OK, I am going to spend 2 days at the DLR in April. My boyfriend has never been, so needless to say, we need to make the most out of each day. We will go to DL the first day and DCA the second (and DL in the afternoon). Here is my question:
We are planning on getting there RIGHT when the parks open....what should we do first? Run to a ride? Get a fast pass? My priority is Indiana Jones, but should we grab Fast Passes first? What should I do first at DCA?
Any help would be appreciated!!
Just breath, relax and enjoy. You have two full days.
i second ridemax. depending on what you're planning on doing, 2 days really isn't a lot of time for both parks, particularly in april, and more so if you want to work fantasmic, fireworks, shows, parades in.
buy a 3 month subscription for $11.95 (they have a 30 day money back guarantee).
also buy a copy of the unofficial guide to disneyland and read up.
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It's always a good plan to get your fast passes early.
For example...grab a fast pass to Indy....and get in line (in wont be too crowded early). Save your fast pass for later. Get off and stroll over to Pirates (grab a fast pass for the Mansion before you get in line to Pirates).....and so on...its easy to do what you want if you utilise the system
and have fun!
~ Victoria ~
I like TOTFan's advice. You have two full days. Enjoy. Be in the moment. You're at Disneyland!
Insert passive aggressive sentence of your choice here.
I'm more of the 'cram everything I can into a day' type. Tell me what days you are going and I can give you a game plan based on what it open and the days of the week.
Originally Posted by Mukta
I will be at the park Thursday April 14th- Friday April 15th.
Thanks for the advice!!
buy a 3 day hopper bonus at the kids price just for the sake of getting early entry on thursday.
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Ok,
When you arrive at the park, head to Indiana Jones. Get a fastpass and head to Splash. Do Splash, Pooh ride (if you are interested), Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean. By then it should be time for your fastpass for IJ. Then do the Tiki Room. (Jungle Cruise is closed). Have Lunch. (Maybe at the Mexican place or the River Belle Terrace) Ride the Mark Twain (to give your stomach a rest) Ride Big Thunder. Head to Toontown. Do Roger Rabbit, Mickey and Minnie's house (for the photo ops). Do IASW and anything small in Fantasyland that you want to see (some things are closed). Ride the Matterhorn. Head to Tomorrowland. See Honey I shrunk the Audience and Star Tours. Have a nice dinner. You should still have time left over. Take a second turn on anything you really enjoyed, take some pictures and maybe hang out in Downtown Disney. DL closes at 8 pm.
DCA
Arrive at opening and ride Soarin'. Get a fastpass if you liked it and would want to see it again. Head to Hollywood. Ride Tower of Terror. See the Muppets show. Go to the animation building. You might want to spend a little bit of time there. See One Man's Dream, see the Sidekick show and visit the Beast's Library to see which character you are the most like.
See it's a Bug's Life. Skip the rest of the Bug's Land. Walk by Napa and see the grapes on the vine. Go to the Sourdough tour and the Mission tortilla tour. They won't take more than 5 minutes each and you get a free sample!
Have lunch. See the movie Golden Dreams to give your stomach a rest. If you need more time, see the movie on wine making. Head to Paradise Pier. Ride the roller coaster, the ferris wheel, and anything else that looks like fun. Walk through the Redwood Creek trail to relax. Ride the Grizzly River if you want to get wet. See the Aladdin show whenever it is playing. Have dinner and stay for the Electric Parade.
After that head back to DL. See anything you want to. At 9:23 the first Fantasmic show will be over. Head there immediately with a snack and get seats right up front. The show is at 10:30 but it is worth the hour wait to get good seats. DL closes at midnight.
Thursday should have very light crowds and I don't think you will have any trouble finishing everything on this list and anything else that captures your attention.
Have fun and we want a trip report when you get back.
^^^^ Proud to be on Mukta's team!
Wow!
WOW!! Thanks!!
I am going to second the "relax" advice. First, Thursday and Friday in mid-april should be fairly moderate as far as crowds as it is late enough after Easter that there will not be much Spring Break Activity. Second, you are with your boyfriend, so the discovery of this experience (for him) together will be more important than "doing it all" (IMHO). Having said that, pre-planing (with the Unofficial Guide and/or ridemax) cannot hurt. The latter (ridemax) allows you to choose fast or slow pace touring, so you might chose the latter and be willing to depart from the plan if the mood suggests some spontaneity (sp.?). Besure to do something really slow paced the end of your second day (a romantic dinner, for example, or if that's seems like too much time lost, a romantic after fireworks dessert). The first trip I made to WDW with my wife is still the best in my memory (though we are hoping our first trip to DL with out two sons will be equally memorable). Have a great time.
The worst lines for rides include (But not limited to) Splash Mtn and Peter Pan. Fantasyland rides are never great so if you want to do a lot of those rides you can get most of them in if you ride in the first hour the park opens. Fastpass is great but you can also use it later when the lines are longer. You might also want to think about Buzz since it will be in soft opening mode and the lines could be quite long.
Buzz will be officially opened by then, won't it? It opens March 17th. I would definitely factor that one in early - the lines will be long.
The Haunted Mansion doesnt have fastpass. The only time they do is during holiday, it doesnt even need it during regular mansion anyways. The line rarely goes past the 30 min mark.
Relax again. The way we do it is try to knock out some of the big rides early, but we don't go with a specific plan.
Our usually formula for DL is...
Arrive at opening
Ride Indians Jones
Ride Pirates
Ride Mansion
Ride Splash
Ride Big Thunder
Ride Matterhorn
Now we are into the busy afternoon and we usually head out of the park for a break and some food. Then we return and watch the fireworks and hit any of the Fantasyland rides we want to do. the jungle cruise and anything else we want to ride.
DCA is easy
hit Soarin
hit TOT
check out animation building
hit Screamin
hit Grizzley River Run
head back to DL and ride whatever you didn't get to the first day. or repeat rides you really liked. Go hit rides during the fireworks this time.
I'd hit DL at the rope drop both days: one to go to the left to Indy, Splash, POTC, HM, BTMRR; and the other to hit Fantasyland rides before they get too busy, if that's your thing.
Those days shouldn't be too busy. Friday evening will be the worst time.
Answers to FAQ: 1. Take a limo. 2. All holidays with schools off are busy days. 3. Fly into John Wayne if possible. 4. HMH: yes; HMH event: no (so far). 5. CM Matt gets 7/15! 6. Check weather.com. 7. Only if you're rich and Japanese. 8. Search for AP discount info on this site. 9. N/A 10. I dubbed him that, because he actually is one, versus his predecessors. 11. Alice, teacups, parades, and possibly Fantasmic! 12. $30 13. You shouldn't buy tickets for days that you are unconscious. 14. scottware.
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