I accidentally posted this on the wrong forum, I believe, so I'm putting it here, also.

Hi all! Just found these boards tonight. We have been to WDW twice, totaling 25 nights. We are now going to DLR in January. We'll be traveling to several places in CA and ending the trip with 3 nights at the Candy Cane Inn and going to DL and DCA before we fly home.

From reading a little on these boards, I'm thrilled to see that Turtle Talk is in CA. Had no idea and it's a family favorite.

A few questions - I saw that there is a character breakfast at DL. We usually have breakfast at the Crystal Palace at 8:05am and the MK park opens at 9:00am. I believe that DL has a much earlier opening time, but wasn't sure that would be true on a Monday at the end of January. Will we be able to have reservations an hour before the official opening or will that not matter due to some sort of Early Magic Hour they may have?

If you have eaten at both, will we enjoy that breakfast as much as we love the CP?

My biggest concern is that I know a lot of refurbs will go on during the low times, including when we are there. The favorite rides are Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear. Anyone know is these have been refurbed recently or do you think they might come up in January? It would be devastating if either was down during the trip. The rest we can deal with. Space Mountain is particularly crucial because my 6.5 year old has never ridden the one at WDW, but will ride it at DL because it has the side by side seats. I'm hoping he'll get over the fear of the unknown and be willing to do the MK SM on future Florida trips.

Guess that's all for now. I'll start trying to read all these boards ASAP so I won't have to ask so many questions that I'm sure you've answered a million times before.

FYI - We'll be at DLR, arriving late Sunday, 1/25 and doing DL on Monday, DCA on Tuesday and the favorites on Wed. before hopping a plane home. Prior to that we will have done 2 nights at Yosemite, 2 nights in San Francisco, Monterey, Ventura, 2 whale watches, etc. so we'll be well into vacation mode by the time we arrive on property.

Mary

Hmmm. Wonder why that didn't work for my counters? It's exactly the same as I have on another MB. I'll have to play with it.

Mary

Great questions. Sadly too advanced for me but a "senior" member will be along soon. I can tell you you made a good choice with the Candy Cane!

Enjoy your trips and the good advice that will be coming shortly.

My biggest concern is that I know a lot of refurbs will go on during the low times, including when we are there. The favorite rides are Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear. Anyone know is these have been refurbed recently or do you think they might come up in January? It would be devastating if either was down during the trip. The rest we can deal with. Space Mountain is particularly crucial because my 6.5 year old has never ridden the one at WDW, but will ride it at DL because it has the side by side seats. I'm hoping he'll get over the fear of the unknown and be willing to do the MK SM on future Florida trips.

The best predictor of refurbs this far out is to look at the history of January Refurbs at DLR. If you click on this link (http://www.mouseplanet.com/search.php?type=c&cid=dl) it will take you to the index page of the MousePlanet's Disneyland Park Updates since late 2002. You can click on January updates from previous years and see what rides were closed for refurbs then.


Hmmm. Wonder why that didn't work for my counters? It's exactly the same as I have on another MB. I'll have to play with it.

We have inline images in .sigs disabled, that's why they won't work. If you'd like to have one countdown counter (we limit one per .sig,) you'll find our counter policies and information in this thread from our FAQ forum (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=38080).

Adrienne

A few questions - I saw that there is a character breakfast at DL. We usually have breakfast at the Crystal Palace at 8:05am and the MK park opens at 9:00am. I believe that DL has a much earlier opening time, but wasn't sure that would be true on a Monday at the end of January. Will we be able to have reservations an hour before the official opening or will that not matter due to some sort of Early Magic Hour they may have?Ack, I thought I could answer that question for you, but now I'm not sure I'm right. I *think* Plaza Inn opens 1hr before the park opens. My best advice (unless someone else here knows the answer) is to call Disney Dining and ask them what time Plaza Inn opens on days when the park opens at 10. Looking at past calendars for January, the park usually opens at 10 on non-holiday-weekend Mondays in January.
If you have eaten at both, will we enjoy that breakfast as much as we love the CP? Well, I don't know how much you love the CP, so it's hard to say. MousePlanet reader reviews of this restaurant (click here to read them (http://www.mouseplanet.com/cgi/reviews/do/display.cgi?product-sku=dlrcharplazainnminnieandfriends)) are hit and miss, and have declined in recent months. The breakfast food is pretty standard, and I personally prefer CP's food. I guess you have to decide if you're there for the food or for the character interaction. Unfortunately it seems like both are iffy there.

My biggest concern is that I know a lot of refurbs will go on during the low times, including when we are there. The favorite rides are Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear. Anyone know is these have been refurbed recently or do you think they might come up in January?Expect at least 1-2 "E" ticket rides to be closed for refurbishment while you're there. It looked like we knew the January 2008 refurb schedule back in October, so you'll have a little advance warning.

Happy planning!

Ack, I thought I could answer that question for you, but now I'm not sure I'm right. I *think* Plaza Inn opens 1hr before the park opens. My best advice (unless someone else here knows the answer) is to call Disney Dining and ask them what time Plaza Inn opens on days when the park opens at 10.
But if the park opens at 10 (or rope drop is at 10) I think the turnstiles don't open til 930am. So, the earliest would be 930am. BUT, I have tried for a ressie then, and was told the first one was at 10am. But this was a couple years ago.

But if the park opens at 10 (or rope drop is at 10) I think the turnstiles don't open til 930am. So, the earliest would be 930am. BUT, I have tried for a ressie then, and was told the first one was at 10am. But this was a couple years ago.This is where I got hung up, because I think Magical Mornings may cause PI to open at 9 instead of 9:30. But I'm not sure. (and I probably should know this, so I think I need to call)

AVP

If you want to have bkft done before park opening I'd vote for going to the DLH to Goofy's Kitchen for a 7am seating. You could eat and get back to the gate to see the park opening countdown. They still do this don't they? The rules for breakfast and PI have changed so many times I don't know what they are now. My DD's first job was there. At one time you could go before official opening eat fast and get a jump on everyone coming thru the main gate. Then they changed it around the 50th I think and it opened at park opening. But I'd call Disney Dining 714-781-dine for the latest rules. My favorite breakfast it Riverbelle but they don't have characters.

Hmmm. Wonder why that didn't work for my counters? It's exactly the same as I have on another MB. I'll have to play with it.

Mary

This should help with your counters.
http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=73208

I have never been to WDW so I don't know how the crowds compare, but the best times from a crowd perspective is the first few hours after opening and the last few hours before they close. Because of this I like to open the park and close the park. I use the late afternoon, which is the busiest time in the park, to take a nap and to have our main meal of the day. Without the nap we couldn't open and close the park, especially with early entry.

All this is to explain that I would skip the character breakfast and would do something special as a late lunch instead -- your mileage may vary.

Thanks to everyone for your replies. The reason we typically do breakfast an hour before park opening is so that we are done eating and ready to hit Fantasyland the minute the rope drops, while everyone else is still herding through the turnstiles at the front of the park. We are just as happy eating bowls of cereal in the room if we can't time the breakfast so that we are done and ready to go before park opening. I'm amazed at how different the two parks are, just from what I've read so far.

I think the thing I'm excited about the most is that we can go back and forth between DCA and DL as the boys want, without having to hop a bus, monorail, etc.

My almost 9 year old is excited about the roller coaster at DCA.

I thought of a couple of questions last night, but I've slept since then and now I don't remember what they were. Hopefully I'll remember them later.

Thanks again.

Mary

Your son may not appreciate the princesses but Ariel's Grotto does have a CB before they drop the rope. So if you scheduled it early enough you could be done for breakfast and super close to CA Screamin before rope drop. Your son could watch the rollar coaster and pier area even if he ignored the princesses.

But... back to strategies for dealing with the crowds. DCA doesn't get as crowded as DL so I would want to hit DL at rope drop and stay until it starts getting crowded and then head over to DCA. Plus DCA opens later than DL.

Actually, my boys have a thing for Princesses. Snow White and Belle have both kissed my 8 yr. old ds by whispering that they have a secret and then kissing him on the cheek. First was 2005. He was terribly embarrassed. When it happened in 2007, I think he was happy about it.

DS6 likes Belle. She's his favorite Princess. The only reason we don't do the castle breakfast at WDW is because the food is really bad, especially compared to Crystal Palace, where you get to choose you eat and how much. Cindy's breakfast at the castle is plated and just wasn't my boys cup of tea.

I'm planning on touring just as I would at WDW. Changing Tour Guide Mike's recommendations for WDW to work to DL. We are all about being at the park before it opens. Like to get through security and be ready to go.

Thanks again.
Mary

I don't think you're going to have to worry too much about getting to FL before rope drop like you would at WDW. Your passes should have an early entry so that will help. If you use that then you'll be able to get all of FL done before the park even opens.

I hope they don't close either Buzz or SM while you are there. Those two rides are so much better at DL than at WDW. We went to WDW last Feb. All of us love Buzz but we went on it once at WDW and had no desire to go back. The guns at WDW are so difficult to use. The ones at DL are able to be picked up and you shoot with your finger unstead of your thumb. I also only went on SM once at WDW. It was such a rough ride and without the music I just didn't enjoy it. I really hope you can experience them.

We were at DL this past Jan 31- Feb 3rd and the only rides closed were IASW and Jungle Cruise in DL and Monsters Inc at DCA. Hopefully you get it as good.

Enjoy your planning! You will have a completely different experience and hopefully you will enjoy the differences. We certainly did. :D

Thanks. I'm pretty excited about the differences. I even wondered if I might fall in love with DL so much that I'd want to go back in 2010 instead of to WDW. But, we are going to Universal for the Harry Potter Village and staying overnight in the Everglades, so it'll have to be Florida.

I am excited about California though. I've been there 4 times but my DH has never been so it'll be fun.

Mary

I get the sense that people tend to prefer the park they knew first. People who grew up with DL end up thinking it is better than WDW and the other way around. So my guess is that you will be happy to have experienced DL and seen the differences, but will end up thinking WDW is better.

I, also, really really reccomend that you go to Goofy's Kitchen. The food is great there! Can't beat the PBJ pizza! yum.

First of all, WELCOME to MousePlanet! I know you love it here. Ther are so many great Disney folks here. It is the most pleasant Disney site and you will find everyone here is truly helpful and wonderfully kind!

Goofy's kitchen in the Disneyland Hotel complex has a great character breakfast. They start serving at 7:30AM as of the last time we went in January. We always do this breakfast before the Park or the one at Plaza Inn which opens at 8AM for breakfast, at least it did the last time we were there in January. I remember because we were going through one of the shops to get back to the Plaza Inn while all the other Park goers waited for rope Drop. You will get wonderful character interaction at either of these and the food is plentiful (buffet) and good!
For the little girl, Ariel's Grotto is great for lunch! I took my hubby there:fez: because I am a princees fan and he was not so enthusiastic, but was a good sport anyway.:D LOL! That is a good lunch and GREAT Princess interaction for the kids and big kids like me!;) We have some memorable photos of DH with the Princeses! LOL!:fez:
DL is our *home* park. We have been going since the 1960's and just started our love affair with WDW a few years ago. We will be going to DL in April again and then our annual *Big* trip to WDW in May for the Flower and Garden Show. YAY! And of course all the wonderful things at WDW! Can't wait!
I hope you enjoy DL. It is sonderful and of course it is the original Magic Kingdom! Have a great time! Any more questions, just come on back to this thread and most folks here willbe glad to answer them or give you a good link or resource to check! You can always call the Disneyland dining number and they can answer any of your questions.
Welcome again!
DisneyPrincessCat

We just did Minnie's Breakfast last month. The park had a 9:00 Magic Morning and we had a 8:30 preferred setting. Because we didn't have early entry tickets, we had to check in at the main gate( I can't remember what gate #) and were escorted into the park by a CM to the Plaza Inn.

Doesn't the candy cane have a free breakfast? I believe they'll even deliver it to room for an extra fee. When we were looking at booking there I remember being impressed by that feature, but we ended up staying elsewere. I'm super thrifty so I would recommend eating at the hotel and saving yourself a ton, getting there in plenty of time and seeing the princesses at the princess faire and mickey and goofy at the visa meet and greet- tons of info on this in other posts- if you really want to do a character meal do ariels grooto in ca on the 2nd day in the busier afternoon times or one of the hotel character meals on the evening you arrive or the morning you leave to not cut into park time- no ticket needed to go into a hotel!