Whirlwind tour of Disneyland

[Runey]

Hi all... My wife and I will be travelling to the USA, from Australia, and plan on doing a bit of a whirlwind tour of Disnleyland... We've been once before many years ago, before California Adventure even existed...

This is our plan for now...

Day 1 - August 12th: Arrive in US and get to DL area by lunch time... Have lunch somewhere in Downtown Disney, probably Rainforest Cafe... We then plan on doing all the shows and parades in California Adventure... So 'The Ugly Bug Ball' at 3:30PM followed by the 'Cars Pre-Parade' at 4:45 and the 'Block Party Bash' at 5:15PM... We'll have acouple hours to relax, maybe do some rides, and then the 'Electrical Parade' at 8:45PM... Then off to bed...

Day 2 - August 13th: Breakfast in the Park at 8:00AM... Then over to DCA for park opening... Spend the whole day there untill dinner time, which is with Ariel... We'll probably then head over to DL to catch the fireworks and the late Fantasmic, providing we can get the the hub by 8:25 to pick a spot... If not then we'll do some rides over in DL while everyone else is occuppied by the shows... Then off to bed again...

Day 3 - August 14th: I've left DL till Monday in the hope it will be a bit quieter... We were going to do a character breakfast today, but I just realised that this is early entry day into DL... So we'll probably skip it and get to DL for a 7AM opening... We will spend the whole day and night there, and will schedule about 3 decent sized breaks during that time... We'll have to squeeze in the Parade today as well... Ideally we would want to be heading back to bed by 10PM...

Day 4 - August 15th: Off to Knott's today after having breakfast at one of the DL resorts... Hoping to be finished and back to DL after dinner... We wanted get back in time to catch the fireworks and Fanastic, unless we had managed to do it on Day 2... If we did then it will be any rides we missed in DL or DCA... and of course bed will be looking pretty good by this time...

Day 5 - August 16th: Probably do the Aloha breakfast today at 7AM... We'll have 3 hours in DL to do anything we missed... We'll need to be out of our room by 11AM and in a taxi by midday... Off to Vegas after that...

I know, I know, It's a busy plan... It's only two adults and we are both reasonably fit... We'll get a good 6-8 hours sleep on the plane before arriving, with a bit of help from modern medicine... Heat isn't a problem, we're used to it

So really my question is... Discounting the fact that we'll probably kill ourselves trying to do it, is it possible? Does anyone have any suggestions that might make it a bit easier? I'm scouring the forums looking for tips on viewing the various parades and shows, but any tips will be appreciated...

Thanks in advance for all your help

 

[iceskatejen]

You really won't need that much time in DCA as there isn't that much to do. Other than a few rides and the Aladdin show, there really isn't that much to do during the day.

 

[disneyochem]

Yes, I agree. While my family loves DCA and we spend a lot of time there, I think you can eliminate some of your time there. We tend to spend a lot of time in the Animation building, Redwood Challenge, and Bug's Land, areas that you will find that once around is sufficient. I would suggest that, to beat the crowds, you hit DL early Sunday morning and then head back over to DCA when DL starts to get crowded, around noon.

 

[Runey]

Thanks for the fast reply... It would be great if we can get out of DCA earlier... If we could squeeze in the DL Parade on day two, along with the fireworks and Fantasmic, that would be awesome... It would leave a full day for rides in DL Any ideas on a rough estimate of how long for DCA?

EDIT: We won't be doing the Redwood Challenge and only a little of A Bug's Land... No kids So we'll have a look around but won't go on most of the rides... Thanks for the suggestion about alternating between the parks... I'll throw some scenarios into RideMax and see what happens

 

[disneyochem]

I think your half day at DCA on Day 1 will be enough. You are heading back to DCA on Day 2 for Ariel's Grotto, so pick up those places you missed then (probably, outside of lunch, two hours max).

And, as a person who has seen the Ugly Bug Ball a number of times (both of my kids have been called up to participate), if you are pressed for time, I would suggest cutting that out. Cute, but not particularly exciting. I would strongly recommend that you see Turtle Crush--now that show is pure Disney Magic and adults love it as much as kids!

 

[Runey]

I've got to type faster See my EDIT above...

Well it's a relief that I may have over planned my time at DCA... Cause I'm sure I've under planned it at DL... I want to cram it all in, but not to the point where it spoils all the fun...

If we find ourselves just hanging around waiting for parades at DCA then we will definatelty squeeze in as many rides as possible... Need to free up as much time for DL... I'm scared silly of the crowds... Did WDW back in 2002 in Fall and we walked onto every ride (first onto Space Mountain, and got a certificate to prove it )

 

[LAinSEA]

One suggestion I have for you is to consider having breakfast at Knott's. The same place that does the chicken dinner (which is also quite good), does a wonderful breakfast also.

DCA, depending on the heat, can really be done in a single day. This park has a great deal of concrete and it seems so much hotter to me than DL. It is really very beautiful in the evening, however, with California Screamin' all lit up and the other rides around the water. DL can also be done in a single day with some willingness to be ready to go in when the gates open and hit the mountains first, but you miss a great deal of the things that make DL special if you rush.

-Laurie

 

[Surroundedbyboys]

Make sure you use the fast pass system for the rides! Especially Soaring over Ca. That can have very long lines. The Bug's Life show is fun to see too, with or without kids.

 

[Runey]

Thanks guys for your suggestions... I'm using RideMax to help me with planning, so that takes FastPass into account...

I've just realised that I've ot a 4 day pass... That means no entry into the parks for us on our last day We'd only have 3 hours in the morning before needing to head off... Is it worth upgrading the ticket to a 5 day pass, assuming that's possible, for an extra 3 hours... If I can upgrade, when is the lastest I can do that? (I'm about to do a search so I may answer my own question)

EDIT: I answered most of my own question I can upgrade and I don;t have to do it until the last day I'm still unsure as to how I go about upgrading it though and what the cost would be...