Thanks for the help and a few more ?s

[skoi]

Thanks all for the advice and info to my previous thread: is one day worth it? We're definitely on the way, oldest dd and I, for a short college visit in Azusa then Veteran's Day weekend in DL.

A few more questions, if you all could help me...

Is it necessary to call for priority seating if you want to eat somewhere like Cafe New Orleans?

Any idea how crowded the parks will be that weekend? Is it a "holiday weekend" as in will there be larger than normal crowds? To a WDW vet, seeing park hours from 8 to 12 make me think it'll be a mad house.

We have one MM- Sunday AM, and will be arriving after park opening on Saturday (unless I can drag her out of bed around 6 and drive down from Glendora quickly), so should we just concentrate on DCA the first day? Of course we'd go back for fireworks and maybe Fantasmic, but not sure.

Thanks in advance.

 

[DLR29]

Thanks all for the advice and info to my previous thread: is one day worth it? We're definitely on the way, oldest dd and I, for a short college visit in Azusa then Veteran's Day weekend in DL.

A few more questions, if you all could help me...

Is it necessary to call for priority seating if you want to eat somewhere like Cafe New Orleans?

Any idea how crowded the parks will be that weekend? Is it a "holiday weekend" as in will there be larger than normal crowds? To a WDW vet, seeing park hours from 8 to 12 make me think it'll be a mad house.

We have one MM- Sunday AM, and will be arriving after park opening on Saturday (unless I can drag her out of bed around 6 and drive down from Glendora quickly), so should we just concentrate on DCA the first day? Of course we'd go back for fireworks and maybe Fantasmic, but not sure.

Thanks in advance.

It doesn't hurt to have PS at Cafe Orleans. And it takes a grand total of 4 min to call. It also depends on what time you want to eat. If you want to have lunch or dinner at "regular" eating hours, I would probably make the PS.

Veteran's Day Weekend, for some odd reason, seems to be one of the busiest of all of the "holiday weekends". Regardless, if you get there early and have a good plan, you should have no problem doing what you want to do. And 8AM-12AM are regular "busy day" park hours. That means every Saturday throughout the whole year and every day during summer and every day during Christmas break. It's not like 8-12 is a huge outlier for DL. I remember going to WDW this past summer and the parks would be open from 9-9 and that felt so short!

Hop, hop, hop, hop, hop! As opposed to WDW, hopping is SO easy at DLR. Get to DL in the early morning, grab a FP or two, hit a couple rides, then hop over to DCA where you can grab a FP or two and hit a couple rides. The accessibility at DLR is wonderful!

 

[Capt Silly]

Thanks all for the advice and info to my previous thread: is one day worth it? We're definitely on the way, oldest dd and I, for a short college visit in Azusa then Veteran's Day weekend in DL.

A few more questions, if you all could help me...

Is it necessary to call for priority seating if you want to eat somewhere like Cafe New Orleans?

Any idea how crowded the parks will be that weekend? Is it a "holiday weekend" as in will there be larger than normal crowds? To a WDW vet, seeing park hours from 8 to 12 make me think it'll be a mad house.

We have one MM- Sunday AM, and will be arriving after park opening on Saturday (unless I can drag her out of bed around 6 and drive down from Glendora quickly), so should we just concentrate on DCA the first day? Of course we'd go back for fireworks and maybe Fantasmic, but not sure.

Thanks in advance.

I can't address the crowds, but I can help on the other questions. But the 8-midnight is normal weekend hours for DL, so they are not extended for the holiday weekend.

For Cafe Orleans you probably don't NEED priority seating, but it would be a good idea. However, you can probably call in the morning and get close to the time you want. You might even be able to call an hour ahead and get in (an hour is the minimum for PS appointments), although with the holiday it might not work so well.

As far as park hopping the first day, you don't really have to choose one park at DLR. Unlike WDW, the 2 parks are less than 100 yards apart, so you can easily go from one to the other, and to DTD for dinner. If you manage to leave early enough you can probably get into DL before the big morning rush (10-11ish) and get fastpasses for some of the rides to use later, then head to DCA.

Since it takes literally 30 seconds to get from one park to the other, not 30 minutes, you can pick and choose as you please. I have yet to go to WDW, but from my understanding it takes a lot more planning than DLR.

My advice is to get there, relax, and enjoy the parks. Do not stress if you don't know where you are going to eat or which park you'll be at each day. If you know how to use fastpasses you will find there is plenty of time to see and do the things you want to. The only planning we ever do is for the evening shows, since F!, WoC, and Fireworks are all so close on timing.

 

[skoi]

Thanks. I'm still not broken of my WDW mentality, and I'm trained that to make the most of Disney you have to plan like a fiend. I mean, when we were doing commando touring, I had charts and outlines and maps, like I was invading the place.

I keep thinking this will be dd's only trip to DL- but if she goes to college in Azusa, well, she'll be there more than me, probably.

 

[Capt Silly]

Thanks. I'm still not broken of my WDW mentality, and I'm trained that to make the most of Disney you have to plan like a fiend. I mean, when we were doing commando touring, I had charts and outlines and maps, like I was invading the place.

I keep thinking this will be dd's only trip to DL- but if she goes to college in Azusa, well, she'll be there more than me, probably.

I grew up not too far from there, went to school at Citrus College in fact. When I was a kid we went to DL every year, it's not very far at all, so she will probably go more than once while she's at school.

As far as planning goes, for some people that's the way they enjoy things. My wife has tried to use touring plans at DL, but somehow they always seem to get off track quickly because the rest of us like to be more spontaneous.

 

[Brady's Mom]

Thanks. I'm still not broken of my WDW mentality, and I'm trained that to make the most of Disney you have to plan like a fiend. I mean, when we were doing commando touring, I had charts and outlines and maps, like I was invading the place.

I keep thinking this will be dd's only trip to DL- but if she goes to college in Azusa, well, she'll be there more than me, probably.

If your daughter is going to be so close and going to go to DLR another time or two during the next 12 months - it might be worth it to upgrade her parkhopper ticket to an Annual Pass. Do it after you use your Magic Morning. That way she'll already have an AP when/if she chooses to go to school there.

Ohhh... sorry....I may have just started a Disney snowball.....

 

[jennym68]

In regards to Cafe Orleans..in early september when we went we could not get in for dinner without a PS but twice we went for lunch and just walked in.