LLMP for Tier 1 Average Crowd Day

[gumbydom]

Visiting Disneyland with my wife, a 3 and an 8 year old on a Tier 1 day in early March, crowd calendar shows an 8/10, 3/5, average crowds. Will we need LLMP?

Priorities:
3 year old: Fantasyland and characters at Mickey and Friends Cavalcade, meet characters

8 year old: try some rollercoasters, watch Tangled at Royal Theatre

Wife: Star Wars for both rides since we always seem to miss it

Me: Open

Itinerary:
7AM-Park at Toy Story lot, security and bus to Main Entrance

7:30AM-Scan in and rope drop at Tomorrowland side

8AM-Head to Fantasyland

8:05AM-9:45AM
1. Alice in Wonderland (15 mins)
2. Storybook Land Canal Boats (20 mins)
3. Dumbo Flying Elephant*-must ride (20 mins)
4. Mad Tea Party (20 mins)
5.It’s a Small World (20 mins, if open)

9:20AM-ToonTown
1. Mickey and Minnies Runway Railway*-must ride (25 mins)
2. Mickey or Minnie’s House for meet and greet

9:45AM-Setup for show
10AM-Tangled at Royal Theatre*-must see

10:25AM-Sleeping Beauty Castle
1. Castle walk-through
2. Check with 8 year old and wait time to ride Matterhorn.

10:40AM-Lunch-Plaza Inn-Fried Chicken and Refreshment Corner for Birria Baled Potato

Check wait times to go to Tomorrowland or Star Wars

11:30AM-Tomorrowland
1. Finding Nemo Submarine (25 mins)
2. Autopia (25 mins)
3. Check with 8 year old and wait time to ride Space Mountain.

1:20PM-Setup for parade, snack time
1:45PM-Mickey & Friends Cavalcade

2:10PM-Star Wars
1. Rise of the Resistance*-must ride (40 mins)
2. Millennium Falcon*-must ride-Single Rider, trade with wife (20 mins)

3:15PM-Bayou Country
1. Pooh Ride (30 mins)
2. Hungry Bear-BBQ sandwich or Harbour Galley-Bread bowl soup
3. Check with 8 year old and wait time to ride Tiana’s Bayou

4:30PM-Frontierland
1. Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer’s Island (40 mins)
2. Check with 8 year old and wait time to ride Big Thunder Mountain

Check wait times for New Orleans Square or Adventureland

5:30-New Orleans Square
1. Pirates of the Caribbean or Haunted Mansion (35 mins)

6:15PM-Adventureland
1. Jungle Cruise

8:15PM
Din Tai Fung

9:15PM-walk back to shuttle stop, maybe drop in to watch Mickey’s Mic Magic at 9:30PM

We are staying offsite in OC 20 mins away. Should we park in Mickey and Friends or Toy Story lot?

Does this itinerary require Lightning Lane?

For character meet and greets, will try to visit Toon Town. Any pop-up spots where characters spontaneously appear not in their usual spots? 3 year old loves Frozen, any chance to see those characters? Thanks!

 

[LKing]

You'll get a variety of opinions on this. In general, I think you underestimated wait times on just about everything.

Priorities:
3 year old: Fantasyland and characters at Mickey and Friends Cavalcade, meet characters - the classic characters will be around Town Square just as you enter the park. The princesses are sometimes near the floral Mickey just past the turnstiles. They aren't there on a schedule or at rope drop, but tend to arrive when it is more crowded.

8 year old: try some rollercoasters, watch Tangled at Royal Theatre - Have they been on a roller coaster before? You might look at Chip n Dale's Gadgetcoaster in Toontown

Itinerary:
7AM-Park at Toy Story lot, security and bus to Main Entrance -not sure you can arrive at the parking lot, park your car, walk, get through security and to the entrance in 30 minutes, especially with two children. Will you have a stroller as well?

7:30AM-Scan in and rope drop at Tomorrowland side - If Fantasyland is your starting point, why are you walking in through Tomorrowland? If you are staying off site, your rope drop will be at 8 am.

8AM-Head to Fantasyland

8:05AM-9:45AM
1. Alice in Wonderland (15 mins)
2. Storybook Land Canal Boats (20 mins)
3. Dumbo Flying Elephant*-must ride (20 mins) - lines get very long. If you don't care about the canal boats, I would move this to your first or second ride.
4. Mad Tea Party (20 mins)
5.It’s a Small World (20 mins, if open) - lines can be long, especially after an extended closure. Because your time will be tight, you might want to save this for later and then watch the cavalcade from just outside IASW.

9:20AM-ToonTown
1. Mickey and Minnies Runway Railway*-must ride (25 mins) - This line is extremely variable. It can be as short as 20 min (basically walking through the queue) or as long as 60 minutes. It is a LL attraction, but LL riders miss the queue which is pretty cool.
2. Mickey or Minnie’s House for meet and greet - this can be a surprisingly long wait. Personally, if you don't care about the house, I think you re probably better off waiting for M&M on Main Street.
You aren't allowing any time for your kids to explore the rest of Toontown. I think they are going to want to check out Goofy's How to Play Yard.

9:45AM-Setup for show
10AM-Tangled at Royal Theatre*-must see - I think your timing is tight. I don't think you will be able to do Toontown and get to the Royal Theater in 25 minutes. Based on your priorities, I would do Dumbo and Alice then go to Toontown. If you have time after finishing Toontown, and the wait times are short, you can try another Fantasyland ride on your walk from Toontown to the theater.

10:25AM-Sleeping Beauty Castle
1. Castle walk-through
2. Check with 8 year old and wait time to ride Matterhorn. Matterhorn is not a roller coaster for beginners. You won't be able to get from the theater to the Matterhorn, ride it, and then walk to Plaza Inn in 15 minutes. You are also backtracking here. Going from the theater to the Matterhorn, back out to Plaza Inn is not efficient. I think I would go from the theater to Town Square on Main Street, meet the characters and then go to lunch.

10:40AM-Lunch-Plaza Inn-Fried Chicken and Refreshment Corner for Birria Baled Potato

Check wait times to go to Tomorrowland or Star Wars - SWGE is very far from Plaza Inn.

11:30AM-Tomorrowland
1. Finding Nemo Submarine (25 mins)
2. Autopia (25 mins)
3. Check with 8 year old and wait time to ride Space Mountain

1:20PM-Setup for parade, snack time
1:45PM-Mickey & Friends Cavalcade - This isn't really a parade. Yes, your kids will see the characters, but it is very short. Do you have an idea where you want to watch it? It starts near Small World and ends at Main Street. My recommendation would be to do Tomorrowland then walk towards Small World. If it is close to the start of the cavalcade, watch it first and the go on IASW. If you have enough time, go on Small World first and then watch the cavalcade.

2:10PM-Star Wars - This is a trek from the front of the park. There are three entrances into SWGE. Not sure where you will be watching the cavalcade, but I'm guessing you will want to take the Fantasyland entrance (exit Fantasyland near Red Rose Tavern).
1. Rise of the Resistance*-must ride (40 mins) - if you are lucky.
2. Millennium Falcon*-must ride-Single Rider, trade with wife (20 mins)

3:15PM-Bayou Country - Again, it is a lot of walking. I doubt you are going to be able to do both rides in SWGE and walk to Pooh in an hour.
1. Pooh Ride (30 mins)
2. Hungry Bear-BBQ sandwich or Harbour Galley-Bread bowl soup - Do Tiana's after Pooh as the entrances are across from each other. Hungry Bear is right there but Harbour Galley is not close to the entrance of those rides.
3. Check with 8 year old and wait time to ride Tiana’s Bayou

4:30PM-Frontierland
1. Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer’s Island (40 mins) - Are you kids going to be going strong at 4:30 pm, after all of this walking? Tom Sawyers island is cool if your kids have the energy. If not, or if you are running behind schedule, it might be something you take off of your itinerary.
Check wait times for New Orleans Square or Adventureland

5:30-New Orleans Square
1. Pirates of the Caribbean or Haunted Mansion (35 mins) - Both rides will likely be longer than 35 min at this time of day

6:15PM-Adventureland - You won't be able to do both POTC and HM in 45 min. I'm not sure if you can even do one in 45 min.
1. Jungle Cruise

8:15PM
Din Tai Fung

9:15PM-walk back to shuttle stop, maybe drop in to watch Mickey’s Mic Magic at 9:30PM

We are staying offsite in OC 20 mins away. Should we park in Mickey and Friends or Toy Story lot? Depends where you are staying and what direction you are coming from.

Does this itinerary require Lightning Lane? It depends on how much of a priority HM, POTC, IASW, Matterhorn, Space Mountain are. I wouldn't do LL for Runaway Railroad as the queue is pretty neat. I would consider LLSP for Rise of the Resistance as the line can be long. Will both of your kids go on it?

For character meet and greets, will try to visit Toon Town. Any pop-up spots where characters spontaneously appear not in their usual spots? 3 year old loves Frozen, any chance to see those characters? Thanks! Characters are all over the park. The only set meet & greet locations are M&M houses in Toontown (although both are on Main Street as well) and the Royal Hall. Note that the line for the Royal Hall can be long just before or after the Royal Theater shows.

 

[juxtapose]

No, I don't think you need LLMP for the plans above. I would recommend LLSP for Rise if you want to hit it in the middle of the day, it could easily be an hour plus wait.
Just a personal comment after traveling with kids that age over the years. With only 1 day, I would focus a lot more time on Toon Town (the play areas and small coaster are great for those ages) and Fantasyland. Those are 100% my kid's favorite areas. You will not have enough time with kids those ages to do every part of the park in a day, and I think your underestimating how long it takes to walk to different areas of the park, I'd remove your bottom 2 lands/areas and focus more on the others.

 

[KPeterso]

One hitch for you. Plaza Inn at 10:40 AM is still breakfast. And it will be the character meal which is the higher coast and reservations are recommended. Lunch at Plaza Inn for fried chicken does not start until noon. The line will be forming early though.

 

[gumbydom]

One hitch for you. Plaza Inn at 10:40 AM is still breakfast. And it will be the character meal which is the higher coast and reservations are recommended. Lunch at Plaza Inn for fried chicken does not start until noon. The line will be forming early though.

Good to know about lunch starting at 12 noon and queue starts before that. May adjust and do early lunch/snack early then Plaza for 2nd lunch after lunch crowd.

 

[gumbydom]

No, I don't think you need LLMP for the plans above. I would recommend LLSP for Rise if you want to hit it in the middle of the day, it could easily be an hour plus wait.
Just a personal comment after traveling with kids that age over the years. With only 1 day, I would focus a lot more time on Toon Town (the play areas and small coaster are great for those ages) and Fantasyland. Those are 100% my kid's favorite areas. You will not have enough time with kids those ages to do every part of the park in a day, and I think your underestimating how long it takes to walk to different areas of the park, I'd remove your bottom 2 lands/areas and focus more on the others.

If we do LLSP just for Rise then I think we may as well do LLMP for the other rides. Rise has Single Rider line so it will just be me and my wife riding.

We tend to stay away from Gadgetcoaster and Roger Rabbit in Toon Town since they tend to be a bit jerky compared to normal coasters like Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. Matterhorn is single seating so may not be a good choice either for 8 yo. We haven’t visited since Runaway Railroad opened and heard that’s fun. Since It’s a Small World will still likely be closed we’ll have more time to explore the ‘playgrounds’ in Toon Town.

 

[gumbydom]

You'll get a variety of opinions on this. In general, I think you underestimated wait times on just about everything.

Priorities:
3 year old: Fantasyland and characters at Mickey and Friends Cavalcade, meet characters - the classic characters will be around Town Square just as you enter the park. The princesses are sometimes near the floral Mickey just past the turnstiles. They aren't there on a schedule or at rope drop, but tend to arrive when it is more crowded.

8 year old: try some rollercoasters, watch Tangled at Royal Theatre - Have they been on a roller coaster before? You might look at Chip n Dale's Gadgetcoaster in Toontown

Itinerary:
7AM-Park at Toy Story lot, security and bus to Main Entrance -not sure you can arrive at the parking lot, park your car, walk, get through security and to the entrance in 30 minutes, especially with two children. Will you have a stroller as well?

7:30AM-Scan in and rope drop at Tomorrowland side - If Fantasyland is your starting point, why are you walking in through Tomorrowland? If you are staying off site, your rope drop will be at 8 am.

8AM-Head to Fantasyland

8:05AM-9:45AM
1. Alice in Wonderland (15 mins)
2. Storybook Land Canal Boats (20 mins)
3. Dumbo Flying Elephant*-must ride (20 mins) - lines get very long. If you don't care about the canal boats, I would move this to your first or second ride.
4. Mad Tea Party (20 mins)
5.It’s a Small World (20 mins, if open) - lines can be long, especially after an extended closure. Because your time will be tight, you might want to save this for later and then watch the cavalcade from just outside IASW.

9:20AM-ToonTown
1. Mickey and Minnies Runway Railway*-must ride (25 mins) - This line is extremely variable. It can be as short as 20 min (basically walking through the queue) or as long as 60 minutes. It is a LL attraction, but LL riders miss the queue which is pretty cool.
2. Mickey or Minnie’s House for meet and greet - this can be a surprisingly long wait. Personally, if you don't care about the house, I think you re probably better off waiting for M&M on Main Street.
You aren't allowing any time for your kids to explore the rest of Toontown. I think they are going to want to check out Goofy's How to Play Yard.

9:45AM-Setup for show
10AM-Tangled at Royal Theatre*-must see - I think your timing is tight. I don't think you will be able to do Toontown and get to the Royal Theater in 25 minutes. Based on your priorities, I would do Dumbo and Alice then go to Toontown. If you have time after finishing Toontown, and the wait times are short, you can try another Fantasyland ride on your walk from Toontown to the theater.

10:25AM-Sleeping Beauty Castle
1. Castle walk-through
2. Check with 8 year old and wait time to ride Matterhorn. Matterhorn is not a roller coaster for beginners. You won't be able to get from the theater to the Matterhorn, ride it, and then walk to Plaza Inn in 15 minutes. You are also backtracking here. Going from the theater to the Matterhorn, back out to Plaza Inn is not efficient. I think I would go from the theater to Town Square on Main Street, meet the characters and then go to lunch.

10:40AM-Lunch-Plaza Inn-Fried Chicken and Refreshment Corner for Birria Baled Potato

Check wait times to go to Tomorrowland or Star Wars - SWGE is very far from Plaza Inn.

11:30AM-Tomorrowland
1. Finding Nemo Submarine (25 mins)
2. Autopia (25 mins)
3. Check with 8 year old and wait time to ride Space Mountain

1:20PM-Setup for parade, snack time
1:45PM-Mickey & Friends Cavalcade - This isn't really a parade. Yes, your kids will see the characters, but it is very short. Do you have an idea where you want to watch it? It starts near Small World and ends at Main Street. My recommendation would be to do Tomorrowland then walk towards Small World. If it is close to the start of the cavalcade, watch it first and the go on IASW. If you have enough time, go on Small World first and then watch the cavalcade.

2:10PM-Star Wars - This is a trek from the front of the park. There are three entrances into SWGE. Not sure where you will be watching the cavalcade, but I'm guessing you will want to take the Fantasyland entrance (exit Fantasyland near Red Rose Tavern).
1. Rise of the Resistance*-must ride (40 mins) - if you are lucky.
2. Millennium Falcon*-must ride-Single Rider, trade with wife (20 mins)

3:15PM-Bayou Country - Again, it is a lot of walking. I doubt you are going to be able to do both rides in SWGE and walk to Pooh in an hour.
1. Pooh Ride (30 mins)
2. Hungry Bear-BBQ sandwich or Harbour Galley-Bread bowl soup - Do Tiana's after Pooh as the entrances are across from each other. Hungry Bear is right there but Harbour Galley is not close to the entrance of those rides.
3. Check with 8 year old and wait time to ride Tiana’s Bayou

4:30PM-Frontierland
1. Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer’s Island (40 mins) - Are you kids going to be going strong at 4:30 pm, after all of this walking? Tom Sawyers island is cool if your kids have the energy. If not, or if you are running behind schedule, it might be something you take off of your itinerary.
Check wait times for New Orleans Square or Adventureland

5:30-New Orleans Square
1. Pirates of the Caribbean or Haunted Mansion (35 mins) - Both rides will likely be longer than 35 min at this time of day

6:15PM-Adventureland - You won't be able to do both POTC and HM in 45 min. I'm not sure if you can even do one in 45 min.
1. Jungle Cruise

8:15PM
Din Tai Fung

9:15PM-walk back to shuttle stop, maybe drop in to watch Mickey’s Mic Magic at 9:30PM

We are staying offsite in OC 20 mins away. Should we park in Mickey and Friends or Toy Story lot? Depends where you are staying and what direction you are coming from.

Does this itinerary require Lightning Lane? It depends on how much of a priority HM, POTC, IASW, Matterhorn, Space Mountain are. I wouldn't do LL for Runaway Railroad as the queue is pretty neat. I would consider LLSP for Rise of the Resistance as the line can be long. Will both of your kids go on it?

For character meet and greets, will try to visit Toon Town. Any pop-up spots where characters spontaneously appear not in their usual spots? 3 year old loves Frozen, any chance to see those characters? Thanks! Characters are all over the park. The only set meet & greet locations are M&M houses in Toontown (although both are on Main Street as well) and the Royal Hall. Note that the line for the Royal Hall can be long just before or after the Royal Theater shows.

Appreciate your realistic approach. Definitely alot to think about it to be as efficient as possible esp with little kids. I’ve been monitoring ride wait times on the app daily and posted what’s reflected, then again they are just estimates and we will pivot to a ride or nearby land for shorter wait. Plus we have to account for restroom and snack breaks plus shopping.

If IASW is still closed then we’ll have more time after Fantasyland to visit Tomorrowland and knock out the east side of the park. We also reduced the amount of rides in Fantasyland to 3. I purchased LLMP to help with these rides.
Runaway Railway, Buzz Lightyear, Big Thunder Mountain, Smugglers Run, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, and Indy.
Space Mountain, Tiana’s and Matterhorn are TBD. We will do Single Rider on Rise.

We will make seeing the cavalcade less of a priority since you mentioned it’s short and hope for some magic to run into a princess along the way that day.

 

[LKing]

Rise has Single Rider line so it will just be me and my wife riding.

Rise does not have single rider at Disneyland.

 

[LKing]

We will make seeing the cavalcade less of a priority since you mentioned it’s short and hope for some magic to run into a princess along the way that day.

Will this be your kids' first visit? If so, I would stop and get them buttons. Sometimes those wearing buttons receive a little extra attention.

This is the extent of the cavalcade. If you are in the area, I'm sure your kids will enjoy it.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Runaway railway didnt drop below 50 minutes when were were there last weekend. Even Dumbo was in excess of 30 minutes every time I looked. Canal boats we waited 30 minutes. Rise you will need a LLSP.

TBH I think this is way too much to expect to accomplish. Bathroom lines were even double digits when we went.

Personal opinion and I get if its not your opinion but thought Id share, with kids that young I would focus on characters and the feeling of Disney and not a jam packed schedule of rides. My son is now almost 10 and wants to go go go to all the rides and I miss doing Disney leisurely meeting characters and taking in the sights like when he was little.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Also wanted to add https://disneylanddaily.com/ has great jam packed schedules like this. She tests them out and they can be done. But this time we went I can say it was very different than I have experienced in the past, so many rides went down many many times and often put a kink in our plan for when we got to each "land"

 

[gumbydom]

Rise does not have single rider at Disneyland.

Was concerned when I read your comment and checked again as is good practice generally.

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/guest-services/single-rider-line/

https://www.disboards.com/threads/single-rider-line-at-rise.3950858/

 

[gumbydom]

Will this be your kids' first visit? If so, I would stop and get them buttons. Sometimes those wearing buttons receive a little extra attention.

This is the extent of the cavalcade. If you are in the area, I'm sure your kids will enjoy it.


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Awesome pictures, thank you. It puts the cavalcade vs parade into perspective. I’m sure it will help out others as well.

8 yo has been half a dozen times, it will be 3 yo first time, unless I forgot we took her as a baby. She’s been to Tokyo Disney 2 times as well and we are going to Hong Kong Disneyland this Summer (it’s going to be hot!).

It will be our first time focusing on rides as opposed to experience, and using LLMP.

 

[gumbydom]

Also wanted to add https://disneylanddaily.com/ has great jam packed schedules like this. She tests them out and they can be done. But this time we went I can say it was very different than I have experienced in the past, so many rides went down many many times and often put a kink in our plan for when we got to each "land"

Very detailed blog! I’ll add it to my DL library! lol

Sorry to hear about the rides going down, never a good experience unless they give you a return anytime pass!

 

[gumbydom]

Runaway railway didnt drop below 50 minutes when were were there last weekend. Even Dumbo was in excess of 30 minutes every time I looked. Canal boats we waited 30 minutes. Rise you will need a LLSP.

TBH I think this is way too much to expect to accomplish. Bathroom lines were even double digits when we went.

Personal opinion and I get if its not your opinion but thought Id share, with kids that young I would focus on characters and the feeling of Disney and not a jam packed schedule of rides. My son is now almost 10 and wants to go go go to all the rides and I miss doing Disney leisurely meeting characters and taking in the sights like when he was little.

I read last weekend (Vday) was crowded due to Cheer Week, and this weekend is Ski week! There are posts here and elsewhere that list upcoming breaks, activities, and events like showstoppers, prom night, etc. as well as unofficial ones with big meetups.

I hope going on a Tuesday and doing rope drop will enable us to cover Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, then LL the other popular rides on our shortlist.

My 8yo has outgrown princesses and wants to ride, however I wouldn’t be surprised if she still wants to let her kid out when she sees her 3yo sister enjoying herself.

 

[LKing]

Was concerned when I read your comment and checked again as is good practice generally.

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/guest-services/single-rider-line/

https://www.disboards.com/threads/single-rider-line-at-rise.3950858/

I don't see Rise of the Resistance listed in the first link.

The second link is referring to WDW.

 

[gumbydom]

I don't see Rise of the Resistance listed in the first link.

The second link is referring to WDW.

My bad about 2nd link.