interested in things different than wdw .
Runway railway is my absolute favorite at Hollywood studios & this is one I’d be interested in seeing the different queue.
Is this something worth going to at rope drop?
What else are great choices for 1st, 2nd, 3rd ride?
Thanks!
Are you staying onsite or offsite?
Peter Pan; that line is insane and you know how lines are mismarked timewise but in your favor. Not that one. It’s been off 45 minutes before
Is it the same as the one at wdw?
We’re not a fan of wdw Peter pan, and if it’s the same, we could skip it.
Off site.
Here’s @Jeff_AZ 's take on the rides between WDW and DLR, similarities and differences, and which ones he thinks is better
It’s pretty similar. It’s a bit shorter I believe and doesn’t have the interesting StandBy Queue but it may have updated LED lighting. But yes if you don’t like WDW’s you prolly won’t like this. So then rope drop one of the other dark rides that does not have G+ like Alice in Wonderland which is one of my favorite’s and unique to this park.
And then do Mr. Toad right after which is right around the corner then Snow White and then Storybook Land Canal Boats after that. None of those have LL and until you get to Storybook Land Canal boats are quick rides so you can knock out a bunch of them quick.
You can hold off on Pinocchio because it will not be a long wait later in the day. But I do actually like that one despite the book’s review. But if you are not a fan of dark rides in general you might as well hit some of the LL attractions early in the day.
That list is great!
Love seeing that!
Does the storybook thing get long long lines as the day goes on?
Yeah, it’s not ever more than an hour-ish but it’s a slow boring line so I always work on knocking out all the stuff in Fantasyland that doesn’t have LL while I stack LL’s for later for the bigger rides.
Another option here is to try and hit after the fireworks. It will have no line and it’s beautiful lit up at night.
This definitely makes a difference.
I agree with you that the queue for MMRR is a “must see”. I adore it, especially because we had just done a WB studio tour and saw a movie at the Chinese theatre in the days before. If you were onsite I would say to rope drop Fantasyland and then go line up to rope drop MMRR when the park opens to everyone.
Since you are offsite - I agree with everyone here - you should defiantly rope drop Fantasyland. Peter Pan sounds skipable for your family. Alice and Snow White are awesome dark rides and should be your first two. I like Pinocchio too, but agree that the line is never too long. Canal boats is super cute and different and can have long waits.
For MMRR, that area is closed during fireworks. Post fireworks is another chance to “rope drop” it.
How many days are you going?
I’m probably weird but I’d say Indy. Yeah, there’s Genie+, but it still takes forever, so I like to do that first thing while the line is low!
I also like to do all the Fantasyland stuff and stack G+, so another vote for that. Do you want any DCA opinions or strictly DL?
2 days, Disneyland only
Im going with dd5 so we are going to skip dca in favor of 2 days at Disneyland
Because of the time change. There’s no way I think we’d make it until fireworks / projections 
im never even up that late.
She hates tower of terror, wouldn’t ride ferris wheel, not tall enough for incredi coster. Doesn’t like kali, so no grisly .
Mermaid, toy story mania, soarin all at wdw so we want to maximize time and budget by doing 2 days at Disneyland.
Using a day at dca or paying for park hopper doesn’t seem worth it for just a few rides.
I think 2 days at Disneyland gives us the best chance to soak it in and enjoy
For Day 1, like everyone else has said, go to the Fantasyland rides that do not have Genie+ first. If you don’t need to do Peter Pan, I recommend starting with Alice. The other 3 dark rides near Peter Pan should have only a 10-15 minute wait that time of day. If you buy Genie+ you can stack rides or re-rides for later.
Storybook Canal may not be open first thing in the morning. And when it opens, sometimes there is only 1-2 boats!
Check out the wait time for the other rides in Fantasyland go from there.
For Day 2, I would go left after RD, going to Jungle Cruise, (Indiana Jones, if your DD is up to it), Pirates, and Winnie the Pooh. If you buy Genie, stack rides for the afternoon.
DL is so small, it is not a big deal to back track. Enjoy!
OHHHH she’s 5. That’s right. Dumbo is a good one first thing too to rope drop, might actually be smartest to hit that. It does not have LL like WDW nor two sets of dumbos.
I love one Fantasyland start and one Adventure/Frontierland start for 2 different Disneyland days.
In Fantasyland, definitely start Alice, Storybook Canal Boats & Snow White. Mr Toad’s & Pinocchio’s are good too, but don’t need to be knocked out so quickly. I would definitely do the boats before Snow White as the newness of the redo for Snow Whites has lessened and so it doesn’t get as backed up as as early. Storybook Canal Boats is extremely slow loading until they start adding boats, so we always try to hit it 1st or 2nd (or wait until we see more boats in rotation & then get in line early).
MMRR also gets lots of dips in the morning & we noticed a lot of inflated wait times this summer/fall. I heard a vlogger the other day who goes frequently state that if the standby line for it is at the door entrance under the marquee (and not spilling out) it’s a 40 min wait. If you see it inside it will be closer to a 30 min wait and if you’re not stopped inside that first room at all, usually less than 30 min. I LOVE that queue at DLR and love the ride on both coasts. So definitely not to be missed. And I would actually try to hit it with a 25-40 min posted wait so you have time to soak in the details of the queue. There are so many fun things and if you’re having to speed past it all because it’s only a 5-15 min wait, you’ll miss fun details, especially if you enjoy & have watched the catalogue of Mickey cartoons.
For the Adventureland start, I also love the idea of starting with Indy. We like to start Big Thunder then Indy (but we hardly ever, ever, every get G+) & the reason we put Indy second is bc it’s one that is notorious for not running right at opening. Jungle Cruise is right next to it and if that is your jam, it doesn’t have G+ and will get a line built so if Indy’s down you can head there first and it won’t be a bad choice. You can try Pirates (has 2x the drops & extended/more scenes than Pirates at WDW) early on too if Indy’s not up. I also like to get the “west side” (Adventureland/Frontierland/New Orleans Square) done early & then get out of doge because the walkways throughout that side get clogged with humanity after 11am.
I get your reasoning for skipping DCA but there is a whole vibe in that park, that even with a mish-mash of repeats from WDW is just all it’s own unique vibe and Carsland is amazing. For Marvel fans, so is Avengers Campus. So hopefully you can come back again another time to get that too. My family loves & spends as much time just relaxing & eating in DCA as we do doing all the rides (my older kids do love all the thrill rides & they are old enough that they take off to do a circuit while DH & I relax with the 2 younger kids- I get that’s not a great option with such a short trip, but DCA’s charms are very much found within it’s chill atmosphere that you don’t quite get in another Disney park- also, the walkways are all so nice & wide and make traffic patterns throughout so much easier than DL and it’s nice to escape the narrow paths of DL for DCA when crowds are higher).
I’m a huge fan of starting the first morning of a trip in Fantasyland. It just feels right to me, and the area gets very crowded later. Add the close proximity of several (mostly short) rides and the lack of G+ for most and it also makes sense from a touring plan perspective.
There are several very valid approaches that can work fine at FL rope drop. We inadvertently started a tradition of Dumbo first. On our most recent trip we then went Toad, Alice, Matterhorn (twice), Casey Jr, Pinocchio, Snow White, and Tea Cups. That took two hours total. Normally we would put Canal Boats right after Alice but wanted to try it at night that trip.
Although it’s technically not FL, the nearby Nemo Subs should also be considered early. The queue is very slow and boring and it’s not on G+. Ideally you’ll get a LL for a ride that breaks down and can use the multi-experience pass on Nemo to skip that line.
How do I use genie here?
Do I get a ticket or something? Can I use my wdw magic band? Im definitely not buying a Disneyland one for 2 days. Haha