The plan

[christineka]

I've got the hotel and the tickets. Now, I want to make a very loose sort of schedule of things to do at Disneyland. (In case we get into the park and end up in that loop of "What do you want to do?" "I don't know, what do you want to do?" I looked at disney's map, but I can't tell where things are. I have the general idea because I've been there before, but it has been a while. I want that map they give you at disneyland with the numbers on it and the legend on the side. I found a map somehwhere, but it was cut off on the sides so there were no explanations of the numbers.

What is there to do on main street? (That's the big question. I always skipped it.) I know there is an omnibus, which I think would be fun for the kids to ride in, but what else? Anyone know where to find this information. (In te archives or something?) Any "must sees"? It will be me, my dh, and our 6 kids aged 10 and under. We'll definitely go on all the rides at disneyland- not sure about California adventure. (We went there once and only did a few rides.)

I also want to have a general idea of the restaurants. Is that in the archives too? I don't want to eat the same thing daily. I also want to usually eat at the more reasonably priced places, as well as to know we should plan to share meals.

 

[8timesblessed]

So what hotel did you end up going with?? I just booked my sisters ticket and our CityPass tickets through Costco and have our reservations at HOJO and DIS but I think I'm going to go with HOJO.

I will be looking forward to everyone's advice because that's the next part that I have to plan and then what to wear!! I love clothes and can't wait to have fun dressing everyone up!

 

[geekypeach]

Gosh, there are a million different options for what to do. How many days do you have on your tickets then? For little ones though, you simply cannnot go wrong starting out in Fantasyland and hitting Dumbo, Mad Hatters Tea Party, Small World, Storybook Canal Boats, Casey Jr, etc. while the day is young and the crowds are lighter.

As for eating, we did very little of it in park. We were a little shocked at the price of everything, although this next trip we will be doing a lot more in park meals to add to the experience.

 

[geekypeach]

Main Street- we liked the Arcade, the Cinema, and the Silhouette shop. I think you can do the horse drawn carriages there too. Others will have more advice there!

 

[christineka]

We'll be there for three days. I've found the restaurant descriptions and menus with prices. That helps me to know which places have more affordable food as well as the ones with nearly the same menus. (I do not want my kids eating chicken nuggets every day, let alone twice a day.) I think we'll do breakfast at the riverbelle one morning for those mickey mouse pancakes. I have tried, but I just can't make them. (or flip them right) My big food question is, How big is a whole pizza? I was told buying a whole pizza was economical, but my family eats a lot.

What's the silhouette shop? I never heard of it.

I pulled out the black and white mickey cartoons last night. The kids complained they would be boring because anything in black and white is boring. I told them too bad and put on Steamboat Willie. The kids laughed and afterward asked for more and more. They wanted to watch them again today, but we didn't have time. We'll stop in at the cinema.

 

[letthembelittle]

I really liked the "Unoffical Guide to Disneyland"'s touring plans, I think it is a very good idea to go with a general plan for each day, I hate wasting time deciding where to go next. Have a great trip!

 

[DLR29]

I've got the hotel and the tickets. Now, I want to make a very loose sort of schedule of things to do at Disneyland. (In case we get into the park and end up in that loop of "What do you want to do?" "I don't know, what do you want to do?" I looked at disney's map, but I can't tell where things are. I have the general idea because I've been there before, but it has been a while. I want that map they give you at disneyland with the numbers on it and the legend on the side. I found a map somehwhere, but it was cut off on the sides so there were no explanations of the numbers.

What is there to do on main street? (That's the big question. I always skipped it.) I know there is an omnibus, which I think would be fun for the kids to ride in, but what else? Anyone know where to find this information. (In te archives or something?) Any "must sees"? It will be me, my dh, and our 6 kids aged 10 and under. We'll definitely go on all the rides at disneyland- not sure about California adventure. (We went there once and only did a few rides.)

I also want to have a general idea of the restaurants. Is that in the archives too? I don't want to eat the same thing daily. I also want to usually eat at the more reasonably priced places, as well as to know we should plan to share meals.

I could not imagine going to DLR for 3 days and not going to DCA!! For one thing, you will HAVE to ride Toy Story Midway Mania, the latest DCA ride which is the most addicting thing ever, you might not want to go back to DL. Plus there's Tower of Terror, Soarin, a couple of excellent 3D movies, Monster's Inc. and the greatly underrated Disney Animation building with Turtle Talk, a show that everybody enjoys. Plus the Aladdin musical is magical and depending on when you are going, the Electrical Parade is great too! For the younger kids, Flik's Fun Fair has many great rides and the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail is the best place on property for them to just run around and blow off some steam.

BTW, when are you going? That would probably help a lot with coming up with more planning tips.

 

[christineka]

BTW, when are you going? That would probably help a lot with coming up with more planning tips.

We're going Feb 2-6 (3 of those days anyway) and hope the rain is over. We've only been to DL once since California Adventure opened, so we don't really know what's fun. When we went people told us that only a few rides were worth going on, so we went on those, then headed back to DL.

 

[Disney Fool]

And you believed them?

 

[ttds17]

Main Street Cinema is currently closed. Not sure when it's set to re-open.

DCA is awesome! Granted, it's different than DL, but it's still worth the trip and time spent. Screamin' is our favorite roller coaster between both parks and ToT is my favorite ride of all time. TSMM will be fun for everyone in your family...and if you're competative like we are, you may get addicted. Go there right at opening though or you'll wait in a long line. Soarin' is also awesome for the whole family. My kids liked the Muppet Show (can't think of what it's called at the moment). Don't forget the Animation building where the kids can check out some really cool stuff and see what Disney character they are most like. Turtle Talk with Crush is one of our favorites. This is a great thing to do when you're tired in the afternoon. It's low key and gives you a break from the weather. My family loved the new farris wheel (I won't go on it, but I enjoyed shopping while they played.) Bugs Life area is also great for the smaller ones.

Allyson

 

[PoppyGirl]

I LOVED DCA!!! I thought it was beautiful and there's so much more to Disney than the rides! Have you looked at any of the Birnbaum's guides to DL? Or the Imagineers Guide to DL? I read through the Birnbuam's DL for Kids by Kids with my son and picked out all the rides/attractions my kids would like to do.

Have you checked out ridemax.com? The worst thing in the world at Disney is to NOT have at least a rough idea of your plan for the day and to stand in the middle of the street while everyone passes you by while you try to figure out what to do next! Blech!

I just love exploring the shops, looking at the details, finding fun little things to enjoy about Disney. Have fun with it!

 

[geekypeach]

Silhouette Studio:


http://disneyland.disney.go.com/dis...ping/detail?name=SilhouetteStudioShoppingPage

 

[DisneyMax74]

Ok #1 You have to do DCA if you are going to for 3 days. You will want to see the Its Tough to be a Bug show. You and the kids will love it. Tower of Terror is great for grown ups and the older kids. My 7 year olds love it but they are pretty brave kids. Soarin is great for any age accept maybe toddlers. Toy Story Mania is great. And Screamin the roller coaster is one of the best around. Its loads of fun. Also everyone will love the Monsters Inc ride.



As far as Disneyland goes, if you dont have a plan you could just pick a direction and keep going that way. Go up main street and decide to go left or right and just keep going that way. For example, go right and start in tomorrow land. Do Star Tours, Buzz lightyear, Nemo, and Space Mountain. Then just head to the next town. Fantasyland I believe. Do Matterhorn, Small World, Dumbo, Peter pan and everything there, then move to the next town.....is it Toontown? Just follow your map. Or at the end of main street you could go left and start in Adventure land and then just move to the next land as you go.



Maybe do Disneyland the first day, get in as much of it as you can and then start out in DCA the next day. Do what you want there and then head back over to Disney after DCA closes. Then on the third day just try to make sure you do and/or see anything you think you might have missed.



Thats what we usualy do and it keeps things moving fairly nicely.

 

[c&m]

DCA is so much fun! I hope you have the time to hop over to this park. This was our "go to" park when DL got overly crowded and we couldn't stand the line-ups anymore. But now, it's the park that gets first priority, over DL. DCA has so many fun rides -- Soarin', TOT, Toy Story, Mulholland Madness, Screamin', Grizzly River Rapids -- and the Redwood Challenge to run around in that it's become a family favourite. Then there're the shows. So much to do for all ages of kids.

 

[Disney Dreams]

...What is there to do on main street? (That's the big question. I always skipped it.)...

I LOVE Main Street. I could (and have) spend hours just on Main Street.

Okay, let's see....

If you like looking at animation and great figurines, etc... the new Gallery is at the top on Main Street on the right as you enter..

If they like fire engine, you can go to the fire station and ask if you can climb on the fire truck. Great photo opp.

Go into the Magic Shop. They perform magic in there and if they get a good crowd (which it sounds like you bring with you ), they will do several tricks. Great entertainment!

The Penny Arcade has all sorts of things to do and see.

Get your fortune from Esmeralda. (25 cents / printed fortune) - fun souvenir

Silhouette Shop (suggested above) - they do little hand-cut silhouettes of you, fun to watch as well

At New Century, they have an artist that does custom art work which is turned into a watch. If you like watching talented artists, fun to hang out and watch for a while. They will talk to you, answer questions, etc.....

Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln is interesting. And educational.

If they like characters, there are fun and games at certain times of day at Coke Corner.

If they like piano music, there is a piano player at certain times of day at Coke Corner.

If they like pin trading, every shop on Main Street is filled with CM with potential pins.

Hope this helps,
Dreams

 

[bumbershoot]

We're going Feb 2-6 (3 of those days anyway) and hope the rain is over. We've only been to DL once since California Adventure opened, so we don't really know what's fun. When we went people told us that only a few rides were worth going on, so we went on those, then headed back to DL.

And you believed them?

It's easy to do. We refused to step foot in DCA for two (day) trips because we didn't understand why a theme park in CA would be themed TO CA. Then we took a bigger trip and decided "what the heck", and now we love DCA just about more than DL.

OP, I have a ton of maps from previous trips. If you want one of each (DL and DCA) send me a PM with your address and I'll get one in the mail to you (I even have a stamp today! it's rare).


Not sure if you've only looked around the menu stuff here, but if you haven't found allears.net's DLR section, do visit. For some reason there are holes in the info here (wdwinfo) that are more filled in on allears.

I don't particularly like the pizza at DL. And it's $$$$.


If some of your kids are particularly little, I can't recommend Tough to be a Bug. I went on it, just to see what it was like, and it freaked me out. Big spiders (yes, plastic, but still) hanging from the ceiling at one point, no no no no no.... DS might not have minded that, but the other bug stuff would have scared him. He's 5 and I'm not planning on taking him on it for a couple more years unless he surprises me.

 

[DisneyMax74]

Well the Bug show depends on what your kids can take too. I mentioned above that my girls are pretty brave but they have been going to the Tough to be a Bug show since they were 3. A few spots do scare them a bit but they wont let us miss seeing the show every time we go.

But the above poster is right, it does have a couple creepy moments.

 

[Disney Fool]

I'm a WDW vet, and my reaction to "people told me it wasn't worth it" is a bit of frustration. Please allow me to explain. At WDW, there are four parks, and two water parks plus downtown disney--which is a park in itself. I don't know where the perception began that Epcot was not for children, but that's what people starting telling others who were planning on going. They literally prevented folks from trying out that park. Only now, several years later, is that perception being corrected, mostly thanks to the DIS board. It's a shame, really, because Epcot has so much to offer for little ones. I too was told not to bother with DCA when I made my first trip 3 years ago. You know what? I didn't listen--I decided to make up my own mind about it, and I went there with a fresh perspective. I loved it. I'm glad I didn't listen to the nay-sayers. For my first trip to DLR, I did the research, and happily hopped back and forth between the two parks. How sad it would have been, had I payed attention to them--I've been back to DLR twice and planning another trip in July. Really, how do any of us know what someone else will like unless they experience it themselves? I'll get off my soapbox now....

 

[christineka]

Part of our problem is that dh's family are disney obsessed. He grew up going to disneyland annually with his family. (Now his parents seem to go 2-3 times a year.) I think it may have been dh's family that told him about DCA. I, personally thought I'd like to go explore there, but dh didnt want to. Last time we only had a 2-day trip and our eldest child was 4 years, so I didn't push. (I really wanted to go on that ferris wheel.) This time we will have 3 days. I'll tell dh I'm planning to spend the middle day at DCA. If we get finished or bored over there, we can return to disneyland.

 

[geekypeach]

So many people I know that are diehard DLR fans find that there is just more to love with DCA. GO!!