School trip has me confused... I need help please!

[hardlabor]

We will be in DL on Friday 4/17and Saturday 4/18 for our first visit (with 109 high school students in tow) We are leaving our hotel at 9am on Friday (Anaheim Garden Grove). So we will clearly not be there for park opening. We are there all day through closing. Saturday we depart hotel at 8:30. We have four performances wit the school over the two days. Is there anyone who can help me put together a plan??? I am feeling overwhelmed. We do have park hopper for the two days. Please please can an expert give me a plan???

 

[figment_jii]

Are you going to try and keep all of the students and chaperones together throughout the two days?

 

[hardlabor]

No we do not need to, We are required to do check ins and watch each other performances, but the rest of both days are on our own... two of us are commando WDW peeps, but none have done DL!

 

[figment_jii]

I highly recommend checking out HydroGuy's DLR Guide for WDW Vets. It's a good place to start given you're a WDW vet.

 

[hardlabor]

I have looked at that several times. trying to determine if sticking to one park a day vs. using the hopper and jumping around would be more efficient. We are not big "show" people, more get me on the good ride people! Also any idea on meals? up until yesterday I did not have an itinerary, so no reservations made. Would love a good table service each night to get off my feet (and a glass of wine would not hurt!) Is that possible without ADR's?

 

[figment_jii]

For a glass of wine, you'll have to dine in DCA, DTD, or one of the hotels because none of the restaurants in DL serve alcohol (except Club 33, but that's not open to the general public). On weekend nights, the dining venues in DTD often tell folks that the walk-up wait is 1 to 2 hours, so if you're thinking of dining in DTD, I would look into making a reservation (a lot of the restaurants are on Open Table). If you know that you want to eat at a TS meal, I would make a reservation. While walk-ups are often available, there are times when the waits can be very long (especially on weekends). In DTD, I like Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen, Crossroads at House of Blues, and RFC.

In terms of efficiency, I don't think a lot of hopping is necessarily the best plan, but one hop per day or so, isn't that bad. My family will often spend the first half of the day in one park (usually the one without an EMH/MM) and then hop to the other park in the afternoon. Still, it depends on what attractions you want to do.

 

[hardlabor]

So I just checked out the Crossroads menu and am drooling! That all the planning I need to do! going on Open Table now! Thank you for the advice, and if anyone wants to chime in on ride order etc... feel free!

 

[momto3pirates]

I know you said you are not big show people, but the Aladdin show at DCA is great! Very funny and Genie improvises so each show is different.