1 day park hopper plan

[beachteachlv]

Doing a special trip with my daughter next month. She’s 5.5 and I’m so excited to do this with her, sans baby bro who’s 2.5 and makes life a bit challenging

We will be at the parks on Saturday 6/24. Just one day, doing a park hopper. Trying to decide where to rope drop. Which park will have “more bearable” lines in the second half of the day? I would say there’s more at DCA she likes just because of Pixar Pier, but still a hefty amount at DL as well. We will be buying Genie+.

My thought -
Rope drop DCA
Luigi
Mater
Work our way around Pixar Pier
Ariel
(Will use ILL for RSR at some point)
Monsters will depend on return time
Soarin

Park hop to DL
This is where I’m stuck. Are we going to have unbearable lines mid day? We want to catch the parade - I’m seeing 330 and 630pm. Then we will close our day back at DCA. So what’s the best plan for our chunk of time at DL? Our short list includes Pirates, HM, Pooh, MMRR, Dumbo, Small World, Alice, Carousel, maybe some more in fantasy land. Going to try and get her on Big Thunder. Plus the parade. Helppppp.

Or am I doing this wrong and we should rope drop DL instead?

Also, is Storytellers character breakfast buffet a good one for our first character dining experience? Considering doing it Sunday before we head home.

Thanks as always for the advice!!

 

[beachteachlv]

Bump!

 

[JerrodDragon89]

Depends on what you guys want to see

If you guys want to walk on the Cars rides then rope dropping DCA sounds good
If you guys want to do more Fantasyland then I'd say rope drop Disneyland

As for the Afternoon here are a few shows/rides that normally aren't that bad in the afternoon

DCA
Mickey Philharmagic
Little Mermaid

Disneyland
Tiki Room
Great Moments with Mr Lincoln
Storytelling at Royal Theatre
Tale of the Lion King

 

[DisneylandFan22]

Depends on what you guys want to see

If you guys want to walk on the Cars rides then rope dropping DCA sounds good
If you guys want to do more Fantasyland then I'd say rope drop Disneyland

As for the Afternoon here are a few shows/rides that normally aren't that bad in the afternoon

DCA
Mickey Philharmagic
Little Mermaid

Disneyland
Tiki Room
Great Moments with Mr Lincoln
Storytelling at Royal Theatre
Tale of the Lion King

Little Mermaid?

 

[JerrodDragon89]

Little Mermaid?

The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel's Undersea Adventure is at DCA near the Pier. It uses same ride system as HM but isn't as popular

 

[ktlm]

Has she been to DLR before? With DD at that age, I would do DL at opening to knock out all of the Fantasyland stuff pretty quickly while the lines are shorter-- but it really just depends what she likes. If she has been before and you know that she prefers DCA, I might make a different choice.

 

[RysMomma]

We're doing one day and we've never done DL before (only WDW several times). I did DL first even with teenagers because I know there's going to be a lot of the quintessential "Disneyland rides" we are going to want to hit. Then we'll head to DCA to do the afternoon/evening. We can't wait!

 

[LeslieLou]

I zoned in to this thread because we think we will top a 2 week Route 66 drive with DS graduating senior and DH/DS16 next July.

I’ve read but haven’t experienced that it’s better to go Disneyland and then DCA. Interested in the responses you get!

 

[beachteachlv]

Has she been to DLR before? With DD at that age, I would do DL at opening to knock out all of the Fantasyland stuff pretty quickly while the lines are shorter-- but it really just depends what she likes. If she has been before and you know that she prefers DCA, I might make a different choice.

Yes! She’s been twice - at 2 and 4. She got spooked at Pinocchio at 4.. so I’m not sure how many of those she will be interested in. Alice for sure. She loves basically everything on Pixar Pier except Incredicoaster, and Cars Land. So I’m thinking if we start at DCA, we can jump to DL then back to DCA to do her favorites again…

 

[beachteachlv]

I zoned in to this thread because we think we will top a 2 week Route 66 drive with DS graduating senior and DH/DS16 next July.

I’ve read but haven’t experienced that it’s better to go Disneyland and then DCA. Interested in the responses you get!

This would be the first trip I’ve done starting at DCA! We always do DL first because to me it really envelopes you in that Disney feeling. But from a ride standpoint/making the most of your day.. it’ll be totally based on personal preference for rides. My hubby and I like the mountains, Indiana Jones, pirates, HM, etc. so if it’s just us two we start at DL. Since I’m just taking my daughter.. I’m thinking we want to make the most of Cars Land and Pixar Pier.

 

[beachteachlv]

We're doing one day and we've never done DL before (only WDW several times). I did DL first even with teenagers because I know there's going to be a lot of the quintessential "Disneyland rides" we are going to want to hit. Then we'll head to DCA to do the afternoon/evening. We can't wait!

in your situation I would definitely do DL first!! It’s totally magical and especially for your first visit, you HAVE to start there have so much fun!!!

 

[RysMomma]

in your situation I would definitely do DL first!! It’s totally magical and especially for your first visit, you HAVE to start there have so much fun!!!

Thank you for this! That was our goal! I am so excited-even if it's just for a day!