Help with a DLR basic plan of attack for short trip

Disneyland
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Disneyland first timer going with family of four – two 16-year olds – for 1 1/2 days in March. Before I even start considering touring plans, meals, etc., I need some good advice on a basic plan of attack. A framework, if you will. Here’s what we know:

We will arrive from points in L.A. by car to DLR by dinnertime on Tues. Mar. 24 (CL 7). Ready to hit a park that night (maybe make it by late afternoon, if lucky). We are staying at the Disneyland Hotel. We plan to rope drop and do a “full day” Wed. Mar. 25 (CL 6). Fly home Thurs. morning.

What I’m wrestling with is how to approach where we should go when? For instance: Jump into DL when we arrive that night, hit it again the next morning for rope drop, then over to DCA early afternoon through close?

Some points on our interests:

–We have been to WDW three wonderful times, and the teens are game to skip some repeaters. Although yes, I fully realize we do not want to skip them all. Maybe even skip Star Wars altogether?

–I want to make sure to get unique dining experiences in. Defintely will want enjoyable table service for dinners both nights.

–Kids like thrill rides. We are less interested in shows.

I know one night and one full day is not a lot, which is why I could really use some direction on a basic plan of attack before starting to figure out more of the details. (Full disclosure: there is a chance we could get one more day, but we won’t know until much closer. :crossed_fingers: )

Please help! THANK YOU!

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I should add, we are willing to spring for LL Multi Pass. At least for our full day.

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One of the most helpful DLR-centric forum members is currently on a cruise. When she gets back I’m sure she will respond vigorously.

I’m nowhere near the pro she is, but I’d actually consider doing one PM at each park for nighttime entertainment.

I LOVE the “best” coast much more than WDW for a number of reasons, one of which is proximity.

I’d head directly to DCA and do Radiator Springs, with SR for RSR. I’d also enjoy Incredicoaster, Wheel of Death, and GOTG which are all icons IMO. See WOC.

Day 2 I’d book to DL Fantasyland and knock out all the park specific dark rides (PP, Pinocchio, Alice, Snow White, Canal Boats, and IASW. Roger Rabbit. M(B)atterhorn. Then enjoy the variations of Space, Pirates, BTMR, and Pooh. Check out Indiana Jones.

If you knock all those out of the park, you could scoot to DCA til PM entertainment at DL. I love the way they do Fantasmic there. YMMV.

It’s so much fun at DLR.

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I will keep singing the praises on how easy it is to hop from DL to DCA

This picture was taken while standing at the DL exit! The “hop” is a 3 minute walk, and that’s taking it slow.

@Jeff_AZ also compiled a list of comparing rides between Disneyland and WDW.

SW:GE are clones, the rides are virtually identical. So they can be skipped. TSM, Star Tours are clones. Ariel’s Undersea Adventure is a copy of Journey of the Little Mermaid from Fantasyland. A lot of the “older” rides do have some changes between the two versions.

I think that WDW has better versions of JC, Peter Pan, Pooh.

DL has better versions of HM, Pirates, MB (vs ToT). RSR (vs TT), IC (vs RnRC, though really close).

Jeff and I disagree on which version of small world is better :smiley:

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I would start with Disneyland and try to focus your time on what is new or unique to CA. Hop to DCA whenever you feel ready for a change of pace, but doing the following morning at DL is also prudent since it’s the bigger park with more to do. That said, morning at DCA is also beneficial to take advantage of shorter waits for all the thrill rides.

My favorites are Cafe Orleans at DL and Wine Country Trattoria at DCA (in pleasant weather only).

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THANK YOU all for all this intel. And please keep it coming.

Ok, definitely taking notes on rides and restaurants.

Now, in terms of plan of attack… Sounds like I’ve got one for start at DCA and one for DL? But are you also suggesting that I should have time on night one to park hop? Hadn’t really considered that. Is one park typically more crowded at nights? (Admittedly mid week.)

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DCA usually closes before DL. At that time of the year expect DL to close at 10 and DCA at 9. WOC should be running at that time but Fantasmic! probably won’t be running during the week. And there won’t be fireworks but should still have a projection show.

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Ok, great point. Fwiw, Touring Plans currently has DCA closing at 10pm and DL closing at midnight for both nights. Additionally, TP has DCA as a CL 8 on Tuesday and a CL 7 on Wed. They have DL as 6 on Tues. and a 5 on Wed.

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This is entirely possible with your trip being near Spring Break. Disneyland closes at midnight more often than not these days.

It really depends on what time you actually get into the park and how much you want to get a taste of each park vs. thoroughly exploring one before moving on to the next. It’s up to your style. But yes, you could easily hop on night one if you want. If it really is 10pm vs. midnight, it might make sense to start at DCA and hop to DL around 9 or 10.

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I am not a DLR expert, but crashing briefly to say that random character interactions are something special for DL as well. I wish they had more of them at WDW…

(When we visited in 2019, my then 2 year old played Duck duck goose and other games with Peter Pan, and Captain Hook showed up.)

I follow a couple of people on Instagram who post DLR character interactions regularly. Even if you don’t want to meet characters directly, it might be worth building in time to watch if you come across something?

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A day and an afternoon/evening is definitely short but with park hoppers, LLMP and knowing your priorities of rides ahead of time, you’ll be in the best position to get the most of it.

I would definitely get LLMP for the full day, and for the partial day, wait until you arrive at DLR and first check what availability there is for any LL’s before deciding on purchasing it.

Based on the hours from last year at that time, it looks like they could go as late as 10pm for DCA and midnight for DL. I highly recommend taking full advantage of as late as you can for those hours because they can be just as glorious as early.

With teens I would definitely start that afternoon in DCA and go for a couple of the rides they are most excited for that are unique to DCA that don’t have prohibitive waits (or if you bought LLMP, ones that you can still get LL’s for in the later afternoon). Incredicoaster or GotG:MB are favorites of my teen/tween kids, and ones they love repeat rides of. Goofy’s Sky School is also one they like but is basically a wild mouse coaster so nothing especially unique to DLR, but fits the bill of some thrill and fun. Radiator Springs Racers is also pure fun (not really high thrills) but it’s definitely a must-do (it won’t be an LLMP option but does have a good single rider line & the LLSP isn’t a terribly high price for one shot at riding it together without a 60+ min wait).

For dinner in DCA, Wine Country is good choice with the ambiance and menu. I also would strongly recommend taking a look at the excellent quick service options in DCA to have more time doing things in the parks. The San FranSokyo area has awesome options that are readily available on mobile order (the seating may be tricky if you eat at peak mealtimes though because there’s never enough seats). We also love Award Weiner’s and and Carsland also has some great options between Flo’s and the Cozy Cones, plus you could time it to be in Carsland to see the neon lighting at sunset that’s a quick option to catch some of the fun ambiance/entertainment without spending a lot of time away from rides.

Then I would definitely hop to DLR after dinner and choose an area you’re most excited about to knock out some rides but be warned that any time you want to cross around the park you’ll have to navigate busy walk-ways due to all the nighttime entertainment offerings. You’ll either want to stick to the “West Side” (Adventureland/New Orleans Square/Pooh Corner) and use Galaxy’s Edge as your pathway to get to anywhere closer to the hub to Fantasyland and also if Fantasmic is scheduled, avoid the Rivers of America and the alleys of New Orleans Square 15 min before and after the show OR stick to the “East Side” in Tomorrowland/Fantasyland/Toontown but generally avoid crossing the parade route especially towards the hub/Main St.

If you watch one nighttime entertainment, I would highly recommend it being the projections from either IASW or Rivers of America for Wondrous Journeys or catching a later showing of the Paint the Night Parade.

If you really don’t want to catch any entertainment though, that can be a good time to knock out some popular rides. If they are not doing fireworks then all the Fantasyland dark rides around the castle will stay open (when they do fireworks they have to close anything in the same building structure as the castle - Snow white, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Mr. Toad’s & the carousel because they launch smaller bursts from that build, and depending on the wind direction, possibly even those directly around the castle have to close too (Storybook Land Canal Boats, Teacups, Alice & even Matterhorn).

Then towards the end of that partial day, I would make a final decision on where you want to start your full day at and with you being an onsite hotel guest you’ll have flexibility to change your park reservation since onsite guests have a separate pool of reservations than day ticket holders or Magic Key pass holders. But I would have an idea of which one you would like to start at based on interests. A one day blitz generally is easier to do by starting in DCA but it will definitely depend on what the group’s interests/high priorities are between the 2 parks and you can evaluate that best after the afternoon/evening of experiencing both. Just be sure to change the reservation if you need to before midnight.

And as for what to skip, I tend to skip Galaxy’s Edge when we are in WDW (the park we are at less than DLR) so I would agree that unless you have a major Star Wars fan, it can be skipped. Also, unless they are family favorites you can also skip Toy Story Midway Mania, Winnie the Pooh, and Little Mermaid and Star Tours. These are all exact copies as their counterparts in WDW with inferior or similar queues to their WDW versions.

Soarin’ may be exactly the same if it’s the Around the World version but in March it’s usually switched over to Soarin’ over California for the DCA Food & Wine festival (which was once upon a time at WDW too but not in awhile). Depending on how you feel about the versions of Soarin’ it might be a high priority or totally skippable).

With teens you could also easily skip Jessie’s Critter Carousel, Jumpin Jellyfish, Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind and Golden Zephyr in DCA. And in DL the teens might not highly prioritize (so could easily skip) teacups, carousel, Casey Jr., Autopia, and the toon coaster in Toontown.

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Fantastic! Thank you so much! Will definitely be circling back with more questions, as I map this out.

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