Originally Posted By joeysmommy Ok, now I'm over thinking my plan for our first day at DL.(9/23) We arrive Sunday late morning and I was wondering if we should just wing it or stick to my RideMax suggestions. The park should be pretty full by that time of day, so maybe we should stick with RideMax's suggestions? Altho, I know I should just let the kids choose the rides the first day. I don't want to drive my family crazy with my itinerary the first day.They might throw me overboard on the Jungle Cruise. I'll also try to limit myself to just a few trivia tidbits each day..."Did you know?....." I was planning on starting off at DL via the monorail and since we are dropped at TL, ride Buzz and Autopia since those are the boys' favorites. I'll run and get FP's for Space Mountain. Check out the wait for Nemo, if too long proceed over to NOS to ride HM and POTC. Grab a FP for Indy then ride Jungle Cruise. I wanted to head over to DCA to watch the Block Party Bash since we didn't get to see it on our last trip. Have dinner at the Wine Crountry Trattoria and then head back to DL to watch the fireworks. Am I crazy trying to pack that much stuff into one day? Also, with this crazy touring plan in mind when should I schedule my safeway.com order? I was going to do 4-6pm but we'll be watching Block Party Bash. I can't book it before 3pm just in case we can't check-in early. Maybe schedule it for 6-8Pm and run back to receive it while the kids are eating dinner.
Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains Wing it - your kids will be so excited to get there, it's better to let them each pick the first couple rides - and let them decide how much line waiting they want to do - they may just want to hang out on TSI - pirates lair - or they may want to ride everything. If you enter through GCH you can go directly into DCA and may be able to do alot of that park the first day and still be there for the BPB... I think it is a shorter walk to get to the park through GCH than going to the monorail.
Originally Posted By Dalia3001 I love ridemax, and don't think I could visit DL without a plan. However, I have found it less useful than in the past on recent trips, due to either larger or smaller than expected crowds, or unexpected ride closures. However, I think that using ridemax is still very helpful in giving you a strategy for the day. Look at the board near the hubs for estimated wait times to see if they match up with what ridemax predicts. I usualy make a jam packed ridemax schedule, filled with multilpe turns on rides I will probably not ride that many times, and rides I can skip. Then you have the option of doing things or not. Sunday is often our last day there, so we usualy don't have a plan. Therefore, I don't know if having a Saturday plan and using it on Sunday would work as suggested on the website. I think your plan sounds great! Autopia might have a very long line at that time of day. If you're going to grin and bear it, definately grab a Space Mtn FP first. (I know you were thinking about lunch, is Pizza Port fast? Could your fam grab slices while you get the Space Mtn. FP's?) Two hours later, get one for Indy, or Buzz. I don't know what to suggest for the Safeway delivery. How long will you be there and how long can you survive without it? Could you have it delivered during a scheduled break the next day?
Originally Posted By berol On Sunday, do stuff that never have long lines (transportation, snow white/pinocchio, tom sawyer, boats, pooh, tarzan, boats, movies) and throw in a fastpass ride here and there. Everything will have shorter lines after Sunday and you may never get on the short lined stuff. "Why should we do snow white when the matterhorn is practically a walkon!!!!"
Originally Posted By 8 ilovemickey 8 We usually choose to follow a general iternary but don't get specific about rides. We usually arrive around 10 AM, check-in, and then go straight to Disneyland. We usually ride whatever sounds good at the moment. We almost always make some sort of PS for a late lunch usually Rainforest Cafe. Go back to the hotel to get our room and take a little nap. Possibly go to DCA for a little and grab something to eat. Then head back to Disneyland for the remainder of the night. They always seems to work best for us.
Originally Posted By joeysmommy Thanks again everyone for your tips on Ridemax. I ended up throwing my Ridemax plans out the window. My 4 and 6 yr old pretty much called the shots on which rides, so I just referred to my spread sheet of estimated waits for each ride. The park was quiet Sun-Thursday so we didn't even need FP until Friday.
