Cast of Characters:
- Me (56 year old, pretty experienced with DL, last trip in 2017 (solo), prior to that I went with my sister in January 2016, at least 10 trips prior to that; 3 trips to WDW; good planner and researcher)
- DisSis (my sister, 52 year old, very experienced, Magic Key holder since 2009, at least 2 trips per year since then; 3 trips to WDW, knows the shortest path to everything and how to find a bathroom from every inch of the park)
Late additions – joined us just on our last day
- DN (my nephew, DisSis’ son, 23, very experienced, Magic Key holder for many years when still living with DisSis)
- DNGF (my nephew’s girlfriend, 24, this was her third trip)
Logistics:
- Park Days: 5 (arriving about 10:00 am on Saturday January 28 through about 3:00 pm on Wednesday February 1) with partial days due to travel on day 1 and 5
- Accommodations: Disneyland Hotel
- Travel: Flying from SeaTac Airport to John Wayne Airport
- Ground Transportation: My sister arranged for travel from airport to hotel with the company she regularly uses
- Payment: We are splitting costs as evenly as possible (I paid for my ticket separately, because she has an annual pass); we are splitting hotel, ground transportation, food we share, tips, etc. She kept a tally as we went along, and it worked out great
Planning:
We’ve been planning for a while, and talking regularly about each of our priorities, including dining reservations, quick service locations we wanted to try, rides, shows, and other attractions. She shared some of the vlogs that she views, especially about food, so that we could better prioritize. We talked via phone nearly daily for a few months, and shared new things we learned. We decided who would try for each of the dining reservations on the specific day, and made most of them at exactly 60 days out. We made modifications to those as we further planned our time. We talked a lot about our park reservations, and how to maximize chances to get on Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, since it was opening on the Friday before we arrived. One thing we talked about a lot was where to start our day on Saturday. This was a travel day, so we could not rope drop. We had scheduled World of Color for this night and Fantasmic! for Sunday, originally, and we thought about starting in Disney’s California Adventure (DCA), but we also knew we wanted to have a chance to ride Haunted Mansion too. Ultimately, it wasn’t available for her to switch her park reservation to DCA so we started in Disneyland (DL).
My priorities included World of Color (it’s always been dark when I’ve been before), Lunar New Year, Mickey and Friends Cavalcade, Tale of the Lion King, Magic Key Terrace (because I couldn’t get in without her), and Jolly Holiday Bakery Café. The rides I had not been on before are Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind (I had been on the Bug’s Land version of this), Rise of the Resistance, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Spiderman: Web Slingers, and Millennial Falcon: Smugglers Run (although I had been on this at WDW).
Her priorities included Haunted Mansion (only open on Saturday and Sunday), Big Thunder, Guardians of the Galaxy, Incredicoaster, Plaza Inn, and Jolly Holiday Bakery Café (especially the new treats). She had never been on Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Disneyland, but she had ridden it at WDW.
Our general plans:
Saturday, January 28:
- Arrive at hotel
- Start at DL, do whatever we can on left side of the park
- Haunted Mansion and Tale of the Lion King are the priorities
- Maybe eat at Bengal Barbeque or The Golden Horseshoe
- Hop to DCA for evening ADR at Magic Key Terrace and World of Color Dessert Party
Sunday, January 29:
- Rope drop DL
- Try for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway Virtual Queue
- Fantasyland during early entry, skipping Peter Pan
- Haunted Mansion
- Plaza Inn ADR
- Fantasmic! Premium Dining Package
Monday, January 30
- Rope drop DL
- Try for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway Virtual Queue
- Tomorrowland during early entry
- Jolly Holiday
- Wine Country Trattoria ADR (get World of Color package if we want to see it again)
Tuesday, January 31
- Rope drop DCA
- Do as much as we can
- Goofy’s Kitchen ADR at 12:15
- Rest
- Carnation Café ADR at 6:20
- Disneyland After Dark: Sweetheart Nite Party for as long as we can stay up
Wednesday, February 1
- Rope drop DL
- Try for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway Virtual Queue
- Favorites or missed attractions during early entry and the rest of the day
- Hope to DCA when able
- Leave at 3:00 to make 3:30 ride to airport
- Fly home
Park Reservations:
- Saturday: DL
- Sunday: DL
- Monday: DL
- Tuesday: DCA
- Wednesday: DL
ADRs:
- Magic Key Terrace, January 28, 5:05
- Plaza Inn, January 29, 9:50
- Wine Country Trattoria, January 30, 1:40 (modified from dinner time in early January)
- Goofy’s Kitchen, January 31, 12:15 (modified from 11:00 and then 12:45)
- Blue Bayou, January 31, 6:00 (canceled in early January)
- Carnation Café, January 31, 6:20 (modified from 5:30, added in mid-January)
Extras:
- World of Color Dessert Party, January 28, 8:00 seating, 9:00 show
- Fantasmic! Premium Package at River Belle Terrace January 29, 7:15 (canceled by Disney before our trip – we were bummed, but it ended up being fine)
- Disneyland After Dark: Sweetheart Nite Party, January 31 (added soon after tickets became available)