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Thread: Disneyland with a first timer, I'm excited and scared!

  1. #1

    Disneyland with a first timer, I'm excited and scared!

    Headed to DL in 11 days with my two daughters (16 & 9) and my MIL who is 50-something. It will be her very first time going to any theme park. While I am super happy she's coming with us and I am excited to share the Disney Magic with her, I am also quite apprehensive.
    I've been to DL several times and know how I like to 'do' the Park. I am an over-planner to a fault and like to keep a nice pace. However, this will be my first time going in summer (always gone in spring in the past) and also my first time visiting Carsland. I keep reading all these posts about how to ride and/or get a FP for RSR and how long the wait is, and I'm also going on the final three Grad Nites so I'm anticipating hoards of teenagers. So the closer trip time comes, the more nervous and anxious I feel!!
    MIL is a self-admitted slowpoke and a smoker. So I know trying to accommodate her pace and stop when she needs to smoke is going to drive me bonkers. ANY advice or comforting words of wisdom to help with summer/riding RSR/Grad Nite/slow-ole-lady would be so very appreciated!!! I just need to feel like I can DO this and wear that happy, silly Disney grin that I usually have on LOL.

    Kimbo


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  3. #2
    Happiness is that smile MammaSilva's Avatar
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    Being thankful for the gift of time.

    Ok I'm going to address the smoker issue first since I am a former smoker (and nothings worse than a reformed anything!) In Disneyland there are three smoking areas. One is near Matterhorn, under the monorail beam. In the old days I'd plan to send the crew on the Matterhorn while taking a smoke break there. Then second area is on Thunder Mountain Trail...the downside to this one is that Big Thunder is down, but the Billys will be in the BBQ area so you could go there to watch the show while she smokes then she could join you. The third is over near Haunted Mansion and once again she can smoke while you are in line for HM or possibly Splash. I can't offer the same level of intel over at DCA because I stopped smoking right as that park became a reality.

    Life is too short to wake up with regrets ~So love the people who treat you right
    Forget about those who don't ~ Believe everything happens for a reason.
    If you get a chance, take it If it changes your life, let it ~Nobody said life would be easy,
    they just promised it would most likely be worth it~ remember, Sometimes Miracles Hide

  4. #3

    Thanks for the info on smoking areas! My fear on that issue I think is that it will go something like 'do a ride, walk to smoke area, do a show, walk to smoke area'. I don't mind waiting (a ways away) while she smokes, just hoping we don't have to run back and forth, uggh! I'll check out the map for the smoking areas in DCA, as I have no idea where those are!

    I thought of an actual valid question! So, if we go to DCA on the first day of our four-day hoppers, it will be a Tuesday (non-Grad Nite, non-EE for DCA). Would it be feasible to go straight to RSR very first upon park opening (bypassing the FP line), ride it, and make it over to get a WOC FP before they're gone? Would I still get a decent section? And also, do you get to choose which showing of WOC you see if there is two in a night?


  5. #4

    1) you will have no problem getting woc after rsr.

    2) I know if one smoking section at Dca: across from soarin.


  6. #5

    Didn't the old Maliboomer area in DCA become a smoking section?


  7. #6
    At home in the hills candles71's Avatar
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    Feb 2008
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    foresthill Ca

    Yes Tea, the old Maliboomer is smoking section now. I had for gotten that one Shannon, I was trying to picture them. (Former smoker with asthma, I can usually smell em.)
    Also, behind the Chase Visa Meet and Greet/Mad Tea Party stuff to the right of Monster's Inc. On the path that heads behind GRR from the bathroom side, I noticed several people smoking. I believe near where they put Red out I saw a smoking area between Carsland and Bug'sland as well. (Path goes between Luigi's and Cozycone and ends between Tuck and Roll and Heimlich)


  8. #7

    I (also an asthmatic) unfortunately found myself in the one across from Soarin while waiting for DH and the oldest to be done riding (pre "everyone's tall enough"). The funny part is I have done this on more than one trip and always forget what I'm wandering in to.


  9. #8

    We once went with a smoker. We'd drop them off at whatever the nearest smoking spot was and go stand in line for the next ride we were going on. They'd catch up to us in line. Otherwise we'd swing by and pick them up from where they were smoking after we finished the ride. A good time saver. Have fun!


  10. #9
    Registered User
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    Regarding WOC Fastpasses-- you'll be fine getting it after riding RSR. I've gone immediately to RSR at rope drop many times and waited between 30 and 45 minutes--which is MUCH shorter than you'll see the lines all day. FP for the 1st WOC show will probably be available until at least noon, if not later. Once they are gone, they start giving out passes to the later show. So, you can't "choose" per se, but if you went sometime in the afternoon, you'd probably get passes for the second show. I've also heard others say they have approached a CM at the machine and asked for a pass to the second show if the machines were still distributing first show passes. Never been to DL with a smoker, so can't help you with that experience, but I have been to DL with others less enthusiastic or knowledgable than me before. My strategy has been to let them know to just follow me in the morning and we'll get on a lot of rides with as short of lines as possible--I tell them we can slow down around lunch time, shop, etc. This ususally wins them over--and they appreciate my guidance. Have fun!!


  11. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Moms View Post
    We once went with a smoker. We'd drop them off at whatever the nearest smoking spot was and go stand in line for the next ride we were going on. They'd catch up to us in line. Otherwise we'd swing by and pick them up from where they were smoking after we finished the ride. A good time saver. Have fun!
    Great advice!! Yes, I see this working for us quite well, since I'm sure the cigarette break will be a nice rest for MIL. Since this is her first trip, I think we will probably have to come get her from wherever we leave her or she'll be lost (we will pack her up with maps-o-plenty)!!

  12. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by snoopyfink View Post
    Regarding WOC Fastpasses-- you'll be fine getting it after riding RSR. I've gone immediately to RSR at rope drop many times and waited between 30 and 45 minutes--which is MUCH shorter than you'll see the lines all day. FP for the 1st WOC show will probably be available until at least noon, if not later. Once they are gone, they start giving out passes to the later show. So, you can't "choose" per se, but if you went sometime in the afternoon, you'd probably get passes for the second show. I've also heard others say they have approached a CM at the machine and asked for a pass to the second show if the machines were still distributing first show passes. Never been to DL with a smoker, so can't help you with that experience, but I have been to DL with others less enthusiastic or knowledgable than me before. My strategy has been to let them know to just follow me in the morning and we'll get on a lot of rides with as short of lines as possible--I tell them we can slow down around lunch time, shop, etc. This ususally wins them over--and they appreciate my guidance. Have fun!!
    Ahhhhhhyeahhhh!! This is just what I needed to hear!! Thank you so much for your info, that settles my fears tremendously!

  13. #12

    I'm an uber planner, too, and it took me several trips with non-Disney-fanatic friends to be able to relax and let the day play out on its own. It really is more enjoyable to take a deep breath and go with the flow than to have people annoyed with each other because the planner wants to keep to an itinerary and the first-timers want to take it all in. It's also great as a Disneyland veteran to be able to see the park through fresh eyes and to feel the excitement that you've long ago forgotten. Not that Disneyland isn't still wonderful the hundredth time, but there's a lot to be said for the sheer wonder and glee of a first visit. You may also find yourself noticing details you've never noticed before, simply because you take more time to enjoy the atmosphere instead of rushing from one thing to the next. I'm not saying it's easy, but slowing down and suppressing the desire to plan every minute certainly has its benefits. :-) I hope you all have a wonderful time!


  14. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by kimbopotamus View Post
    Great advice!! Yes, I see this working for us quite well, since I'm sure the cigarette break will be a nice rest for MIL. Since this is her first trip, I think we will probably have to come get her from wherever we leave her or she'll be lost (we will pack her up with maps-o-plenty)!!
    You could also keep in touch with cellphones. I do this all the time at WDW.
    Just make sure that she describes something that is 10 ft. away, or ask her to stand under a sign. I actually heard a guest on his cellphone tell someone that he was "behind the green flag". Um, sir you just described everyone in Fantasyland.
    ....Top Tip I use for WDW locating...Go inside an air conditioned building/ask CM "where am I?"/Relay that to all knowing Disney guru

    I hope you have a wonderful time!
    GnP

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