Do you think you can do it all in a day at DL?

[Disney Village]

Can it be done?

Reading in this weeks park update where it says for the first time in many years DL has all its attractions open with nothing closed for rehab or repair got me thinking

Do you think you could go to Disneyland and experience every single attraction at the park in one day?? I mean everything! Every show, parade, fireworks, famtasmic, and all ridesbasically anything that is not a restaurant or shop (only have to see/experience ride/show once in the day).

I would imagine it would take some careful pre-planning, creative use of FP, good shoes, a running mate and an open to close commando mentality.

How would you do it if you could or wanted to?

[blueckles]

I really think I can help answer that firsthand (and later Nursemelis can add to it). For my birthday this year (almost 2 weeks ago), my friends and I decided to do it. The rides that is. We got there a little after 9 in the morning and didnt leave until close to midnight. We went on every single ride there (minus Space Mtn of course). We stopped only for lunch and the occasional bathroom break. And we did use the fast pass system to its fullest advantage. I think that's what allowed us to do it all. We weren't able to watch any parades, fireworks, or Fantasmic. I honestly don't think you can do it all in one day and include every show and parade. Unless maybe there were no people in the park. We did 30 rides in about 15 hours, which is good for a summer day at Disneyland and we even took a lunch break. If you try to do it, take my advice and bring a change of clothes, drink plenty of water, and wear comfortable shoes. My friends and I all wore flip flops throughout most of the day and we were fine. But it was sure comfortable when we changed and put our shoes on later in the evening. One more thing. If you decide to try it, do fantasyland first. And take advantage of the fast passes. They will save your sanity. Good luck!

[Disney Vault]

I really think I can help answer that firsthand (and later Nursemelis can add to it). For my birthday this year (almost 2 weeks ago), my friends and I decided to do it. The rides that is. We got there a little after 9 in the morning and didnt leave until close to midnight. We went on every single ride there (minus Space Mtn of course). We stopped only for lunch and the occasional bathroom break. And we did use the fast pass system to its fullest advantage. I think that's what allowed us to do it all. We weren't able to watch any parades, fireworks, or Fantasmic. I honestly don't think you can do it all in one day and include every show and parade. Unless maybe there were no people in the park. We did 30 rides in about 15 hours, which is good for a summer day at Disneyland and we even took a lunch break. If you try to do it, take my advice and bring a change of clothes, drink plenty of water, and wear comfortable shoes. My friends and I all wore flip flops throughout most of the day and we were fine. But it was sure comfortable when we changed and put our shoes on later in the evening. One more thing. If you decide to try it, do fantasyland first. And take advantage of the fast passes. They will save your sanity. Good luck!

Impressive. I wouldn't have guessed you could do all of DL in a day. The MK in WDW I could see but DL has so much.

[SoCalSteven]

Nice job blueckles!

I would have also figured you could ride all the rides, but there is no way you could see all the shows too.

[akwalker]

My DH and I were out in CA for DL on June 8th and surprisingly...the only thing we didn't ride was Space Mountain! We rode every ride and all of the shows except the Aladdin storybook hour (we kept getting there too late). It was an extremely exhausting day...but fun every second of the day! We forgot to eat dinner though. Saw the parade and the fireworks, but we got annoyed at the parade (and the people putting their kids on shoulders) that we cut it short! We even rode the train :-) But the crowds weren't very bad, so we had that in our favor. We probably would have been able to rest more if I would have realized a few things about lines in fantasyland in the afternoons lol.

[AlbertaMinnie]

Done it - and with 2 kids in tow! But that was a year ago in March and just before spring break when the new Snow White Show had just opened. Also, Indy, Dumbo and Space were all closed. The only thing we missed was the Sailing Ship Columbia but we did ride Mark Twain and did the Disney Gallery. There were no fireworks either, but the park did close by 9 or 10. Luckily there were no kids on shoulders etc (not even mine!) However, I do not expect to be able complete this feat again when we go next week. Attendance levels are a big factor if you want to attempt the Park in a Day! If you are going to try though - Have fun with it!

[CoasterChickie]

Great job Blueckles and Nursemelis!!


I concur with the others who say that it depends on the time of year you go and that you should definitely start with the rides in Fantasyland and use the fast passes on any ride that offers it unless the standby line for the ride is really short.


I think we went on the most rides in the least amount of time when we went last October and were there from opening to closing.

[HydroGuy]

OK, some of you may have heard of RideMax (www.ridemax.com). I bought it for our trip in early August. I decided to try to make an itinerary that would get you on all the attractions in a day, and also the POD Parade, Fantasmic, and Fireworks. It is assumed that you get to the gate at least 30 minutes early so you can be in the park at opening. Here are the results:


Wed. Aug 3

This is a non-EE day, so the FL lines are shorter in the morning. Ridemax could fit in all the rides, but not the POD, Fantasmic and Fireworks on the same day.

So, forgetting the shows and concentrating on rides, RideMax created an itinerary for all rides with the following caveats:
- 40 Minutes on Tom Sawyer Island (you could easily make this shorter)
- 40 Minutes on Innoventions
- You do everything in Toontown, including Mickey's & Minnie's houses
- Monorail and DLRR are not included in RideMax, so these were not in the itinerary. However, there was a one-and-a-half hour gap in the afternoon that could be used to get on Monorail and DLRR.


Thurs. Aug 4

This is an EE day, and I assumed that you use EE that day and get on the following rides during EE:

Buzz
Dumbo
Mad Tea Party
Matterhorn
Peter Pan

I scheduled a "break" from 3:10-3:40 to watch the first parade which starts at 3:15. You will not have good seats, but you should be able to see it.

I scheduled another "break" from 8:55PM-9:40PM. This will allow you to see the 9PM Fantasmic and then watch the 9:25 fireworks from NOS.

RideMax created an itinerary for all rides with the following caveats:
- 40 Minutes on Tom Sawyer Island (you could easily make this shorter)
- 40 Minutes on Innoventions
- You do everything in Toontown, including Mickey's & Minnie's houses
- Monorail and DLRR are not included in RideMax, so these were not in the itinerary. However, there was one hour and 17 minutes of unused "free time" in the afternoon where you could get on one of these and maybe both. Or you could cut down on Tom Sawyer or Innoventions to get on them.

So. If you are using EE on Aug. 4, you can do all of DL and see POD, Fantasmic and the Fireworks. If you go Aug. 3, you can do all the rides but not the shows.

[experiment626]

Back in the early 80's we did go to Disneyland and "do everything" or at least "everything" we wanted in one day. This was usually all the rides and most the shows. It was usually a Saturday in Mid-May.

[phoenixfire2k5]

Can it be done?

Reading in this weeks park update where it says for the first time in many years DL has all its attractions open with nothing closed for rehab or repair got me thinking

Do you think you could go to Disneyland and experience every single attraction at the park in one day?? I mean everything! Every show, parade, fireworks, famtasmic, and all ridesbasically anything that is not a restaurant or shop (only have to see/experience ride/show once in the day).

I would imagine it would take some careful pre-planning, creative use of FP, good shoes, a running mate and an open to close commando mentality.

How would you do it if you could or wanted to?

To do it with fireworks, fantasmic, AND parades? Hmm, pretty difficult especially if its kinda crowded. One can see fantasmic and the fireworks in one shot. Just see the first showing and stay there till after the fireworks are done. Unfortunately, if you do that with the current fireworks, you're missing out on a lot. You'll have to be there when it opens, but instead of hitting the mountain range first, you NEED to hit the rides that don't have fastpass, needless to say. Such as the matterhorn, mansion, pirates and jungle cruise. Fastpass either Space or Splash EARLY though, and fastpass all the other rides throughout the day. And while you're waiting to be able to use each of those, go on the fantasyland rides, see a parade, go on HISTA, and do the treehouse. If you get most or all of the fastpass rides done before nightfall, then hit any others you haven't done either before or after the fireworks. If you just want to see them for the sake of doing everything and not worried about getting the best spot, then pick a standing area in the plaza hub preferably near the area you want to hit next and then escape the exiting crowds afterwards. Remember - hit the non fastpass rides as early as possible. (Everyone is going on the mountain range first.) But also get your fastpasses as early as possible. Just save them for the rest of the day. All fastpasses can be used AFTER the last time stated on your pass. Bring water, your smile, and have fun.

[LLevy]

[QUOTE=HydroGuy]OK, some of you may have heard of RideMax (www.ridemax.com). I bought it for our trip in early August. I decided to try to make an itinerary that would get you on all the attractions in a day, and also the POD Parade, Fantasmic, and Fireworks. It is assumed that you get to the gate at least 30 minutes early so you can be in the park at opening. Here are the results:

OOh- OOHHH! those are the days we are going to be there-( 2-4 Aug) and we have an Apple- so no ride max ;-(

if you still have the schedule- can you share?? does it allow you to include already made reservations? ( lunch at noon on the 2nd, lunch at 1:20 on the 4th, fantasmic seating at 9 on the 4th)

we only have 3 days- can we do it ALL??? shows and parades included?

Thanks

L

[DisneylandRocks29]

I'm sure it can be done. On our vacation last year, we did an 8 am - 12 am while we were there for two days, but we didn't get to all of the rides. But we went in the middle of July, so there were a lot of people there. With strategic planning, it's very much possible.

[Black Pearl]

I've done it! It takes alot of discipline, courage, and Dr. Scholls, but it can be done. I don't know about this year, but I did it in October of 2002. Just remember: Hydrate! Hydrate! Hydrate!

[HydroGuy]

OOh- OOHHH! those are the days we are going to be there-( 2-4 Aug) and we have an Apple- so no ride max ;-(

if you still have the schedule- can you share?? does it allow you to include already made reservations? ( lunch at noon on the 2nd, lunch at 1:20 on the 4th, fantasmic seating at 9 on the 4th)

we only have 3 days- can we do it ALL??? shows and parades included?

If you are willing to only do each ride once, I think you can do every ride in DL and DCA, as well as all the parades and shows, in those three days. I recently used RideMax to create an itinerary for DCA on Aug 2 (the day we are planning to spend at DCA) and you could get on all of the DCA rides that day (it was a test - we are not planning to actually do that!).

As much as I would like to be helpful and share the itineraries, and I understand your situation with your Apple PC (serves you right! ), I feel it would be better if you contacted RideMax and asked them about your dilemma. They might have a suggestion.

RideMax allows you to schedule two "breaks". I used those to simulate parades and shows since RideMax cannot (yet) handle parades or shows in their optimized itinerary planning. You could instead use the breaks for food breaks or any other kind of break.

FYI, I have some other RideMax comments on another forum in post #7 of http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=847633

We will be there Aug 1-4. Originally we were going to do three days, but with all of the shows and the kids desire (OK, my desire too) to repeat the big rides, we opted for a fourth day. See you in line!

[coronado_g]

Is this a joke thread? All of DL in One day? No way! Some say it's possible but are they stopping to savor all the little quiet spots like the Snow White Wishing Well? The jets of water over where the House of the Future used to be? The Disney Gallery upstairs from the POTC entrance? So much is overlooked during the mad dash thru DL to see all the big stuff. It isn't just the big stuff that make up the magic of DL - it's everything. Give me the whole enchilada, folks, over a course of maybe 4 days it can be done.

[Disneyscapes]

Wow, I would have thought that that was almost impossible. Now, try it midweek, with an advance opening ticket, off season...better odds.

[TimBuk2]

Might check out RideMax and use their system. It can be done, but it has to be a full schedule day (8a-12a). And FastPass will help. I've done 14 hour days at Disneyland, but I was much younger. I only lasted 90 minutes today, it was hot there.