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View Full Version : Ride Early, Ride Often



EandCDad
03-30-2002, 03:44 PM
There seem to be a lot of out of towners and others asking for tips on their first trip to Disneyland and DCA, so I'm sure this advice has come up before. But just to give it another push:

If you want to maximize the number of rides you go on-GET TO THE PARK BEFORE IT OPENS. You should plan your day to enter the park about 30 minutes prior to the scheduled opening time. This means standing in the entrance line at that time. If you have to buy your tickets, budget another 30 minutes. Main Street will be open with the rest of the park roped off at the end of Main Street. Then when they drop the rope at the scheduled opening time, you can proceed to your favorite rides.

An example of this, our family entered Disneyland at 8:30 for a 9:00 park opening. We looked in some stores and my wife had a cup of coffee. There were quite a few characters out including Tiger, Pooh, Eyeore, Piglet and Mary Poppins. Then when they dropped the rope at 9:00, we rode the following rides:

Peter Pan
Mr. Toad
Casey Jr.
Storybook Boats
Tea Cups
Alice in Wonderland
Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road
Pirates of the Carribean
Haunted Mansion
Mark Twain

At this point it was little after 11. We could have easily added Snow White and Pinnochio if they had been open. If we had arrived at 10:00, we would have not gotten on more than 3 or 4 rides in the same 2 to 2.5 hour period. Within a half hour of opening, the Peter Pan line increases from less than 5 minutes to 30 minutes or more. Dumbo is the same way.

If someone asked me for one piece of advice about Disneyland, that would be it. Get there early and go on rides. Save the shopping and character greetings till later. Obviously our riding program is geared towards our kids, but it will work, especially if you hit all the rides in one land at one time rather than going back and forth all over the park.

Also, weekdays are better than weekends. Pull your kids out of school, they will be fine.

tjrj
03-31-2002, 08:20 AM
I just wanted to 2nd EandC Dad's opinion. Arriving before opening is the single best way these days(since the discontinuation of Early Entry) to ride as many rides as you can. And, yes, take the kids out of school. We always ask the teachers for "make up" work to do on the road-so the kids won't be overwhelmed when they get back in school. And, yes, some teachers still frown on missing school-but I have had several agree with me that traveling can be a unique learning experience all it's own.

socabch
03-31-2002, 08:38 AM
Pull your kids out of school, they will be fine.

We used yo do this once in a while when the kids were in Elementry. Take advantage of doing this in the early years. Now that my kids are in Jr & Sr high school. It makes it harder to do this because they get graded on participation in some of the classes. My older one get upset if she is sick because she knows her grade will suffer in three of her classes. They can only make up the written work but not the participation. Example would be Public Speaking, Languages, PE, etc.

Back to the main subject, I agree, go early and ride your favorites in the beginning. Then the rest of day you can take your time, see a show, while everyone else is trying to get on the popular rides.

MonorailMan
03-31-2002, 09:18 AM
Pull your kids out of school, they will be fine.

Yet another reason why I like Charter school, with some classes in school, and some home classes, Tue. and Thur. are free to go to DL! :)

Matterhorn Fan
03-31-2002, 09:49 AM
I agree that getting there early (at opening or before) is a must. However, it seems that they do not always open Main Street a half hour before opening. (We arrived half an hour early on a Saturday in January and they didn't open Main Street early--there'll be a trip report about that day someday :rolleyes:.) My hunch is that this is a peak-season thing, but I'm not sure. Does anyone know (CMs?)?

Also helpful for out-of-towners (another repeat, but hey, if it helps someone): You'll want to use FastPass for Autopia, Space Mountain, Roger Rabbit, Indiana Jones, and (when it's finally back up) Splash Mountain.

Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and Big Thunder Mountain also have FP. (I hope I didn't miss anything.)

During the holidays, you'll probably want to use FP for Small World (there's music outside the ride as well as inside) and Haunted Mansion.

MouseWife
03-31-2002, 09:56 AM
I have always pulled my kids out of school. Bad, bad Mom.

But, I also ask for the work to make up. It is easier in grade school as I can work it out with the teacher as opposed to 6 teachers.

My goal is for when my now 2nd grader enters middle school is to homeschool him and travel. We can mail in the work.

We never go to Disneyland on the weekends. Haven't for years. It is hard with my husbands job as he can hardly get away but I insist.

I do Fantasyland first, too.

EandCDad
03-31-2002, 11:34 AM
Originally posted by Matterhorn Fan
I agree that getting there early (at opening or before) is a must. However, it seems that they do not always open Main Street a half hour before opening. (We arrived half an hour early on a Saturday in January and they didn't open Main Street early--there'll be a trip report about that day someday :rolleyes:.) My hunch is that this is a peak-season thing, but I'm not sure. Does anyone know (CMs?)?



I never go in "peak-season" and they have always opened the front gates at least a half hour early every time I have gone. Must have been a fluke when you went (although it could be that they were filming on mainstreet or doing some maintenance or something). I agree though, with Disney, almost nothing is an always, but even if you are in front of the line at the front gates at opening, you are better off than arriving at opening and still having to buy your ticket and then get in line.

lotsafuzz
03-31-2002, 12:18 PM
Thanks for the tip! I fully expect to have to be dragged kicking and screaming from the park at the end of the day. Anyone remember that old commercial with the women, face smushed to the glass, saying, "Open...Open...Open"? Well, that *will* be me!

As I teacher (3rd grade) I have to offer my offical "ACK!" about pulling kids out of school, but personally I agree that traveling CAN be an educational experience. The funny thing is, I don't worry about the kids who have parents who WANT to be with their kids on a trip.....it's the 'other' parents who just want their kids in school to be out of their hair that I worry about.

Matterhorn Fan
03-31-2002, 12:30 PM
Originally posted by EandCDad
I never go in "peak-season" and they have always opened the front gates at least a half hour early every time I have gone. Must have been a fluke when you went (although it could be that they were filming on mainstreet or doing some maintenance or something). I agree though, with Disney, almost nothing is an always, but even if you are in front of the line at the front gates at opening, you are better off than arriving at opening and still having to buy your ticket and then get in line. Yes, you're probably right. It was most likely a fluke of some sort. (The week before they opened a Main Street a half hour early.) Even if it doesn't open, you can always head over to the La Brea bakery, have coffee (or whatever your morning beverage of choice is), and soak up the Disney atmosphere.

Hey everyone, listen to EandCDad. He knows what he's talking about. (I'm going to regret saying that, aren't I?)

snappy
03-31-2002, 06:59 PM
Being a 2nd grade teacher and Disneyland kid myself I don't see any harm in pulling out your kids. Only problem I find is the kids who really need to be in school. (Low grades, test, no homework, poor effort) Then I have a real problem with giving make up work. I figure the kids have to earn it to enjoy it.

Uncle Dick
03-31-2002, 10:47 PM
Originally posted by Matterhorn Fan
I agree that getting there early (at opening or before) is a must. However, it seems that they do not always open Main Street a half hour before opening. (We arrived half an hour early on a Saturday in January and they didn't open Main Street early--there'll be a trip report about that day someday :rolleyes:.) My hunch is that this is a peak-season thing, but I'm not sure. Does anyone know (CMs?)?
I'm not sure either, but I think it might have had something to do with Magic Mornings. Maybe. I do know what you're talking about and have had it happen to me a few times, presumably during Magic Mornings, but then again, on one day during Magic Mornings, they let everyone into Main Street and then let the MM people enter the park through Coke Corner. So that's a possibility, I suppose.

RideMax Mark
04-01-2002, 04:33 AM
I've about come to the conclusion that you can't really predict whether they'll open the gates a half-hour early or not. I was there a week ago Saturday (3-23) on a VERY busy day, and they waited until 8:00 to let anyone through the turnstyles.

I also agree with EandCDad that doing FL first is a great idea.

Mark

www.ridemax.com (http://www.ridemax.com)