Tentative Touring Plan Help

[DisMomMT]

I know everything is up in the air at this point with SWGE opening but I still would love input from people here with experience in the parks assuming super-busy days. Thanks to help here I have now embraced getting 3 day park hoppers with Max Pass.

Party: myself, DS(11), DD(8)

Arrive 5/31 about 2pm. Leave 6/2 about noon.
Staying at DLH
SWGE reservations 6/1 8am-noon (will skip this if hear can only enter area once or if don’t think we need extra time)
SWGE reservations 6/1 2pm-6pm (local relatives meeting up and going to this one with us)

Must Dos: PP, Animation Academy, Swimming at DLH, Philharmagic, MMM, HM, POTC, Hyperspace Mtn., FL Dark Rides, Soarin, RSR, GOTG, IJ, Lincoln (if open), Monsters, Inc., Redwood Creek Challenge, TSMM, Incredicoaster, Monorail back to hotel, SWGE

Like to Dos: Tom Sawyer Island, WOC Dessert Party, BTMRR, Splash, Matterhorn, Star Tours, Buzz, Mater, Luigi, Jessie’s CC, JC, Tiki Room, IASW, Little Mermaid, Sprinkles Cupcakes in DTD, anything else we can fit in!

We will plan to leave the hotel about 6:30am and return about 9:30pm.

We will likely try to stay focused in the mornings during EMH and then will probably switch to a slow pace to take in atmosphere and accommodate the crowds. I would love advice on which park to hit when, when to swim, and when to try to hit specific headliners / grab FP vs. stand-by and still have time to hit some of our Must-Dos that are easy to fit in.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Some random thoughts:
Given how limited your time in the parks might be (part of Friday, all of Saturday -- but you won't be staying until park closing?, and maybe not much free time on Sunday), I think you might want to limit/prioritize your list to one must-do for each person and one or two like-to-dos for each person per day. Put everything leftover onto a separate list. If you can accomplish the musts and likes for each day, then work through the rest of the leftover list. That way each person feels like they've gotten to do what they really wanted and anything else is gravy. If the parks are super crowded, you'll have your basic lists. If the parks aren't that bad and you can get more done than expected, great! But at least you'll have your basic list to work from.
About the WOC Dessert Party, do you already have reservations for this?
Some things on your list are going to be more time consuming, like swimming, Animation Academy (if you want to draw a character and do all the fun things, too), WOC Dessert Party (there is wait time for this, even if it's minimal compared to the other options), Redwood Creek -- if your kids want to spend a lot of time here, etc.
Other things are easier if timed right, like Sprinkles -- just hit this on the way back to the DLH. FL and TL -- cover these with a good strategy during EMH on Saturday. EE at DCA on Sunday can help cover other things on your list. Make sure to brush up on your MP skills!
PP is flexible -- keep watching the app for the wait time. If you see a dip in the wait time, get in line! Or you can try to be one of the first in line on Saturday -- stressful, but maybe worth it? Or you can use the wait time as a decompression time/catch up on our day time/eat a substantial snack while in line time/etc. But don't waste your EMH on this ride if the line is already long when you get there. There will be other times to ride this -- you'll just figure out when to fit it in.

 

[DisMomMT]

Thanks for the input! We could stay later on Saturday night if worthwhile but I was worried that would just make it harder to get a good start to DCA for EMH Sunday morning which I was figuring would be pure gold for us.

We each made a list of our top 3 priorities outside of SWGE:
DS(11): Animation Academy, HyperSpace Mountain, BTMRR
DD(8): Swimming @ DLH, Incredicoaster, Little Mermaid
Me: PP, Soarin, RSR

Friday go into DCA first and hit Animation Academy and maybe Monsters, Inc. and/or Philharmagic and activate MP to see what we can book for later on. Then our room will likely be ready and we can go back and swim for a bit. Then go back to DL and hopefully be able to do a couple attractions and watch MMM (this could be swapped with WOC and DCA if did 1 park/day)

Saturday: FL Dark Rides during EMH or HyperSpace Mtn if wait times are reasonable. Pulling MP and hitting HyperSpace, BTMRR and hopefully a couple of others around our 2-6 SWGE reservation

Sunday: Hoping with EMH and MP we could hit RSR, Soarin, Incredicoaster and Little Mermaid and maybe a couple of others before we have to leave

Part me of me then is thinking we could do MMM on Saturday night and go later that night and save money doing 1 park/day passes instead of hoppers with DCA Friday and Sunday and DL on Saturday.

We do not have WOC DessertParty Reservations, but they still show available currently on-line. We have done this before so we could let it go (we also have done F! but haven’t seen MMM and I do think DD would love it).

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Are you willing to use SR lines? That could add some flexibility to your planning. If you do use SR, just make sure the kids know what to do if you get split up, e.g. where to wait for you at the exit.
On Friday, activate your tickets right away so you can start using MP as soon as you can. Use the monorail entrance (closer to DLH) if that will help -- but only if. you will have park hoppers. Then you'll be able to start looking for FPs as soon as possible. And don't forget to look for cancelled FPs, too! Grab them as soon as you see them -- they disappear in a flash!

 

[Gaugersaurus]

I would keep in mind that the 31st is SWGE opening day, and grad nite so crowds will be inflated at both parks a people "escape" the crowds at DL by heading to DCA. That being said I think 6/1 won't be as bad as people expect, based on current AP blocks and if Disney is successful at keeping away those without reservations for SWGE then the parks should be manageable. With your limited time I would just stick with one park per day tickets an maximize your time in each park. If your kids are morning people I would try to stay at DL as long as possible on Saturday, the park really clears out after MMM/F are done for the night and you'll experience low wait times for a lot of rides.

A tentative plan for me would be

Fri: check MP as soon as you get scanned in, you should be able to grab a late Incredicoaster but that would probably be it. Swing by Animation Academy and see whose being drawn at each time and schedule time to come back for whichever character you want to do most. From there just work through your list of rides while keeping your FP for Incredicoaster in mind if you were able to get one. I would hit Monsters and Philharmagic while you're in the area of Animation Academy then head over towards Little Mermaid and PxP.

Sat: EMH at DL, If you're not one of the first people to PP then do the other FL dark rides, storybook canals, and Casey Jr. use MP for Hyperspace as soon as you get into the park, BTMRR and HM usually go much slower so you can focus on grabbing those later on. My second FP would be for Indy and head over to that side of the park and do Pirates and HM if they have relatively low waits, don't be scared away if the Pirates queue is out to the walkway of ROA as they usually don't have the queue set up to accommodate large crowds in the mornings. Before or after Indy hit JC and once you're able to grab a new FP I'd get BTMRR. Depending on the time I wouldn't get any FPs too close to your SWGE reservation time, if you've hit all of this by 11-12 I would take a break for lunch and Tikiroom then head if they're allowing people to line up before their SWGE reservation opens I would head there to get in line. After SWGE jump on the monorail back to the hotel to swim and have dinner as you'll probably want a break from crowds by then. Just remember to keep stacking FPs throughout the day, I'd head back around 7/8 and see if you can hit toontown and IASW. I would watch MMM from in front of IASW but the energy of the crowd on main street can make the show better. by then you can leave with the masses to be in bed early for EMH tomorrow or see if your kids can ride the adrenaline wave into the morning and hit anything you missed during the day while crowds start to leave.

Sun: EMH head to PxP to ride TSMM, Jessie's CC, make sure to grab MP for RSR as soon as you scan in, by the time you finish at PxP you should be able to head to Carsland after the initial rush of EMH guests but before the regular opening of the park. I'd jump in standby for RSR then do Luigi's and mater before your FP window opens. Then grab FP for Guardians then Soarin', hit Redwood creek and exit the park through the GCH entrance/exit. Stop at sprinkles on your way out for a nice treat on the way home

 

[DisMomMT]

Wow!! Thank you so much for the awesome reply! It is exactly what I was hoping for and also really puts in perspective what kind of whirlwind we are setting ourselves up for if we attempt it. I think we most likely will do a combination of the Top pick per day approach from Lucky Rabbit and keeping Gaugersaurus’ plan in mind as a loose guideline to attempt to fit more in but not hold ourselves to it. I’m not okay with splitting up for single rider at all.

I think the real key will be deciding if we are going to swim on Friday or Saturday. I feel like if we swim on Friday we probably will do 1 park/day tickets but if we swim on Saturday we probably need hoppers and need to try to get some things in at DL on Friday. Mornings will be easier for us with the benefit of a time-change but also will make it hard to have late nights in the park, especially Friday night where we get up super-early for our flights that morning. I’m more okay with going later on Saturday night where the adrenaline rush can get them through Sunday morning and then they can crash.

 

[Lauren in NC]

Since Friday is a grad night and your arrival day, I would personally plan on following Gaugersaurus's plan and then heading back to the hotel for a swim, maybe grabbing dinner and Sprinkles in Downtown Disney (depending on where you're staying). Animation Academy and Little Mermaid are generally not that crowded (though, of course, all bets are off if it's a super busy day), though I wonder how bad Incredicoaster will be with the grad crowds.

 

[DisMomMT]

Thanks, I hadn’t thought of swimming after the parks on Friday. That might work out really well for us.

 

[DisMomMT]

Does anyone know the pool hours for the waterslides and pools at the DLH?

 

[Gaugersaurus]

Pool hours vary based on time of year but summertime usually means open until 10pm; not sure if waterslide hours differ or not.

 

[DisMomMT]

I just asked over chat and was told the DLH pools close at 9pm and waterslides at 6pm while we are there. Since the kids will want to do the waterslides that brings me back to needing to fit in swimming Friday afternoon since our SWGE reservation is Saturday 2-6.

 

[MrInfinity]

Hi there,
You've got a really similar trip to ours... Here's my suggestions...

First, you say your SWGE slots are 6/2 but I think you mean 6/1... right?

I don't like hitting both parks on Fri. The thought of going to DCA, breaking to swim, and returning to Disneyland on opening day of SWGE (all after your travel and arriving in the afternoon) sounds crazy. One drawback to using hoppers is you have to go thru the gates each time... I've had it take 20 minutes to switch parks, and with opening day it might be insane just getting in. I think get in a park and camp there. Don't leave till you're ready to go or be prepared to wait again.

I would break it simply DCA 5/31, DL 6/1. Check-out day-- I think I'd do DCA again, because you won't have gotten any Fast Passes on your arrival day. Speaking of which... Don't buy MaxPass in advance for all 3 days. On Friday, everything good will be gone by the time you arrive so it's a waste. This will save you $45 over pre-buying it for all 3 days.

I don't know how you're going to fit in everything you want to do at Disneyland. The two SWGE reservations take up the bulk of your day. 8-12 and 2-6 leaves you no time for other stuff. Swim - when - between the two reservations? My opinion -- scrap one. The 8am is the better slot, but you're meeting people for the 2pm-6pm one. So if that's locked in, you could rope drop from like 7am-10am, then break to swim and meet up with your friends at the hotel and come back for your res.

You could swim a bit right when you arrive... that might be ok? But if that was me I think I'd be too anxious to get going so it wouldn't really be relaxing. So I think your swim-time should be middle of the day on 6/1 plus that's a great spot to meet up with people, have a drink by the pool for an hour and head out.

 

[smartlabelprint]

I disagree that all the FP will be gone when you get there. My son and I arrived a Friday at 4 pm during holiday season and there were still things left. You could wait and see if anything on your list still has FP Friday before deciding to buy it or not. Our original plan has been to not buy it but then we eventually did and wished we had bought it when we entered the parks.

 

[DisMomMT]

First, you say your SWGE slots are 6/2 but I think you mean 6/1... right?

You are correct, I edited my OP to reflect this. Thanks!

 

[DisMomMT]

I don't like hitting both parks on Fri. The thought of going to DCA, breaking to swim, and returning to Disneyland on opening day of SWGE (all after your travel and arriving in the afternoon) sounds crazy. One drawback to using hoppers is you have to go thru the gates each time... I've had it take 20 minutes to switch parks, and with opening day it might be insane just getting in. I think get in a park and camp there. Don't leave till you're ready to go or be prepared to wait again.

Good point about the entry wait times. I will check FP availability and return times when we arrive. If we aren’t likely to be able to pull any, I would probably say we will just go to the motel swim and take a nap when we arrive and then probably go to DL to do what we can and enjoy MMM the first night and stay later than originally planned. Of course that assumes the kids are able to nap, they will be tired enough to but I’m not sure they will be able to sleep from excitement.

I don't know how you're going to fit in everything you want to do at Disneyland. The two SWGE reservations take up the bulk of your day. 8-12 and 2-6 leaves you no time for other stuff. Swim - when - between the two reservations? My opinion -- scrap one. The 8am is the better slot, but you're meeting people for the 2pm-6pm one. So if that's locked in, you could rope drop from like 7am-10am, then break to swim and meet up with your friends at the hotel and come back for your res.

We most likely will scrap the first SWGE reservation. We could swim then if we didn’t get a chance to on Friday. I hate to leave the parks before they are too busy, will they be filling up by then? I think with EMH we probably could hit the things we want to do in DCA all by noon on 6/2. Does that sound too crazy?

 

[Lauren in NC]

Not everything is necessarily open during EMH. The last time we stayed on-site we had bad luck with TSMM not being open or breaking down quickly during it. But, with that said, I think you could get Incredicoaster, Soarin, and RR done with FPs on Saturday morning.

I think you have a good general plan, especially if you scrap that first SWGE reservation and use those early morning hours to knock out DL. I think a lot will depend on how busy that Friday night is!