DCA Rope Drop With a Toddler

[monkeypat83]

I am taking my almost 3 year old at the end of August for a mommy/daughter trip. Prior to kids I had an annual pass to Disneyland so am very familiar with the parks and am an expert at solo adult trips and group adult trips but not as much an expert at toddler trips though I did take her last summer when she was about 20 months old so I have that experience to draw on. I am planning to rope drop Fantasyland in Disneyland (which I would do anyway even if this wasn't a toddler trip) but a little torn on where to start in DCA. She isn't 40 inches so my thought is we would rope drop Pixar Pier and ride Midway Mania a couple of times along with the carousal, Pal Around, Inside Out etc and head around to do Golden Zephyr and Little Mermaid before making our way over to Carsland to do Mater and Luigi or Webslingers.

Does this sound like the best plan or should we rope drop Webslingers instead and do that side of the park first. I am buying Genie + (mostly for pictures since there is just the 2 of us going and she isn't 40 inches) so we can use that to ride Midway Mania again later too and if need be I don't mind buying ILL for Webslingers because I would only be paying for me since she won't be 3 yet.

 

[DLRExpert]

Starting with WS
730am: Arrive at the entrance, once entered book a LL for Grizzly usually does not open with the park), or TSMM/Incredicoaster. You are FISHING for MEPLL you will not use it.
8am-845am If you are close enough to the rope area near Carthay and Waterfall, hit up Web Slingers
then Luigi's, Maters. GOAL is to be heading to Pixar Pier by 845am

Starting without WS
730am: Arrive at the entrance, once entered book a LL for Grizzly (usually does not open with the park), or TSMM/Incredicoaster. You are FISHING for MEPLL you will not use it.
8am-845am: Rope Drop Maters and then Luigi's, then Monsters Inc. Goal is is to be heading towards Pixar Pier by 845am.

Pixar Pier order once there
850am-910am: Ride TSMM but do not use LL.
910am-10am: Ride Pal Around, Inside Out, Jellyfish, Zephyr, Symphony, Jessies Carousel. Book LL for Soarin during this time and book ILL for WS if you need it.
10am-1030am: Little Mermaid and then Soarin.
Done with park.

 

[CeCe0906]

Starting with WS
730am: Arrive at the entrance, once entered book a LL for Grizzly usually does not open with the park), or TSMM/Incredicoaster. You are FISHING for MEPLL you will not use it.
8am-845am If you are close enough to the rope area near Carthay and Waterfall, hit up Web Slingers
then Luigi's, Maters. GOAL is to be heading to Pixar Pier by 845am

Starting without WS
730am: Arrive at the entrance, once entered book a LL for Grizzly (usually does not open with the park), or TSMM/Incredicoaster. You are FISHING for MEPLL you will not use it.
8am-845am: Rope Drop Maters and then Luigi's, then Monsters Inc. Goal is is to be heading towards Pixar Pier by 845am.

Pixar Pier order once there
850am-910am: Ride TSMM but do not use LL.
910am-10am: Ride Pal Around, Inside Out, Jellyfish, Zephyr, Symphony, Jessies Carousel. Book LL for Soarin during this time and book ILL for WS if you need it.
10am-1030am: Little Mermaid and then Soarin.
Done with park.

Not a DL vet, but speaking from the perspective of a granny who has taken grandkids a LOT of places.. the 9 - 10 schedule looks ambitious. You didn't account for the stopping for the bathroom, or the numerous times you will stop for random things like ooh this cool rock, or the random trash they will decide to pick up off the ground. Seems like a lot of rushing from ride to ride,, which doesn't happen much with a 2 yr old. Or the "go again!" request. Would also leave time for Turtle Crush in DCA with that age, and don't forget snack times or getting a drink.

 

[DLRExpert]

Not a DL vet, but speaking from the perspective of a granny who has taken grandkids a LOT of places.. the 9 - 10 schedule looks ambitious. You didn't account for the stopping for the bathroom, or the numerous times you will stop for random things like ooh this cool rock, or the random trash they will decide to pick up off the ground. Seems like a lot of rushing from ride to ride,, which doesn't happen much with a 2 yr old. Or the "go again!" request. Would also leave time for Turtle Crush in DCA with that age, and don't forget snack times or getting a drink.

Times are mostly setup as goals to hit (BTW... I expect them not to make it).
Even if they are over the time they will be okay, They just need to try and match it as much as possible.

 

[Pluto468]

I think your Pixar Pier plan sounds great! We rope dropped DCA last week. We actually did Avengers Campus first but I can't go on those rides, so while DH and the kids did Guardians I rode Ariel twice. I think most people head to Avengers Campus or Carsland, so Pixar Pier should have short wait times. You could get LL for Webslingers and MM later in the day. I went back over to Pixar Pier later, like 12:30 and it was pretty crowded.

 

[mouschievous]

We just rope dropped Pixar Pier on Wednesday (July 7). It stayed pretty dead in that area of the park for about 90 minutes, while everyone else was doing RSR and Webslingers.

TSMM and WS are basically the same ride, and I personally like TSMM a lot better, so I would put my focus there and not worry too much about WS, but that's me. We never saw Mater and Luigi have waits longer than 20 min, so I wouldn't stress over those. You could do WS first, then head over to PP as it shouldn't be too busy yet.

 

[monkeypat83]

Starting with WS
730am: Arrive at the entrance, once entered book a LL for Grizzly usually does not open with the park), or TSMM/Incredicoaster. You are FISHING for MEPLL you will not use it.
8am-845am If you are close enough to the rope area near Carthay and Waterfall, hit up Web Slingers
then Luigi's, Maters. GOAL is to be heading to Pixar Pier by 845am

Starting without WS
730am: Arrive at the entrance, once entered book a LL for Grizzly (usually does not open with the park), or TSMM/Incredicoaster. You are FISHING for MEPLL you will not use it.
8am-845am: Rope Drop Maters and then Luigi's, then Monsters Inc. Goal is is to be heading towards Pixar Pier by 845am.

Pixar Pier order once there
850am-910am: Ride TSMM but do not use LL.
910am-10am: Ride Pal Around, Inside Out, Jellyfish, Zephyr, Symphony, Jessies Carousel. Book LL for Soarin during this time and book ILL for WS if you need it.
10am-1030am: Little Mermaid and then Soarin.
Done with park.

Thanks! She isn't tall enough for Jellyfish, Symphony or Sourin' so we will be skipping those anyway. I was planning on fishing for multi-experience passes to use later in the day on whatever she wants to do again/we don't do in the morning but thanks for the reminder. Does anyone know what rides are excluded from the multi-experience passes? I know Racers but she isn't tall enough for that anyway.

 

[monkeypat83]

We just rope dropped Pixar Pier on Wednesday (July 7). It stayed pretty dead in that area of the park for about 90 minutes, while everyone else was doing RSR and Webslingers.

TSMM and WS are basically the same ride, and I personally like TSMM a lot better, so I would put my focus there and not worry too much about WS, but that's me. We never saw Mater and Luigi have waits longer than 20 min, so I wouldn't stress over those. You could do WS first, then head over to PP as it shouldn't be too busy yet.

Thanks! She is a big Spider Man fan (thanks to my husband) so we have to do Webslingers though I do like Midway Mania better myself. The first time she went to Disneyland last year she fell asleep in my arms in line for Webslingers and it was still the virtual queue at that point so we just went on it with her asleep in my arms and she missed it. She has been telling me she isn't going to sleep on the Spiderman ride this time and is very excited about it. Spiderman, Dumbo and Pirates are the rides she keeps talking about going on.

 

[monkeypat83]

Not a DL vet, but speaking from the perspective of a granny who has taken grandkids a LOT of places.. the 9 - 10 schedule looks ambitious. You didn't account for the stopping for the bathroom, or the numerous times you will stop for random things like ooh this cool rock, or the random trash they will decide to pick up off the ground. Seems like a lot of rushing from ride to ride,, which doesn't happen much with a 2 yr old. Or the "go again!" request. Would also leave time for Turtle Crush in DCA with that age, and don't forget snack times or getting a drink.

Thanks! Yeah, she is newly potty trained so we are going to spend a lot of time stopping at the bathroom. Good thing I know where pretty much every single bathroom in both parks is! She is a pretty go go go kid especially in the mornings but I am sure we will have re-rides. I plan to do Midway Mania multiple times while the line is short since it is my favorite ride (that she is tall enough to go on) and I am hoping maybe the Buddy Pass will be functioning later in the day too.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

If the kiddo also likes characters play on them showing up starting about 10am in various places across the parks, and my kids loved watching them and interacting. We did one day focused primarily on rides and another day focused on characters and re-rides and it worked well for my 5 yr old while still keeping my older kids entertained too.

 

[danceintherain]

Thanks! She is a big Spider Man fan (thanks to my husband) so we have to do Webslingers though I do like Midway Mania better myself. The first time she went to Disneyland last year she fell asleep in my arms in line for Webslingers and it was still the virtual queue at that point so we just went on it with her asleep in my arms and she missed it. She has been telling me she isn't going to sleep on the Spiderman ride this time and is very excited about it. Spiderman, Dumbo and Pirates are the rides she keeps talking about going on.

Then I'd definitely hit WS first, and pay for ILL later if she wants to do it again. You'll already be able to use G+ for TSMM.