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PixieDustMommy
03-12-2007, 02:05 PM
Does this look reasonable? This will be my 13th DL trip, but the first w/kids, so I'm not sure if I'm expecting to much... Our group consists of: My Husband, Me, our 4yo & 5 month old, my brother & sister-in-law and their kids 9,7,5 & 3. That's 4 adults and 6 kids all under 10! Yikes! We'll be in DL for just 1 day: March 19. I just pruchased the RideMax software thing and this is the plan it came up with for the rides we selected:

[copyrighted text deleted]

After HM, we will claim a spot for the parade @ 7pm. We figured we would eat lunch @ 1:30 during "Free Time", and eat dinner while we wait for the parade. Sound kinda weird scheduled down to the minute, huh? Anyone have any input??

just beatla33
03-12-2007, 02:13 PM
plans are good, but might want to run it by the DL gods

tigga please
03-12-2007, 02:18 PM
for some reason that queue time between PP and MTP looks fishy to me

mousemom
03-12-2007, 03:26 PM
Surprising! I would have thought they would put Peter Pan very first. That line gets long pretty fast.

Mark Mywords
03-12-2007, 04:11 PM
I'm a fan of ridemax, but I'm gonna have to differ.

Peter Pan first, Dumbo second. That should result in queue times under 10 minutes for both attractions.

hlbtimes2
03-12-2007, 08:46 PM
I agree, I would move Peter pan to the first ride, then dumbo. I think you'll get in a few more rides then you have scheduled. There are some pretty big gaps in there- like 45 minutes between tea party and small world. You should be able to ride some other fantasyland rides in that time. You'll probably want to use the child change pass to ride Indy, since you have some small children in the group, so it might take a little longer then the time allowed. But, part of the group could maybe do the tree house with the kids while the others are on Indy. You might want to plan to split up a little bit so that some of the adults and bigger kids can ride space and big thunder as well.

itig
03-12-2007, 08:47 PM
OK, is this how everyone here plans their trips? Don't get me wrong, I like to plan out my days, but I have never done it at this level. I'm getting stressed just looking at the intinerary...looks like my Outlook calendar at work :p

Sheesh...here I thought I was a real DL fan, but I am such an amateur...

Oh, and I agree, Peter Pan first, then Dumbo :)

bassett1976
03-12-2007, 09:04 PM
Peter Pan First!!! You could do Peter and then Dumbo and still have plenty of time to jump on any other Fantasyland Ride you want. My wife and I have done Peter, Casey, Alice, Toad and Pinocchio in an hour. Peter will be a 20 minute wait within 5 minutes of opening and only get longer. The rest of the attractions will absorb the initial rush and then be very small lines for at least the first hour. Make the most of it.

ThemeParkAddictOfOC
03-13-2007, 07:17 AM
IMO, you don't need to get to the parade route more than 15 minutes before the parade starts. Yes, I've seen people "camp out" for spots an hour or more ahead of time. I can pretty much get a spot on Main Street 5 minutes before it starts every time.

Make a priority seating reservation somewhere for lunch. 714-781-DINE.

hlbtimes2
03-13-2007, 08:18 AM
OK, is this how everyone here plans their trips? Don't get me wrong, I like to plan out my days, but I have never done it at this level.

No, most people dont. But, she used ridemax to schedule their one day in the park so that they would be sure to get the most in one day that they could. When we have used ridemax we use it for one day out of a 3 or 4 day trip or maybe two mornings. We leave the rest of the time open to just go with the flow of the park.

Leap for Joy
03-13-2007, 08:37 AM
I like it, but I'd make the following changes.

Send a runner to get Space fastpasses as soon as you enter the park. If he's fast, you'll still be able to get the next one at the time shown in your list. I think the big kids will want to ride Space.

I agree that it seems strange to have Dumbo first but I trust RideMax so I'd leave it. However, if it is the first time to DL for the children it will take much longer to make your way up Main Street than you're used to. You may not get to Fantasyland until 9:20 in which case you should just get in line for Peter Pan and add Dumbo in later.

You may need more time in ToonTown because of the little ones. If so, keep the Buzz fastpasses for after the parade.

Check to see if the smallest in your bunch are Pooh fans. If so, they may enjoy the Pooh ride more than Tarzan's Treehouse.

Malcon10t
03-13-2007, 11:18 AM
IMO, you don't need to get to the parade route more than 15 minutes before the parade starts. Yes, I've seen people "camp out" for spots an hour or more ahead of time. I can pretty much get a spot on Main Street 5 minutes before it starts every time.

Make a priority seating reservation somewhere for lunch. 714-781-DINE.I'm going to disagree. She is trying to get decent spots for *10* people including many young children. You will need time to find that large of an area.

I personally hate when I've waited for 60 minutes and have someone walk up just before the parade to say "My child/80yo father needs a place on the curb, can you move over?" If they really wanted that spot, you should have gotten them there earlier.... Luckily, the CMs agree...

Malcon10t
03-13-2007, 11:25 AM
OK, is this how everyone here plans their trips? Don't get me wrong, I like to plan out my days, but I have never done it at this level. I'm getting stressed just looking at the intinerary...looks like my Outlook calendar at work :pWanna see my itinerary?

Dec 22 - Leave for Disneyland, arrive sometime during the day, go grocery shopping

Jan 3rd - Leave for home

woody9six
03-13-2007, 11:41 AM
One of the best features of Ridemax...and what ends up saving you a ton of time... is that fact that you know what is next. You don't have to stand around and figure out what 10 people want to do next. You already know!

And as daunting a scary as a minute-by-minute itinerary looks...I will never do Disneyland without one again. It is really quite seamless and works like a charm! I first used it last August when I took my wife (who was 7 months pregnant), and my daughter who was about to turn 3 for 3 days. My wife was very skeptical at first...and thought it would be stressful, but she committed to trying it the first day, and I promised her that if it was a disaster...we'd scrap it for the remaining two days. Halfway thru the first day she was sold! Not only did we do everything we wanted to do ...but we also had time to go back to the hotel and get my daugter down for a nap and my wife off of her feet for a couple of hours during the busiest and hottest part of the afternoon.

The Ridemax itinerary actually made for a much more relaxing, less stressful trip for all of us. By the last day, I had it figured out well enough that I could figure out which "off schedule" rides we should do and when we should do them.

I too am surprised that they put PP second after Dumbo. Ridemax is usually militant about doing PP first on non-EE days (or on days that you are taking advantage of EE). My suggestion would be to run another itinerary and see what you get.

And while you are running off additional schedules, I'd suggest running one that starts at 9:30 just in case of unforseen delays. That way you have a fall back plan in something comes up that is out of your control. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Mark Mywords
03-13-2007, 11:56 AM
OK, is this how everyone here plans their trips? Don't get me wrong, I like to plan out my days, but I have never done it at this level.

Ridemax does exactly what it says, which is getting you through all of the attractions within the time period you type in to it. If you've got a short time (3 days or less, especially during peak season), it will totally help you.

There is a lot of AP's and frequent park visitors on these boards. Most wouldn't need this type of detailed itinerary. When you visit the park often, you learn a lot of the general logic that is behind ridemax's iitineraries. What attractions load slowly, which attractions are popular and at what time of the day, how to best use the fastpass system, etc. Knowledge and experience gives you the freedom to improvise and adapt to what your party wants to do.

Also, when you visit the parks a lot, you aren't under as much pressure to "Get everything done" on any particular trip.

Malcon10t
03-13-2007, 12:01 PM
[copyrighted text deleted] What happens if the fastpass you picked up at 11:13 isn't good til 1:30?

woody9six
03-13-2007, 12:17 PM
What happens if the fastpass you picked up at 11:13 isn't good til 1:30?


Skip it and use it during your free time. I know some people on here aren't big on the late fastpass thing, but that is what I would do.

hlbtimes2
03-13-2007, 12:32 PM
What happens if the fastpass you picked up at 11:13 isn't good til 1:30?

Ridemax uses a lot of info/ averages/ etc to come up with times to get fp and when it will be usable. If the park opens at 9 that day, toon town will not be open to the general public until 10. By the 11:13 fp pick up time, it is doubtful that the return time would be very far out. The day in question is a Monday, so there will be people in toon town from morning madness- but most of the them will ride the ride while they are there, rather then getting a fp for it. So, its pretty easy to guess that there will be plenty of fp, with an early return time, available. If it was a "hot", must do ride, like space mountain, there is a higher chance that the return time would be further out.

mask41
03-13-2007, 12:38 PM
If the park opens at 9 that day, toon town will not be open to the general public until 10.

So, Toontown always opens an hour after the park? If the park opens at 8:00am, then Toontown will open at 9:00am - yikes how did I not know this?? On our second day at the park, we were going to go there first - oops.
-Amy

hlbtimes2
03-13-2007, 01:17 PM
Yes, toontown opens one hour after the park. If you have passes to toontown madness, it begins are park opening.

mask41
03-13-2007, 01:38 PM
So, anyway for the general public to get passes to Toontown Madness?

hlbtimes2
03-13-2007, 02:17 PM
You might try ebay or the buy/sell/trade forum on this board. Sometimes people dont use them and will give them away or sell them. Other then that you need to book thru Disney travel/ costco/ AAA.

ThemeParkAddictOfOC
03-13-2007, 09:29 PM
I'm going to disagree. She is trying to get decent spots for *10* people including many young children. You will need time to find that large of an area.

I personally hate when I've waited for 60 minutes and have someone walk up just before the parade to say "My child/80yo father needs a place on the curb, can you move over?" If they really wanted that spot, you should have gotten them there earlier.... Luckily, the CMs agree...

I agree with you. I posted on the other thread that was started once I realized (remembered) that she had 10 people. They'll have to separate or split up. I'd never push in front of anyone at the last minute. That's just not cool. If I had a choice of "second row" or an hour wait, I'd choose the second row every time.

simnia
03-13-2007, 10:13 PM
That's 4 adults and 6 kids all under 10! Yikes!

"Yikes" is right. That's way too many people, in my experience, assuming you're planning to go as one large group. Even the paper Disneyland guide books used to give the tip not to take too many people in a group. I remember my frustrated mother once declaring while in Disneyland that she'll never again go with a large group of people, when our family brought along visitors on two consecutive trips. You'll want to split up at times, then rides will take longer than expected, so that will cause the rest of your group to wait around impatiently for a long time, unable to do anything until the others arrive. Travel is slower, getting a big enough restaurant table is slower, it takes more time to agree on anything, too many compromises have to be made, personal sharing / quality time is lowered, and in general, to put it technically, your resolution is too low (i.e., too large a chunk to manage). I'd recommend not more than 4 people in a group, tops, preferably 2.

Just my two cents' worth.

Malcon10t
03-14-2007, 09:21 AM
"Yikes" is right. That's way too many people, in my experience, assuming you're planning to go as one large group. Even the paper Disneyland guide books used to give the tip not to take too many people in a group. I remember my frustrated mother once declaring while in Disneyland that she'll never again go with a large group of people, when our family brought along visitors on two consecutive trips. You'll want to split up at times, then rides will take longer than expected, so that will cause the rest of your group to wait around impatiently for a long time, unable to do anything until the others arrive. Travel is slower, getting a big enough restaurant table is slower, it takes more time to agree on anything, too many compromises have to be made, personal sharing / quality time is lowered, and in general, to put it technically, your resolution is too low (i.e., too large a chunk to manage). I'd recommend not more than 4 people in a group, tops, preferably 2.

Just my two cents' worth.We typically have 6-10 in our normal group. Maybe because we are used to it, its not a major issue. Last April, we had 14. This coming July, it will be 12-15, but we will be doing some splitting up. We do PS and when we don't, we eat at off hours. We've never had a problem finding seating for our group, but we don't eat at noon or 6pm.