What do you think of my character dining reservations?

[southlake]

Hi everyone,

I haven't been to Disneyland in 20 years (eek!) and I'm trying to plan our upcoming trip with our 2.5 yr old daughter.

We are driving down on Wed May 23 and plan to hit the parks Thu, Fri, & Sat. We plan to use our MM on Thu May 24.

I have made reservations at Goofy's Kitchen on Thu night, and then at the Plaza Inn on Friday morning at 8:30 a.m.

Is it smart for me to have a reservation at the Plaza Inn @ 8:30 a.m. when the park opens at 8 a.m. that day?

I've read multiple times to get there at opening to have the best chance at shortest lines, and I'm wondering if we'd be giving that up by having breakfast 30 min after the park opens. Should I book it earlier, or leave as is??

 

[Girimama33]

You will be giving up some of that early morning ride time with a PS at 8:30. Usually they open reservations 20 minutes before the park opens - When we went a few weeks back, our PS was at 8:40 when the park opened at 9. Maybe they can get you in earlier.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

I wouldn't want to give up the early morning time for rides, so I would suggest one of two things. Either move your reservation to later in the morning on Friday, or switch the reservation to 7:10 AM on Saturday. You will have used your magic morning already on Thursday, but if you have a Minnie's dining reservation you can enter early for breakfast on Saturday through Gate 1 even though you no longer have early entry.

 

[southlake]

Ohh good tip, thank you!!

We were actually planning on going to DCA on our last day (Sat).. if I make a character dining reservation at DCA on Sat, will we also get in to that park early?

 

[ladeeesquire]

I definitely would not use your precious early morning hour eating breakfast. What I always suggest is that people choose the latest breakfast time if at all possible. Hit rope drop, ride, collect fp's while everyone else is still arriving at the park and getting organized. Then just about the time the park starts to get busy, you stop, have a nice brunch and relax. Then around 11:30-12:30 when everyone else is starting to hit the various eateries because they're starved, you're done eating so you head back out, grab a few more fp's intermingled with low wait time attractions. Then by late afternoon when the park is really busy you start using your fp's and hit the shows!

Have fun!