Hi, I have been reading all of your helpful posts on this site. We are headed to DL next week Feb 16-18. It has been 4 yrs since our family has been there. My kids are no longer in strollers and I know that this trip will not be spent on "kiddie rides" only! My oldest is now 10 yr old and wants to ride the "big rides".
Any suggestion on how to approach the rides so that we can see everything in the 3 days without waisting our time in long lines ? I know you all have your special ways on how to do this! Thank you for all of your help!

The 16-18 will be a holiday weekend so be prepared for crowds. But, if you arrive when the park opens and use the Fast Pass system wisely, you should be able to do all that you want in 3 days time.

I would Fast Pass popular attractions like Indy or Space and return to ride them at your leisure. The Nemo Subs do not have Fast Pass, so your best bet for the minimal wait there is when park first opens, or just before closing.

Be sure to have a great time.

Thank you for your suggestions! That is what our plan of attack will be to enjoy! thanks! Can't wait......

Since you are going on a holiday weekend, I would recommend RIDEMAX. It is a program that helps you plan your day at Disneyland.

Most of the time, I think it's not really worth it... but on busy days (summers and holidays) I actually find it helpful. At very least, it will give you a realistic idea of what you should be able to get done.

If you are not familiar with Ridemax, you enter in all the things you want to do while you are there (DLR or CA). It will arrange your rides in an order with the shortest wait times. It also tells you how long to expect to wait, and how long it will take you to get to the next attraction, etc.

I think you can find it at www.ridemax.com. In my opinion, its worth the 25$ just to be informed.

Hope this helps.

Fastpass! Fastpass! Fastpass! That is a good way to get in all the long line attractions. Are you staying on property? Saturday is early entry day and you can get in an hour early IF you are staying in a Disney Hotel, on property and that REALLY helps bigtime, especially with Nemo. If not, plan your day and try to schedule some of the bigger line attractions during parades, of course AFTER seeing it at least once!;) Sometimes the attractions are a little less crowded during parades. Not always, but it can help. Have fun! You will love it!!!!! Nemo IS fun! We went on it last week after not having been on the subs since the 1970's! It was wonderful to see them back! And the new Nemo theme is very cute, albeit not so Tomorrowland furuish, but it works well
DPC

Things we try to do to maximize time: Try not to eat at the same time as everyone else for shorter lines - stop for the bathroom when you are close to one so you don't have to walk a mile to get one - do the rides in each land that you like at one time rather than going back and forth all the time and wasting all your time walking - at parades, be aware of streets that get roped off 15 min. before and get there just before and fill in as they rope off the street so you don't waste all day sitting on a curb - **** MOST IMPORTANT - know what you HAVE to do to be happy about it and get it done and then JUST ENJOY!

I second the Ridemax referral. It was REALLY great when we went last August. We never waited in a long line.

And, although I am a Mousepad loyalist, I do have to reccommend Hydroguy's Tips Compilation over at Disboards. I really found it helpful when planning for our August trip:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1520483

The best time in the park is right at opening or early entry if you have it. As hard as it is to get up and get the family moving and there in time, do it. That is a must. During the morning get fastpasses. The window should not be far off so you can pick up several fastpasses in the morning, but don't use them. Ignore the end time on the fastpass, they can be used all day even past the expiration time. So, just collect them in the morning and stand in lines while they are short. In the afternoon when it gets crowded, use your fastpassess.

Also, the afternoons are the busiest, so in the afternoon head over to DCA where it will be a lot less crowded. I also tend to take the family back to the hotel in the afternoon where we relax, recharge and even take naps. That gives us the energy to stay at the park until closing. Later in the evening the crowds tend to thin out -- after the fireworks a lot of people leave.

I haven't looked a the hours so I'm not sure when it closes, but when the park closes at midnight, you might not get out of there and back to your room until one, and then you need to get up and there for opening the next morning. That is why I do the nap in the afternoon. For us, I tend to stay until closing with my oldest and my wife goes back to the room with the younger. She just isn't as die hard as I am. That works well for us.

I agree on Ridemax. You might check out the Unofficial Guide as well. But, our first trip we did both, and this last trip we only bought a current version of Unofficial guide. Dd said several times that we should have ridemaxed it instead.

We printed up multiple itineraries, sowe had lots of options, and really liked having a plan of action (but not being militant about it. If we changed our mind, we changed our mind.) We did more waiting in line off season with no rdemax than during summer with it.

If you can get there at opening, or close to, you can get a lot of rides and fastpasses then, and take the afternoon more leisurely.

Hi, you mention the oldest but what is range? That may decide how many adult rides you can get to and not have some unhappy campers. If you got a young-un, one morning will be fantasyland. Get there at opening and decide ahead of time what you're going to do with that first hour. Other then what others have already said, I'd save Nemo for your last night as late as you can stay. Nemo lines seem shortest (but still might be an hour) at the end of day. Don't want to waste that good morning time on Nemo. Folks race to it and the line fills fast.

Thank you all for the these great suggestions! They are very helpful! I like the idea of the fast pass that can be used anytime of the day! We plan on having fun and doing as much as we can on the busy weekend! Thanks!