Planning time - I need your help to simplify everything down for me please

Scorpion1024

Scorpion1024

Earning My Ears
Joined
Feb 13, 2017
Hi guys.

I really need some help/advice. Mostly I need everything simplified for me.

I have spent approx 12 hours reading blogs, pinterest, downloading and navigating through all of the DL apps.

I am headed down April 24-30th. We are there weekdays only (leaving on a Sat) Myself, sis-in law and 10 year old son (turning 10 on 25th)

Here is my schedule so far and I need some help filling it all in.
(M)24 - Pick up DL passes. Head to Pirate's Dinner Theatre for 7pm. - already booked
(T)25 - Son's Birthday. Head to DL. (Should I use magic morning here?)
(W)26 - Universal Studios - already booked with transportation.
(Th) 27 - CL?
(F) 28 - DL?
We didn't buy a hopper. We bought 1 park 1 day.
I need to fill in the schedule. We plan to eat breakfast at the hotel in our room, bring some snacks into the park. Maybe not eat lunch if we have our own snacks. Also we want to try one DL or CL "special treat" every day and maybe have a sit down dinner somewhere - DTD or DL/CL? I don't want to break the bank though. I don't mind having 1 expensive meal one night if the rest of recently priced.

I need the different parades and fireworks explained. Which ones I should plan for which days. We want to enjoy each one - but none of them more than once. We *MIGHT* want to head back to our hotel in the afternoon for a break and swim. Then come back out at dinner time if this is suggested.

We have a downloaded "big kid" schedule of rides to hit over 3 days at the parks so I have that part sorted out.
I don't think we want to do any character meals - or I should say "pay big bucks" for the character meals. My son will be 10 and calls people dressed up - "mascots" haha. So unless it's Jack Sparrow or Captain Hook, I can't see him being overly excited about the characters. Tell me though if you think differently!

I haven't been to DL since 1994 so I don't remember much!
I thank you ALL in advance for the help!
 
My thoughts/recommendations:
  1. Not sure what you mean by "CL." I'm assuming you mean DCA (California Adventure)?
  2. Yes - use your Magic Morning entry on Tuesday!
  3. CA on Thurs & DL on Fri are good ideas.
  4. If you want to see fireworks, then plan on seeing fireworks on Tuesday...assuming that fireworks are on the DL schedule that day. Sometimes during different times of year, they will only do fireworks on weekends. If this is the case, then see fireworks on Friday. But be aware that if there's Santa Ana type winds, then fireworks can be cancelled at the last minute.
  5. To look at menus and prices of all the restaurants in DL and DCA and DTD, go to http://allears.net/dlr/dining/menus.htm. That's what I do when I want to figure out what I want to pay and what type of food will satisfy my crew.
  6. I think that there are 2 Main Street Electrical Parade showings a night. Just look at the DL Entertainment Schedule when they post it on their website (which is usually ~ 6 weeks ahead of time). If your DS can stay up later 1 evening, then see the 2nd parade instead of the earlier one. It will make it easier to get a good spot to see it.
  7. If your son likes super heroes, DL/DCA has super hero meet & greets now. Characters & locations are listed on the Disneyland app.
 
1) Take a deep breath; it should be fun.

2) Why do you call Disney's California Adventure, CL? DCA is the common acronym.

3) You said Magic Morning but also 1-park tickets. MM is only for 3+ day hoppers.

4) If 1 days tickets, then yes, DL, DCA, DL is a good pattern.

5) We love to do a big breakfast, snack until 2 or 3, then one big meal when the restaurants are less crowded between "normal" meal times.

6) Disneyland has an afternoon parade, evening parade and fireworks. The evening parade runs twice, just before and after fireworks. Pretty easy to to the nightime (main street electric parade = MSEP) just before or after fireworks. We like to hang out around the parade route, say inside frontierland, during first msep, then go out into the street to watch fireworks (best place is just outside tomorrowland, in the street, where you can see both matterhorn, castle and all between). Then when the fireworks end, grab a spot in the curb for the 2nd MSEP.

7) IF you are going to head back to the hotel, do it early afternoon, before you are tired. If you go back at 2, then you are rested by 4 and ready to head back to the parks. If you wait until you are tired like 4 or 5, then you go to the room, rest until 7 or 8... then are like, meh, not worth going back to the parks.
 


There are currently two parades, fireworks, and World of Color. The parades, Soundsational (daytime) and Main Street Electric Parade (night time), are presented in Disneyland, along with the fireworks. Given your dates, there is a chance that you won't see fireworks. Outside of peak season, fireworks are usually only presented on weekends (Fri to Sun). The operating schedule is posted about 45-days in advance, but entertainment being added sometime after that. World of Color is presented in DCA (usually nightly).

In terms of heading back to the hotel...that's pretty much a personal preference. We used to take mid-afternoon breaks when the kids were very little (<3 years) and needed a nap, but on the last few trips we've skipped that. The kids didn't want to take time away from the parks to rest in the hotel (or even swim). The afternoon is usually the busiest time during the day in the parks, but it's always when the afternoon parade is presented. Also, during non-peak season, the parks tend to run on shorter hours during the weekdays, so you might be losing a bigger chunk of time (proportional to the number of hours open) if you go back.

In terms of food...there aren't a lot of inexpensive TS options inside the parks or even in DTD. I would consider looking at some of the CS locations within the parks (there are some pretty tasty options). I really like the Plaza Inn (lunch/dinner is CS, breakfast is a character meal) and French Market. There is also the Food Review thread here on the Disboard, which has photos and review from fellow Dis'ers.

Jack Sparrow doesn't meet guests in the parks anymore (except during the Halloween Party), but I think Captain Hook is sometimes in the park. Check the Disneyland App to see if he's listed on the day you're there.

As agamble said, you need to pre-purchase your tickets in order to get Magic Morning. If you wait to buy your tickets at the ticket booth, they do not include Magic Morning.
 
I think your schedule of days looks pretty good. Sounds like a well thought out plan. Be sure to be at the parks about 30 minutes before opening each day, even on your MM day. We often bring in snacks too, and you can definitely skip lunch or bring enough snacks to qualify as a lunch to save some money and just buy a good dinner. You might want to eat your special treat around that time to help keep your tummys full too.

Keep an eye on the schedule. Your week is post spring break and pre grad parties, so it's a pretty good time to go crowd wise. But be aware that the hours and entertainment offerings may be less. And be prepared for closures, maybe even something big like Indy. The schedule begins to get pretty correct around 30 days out. Generally I would suggest an afternoon break/rest/swim, but with two adults and a ten year old that really depends on park hours. You have a spread out itinerary and you're only visiting Disney for three days. The hours aren't going to be 8 to midnight, and it isn't going to be super hot. So you could probably get by without the midday nap/swim/rest time. Though that may depend on the temperament of everyone in your party.

I would definitely look into visiting some characters, but I probably wouldn't spend the money on a meal if you know it's not a big priority for him. He may enjoy meeting Mickey and friends plus Star Wars characters and Super Heroes though. And you'll likely enjoy the pictures you take of him for years to come. Remember that any character handler CM will take pictures with your own camera, so you do not have to purchase the photo packages they offer.
 


dshimel said:
1) Take a deep breath; it should be fun.

2) Why do you call Disney's California Adventure, CL? DCA is the common acronym.

3) You said Magic Morning but also 1-park tickets. MM is only for 3+ day hoppers.

4) If 1 days tickets, then yes, DL, DCA, DL is a good pattern.

5) We love to do a big breakfast, snack until 2 or 3, then one big meal when the restaurants are less crowded between "normal" meal times.

6) Disneyland has an afternoon parade, evening parade and fireworks. The evening parade runs twice, just before and after fireworks. Pretty easy to to the nightime (main street electric parade = MSEP) just before or after fireworks. We like to hang out around the parade route, say inside frontierland, during first msep, then go out into the street to watch fireworks (best place is just outside tomorrowland, in the street, where you can see both matterhorn, castle and all between). Then when the fireworks end, grab a spot in the curb for the 2nd MSEP.

7) IF you are going to head back to the hotel, do it early afternoon, before you are tired. If you go back at 2, then you are rested by 4 and ready to head back to the parks. If you wait until you are tired like 4 or 5, then you go to the room, rest until 7 or 8... then are like, meh, not worth going back to the parks.
Click to expand...
Just noticed on the DL website today that 3 day 1 park per day tickets also include one MM entry. :)
 
This is amazing advice! Thank you everyone. I am eating it all up!

Sorry about the CL - I have been calling it "California land" for the last few weeks. haha. Now I will call it by it's proper name and acronym. DCA.

I love these suggestions so much. I think you all might be right. We don't necessarily need to go back to the hotel - considering my son's age, the hours of the parks and the temperature. I guess I feel a little silly now for picking a hotel with a pool. He might enjoy it after the park if it's still open.

We booked our 1 park, 1 day 3 day pass already through our travel agent. So my plan was to go down and exchange our vouchers for the passes on our way to the Pirate's dinner - the day before the passes start. Our flight comes in early so we have a few hours that day. It is written on my package ( as someone said above) that we do get a magic morning.

Can someone give me details on the super hero meet&greet? Is this just informal? It would be pretty neat if they had a character breakfast geared towards older boys with super heros!

I really hope (fingers crossed) that Indiana is NOT closed while we are there. My son loves Indiana.

So technically there are 2 types of parades, fireworks and World of Color? Should I plan to do them all in one day? To get the chaos of them out of the way? (This is sort of how I am feeling... like they are chaotic?) Or should I plan 1 for each day? Or a different plan? I want the least busy options. This is of course assuming that we get to see the fireworks. Maybe Friday?

Let's say we do not go back to the hotel, I am leaning towards paying for a meal that includes preferred viewing for the parade. So incorporating our dinner with a preferred area to watch the parade from. Which I am going back and forth between BB and Oasis on the go. I might even do BB lunch and afternoon parade. Then splurge for WOC dessert a different night. I am just unsure how I incorporate fireworks.

Also - is WOC and the Dessert party on the DCA side? So I should plan that for my DCA day? (Thurs)?

Does DCA have their own parade?

Thank you!!
 
The super heroes meet in DCA near the Hyperion theater. There is a wall set up, used to be Monster's U but now it's themed to Spider-Man. Currently Spider-Man and Captain America can be found there. They will be adding Groot, but not until late May. No character meal, just a meet and greet.

If Mickey's Soundsational Parade is playing it will be afternoon. There is no showing today, but it looks like there is in late March, so hopefully when you go there will be. It's playing at 4:30 on March 30. The evening parade is nightly, and plays once or twice depending on hours. That is the one the meal reservations would be for. You could do the evening parade and the fireworks on the same night as you could easily watch the fireworks from where you viewed the parade. DCA does not currently have an afternoon parade. They used to have a Pixar Play parade, but it's not running and based on the Summer of Heroes information we were given I have a feeling it may not be returning this summer either. WOC is at DCA, so you can only watch it on the night you are at DCA. If you want to do the dessert reservation, you'll have to book it for that night.
 
Scorpion1024 said:
We booked our 1 park, 1 day 3 day pass already through our travel agent. So my plan was to go down and exchange our vouchers for the passes on our way to the Pirate's dinner - the day before the passes start.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure exactly what type of vouchers you got from the travel agent, but when we buy our tickets online and have print-out vouchers, we're able to exchange them for physical tickets at the turnstiles as we enter the first day. It only takes a moment so there's really no advantage to exchanging them the night before (if that's even something you can do - I've never tried). But your vouchers might be different, so look at them and see if they tell you to take them to the entrance or to the ticket booth.
Scorpion1024 said:
So technically there are 2 types of parades, fireworks and World of Color? Should I plan to do them all in one day? To get the chaos of them out of the way? (This is sort of how I am feeling... like they are chaotic?) Or should I plan 1 for each day? Or a different plan? I want the least busy options. This is of course assuming that we get to see the fireworks. Maybe Friday?
Click to expand...
Depending on where you want to sit for the parade, doing the nighttime parade at Disneyland and the fireworks on the same day works well. But World of Color is in DCA, so you won't be able to do that the same day (even if you had park hoppers, the timing would be really difficult). It doesn't make much difference which day you do the afternoon parade. I believe the dining packages you're looking at are for the evening parade. As far as I know nothing like that is offered for the afternoon parade.
 
agamble said:
The super heroes meet in DCA near the Hyperion theater. There is a wall set up, used to be Monster's U but now it's themed to Spider-Man. Currently Spider-Man and Captain America can be found there. They will be adding Groot, but not until late May. No character meal, just a meet and greet.

If Mickey's Soundsational Parade is playing it will be afternoon. There is no showing today, but it looks like there is in late March, so hopefully when you go there will be. It's playing at 4:30 on March 30. The evening parade is nightly, and plays once or twice depending on hours. That is the one the meal reservations would be for. You could do the evening parade and the fireworks on the same night as you could easily watch the fireworks from where you viewed the parade. DCA does not currently have an afternoon parade. They used to have a Pixar Play parade, but it's not running and based on the Summer of Heroes information we were given I have a feeling it may not be returning this summer either. WOC is at DCA, so you can only watch it on the night you are at DCA. If you want to do the dessert reservation, you'll have to book it for that night.
Click to expand...

Great! Thank you so much agamble. This is perfectly simplified for me!
 
In addition to the parades(soundsational, MSEP) and nighttime spectaculars (fireworks, WoC), each park has a big show (Mickey and the Magical Map at DL, Frozen Musical at DCA) and a host of smaller fun shows like Jedi Academy, Stroytime at Royal Theater, Newsies, Dapper Dans, Disneyland band, etc.

It can be fun to try to schedule those in for the afternoons when the parks are at peak crowds.
 
I don't think missing Soundsational is any great loss to a 10 year old, especially a boy. Unless he has some specialy interest in dance or music. Look at Jedi Training and see if that's something he'd want to do. If fireworks are going on Tues, try to see them. That way you have a 2nd shot on Fri if they don't happen. Of the other shows, Royal Theater are short princess shows in DL, Newsies and Five & Dime are short singing/dancing in DCA that have limited appeal to younger kids. Dapper Dans (barbershop quartet) and marching bad play Disney songs. I wouldn't plan to see them, but if you happen upon them it's ok to listen to a song or 2 and move on. Same for Newsies, watch a wong and move on. The only ones with an actual theater and show times (besides Royal Hall) are Frozzen and Mickey and the Magical Map. It's an outdoor theater, you can buy food or take food in, it's near IASW and Toontown, so you can try to time it with a Roger Rabbit FP. If you're going to plan for 2 shows, I'd do Jedi Training, which you schedule in the morning and Mickey.
 
I appreciate all of the advice I have received here!

Here is my revised schedule with questions:

(M)24 - Land at LAX. Use Uber to hotel. Head to Pirate's Dinner Theatre for 7pm. - already booked using ART shuttle. To Downtown Disney then over to Pirate's Dinner Theatre.
(T)25 - Son's Birthday. Use magic morning. Sign up for Jedi Training first. Book BB MSEP. (Hoping for Fireworks but if no fireworks then hopefully Fri)
(W)26 - Universal Studios - already booked with transportation.
(Th) 27 - DCA - Book WOC Dessert Party.
(F) 28 - DL - Just hitting all of the rides/attractions that we want to repeat from Tuesday. Possibly Fireworks if not on Tuesday.

I am uncertain what time or where exactly we want to eat on Thursday or Friday. It will likely be a later lunch. The park will (statistically) not be busy on Thursday. Friday starting to get busy.
Question - Do I *have* to book a reservation where we eat on Thursday at DCA or Friday at DL?
We are interested in maybe The Cove Bar, Café Orleans, Carnation Café, Plaza Inn.

At BB MSEP - do we ask for a water table? My son is a HUGE POTC fan.
Also - I can reserve this 60 days in advance but the schedule doesn't come out until 6 weeks before. What happens if there isn't an MSEP on the day we book? Or the dinner reservation time is while MSEP is playing?
 
Scorpion1024 said:
I am uncertain what time or where exactly we want to eat on Thursday or Friday. It will likely be a later lunch. The park will (statistically) not be busy on Thursday. Friday starting to get busy.
Question - Do I *have* to book a reservation where we eat on Thursday at DCA or Friday at DL?
We are interested in maybe The Cove Bar, Café Orleans, Carnation Café, Plaza Inn.

At BB MSEP - do we ask for a water table? My son is a HUGE POTC fan.
Also - I can reserve this 60 days in advance but the schedule doesn't come out until 6 weeks before. What happens if there isn't an MSEP on the day we book? Or the dinner reservation time is while MSEP is playing?
Click to expand...

If you want a table service restaurant, you should book a reservation. If it's not busy you can do same day reservations. Plaza Inn is not a table service restaurant and does not do reservations. Cove Bar also doesn't take reservations because it's not considered a table service restaurant. The line for Cove bar has gotten long.

If there is no MSEP on the day you book you can cancel your reservation 24 hours or more in advance if you want. But I would expect there to be one every day unless it rains, and that you can't foretell.
 
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