Surprise Trip Planning

[filghtBOS]

Planning a surprise first-ever trip to Disneyland for my family (my 2 parents & 1 younger sister). We're long time WDW fans and have been 50+ times. Its going to be a totally new experience, not knowing exactly where everything is at DLR.

I'm not telling them until the afternoon before, and plane leaves at 530am the next morning. They'll be frantically, not planning our route through the park. What would you all suggest I do about planning the 5 days we have in the park? I want to leaving it for them to do, but that might be hard. We do have a 7 hour flight though... What materials should I bring along? Thoughts?

 

[YukonMommy]

That is so exciting!!! I would suggest maps of both parks and maybe printouts of the rides/descriptions. That way they can browse through.
Have a magical time!

 

[NiceOneSimba]

Since you're WDW vets, I'd start with HydroGuy's amazing thread about DL for WDW veterans. It helps point out all the differences between the two parks, and is a good place to get started.

Five days is a good long time in the parks, so you should have time to experience everything at least once, and many things more than once. I would recommend getting parkhoppers, for sure. That will give you flexibility during the day and for the nighttime shows. As the trip goes along, you may just want to hop over to ride one or two rides or a meal, as opposed to spending an entire day in a park. Totally worth the extra money, I think.

I'm also a big proponent of RideMax, which is ride optimization software. You plug in the rides you want to do, set breaks for meals and it comes up with a schedule. Or, touring plans has some itineraries you can use.

Have fun planning!

 

[filghtBOS]

That is so exciting!!! I would suggest maps of both parks and maybe printouts of the rides/descriptions. That way they can browse through.
Have a magical time!

Any idea where I can get maps? DLR doesn't have an official source for these, do they? Am I stuck with eBay?

Since you're WDW vets, I'd start with HydroGuy's amazing thread about DL for WDW veterans. It helps point out all the differences between the two parks, and is a good place to get started.

Five days is a good long time in the parks, so you should have time to experience everything at least once, and many things more than once. I would recommend getting parkhoppers, for sure. That will give you flexibility during the day and for the nighttime shows. As the trip goes along, you may just want to hop over to ride one or two rides or a meal, as opposed to spending an entire day in a park. Totally worth the extra money, I think.

I'm also a big proponent of RideMax, which is ride optimization software. You plug in the rides you want to do, set breaks for meals and it comes up with a schedule. Or, touring plans has some itineraries you can use.

Have fun planning!

I have 5 day hoopers and am staying on property at the DLH. So excited! I already read through that guide and thought it was great. I'm considering printing it out for the flight.

 

[Bubblegum1286]

Fun fun fun!! We just pulled off a surprise trip for our kids last week and it was AMAZING!!! I think I was more excited about the surprise part of the trip than I was about actually going to Disneyland. Lol

Have you looked into Ridemax? You might consider it. It's about $15 for a three month subscription (which isn't necessary, and definitely is a flaw of their system, but the rest is worth it). With Ridemax, you can wait until the big reveal and plug in what everyone wants to do and then it'll sort out your itinerary to make sure everyone gets to do the attractions they want. You can build your itinerary the day before you go or even the morning before you get into the park. I built one of my itineraries while standing in line waiting for rope drop.

 

[filghtBOS]

Fun fun fun!! We just pulled off a surprise trip for our kids last week and it was AMAZING!!! I think I was more excited about the surprise part of the trip than I was about actually going to Disneyland. Lol

Have you looked into Ridemax? You might consider it. It's about $15 for a three month subscription (which isn't necessary, and definitely is a flaw of their system, but the rest is worth it). With Ridemax, you can wait until the big reveal and plug in what everyone wants to do and then it'll sort out your itinerary to make sure everyone gets to do the attractions they want. You can build your itinerary the day before you go or even the morning before you get into the park. I built one of my itineraries while standing in line waiting for rope drop.

I might take a look at it. Do they have an iPhone app? I use TripIt (https://www.tripit.com/) to keep all of my flight/hotel/transportation information in one place (I would highly recommend it). It shows me everything on one screen. Ridemax the same? Or is it website-only?

 

[Bubblegum1286]

It's only online. I pulled it up on my browser using my smartphone in the park.

 

[Imdboss]

Any idea where I can get maps? DLR doesn't have an official source for these, do they? Am I stuck with eBay?

There have been people on here that have asked if anyone would be willing to send them some park maps and several DISers have been happy to oblige. Since you have such a long flight I think this would be a really great way to familiarize yourselves with the parks and start to come up with a plan of what everyone wants to do first. 5 days is wonderful, we always get 5 day park hoppers and it's so nice not to feel rushed and have the chance to repeat favorite rides.

Btw - what a great surprise! I surprised DD several years ago and I thought I was going to burst with excitement. It was SO hard not to tell her!

 

[filghtBOS]

It's only online. I pulled it up on my browser using my smartphone in the park.

Okay. I'll take a look at it and see. Maybe we'll just wing it. The one thing I really dislike about FP+ at WDW is it requires you to plan your days out... I like the spontaneity of not planning every second out! Its like the good old days...

There have been people on here that have asked if anyone would be willing to send them some park maps and several DISers have been happy to oblige. Since you have such a long flight I think this would be a really great way to familiarize yourselves with the parks and start to come up with a plan of what everyone wants to do first. 5 days is wonderful, we always get 5 day park hoppers and it's so nice not to feel rushed and have the chance to repeat favorite rides.

Btw - what a great surprise! I surprised DD several years ago and I thought I was going to burst with excitement. It was SO hard not to tell her!

Maybe I'll see if someone is willing to send me some. I'd say I could just use the maps on the computer, but that won't do me much good on internet-less flights.

I figured five days would be best. We'll actually be there for six (first afternoon at Downtown?). Its our first and possibly only visit...so

And I know...so hard to keep it a secret! I surprised my father/sister with a stay at Aulani when we were out in Hawaii (logistically, someone else had to know). This time, I'm throwing my mother into the surprise--I'm the only one who knows. This means I have to intercept all mail/packages as well though. Can't let them see the package or they'll know. I think I'll see if UPS will hold @ their station. Only 21 days!

 

[filghtBOS]

Managed to get a couple maps of eBay...4 of each park (8 total) for $4.50, including shipping. Well worth it for keeping us occupied during the 7 hour flight.

 

[queso2992]

Sounds like so much fun! You'll have to report back with what they say! Enjoy!!