Your top ten hints to share with a newbie

[mad hatter fan]

I have some friends who will be taking their first Disneyland trip this December. Disneyland and southern CA are our favorite vacation destinations so I have no shortage of advice to share with them on how to make the best of their trip. However, I do not want to overload them so much with friendly advice that I overwhelm them!

What do you consider the top ten most important things to share with newbies before their first trip?

 

[JadeDarkstar]

well im gona try to think of ten
1. learn how to maxmize there fast pass useage
2. (if there staying on site, use the hotel in mid day
3. Use the hopper, dont try to desnate days at each place. Hop between.
4. if there gona do any special meals make PS ahead of time
5 to get good seats for fire works. line up early.
6. dont forget to drink water, caffine free stuff is better then soda.
7. Keep ahold of your bags. PPL leave them behind on rides and stuff.
8.wear commfy shoes.
9. Have sun screan
10. use you ee day if you have one to its fullest.
11. If they like charcters and dont want to wait in long lines chose a charcter dinning to do. its excpicve but beats two hour linbes for charcteras

 

[dizzyami]

1. Fastpass
2. Be at the gates 30 -45 minutes before open
3. Use Early Entry
4. Ride Peter Pan First thing in a day
5. Baby Swap (if travelling with height challenged)
6. Park hop - DL in AM and PM, DCA in afternoon
7. DCA and DL fastpasses are not linked
8. FASTPASS
9. BE AT THE GATES 30-45 MINUTES BEFORE OPEN
10. PARK HOP

Ok - so my top 7, along with my top 3

 

[Kailua's Belle]

Number one thing I learned on these boards that I wish I had known was that you can return later than the designated FastPass time on your ticket. I let some tickets go unused because I didn't make it back in time. I also didn't get FastPasses sometimes because I wouldn't be able to make it back at the time posted. Definitely tell them that one!!

Other great things I learned are the good spots for seeing the fireworks and that the Aladdin show at CA is a must see.

Oh, and make sure they understand the importance of being there when it opens!!

 

[DangerMouse]

1. Fastpass
2. Be at the gates 30 -45 minutes before open
3. Use Early Entry
4. Ride Peter Pan First thing in a day
5. Baby Swap (if travelling with height challenged)
6. Park hop - DL in AM and PM, DCA in afternoon
7. DCA and DL fastpasses are not linked

I'll borrow Ami's top 7 and add my last three:

1. Bring your own water/snacks into the park in a backpack.
2. Stay at a hotel within walking distance.
3. Make sure to watch the fireworks from Main Street, near the Hub or IASW to see it snow after.
4. If they are there after the 14th, make sure to see the DEP!!! (ok, so I snuck that one in as a bonus!)

 

[LucyKate]

Here are the things we got the most benefit out of.

- December is a great time to visit but it gets VERY cold as soon as the sun goes down. To get the most out of the day and not have to race back to your hotel for coats (as I did) take coats with you in the morning and stow them in the lockers on Main Street behind the fruit cart. Also useful for storing food and other supplies.

- Make sure you have enough batteries, film (if not using a digital camera) and tapes (for videos). These cost a fortune inside the park.

- Buy cheap ponchos for a $1 or 2 before you travel. Very useful if it rains, and essential if you want to avoid getting wet in Winter on Spash or GRR!

- Fastpass! Fastpass! Fastpass! (can i say it again?) Fastpass! Learn how to use it and save hours and hours of pointless queuing.

- You can use Fastpass at any time AFTER the designated start time. You don't have to stick to the 1 hour window.

- Find out when the shows are on, and get there early. It's very easy to miss a parade or a show if you don't plan.

- Try to see shows in in the early part of the visit so you arent trying to cram them in on the last day.

- Turkey leg carts are a great source of cheap tasty food on the run.

- Blue Bayou is the best place for a fancy meal in DL. Try to book a waterside table.

- Small World is much better than you'd ever expect!

 

[DLR29]

1. Get to the park early and hit major attractions first (nemo, Space, Indy, Peter Pan). I don't know when in December you're going, but keep in mind that if it is the week between Christmas and NY, that is THE busiest week of the year. Lines reach 90+ minutes every day for many attractions. Any other week in December will have very short waits but still get there early.

2. Use FP and Single Rider lines whenever possible. Disconnected FPs on GRR and Roger Rabbit work very well. Single Rider lines are on Splash, Screamin, GRR, Soarin, Maliboomer, Mulholland Madness. I have found FP most useful for Space, Roger Rabbit, Splash, Mulholland, and BLAB (in terms of how long I actually wait to get on the ride, not how much time in line I skip)

3. Eat at off hours. Avoid restaurant and food lines between 11:30-1:00.

4. Slow down and don't rush through everything. I did not make this up but remember that this is your 1st trip to DL, not your last. You don't have to see everything.

5. Rent a locker. Especially if you're spending the whole day and want warmer clothing in the evening (it gets cool in December)

6. Wear comfortable clothes/shoes. You don't want to be sore after a couple days. Another way to prevent the soreness is to not tour all day and take breaks here and there.

7. Take advantage of the holiday season. Watch the special holiday fireworks and Christmas parade (they are great!). Haunted Mansion and It's a Small World will be decorated and they are both good too. There are more holiday entertainment options as well including Santa's Beach Blast and Rudolph's Reindeer Ranch. However, during early December entertainment is only presented on weekends.

8. Park hop. Start the morning off at DL and when DCA opens hop over, especially because around 10 is when the DL crowds start building rapidly.

9. Spend time in Downtown Disney. The parks can be fun, but shopping and dining while just relaxing can also be a blast. Also, there aren't any long lines here so you don't have to rush here.

10. Be open to anything. Sometimes you just need to wander around and take in the atmosphere, while sometimes you need to get to that next ride. Have a balance of the two and you should be all set.

 

[DizMe]

My number one tip is probably not something that can actually be given as advice to others, but here it is: immerse yourself in the magic and the atmosphere! Look at everything with the belief that the magic is real! Do not focus on the negative aspects, revel in the positive and enjoy your temporary escape from reality.

I have observed, however, that some people automatically "get it" in regards to Disney and others just don't . If you're one of those that looks at, oh, Splash Mountain, for example, and only sees a fake cement structure with cheesy robotic animals and notices all the emergency exits, flaws, and wear in the paint...then you're not going to be able to take the above advice. You likely view Disney as nothing but a clever dollar-sucking machine for the gullible. You simply don't have the personality for Disney, though occasionally such people can be "reborn" when they take their children for the first time . My dh was one of those.

I am not saying one personality is superior to the other, but I think it's more fun let yourself go with the experience.

 

[Adi12982]

The best tip we got was:

Get to the parks 30 minutes before opening and enjoy the morning/early afternoon - when thngs start to get/feel crazy/too hot to handle go to your hotel - reat, nap, swim, do whatever will relax you . . . get back to the parks in the late afternoon - they are so much more pleasant to be in and so much less crowded when you skip that middle part of the day - plus your feet will thank you for it.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

1. PLANNING: Have the newbies make a list of their MUST DOs. Then make a list of their WOULD LIKE TO DOs. Plan the day(s) to make sure you hit the MUST DOs, and fill in as many LIKE TOs as you can.

2. SHOES: Bring more than one pair of comfortable shoes, and switch off. (Either during the day, or at least every day.) I brought tennies, Crocs, sandals and flip-flops. I found out the (newish) sandals gave me a couple blisters, so wore the tennies in the a.m., then the Crocs or flip-flops in the evening. If I wore one pair of shoes the whole day (because we didn't return to the hotel until the park closed), then I made sure to start the next day with a different pair of footwear. My feet felt great!

3. SPECIAL EVENTS: Make reservations for character meals, Fantasmic Balcony seats, or other similar events ahead of time. It would be sad to have something on your MUST DO list that you miss because they're all booked up.

4. GO WITH THE FLOW: I know this seems to negate the Plan Ahead philosophy, but if you aren't terribly pressed for time, don't plan everything down to the minute. There are so many little charms about DL that you discover along the way, so it would be nice to be able to go with the flow as time permits. We headed to NOS when DS2 fell asleep in the stroller rather than taking him back to the hotel as we'd planned. We enjoyed the quiet shade there. As it turns out, it's also where the pirate band and Cap'n Jack exit 'off-stage', so we also witnessed a few sweet little guest interactions there as well.

5. SEE THE ALADDIN MUSICAL!: If you can, see this musical! Everyone raves about it. We were unable to see it during our trip because they were re-casting, but it's supposed to be spectacular and enjoyable for everyone!

6. GET 'FIRST TRIP TO DL' BUTTONS: I wish we'd known about these before our first trip last fall. You can pick them up at City Hall, or I believe at an onsite hotel. We got birthday buttons for our kids, and the CMs were so wonderful about calling out to the kids or chatting them up while we waited in line. They loved it!

I agree with everyone else's posts about Fastpasses (and knowing how to maximize their use!), finding a parade or fireworks location, etc.

Their first trip is going to be magical no matter what, so a little insider information just makes it extra special. I hope you all have a great time!

 

[drag n' fly]

Besides all the really excellent advice already given I also recommend to people to avoid the parks on the weekends when they are very crowded due to use by the locals. We usually take those 2 days to go down the coast and do some exploring and shopping at the outlet etc!

 

[mystic_path]

Number one thing I learned on these boards that I wish I had known was that you can return later than the designated FastPass time on your ticket. I let some tickets go unused because I didn't make it back in time. I also didn't get FastPasses sometimes because I wouldn't be able to make it back at the time posted. Definitely tell them that one!!

Other great things I learned are the good spots for seeing the fireworks and that the Aladdin show at CA is a must see.

Oh, and make sure they understand the importance of being there when it opens!!

shhhhhhhhhhh not too many people know about that. But dont worry I guess between us disers its ok.

 

[Hound 109]

Besides all the really excellent advice already given I also recommend to people to avoid the parks on the weekends when they are very crowded due to use by the locals. We usually take those 2 days to go down the coast and do some exploring and shopping at the outlet etc!

Yep. As Yogi would have said....."Nobody goes to DL on the weekend anymore.....It's too crowded".




Another TIP just between us Disers. When we say be at the gates when they open at 8am....we mean be in line (at the gate) at 7:30am.

& I agree with virtually everything stated above.

hound

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Besides all the really excellent advice already given I also recommend to people to avoid the parks on the weekends when they are very crowded due to use by the locals. We usually take those 2 days to go down the coast and do some exploring and shopping at the outlet etc!

Just to offer a weekend alternative: We thought about going to the beach, but honestly couldn't tear ourselves away from DL on our first trip.

So we spent a majority of the weekend at DCA, which is far less crowded than the DL park. We ventured over to DL for fireworks and a parade in the evening. Had a great time! (I should note that this was in September, which is generally a less crowded time anyway...)

 

[Master Mason]

In the last 2 years of going, I have found that Monday was more crowded than the weekend, lots of AP holders are blacked out from going on weekends, the local AP's, also folks have a perception of it being more crowded, so they shy away. They also increase capacity on those rides that they can, ie adding extra trains or cars, so the lines move faster. For example on the indy ride they run both loading docks, and have all the cars availible, during the week, they may only have one side open, and half the cars running.

 

[snoodledoo]

Mid-afternoon, relax in the Tiki Room with your Dole Whip!