To do FL on EE/MM day or not?

[mommyof2boys1girl]

I've started working out our 'plan of attack' for our trip at the end of April, and I am unsure of how to proceed. We arrive in LA late afternoon on a tuesday, therefore our first full day at the park will be Wed (a non-MM day). I had planned to take the kids to FL first - the rides they've heard about most, etc...., however, we plan to do our MM the following day, Thurs.
So, do we try to do FL on our first day, even though it won't be a MM, then go back and do it all again the following day, or do we wait and maybe do CA on our first day, then do FL on our MM day on our second day at the park?

Sorry - if I had a nickle for each time I used 'day' in this post, I'd have enough to buy myself a whole box of Tigger tails!!

Carm

 

[mindylovesmickey]

I'm in the same "dilemma", kind of. I thought about jacking your post, lol, but I'm going to try to just answer your questions the way I'm thinking and then ask mine in another post. rofl I'm leaning toward doing DCA on our first day, or rides in other places other than FL, and then doing FL on our MM days. That way, you get to take advantage of the MM days.

 

[bumbershoot]

Are your kids into a bug's life? If so, they will love love love that part of DCA, so really, that part of DCA could be equal to FL.

Will you be dealing with any time zone issues (must look at map, find where Calgary is)? Oh wait, you're in Alberta. That's where Edmonton is, yes? So yes, you will be a time zone or two different...which means waking up earlier will work better earlier in your trip...

Which means you might want to get out there and play in FL on your first full day, I think. I mean really, being some of the first in on a regular day is nearly the same as being some of the first in using MM...OK maybe there are a few more people on a regular day, but they won't all know to get there early, and since it will be "later" for you, you will be bright and shiny while they are yawning. That's my theory at least.


So if you go to FL on the first full day and have a great time and they want to repeat it, then do it again during MM the next day.

Or if you had a terrific FL experience and want to do something different, do what only I recommend, and go on Nemo during MM that next day. No one agrees with me on that...

 

[dizzyami]

Being that you are arriving on an afternoon, I would start at DCA, and maybe just take things slow. You can then hit ALL the FL rides the next morning. I agree to try bugs land, these are very kid friendly rides. My main concern is that by the time you arrive, DL will be at its peak in terms of crowds. If you start at DCA the park will be less crowded, and you will usually run into the characters there too. Then start DL first thing in the morning, hit FL rides with no wait and no crowds

 

[LittleWoodenHead]

Which means you might want to get out there and play in FL on your first full day, I think. I mean really, being some of the first in on a regular day is nearly the same as being some of the first in using MM....

So if you go to FL on the first full day and have a great time and they want to repeat it, then do it again during MM the next day.

Or if you had a terrific FL experience and want to do something different, do what only I recommend, and go on Nemo during MM that next day. No one agrees with me on that...

Well, I agree with you bumbershoot!

If you do FL first thing on your first full day, then you can easily do Nemo/Autopia/Buzz during MM.

Honestly, I've never found FL lines in the morning to be that much of a problem mid-week during the off season. YMMV, of course.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[mommyof2boys1girl]

Are your kids into a bug's life? If so, they will love love love that part of DCA, so really, that part of DCA could be equal to FL.

Will you be dealing with any time zone issues (must look at map, find where Calgary is)? Oh wait, you're in Alberta. That's where Edmonton is, yes? So yes, you will be a time zone or two different...which means waking up earlier will work better earlier in your trip...

Which means you might want to get out there and play in FL on your first full day, I think. I mean really, being some of the first in on a regular day is nearly the same as being some of the first in using MM...OK maybe there are a few more people on a regular day, but they won't all know to get there early, and since it will be "later" for you, you will be bright and shiny while they are yawning. That's my theory at least.


So if you go to FL on the first full day and have a great time and they want to repeat it, then do it again during MM the next day.

Or if you had a terrific FL experience and want to do something different, do what only I recommend, and go on Nemo during MM that next day. No one agrees with me on that...

Thanks Molly! (it is Molly, right?)
Yep - we are in a different time zone (by the way, knowing Edmonton and Calgary are in the same province - I am very impressed! ) I think it will be an hour later there (we are Mountain, Cali is Western, I believe - same time zone as British Columbia). My kids are all very early risers, so being at the park an hour early every day (9am Cali time, 10am our time) will not be a problem - we will have been awake for at least 3 hours by then!

I was wondering about Nemo on MM- my kids are HUGE Nemo fans (my firstborn's first word was Fish, thanks to that movie!! ), so that ride will be very important for us to do, at least once. It's kind of a toss up - do we stand in line for an hour and use our entire MM just for one ride, or do an entire 'land' in the same timeframe? Perhaps we will just wait and see when we arrive. If we swing by Nemo on our way to FL (yeah, I know, a big detour, but oh well)...perhaps I will send Dh straight over there at a run while I go slower with the kids and he can call me on the radio if there is not much of a line....if it looks like we will spend our whole hour there, we'll skip Nemo and try to do it another time...

Thanks for the advice...

 

[bumbershoot]

It is Molly.

You have "Calgary, Alberta" under your kids there, and I had a friend who lives in Edmonton, and I know that Edmonton is in Alberta (I was trying to go to her wedding, while 6.5 months pregnant, in February...opted out of that, too cold, too scary to be away while pg, but I did a bit of map-research), so it was halfway cheating.

In September, we were OFF of Nemo in a half an hour during MM (then EE). And we didn't even plan on going on Nemo that morning, we were heading to Fantasyland. Long story...I didn't see anyone walking through the castle, not at all, so I thought maybe it was closed or something, so we took the walkway after Ariel's photopass area after Tomorrowland, and found ourselves alongside of a short Nemo line. Made the decision at that moment to get on. Found the line to be pleasant (you can bring strollers into the line until almost the last moment, and then CMs then take them and park them for you) and wide, nice views everywhere. It also moved faster than it seems it should. And we were done by the :30 of the hour, and moved on to Buzz a few times.

And we weren't even first into the park, and got side-tracked by some characters!!! That was mid-September.


But you know you could try for Nemo first on the non-MM day. But again, you've got MORE people coming through the gates on that sort of day vs the smaller number on a MM day.



One of my half-brothers had "fis" as his first word too b/c they had an aquarium that he loved. Then he got my name fast (which is unusual b/c most kids say it like Mommy thanks to the difficult Ls) because they had a Black Molly fish.

 

[mommyof2boys1girl]

Wise, Molly. Edmonton in Feb - not pleasant. Right now it is so bitterly cold up here, that everything is shut down - the kids haven't been to school all week, and I am going stir crazy because we can't even leave the house - exposed skin freezes in seconds!

dreaming of california....sigh....(not that I have ever been, I just figured it had to be warmer than here!!! )

 

[DangerMouse]

If you do FL first thing on your first full day, then you can easily do Nemo/Autopia/Buzz during MM. :

Autopia isn't open for MM. Space, Buzz and Astro Orbitor are the only other "Tomorrowland" rides that are open for MM.

BTW, Is Nemo considered a Tomorrowland attraction or a FL attraction? It just doesn't really work with the whole futuristic TL theme. . . but then again, neither does Autopia!

 

[bumbershoot]

Yeah, I was glad, cold-wise, to not have gone, but from the picture it was a beyond-gorgeous wedding. At a convention center there, with all glass windows, she walked down the stairs instead of an aisle, did the ceremony on a landing with everyone below...beautiful.

I'm quite sure that CA, even when windy and rainy and cold, is going to be warmer than Calgary.

 

[Hound 109]

Are your kids into a bug's life? If so, they will love love love that part of DCA, so really, that part of DCA could be equal to FL.

Will you be dealing with any time zone issues (must look at map, find where Calgary is)? Oh wait, you're in Alberta. That's where Edmonton is, yes? So yes, you will be a time zone or two different...which means waking up earlier will work better earlier in your trip...

Which means you might want to get out there and play in FL on your first full day, I think. I mean really, being some of the first in on a regular day is nearly the same as being some of the first in using MM...OK maybe there are a few more people on a regular day, but they won't all know to get there early, and since it will be "later" for you, you will be bright and shiny while they are yawning. That's my theory at least.


So if you go to FL on the first full day and have a great time and they want to repeat it, then do it again during MM the next day.

Or if you had a terrific FL experience and want to do something different, do what only I recommend, and go on Nemo during MM that next day. No one agrees with me on that...

I agree with Molly, too. With little guys, they won't want to do ANYTHING late, & if they love Nemo, do it on your MM day.

After Nemo (30-40 min. after MM opening), you can re-do FL (if you want) or go do Buzz 3 times (like DS8 & i did).

hound <---- always wanted to go to Banff cause it looks so pretty in the pics & I like the word "Banff".

 

[Hound 109]

Being that you are arriving on an afternoon, I would start at DCA, and maybe just take things slow. You can then hit ALL the FL rides the next morning. I agree to try bugs land, these are very kid friendly rides. My main concern is that by the time you arrive, DL will be at its peak in terms of crowds. If you start at DCA the park will be less crowded, and you will usually run into the characters there too. Then start DL first thing in the morning, hit FL rides with no wait and no crowds

& I agree with this.

(Except I'd hop to DL for an hour before the DCA closing rush, just to walk down Main St., take pics, get a Dole Whip & ride the Jungle Ride.....because you can. )

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

We have small kids also (almost 4 and 2.5) and we hit FL every morning we're there. At their ages now, we really do these trips for them. What we did on our last two trips was to hit Nemo on our MM day - go straight there. Even with us pushing a double stroller we were on the second sub out both times. You should still have a good 1/2 hour left of MM, but FL doesn't really get that busy right after general park opening (except for PP). So directly after Nemo, we went on PP, then Dumbo, the Carousel, Alice, the Teacups and then back for the dark rides since they almost never have a line. On our non-MM morning we did the same line up minus Nemo. But my girls could ride Dumbo and the Carousel over and over again. Then after that we had a whole day to enjoy the rest of the park. I hope this helps a little bit.

 

[bumbershoot]

mommyof2boys1girl, are you going in to the parks after your flight at all? Or just grabbing dinner and calling it a day? It doesn't look like you're going in until the morning from how you worded your first post, but just in case I wanted to clarify.

 

[mommyof2boys1girl]

Molly - for the first night, I think we will go down to DTD for dinner (kids wanna go to the Rainforest - ds thinks it looks like Tarzan!), but that will be about it. We only have a 5 day parkhopper, and don't really want to "waste" an entry day on only a few hours at night when the kids will already be cranky from the flight, etc.

Hound - everyone should see Banff at least once - I think I would have moved here after seeing the mountains even if my career choice hadn't dictated that I come here. It is simply indescribable - I can send you some pics from our last trip, if you wanna drool! We go out there 5 or 6 times a year, once or twice in the winter, the rest in the summer for camping.

Carm

 

[Just2DisneyKids]

And in case this hasn't already been said, since you are up early anyway, be sure to arrive at the park 20 minutes or so before opening time. They might let you through the turnstile early and you can get a good position for rope drop or you will appreciate the better spot in line if they are not letting people in yet.

We have a 5 year old and a 2 year old and also hit FL each morning. They just can't get enough of Dumbo And yes, first Peter Pan and then Dumbo!

Have fun!


By the way, was it changed from EE to MM (Magical Morning?)? Is anything different?

 

[S. S. Columbia]

... was it changed from EE to MM (Magical Morning?)? Is anything different?

Yes, it's now called Magic Morning, and it's currently offered on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Here is the link to the Magic Morning Super Thread:

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1675403

HTH!

 

[DLR29]

I'm gonna chime in and agree with the plan of doing A Bug's Land first afternoon, Fantasyland on W, and Nemo during Thursday Magic Morning.

 

[trodrigue]

Autopia isn't open for MM. Space, Buzz and Astro Orbitor are the only other "Tomorrowland" rides that are open for MM.

BTW, Is Nemo considered a Tomorrowland attraction or a FL attraction? It just doesn't really work with the whole futuristic TL theme. . . but then again, neither does Autopia!

Well, last month, when it was still EE, we went, by accident about half way through the EE time via the monorail (yes, I know, walk in for EE), and autopia was open! My 5 year old had a fit, demanding to go on it, but I said NO, we have to go to FL, as I had given in to his demand the day before and taken him to NEMO for our first EE. Mean old Mom prevailed, and we had a great time for the second half of EE in FL. Then finally I gave in, headed to autopia, where there was still a short line, and rode two times in a row, as my husband detoured to Matterhorn, and then tried to catch up with us, but was too late and then he was too chicken to join us in line, so he went to the end of the line, so when we got done driving, we went to join hubby and 2nd son in the front of the line. Nobody cared, because we were just two extra passengers and did not make the line any longer. Okay, well my husband might of cared because he got relegated to the passenger pushing the gas peddle position instead of the driver.

 

[PoohBearFriends]

My kids were 2 and 4 the first year we went and my biggest advice, because we did it so wrong, is to head straight for FL. Do not stop for characters. You will have a chance later, we also stopped for Mouse Ears. FL was full by the time we hit it and we still had to wait for lines because the kids really wanted to ride on them.

For the last 3 years we have headed straight for FL and got done with PP, Dumbo, Alice and then move on. One or 2 if my friend goes with us has the kids and the other is getting FP for Buzz or Space Mt. because that is our next stop.

Most Days DCA doesn't open for an hour or 2 so you can get over there soon and do the kid rides if DL fills up. We do a little of each because the mid day is so much slower at DCA and ride lines are too long at DL. Of course I see your 1st day they both open at 10. Still works for a little less traffic mid day.

One of my co-workers was up visiting family in Alberta last week what lovely low temps you are having.
Good luck.