Yikes! Last minute trip to Disneyland!

[Alexle2007]

Help! We are in AZ visiting family and DH last minute decided we (DH, DS9 and me) should go to Disneyland. So last night I booked quickly booked the Paradise Pier, our 3 day parkhoppers and a rental car. So we'll be there Sat-Mon. Yes, it was really that quick. We are East Coasters and I have no idea about Disneyland. Would love some recommendations on onsite dining, especially a good location for Easter dinner, game plan for rides and any other advice. We are actually hitting the road today so we'll be there bright and early tomorrow.

 

[figment_jii]

I highly recommend taking a look at HydroGuy's A DLR Guide for WDW Vets if you've been to WDW and are familiar with that resort.

As far as I know, there are no places offering a special dinner for Easter (a few have a special brunch, but that's about it). What kind of foods do you and your family like? What type of meal are you looking for (i.e., sit down? casual?)? My favorite TS locations are Cafe Orleans (DL), Carnation Cafe (DL), River Belle Terrace (DL), Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen (DTD), and Storytellers (GCH). For Easter Sunday (mostly because it is a Sunday during Spring Break), I would highly recommend making a reservation.
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/dining/#/reservations-accepted/

For attractions, I would make use of FP whenever possible, along with rope drop, and single rider lines (when possible, if your family is willing to ride apart). The first 90 minutes of the day is usually when there are the shortest lines, so I would try to be in the parks as close to opening as possible, especially if you want to ride the most popular attractions (e.g., RSR, TSMM, HyperSpace Mtn, Peter Pan, etc.). I would also plan for long lines at security and the ticket booths (it took my family about 30 minutes to get through security and the ticket booths last Sunday).

Do you have the official Disneyland App? If not, I highly recommend downloading it. It gives you attraction wait times and current FP return times, along with character and entertainment schedules. I found it to be pretty reliable last week (there is about a 5 to 10 minute lag in when information is updated, but for the most part, it worked well when I was using it).

 

[Nevada Jen]

Use the early entry. Without fail. You will get more done during that hour than the rest of the day combined. Be there 30 minutes before the park opens to early entry guests. Get to the parks by going across the street and through the grand Californian (not the way where you go through the Disney hotel.) I am horrible at left and right but my best shot at explaining it. Note where the grand Californian is when you drive in. You leave paradise pier from the door by the front desk, walk across the street to the grand californian and walk on the sidewalk along the driveway. Go in the main sliding doors of the hotel and hang a left and follow the signs to downtown Disney. In the morning, do not use the grand Californian entrance to DCA. (Trust me on this one. Cast members always try to make that entrance sound like a perk. It is about 10 times slower than the main gate in the mornings). Walk through downtown Disney to get there. Any other time, that entrance is fine and it is a really great exit from DCA after riding grizzly peak!

As for food, I would call the Disney dining number and talk to a real person about what places might be doing for easter and try to get reservations. In my experience, you can usually get reservation when the web site is telling you there are no reservations available. You are going to walk right past Surfside lounge every day so you might just want to get a breakfast reservation there. It has characters and decent food. My 10 year old boy thought it was extremely awesome to eat at Blue Bayou because you eat IN the pirates ride. Don't waste your money on a dining package for Paint the Night. You can get just as good of a spot by walking up to the area near small world right before the parade. And the parade is worth the big chunk of time it takes. My 10 year old boy saw it and insisted we go back the next night to see it again.

Ride tips. Don't be afraid of the roller coasters. They are pretty tame. (Except I don't know about California Screamin because that looks to scary for me to try). Don't miss Indiana Jones. It is a bit hard to find (I think) but a seriously amazing ride. Always have a fast pass and understand how it works. Make sure you understand how they work. Take the time to find the buzz lightyear fast pass machine. That ride is disconnected so you can always have a buzz fast pass plus something else. My suggestion for first timers is pick two things in each area you want to do. When you get to the area, get a fast pass for one of them and then actually wait on line to do the other. If Space Mountain and RSR are important to you, get fast passes for those first thing in the morning (the fast pass machines don't open until regular entry).

General tips. Bring a sweater and jeans. It gets chilly at night. I think a lanyard is really helpful. You have to pull out your tickets to get fastpasses a lot and the fast passes are paper and you have to store them somewhere.. Try to ride RSR both in the day and at night. At least make sure you go to cars land at night once. It is amazing. Actually study a map beforehand so you have some ability to orient yourself when you get there. It can be really overwhelming to try to find things with swarms of people.