evening parade with tour...fantasmic dessert buffet (will be our dinner!) stay to see fireworks from here too

* You might want to get some park time in before breakfast. Either eat before opening or do rides for a couple hours and then eat. It will be busy this week take advantage of the slow times.

* Are you aware it isn't a F! dessert buffet? It's a packaged box of desserts. A sugary dinner. You might want to eat something light later.

Tuesday 12/28 - MM 7am !! get a bunch done this am I hope...breakfast at bakery - bengal BBQ for small lunch - Ariel WOC dinner at 530pm - in line area by 7pm to get front row in pref area for show

*You can do morning magic twice, Tuesday and Thursday since you are staying on property. Also a Toontown Morning Madness. This is a great time to see character if that is something you like.

*Try to see the shows Fireworks, F! and WoC early in the trip in case there is a cancelled show. This way you can make it up later.

 

[bbangel]

My mom and I are doing a similar trip! It has been her dream (just for the last 50 years or so) to go to the Rose Parade. So this year we are doing it. And since we are going to be that close we have to do a few days in Disneyland right?

We will get there on Monday and leave on the 30th. Other than a few scheduled meals we are going to be very go with the flow so we can react to crowds. It looks like you have a pretty realistic schedule

 

[SplashMo]

thanks - what is CO?
we have Blue Bayou for wed in the park
is breakfast as good at Storytellers as the dinner - have seen good reviews for dinner....

Cafe Orlean's

I was just thinking that you might want a reservation in the park for the first night.

The meals are diffrent at Story Tellers (Morning is a character meal) WHich may or may not be what you were looking for.

 

[princess lovers mom]

Cafe Orlean's

I was just thinking that you might want a reservation in the park for the first night.

The meals are diffrent at Story Tellers (Morning is a character meal) WHich may or may not be what you were looking for.

OK thanks - yes I think we may change to even a counter service in the park the first day so we can go with the flow a bit - seeing the fireworks is the most important that night and I assume we may need to stake a spot early to get the view I hope to have !

thanks

 

[princess lovers mom]

My mom and I are doing a similar trip! It has been her dream (just for the last 50 years or so) to go to the Rose Parade. So this year we are doing it. And since we are going to be that close we have to do a few days in Disneyland right?

We will get there on Monday and leave on the 30th. Other than a few scheduled meals we are going to be very go with the flow so we can react to crowds. It looks like you have a pretty realistic schedule

yup - the parade is actually a bucket list item for my husband - he turned 50 this Sept - so it was my gift to him - the Disney part is going to be a surprise Christmas trip for the girls!! He is also very excited to see the Huntington Library of all things - the Huntington are from our town - one brother stayed here - the other off to California - DH is president of the board at our library so thinks of it as a business trip now to go see that library and maybe do some research (us girls may need to tour the grounds during that part!!!)

we got our seat tickets and float veiwing tickets just last week in the mail!!!! so excited - it is getting so close!