WDW Vet going to Disneyland - Help Please!

[FoxC63]

@Merlin_Jones64 Hey honey,

Here's our plan for Disneyland!

 

[Merlin_Jones64]

Cool Breezes and some tasty waves baby!

 

[Merlin_Jones64]

Don't be afraid to go to City Hall or Commerce Dept in DCA if it does get to be too much for him! The crowds at DL are very different from WDW, they are much more intense and it's really a lot to process. Everything, from lines to walkways to show viewing areas is SMALL, thousands of people shoved in small areas makes it an intense experience. It's not uncommon for Adventureland to come to standstill at night after Fantasmic show #1 clears out (but DL has been trying crowd control methods of keeping traffic moving).

Day 1 is definitely doable. Day 2 is another matter. EMH is great, make sure you are there for rope drop. At rope drop everyone proceeds to race for PP, by the time you get there you may be lucky and have a 20 minute wait, you might not and you'll have the normal 30-40 minute wait. TBH, skip PP. It's not THAT different from WDW. You can do a lot during EMH if you skip PP. I'd start with Alice and Dumbo, it's a nice time to do Snow White and Pinochio with 5 minute waits. Toad will fill as people get off PP and go to the next ride so slip Toad in there after Alice and Dumbo. Canal boats next and then time for a Tea Party! (Fit in your MPs as they come up) The walk through of the castle can literally be done whenever the area is not blocked off for fireworks, never a wait. You will all be very tired after this, Plaza Inn out here does a great QS lunch, their fried chicken is legendary. Blue Bayou if that's on your bucket list for TS. Carnation Cafe is the most classic restaurant, comfort food all the way, TS. Monte Cristo is great for splitting and can found at Cafe Orleans, TS. Plaza Inn and Carnation Cafe have split inside/outside seating, Blue Bayou all inside, Cafe Orleans 75% outside. Inside = air conditioning!!!! And you're going in August, 100 degree days are definitely possible. You can request inside seating at Carnation and have a good shot at getting it. Cafe Orleans is tough because there just isn't much. Winnie after lunch? Grab anything you miss when you come back that night (do realize part of Fantasyland will be closed during fireworks, and canal boats are much better in the day if you only do them once). Pick up MPs for the afternoon and evening for some of those bigger attractions you might want to repeat like BTMRR, Indy.

Everything on Main St is 100% skip able so skip it, you won't have time. Do catch the train for a round-the-Kingdom trip! Our train is much more convenient out here than at WDW.

Where are you staying? On-site, 2pm to 4pm will be fine for a break but I don't think you are since you mention only have MM. Off-site but walking to the park 2pm-5pm to account for the longer security lines. Off-site but driving to the park 2pm-5:30pm because traffic.

Wed is doable.

Remember, upgrading to a park hopper will cost the same if you do it on the first day of the trip or the last. Also, you can book MPs for either park so pick up MPs for GOTG, IncrediCoaster for sure. Soarin is the same as WDW. Grizzly has the potential to soak you fyi.

Fri at DtD. Is this departure day? DtD DLR sucks right now fyi. World of Disney is half under construction, Rainforest cafe/espn zone/movie theater will be in the process of being torn down. There wasn't much to keep one's interest besides browsing shops for a couple hours before this and now- there's even less. I'd REALLY consider upgrading to a 5 day ticket. If you have to chose park hopper upgrade for a 4 day ticket or 5 day non-park hopper ticket I'd do the 5 day non-park hopper. Even if you do Day 5 without MP.

Phew! much planning!

Whoa! Thanks @gottalovepluto for taking the time and posting all this great information for us.

 

[FoxC63]

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@smartlabelprint , @Winnowill , @gottalovepluto , @theluckyrabbit , @agamble , @LadyD , @BigRed98 , @Napoleon Dynamite , @areno79 , @HydroGuy and @Skyegirl1999

I just wanted to thank each and everyone of you for helping me and my family. It really means so much to us to have this support. The DIS Board is a wonderful community gathering and you all have every reason to feel pride in being a part of it, I know I do. Helping someone takes minutes but adds a lifetime of memories for those receiving it. Your advice and concern is a breath of fresh air, thank you so very much!

On behalf of me and family, I hope you attend and participate in the Halloween Party Gift Card Giveaway we are hosting on my MNSSHP Itinerary thread, August 3, 2018 at 4pm EDT. Please save the date and I hope to see you there!

Invitation/Save the Date: Halloween Party Gift Card Giveaway Post #9

This party is just around the corner! I've added much needed information to Post #10: [URL="https://www.disboards.com/threads/%E2%80%9Cofficial%E2%80%9D-2018-mickey%E2%80%99s-not-so-scary-halloween-party-%E2%80%93-strategy-and-itinerary-thread.3672288/#post-58989844"]GAMES, ELIGIBILITY & RULES OF PLAY[/URL] Hope to see you all there!

 

[Merlin_Jones64]

The best crowd indicator for DL is not necessarily the day of week, but the type of one day ticket you can purchase and what APs can access the park that day. Days that have peak tickets with all passes except signature and signature plus blocked tend to be less busy, especially if that day is next to any days with non-peak tickets or more APs being able to access the parks. I would believe that will hold true for this summer as well with the current deal they’re running for APs to bring a friend for a whole lot less than the cost of a normal ticket. 4th of July last summer was dead, Christmas Eve was dead this year, Memorial Day was dead this year, etc. This rarely happened before their ticket pricing switch. So that is something to keep in mind.

You’re touring schedule is pretty generous. Monday you could easily accomplish before noon if you stay on top of your maxpasses, especially since toontown opens later. Tuesday will likely take a bit longer because fantasyland can be slower to get through. Unless you go to Peter Pan immediately in the morning or just as the park is closing, you’re looking at a minimum of a 45 minute wait. The line for Alice, Casey jr, and the storybook boats can get bad too, but not quite as bad as Peter Pan. Wednesday, as long as you get Nemo done early before that line gets crazy, you should be done fairly quickly that day too.

You’re probably going to find you have a lot of extra time to ride things, look around, watch shows, etc. On new year’s day this year this is what my wife and I were able to do between 9:30 AM and 7 PM using maxpass:

Snow White 9:34 to 9:37
Mr toads 9:37 to 9:44
Pinocchio 9:44 to 9:50
Dumbo 9:51 to 10:02
Alice 10:03 to 10:17
Tea cups 10:17 to 10:23
Main Street vehicles 10:25 to 10:29
Exit DL 10:29
Enter DCA 10:33
Mission breakout 10:39 to 11:05
Toy Story midway Mania 11:14 to 11:36
King Triton’s Carousel 11:37 to 11:47
California screamin 11:48 to 12:00
Soarin 12:12 to 12:32
Goofy’s sky school 12:39 to 12:44
Silly symphony swings 12:46 to 12:51
Golden zephyr 12:53 to 1:01
Little Mermaid 1:14 to 1:25
Left DCA 1:31
Enter DL 1:32
Winnie the Pooh 1:43 to 1:48
Pirates 1:52 to 2:20
Mark Twain 2:22 to 2:47
Space 2:53 to 3:06
Autopia 3:09 to 3:31
Small world 3:37 to 3:57
Gadget’s Go Coaster 4:00 to 4:19
King Arthur’s carousel 4:29 to 4:38
Star tours 4:41 to 4:55
Buzz light year 4:59 to 5:08
Jungle cruise 5:16 to 5:26
Indiana Jones 5:28 to 5:51
Splash 6:06 to 6:21
Big thunder 6:32 to 6:43
Monorail 6:55 to 7:01

We usually meander around both parks and don’t ride too much, so we wanted to see how much we could get done before we were both done. I’m on the spectrum and this day was hard for me. I don’t recommend touring this intensely haha. I was very, very done after this.

Thanks @LadyD! That is a really impressive list of rides with the times you've provided us. Definitely a great help to understand the time required on a good day.

 

[Merlin_Jones64]

This party is just around the corner! I've added much needed information to Post #10: GAMES, ELIGIBILITY & RULES OF PLAY Hope to see you all there!

I'd better warm up that calculator to quickly tally all those points these trivia savy DISers are going to be getting! Lottsa Fun!!

 

[FoxC63]

I'd better warm up that calculator to quickly tally all those points these trivia savy DISers are going to be getting! Lottsa Fun!!

You said it baby! So happy you agreed to help out! I love you

 

[Merlin_Jones64]

You said it baby! So happy you agreed to help out! I love you

Oh yeah! - Love ya too!