Three days to go and so lost! Any help would be appreciated for planning.

[VeNoMiZeD]

Hello,

I'm three days away from visiting DisneyLand in Socal and feel overwhelmed with all this planning . Its been over 25 years since I was last there as a little kid. I'm bringing my three kids (6yr son 58", 2yr son 40", 7 months daughther). I have my wife and mother in law and family friend coming along (4 adults total).We're staying at the GCH dec 3-7 and have park hoppers for 4th-6th of Dec I beleive my 6 year son can ride any of the rides since he's at 54". My two year old will be limited to certain rides. We've invested in over $3500 for his trip and would like to make this a memorable trip and try to get the most out of it.

I want to see the best shows and want to ride the best rides for my 6 year old and for my two year old and rides that the family can go together. How do I handle the FP's for this?

How should I handle the park hopper with my family?

Again, I have 1000 questions with so little time lol. We bought the costco travel package that came with a character dining. Is there a better time and restaurant to do character dining for the kids?

 

[figment_jii]

We've invested in over $3500 for his trip and would like to make this a memorable trip and try to get the most out of it.

Try not to think about it in terms of the money spent. I know that's tough, but that seems to make people more stressed about their trip. Take a deep breath and tell yourself, that you're going to DLR!

I want to see the best shows and want to ride the best rides for my 6 year old and for my two year old and rides that the family can go together. How do I handle the FP's for this?

How many days are you going? That will impact what you can reasonably get done.
EDIT: I just realized you indicated you had three days in the parks (4th through 6th). Given that, I would figure out what are the "most do" attractions and shows before hand and start with those. Hopefully there will be enough overlap that everyone will get to do the things they want to do most. Given the limited number of days you have, I would suggest planning the character meals for one of your non-park days (dinner on the 3rd or breakfast on the 7th) if possible (assuming you don't do Ariel's or the Plaza, which require park admission). Meals can take up a good chunk of time and you probably don't want to spend 60-90 minutes at a sit down meal.

Given the age and height range in your group, you're going to have to split up to do somethings. The two year old will actually be able to ride a fair number of attractions if he's already 40". However, there will be some that he'll have to sit out. The 7-month old will have to skip everything with a height requirement. This is when I would have the group split up. That's what my group did. For example, while the taller child did RSR, we took the smaller child to Bug's Life Land. Similarly, while the older child did Star Tours and Space, we took the littler one to autopia, Nemo, etc.

There are also plenty of rides that you can do as a family. Anything without a height requirement would be fine (e.g., Small World, Jingle Cruise, everything in Fantasyland, TSMM, etc.).

In terms of FP, I would get a FP for everyone that wants to ride the attraction and then (when possible) use rider switch for the adult(s) that stay behind with the 7 month old or younger child. The two year old (and the 7 month old) will not need a FP for anything because you only need a FP when you need a ticket to get into the parks.

Everyone can watch the show (though, some report that F! can scare younger children and I have to agree that parts are pretty intense). WoC is the only show with a FP (at least when you'll be there). WoC, Fireworks, the parade, and F! tend to require a time commitment to see them. So I would priortize which one(s) you want to see and work from there. The day time shows (e.g., Mickey & the Magical Map, Aladdin) are cute and are fun to see, but they don't necessarily require a 60 minute time commitment to get a decent viewing spot.

How should I handle the park hopper with my family?

I would go with whatever works best with how your family likes to tour. My group often did split days; we'd start in one park and then "hop" in the late afternoon.

Is there a better time and restaurant to do character dining for the kids?

There are only a handful of character meal options and most all are breakfasts.

• Goofy's Kitchen (DLH): B, D
• Storytellers (GCH): B
• Surf's Up (PPH): B
• Ariel's Grotto (DCA): B, L
• Plaza Inn (DL): B

There is a character meal SuperThread, which might help you decide which meal is best for your family. Remember, different meals/locations feature different characters.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2959483

 

[Jennafoo]

One thing to note:

On my first trip in October, I was an adult alone and had four full days...and I couldn't get everything done. Not by a long shot.

What I did was have a handful of "must haves" in each park (Alice, Toad, etc.) and made sure I got those done first. After that, I played it by ear, knowing I couldn't do everything. That introduced me to a few new favorites, though, like Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty Castle walkthrough and the Nemo subs.

It might be easier to focus on the must rides and let things flow after that, than to try and overplan, especially with littles.

PS...I LOVED Goofy's Kitchen for a character breakfast, even as a grownup!

 

[2tinkerbell]

It has been my experience that character meals are rarely walk up. I would go online and choose a character meal and then make an ADR (Advanced Dining Reservation).

DLR is much more laid back so to have everything narrowed down really isn't necessary.

The PP has some excellent advise. Try to take this as a time to have fun and don't stress. Check out things online and decide what people want to do (restaurants, attractions, shows, etc.) and then make a list. I allow 2-3 per person and things overlap.

Breathe and have a good time.

 

[SplashMo]

For DCA do not use the GCH entrance for early admission. Use the front gate. Take the oldest to early admission each day with one or more adults (perhaps the whole family). Do have some together time and some split time so the ten year old can ride the bigger rides and the little one can experience the younger rides and characters. Not too much split up time. Just a bit...

I would say every body run hard until 11:30 on big rides. Then have lunch and then split up after lunch for an hour or two and then get back together again.

Only four big shows: Alladin, WOC, Fireworks and Fantasmic.

You can do baby swap with the youngest child. this allows everyone to ride on each ride..

 

[JadeDarkstar]

Go to Plaza inn Breakfast for the best character interaction make sure you get an early reservation. I would say it was the best chr meal there.

Also I would say you have to know what shows you want to see. I wouldn't miss Woc, Fireworks, Fantasmic, and Mickeys magical map.

Also do you want to meet Anna and Elsa or not. If not you can skip that long line plan. What about Cars land? If you want to get on that ride once or even more than once you must plan it in to the trip. But it can be done easier now.
Is your boy in to Thor and Cap america? If so be at intervention at opening and got to Thor first. Do not stop by the iron man thing till after you are done with both meet and greets. After Thor go to Cap america it may be another 30-45 min wait but both meet and greets are worth it if you have boys who love superheros.
I enjoyed Thor a lot for an adult.

Keep asking questions and taking notes you will get tons of help from us here.

 

[crystal1313]

How fun!!! And wow, your kiddos are tall!! Have you looked at a map, or online at the attractions with your DS6 and DS2? Do you have a general idea of what they would like to do? You may want to also look at youtube for attraction videos to prepare them for some of the attractions. Maybe make a list of the must do attractions and shows and go from there.

Also, with the baby swap (unless something has changed since the last time I used it), your older boys will get to ride the attractions twice! Which is so cool. For instance, say you take DS6 and DS2 on Star Tours. You approach the CM at the entrance with your entire party (wife and baby included). Ask for a baby swap pass. You and DS6 and DS2 go wait in line/use fastpass and ride Star Tours. Then, you can trade with your wife and you watch the baby, while she takes DS6 and DS4 back on Star Tours through (usually) the fastpass queue, which is a much shorter line then stand by. Every attraction is different, so just ask the CM the process when asking for a baby swap. It is really nice!

Plus, there are SO many things you can do as a family too! All of Fantasyland, POTC, HMH, Pooh, Jingle Cruise, Tiki Room, Columbia, Mark Twain, ToonTown, Big thunder Ranch, IASW, Nemo, Buzz, Little Mermaid, Bugs Land, Monsters Inc, Toy Story (be aware that this ride moves quickly, I always put my arm around my DS5 and DS6, and the baby can lap sit). I'm sure there are more that I'm not thinking of! My boys also love the Christmas fantasy parade (DL), the pixar play parade (DCA), and Alladin. They do love Fantasmic! as well for the Captain Hook and Peter Pan part. The dragon can be intense, so be aware of that. It may be something you want to watch on youtube alone and see if your kids can handle. And of course, fireworks are amazing with the snow!

And, for your DD (and I'm guessing DS2), each park has a baby care center. They have PADDED changing tables that are SO nice! They have a nursing area. They have high chairs you can use and microwaves. They also sell baby items in case you forget or lose something. And they have training toilets too (if DS2 is potty trained). It's a nice break from the overwhelming parks. Quiet, and warm and the CMs that work there are SO nice.

Have a wonderful trip! Take tons of photos! Try not to stress and have fun. Let the kids lead the way...you are going to have a blast