Disneyland for a WDW commando family

[SuddenStorm]

I'd do one full day in DL, and one day park hopping, so you can get most stuff done (if not all) and see World of Color as well as DL's night time entertainment.

In my opinion, the best thing to do is know which lines are the longest non FP lines, and which Fast passes go the fastest.

I believe it's best to get fast passes for DL Park in this order
Space Mountain
Star Tours
Indiana Jones
Splash Mountain (but preferably ride at night when the lines are short without a fp)
BTMRR
Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin
Haunted Mansion

I believe best order to ride the rides in the morning is
Peter Pan
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Alice in Wonderland
Matterhorn
(Get Space FP)
Finding Nemo Subs

Since Disneyland is much smaller than Magic Kingdom in terms of size, it's easier to go between lands to ride the rides.

A few other notes:
Toontown closes early for the fireworks
Pooh will be short all day
Pirates has the longest line between 12-4, then it usually gets shorter
Splash Mountain is often walk on at night, especially in November. Seats 3,4,5,6 rarely get wet.
Jungle Cruise should have a shorter line at night.
Fantasyland will have the longest lines between 12-6, but part of it closes for the fireworks in the evening. Ride the canal boats early, as they don't reopen after the fireworks.
The morning and the last hour the park is open should be the best time to ride most rides, during the day is the best time to eat, utilize fast passes, and knock off Toontown.

It is very possible to get every DL attraction done in a day (I've done it) and with the Railroad closed and no Fantasmic, it's even easier- but don't forget to slow down during the day and enjoy the atmosphere, some of the small diversions like the dapper dans, the DL band, , character photos, etc.

 

[LongLiveTheKing]

Of the places you have available for dinner, Goofy's Kitchen is more of a breakfast place. I haven't heard of people really liking dinner there. You also have Storyteller's Cafe (basically a less expensive Goofy's Kitchen) for breakfast and Napa Rose (Everyone says it's got better food than Blue Bayou even if BB food is still good and has the atmosphere aspect nailed) dinner both in the Grand Californian as options. To get to the Grand Californian easily, there is a tunnel leading to it next to Anna and Elsa's in Downtown Disney. If the monorail is open (it's been closing at noon recently) you can hop on it from Tomorrowland and basically be right at the Disneyland Hotel and Goofy's Kitchen which is on the first floor of it. Using the monorail makes going from Tomorrowland to Disneyland Hotel a breeze so don't be afraid to escape from the park and back for Goofy's Kitchen as long as it's running.

Unlike WDW, park hopping isn't as big of a time burner since you can just walk across the plaza to get to the other park. I didn't do it much in my August trip cause yes it wastes time but it's not an absolute no.

Thunder Mountain here does NOT require a fast pass so don't burn one on it. The longest wait for it is ever 20 minutes and it's usually more like 5 - 10 minutes.

Pirates is a mess during the afternoon. Go in the morning or evening. Haunted Mansion is a similar situation but not nearly as bad even in afternoon. However, even afternoon they're around 20-25 minutes so they're not a no go during that time.

Splash Mountain is best early morning or late at night but this is really a fp or single rider only ride or you're gonna be stuck with 40+ minute waits, and that's the LOW end of standby. Indiana Jones Adventure follows the same rules. I never really found a good way to get on Space Mountain since I was never in that area of the park and standby was usually 1 and 1/2 hours.

BE IN THE PLACE YOU WANT TO BE BEFORE FIREWORK CROWDS START. Before and during fireworks, Main Street becomes a nightmare to navigate and you have to go counterclockwise in central main street near the statue in a slow crowd so if you want to go from the entrance to the west or north areas of the park you're totally screwed. This is made even worse by the fact that the trains won't be running again until next year so you have no way to bypass the parade maze. If you get lucky, they'll open up the overflow tunnel to the right of the entrance but even that only really helps you get to Tomorrowland. Because of SW land construction, you also have no way to get from the west (Frontierland/Adventureland and west of that) to the north areas because the Fantasyland -> Frontierland path is closed off right now.

You're getting the app already so you're basically set since you have all the ride times lol. Have fun.

 

[Californian Elitist]

^^^ I disagree about Pirates. Even with a lot of people, the lines always move fast (due to high capacity of course), even during the afternoon.

 

[LongLiveTheKing]

Keep in mind many of the rides are DCA are the same as WDW and often the less impressive version (no queue or shorter ride).

It goes both ways. ToT DCA is inferior but California Screamin, Grizzly River Run and when it was Soarin' Over California are/were basically better than Rock N Roller Coaster, Kali Rapids and SOW. Regardless, probably best to try them all at least once to see whT the differences are.

So would you advise getting park hopper tickets and maybe looking at doing a very late breakfast/brunch at the Plaza Inn one of the days? It looks like there's a lot of character variety there.

Plaza Inn isn't a must imo. I used to love it as a kid but now it's disappointing. It's fried/roasted chicken, pasta with bread to double down on carbs and grains and some decent full meal salads. They have a desert section and I think they had meatloaf as well but it's mostly... Kind of junk food crap.

These are good points. However, I have been conditioned to think of park hopping as a 1-1.5 hour process at WDW. It's all a matter of persepective, I guess. You DLR folks are spoiled rotten!

It's funny, one of the issues I know I'm going to come upon when I eventually visit WDW is the whole having to ride something to get to another park thing, especially to get to Disney Springs. Not being able to walk to the other resorts is such an alien concept to me.

and then just keep going with rides and the occasional Dole Whip until having a late dinner around 8.

A note about Disneyland Dole Whip: Both lines are ALWAYS busy. It's insane. It's at least 7-10 minutes no matter what line you choose during all hours. To not wait in the lines you have to get super lucky. However, you very well may be waiting for Tiki Room and will be next to the line anyway so it can be worth it. You're most likely going to be just finishing your purchase of Dole Whip and then "oh look Tiki Room is about to start" rather than waiting for Tiki Room and being stuck in the Dole Whip line which might have you miss the show.

 

[LongLiveTheKing]

^^^ I disagree about Pirates. Even with a lot of people, the lines always move fast (due to high capacity of course), even during the afternoon.

That doesn't change the fact that the line is always way bigger during the afternoon. You're looking at at least 20 minutes when the line is spilling out past the enterance and weaving into the ropes to the right when the sun is overhead. I already said they weren't impossible during the afternoon but it's the worst time to go.

 

[Californian Elitist]

That doesn't change the fact that the line is always way bigger during the afternoon. You're looking at at least 20 minutes when the line is spilling out past the enterance and weaving into the ropes to the right when the sun is overhead. I already said they weren't impossible during the afternoon but it's the worst time to go.

You speak as if 20 minutes is an extremely long wait for a ride. Maybe 20 minutes is too much for you, but that's a short wait time, especially at this time when even Snow White's and Pinocchio's queues are completely full.

OP, I ride Pirates in the afternoon during every visit, and it's always pleasant for me. In my opinion, Pirates isn't one of those rides that is better to experience during a certain time of the day, like Pan. For Pirates, it doesn't matter. This is all based on my personal experience, things may be different for others.

 

[Stevek]

You speak as if 20 minutes is an extremely long wait for a ride. Maybe 20 minutes is too much for you, but that's a short wait time, especially at this time when even Snow White's and Pinocchio's queues are completely full.

OP, I ride Pirates in the afternoon during every visit, and it's always pleasant for me. In my opinion, Pirates isn't one of those rides that is better to experience during a certain time of the day, like Pan. For Pirates, it doesn't matter. This is all based on my personal experience, things may be different for others.

It's funny (or sad) what the whole FP introduction has done to us. In my youth, we regularly stood in 30-60 min lines because we really didn't have an option and it was part of the DL experience...we expected those line. Now, my kids (and me to some extent) see a 30 min line and they think it's too long to wait...let's get a fastpass! Oddly enough, they had no problem waiting 60 min to ride stuff at Six Flags...I guess 200 DL visits in their lifetime (so far) makes waiting 30 min to ride BTM for the 100th time a low priority.

 

[Californian Elitist]

It's funny (or sad) what the whole FP introduction has done to us. In my youth, we regularly stood in 30-60 min lines because we really didn't have an option and it was part of the DL experience...we expected those line. Now, my kids (and me to some extent) see a 30 min line and they think it's too long to wait...let's get a fastpass! Oddly enough, they had no problem waiting 60 min to ride stuff at Six Flags...I guess 200 DL visits in their lifetime (so far) makes waiting 30 min to ride BTM for the 100th time a low priority.

And FPs make the wait times longer!

A 30-minute way could be bad or good for me, depending on the ride. If I walked up to Space Mountain and saw a 30-minute wait, I'd hop in line. However if I walked up to Casey Jr. and saw a 30-minute wait, WITH both trains running, I'd skip it.

Going to a theme park multiple times builds familiarity with common wait times. I can see why your girls were willing to wait for the SFMM rides, but wouldn't react the same way to a DL ride.

 

[Stevek]

And FPs make the wait times longer!

A 30-minute way could be bad or good for me, depending on the ride. If I walked up to Space Mountain and saw a 30-minute wait, I'd hop in line. However if I walked up to Casey Jr. and saw a 30-minute wait, WITH both trains running, I'd skip it.

Going to a theme park multiple times builds familiarity with common wait times. I can see why your girls were willing to wait for the SFMM rides, but wouldn't react the same way to a DL ride.

Yep, waits are all relative to your expectations for that specific ride. I would easily wait 30 for Space, Thunder, Pirates, Mansion, Splash...any of the big e-tickets.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Yep, waits are all relative to your expectations for that specific ride. I would easily wait 30 for Space, Thunder, Pirates, Mansion, Splash...any of the big e-tickets.

I honestly can't remember the last time I waited just 30 minutes in the stand-by line for Space. I don't think that's ever happened. Lol.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Some other tips:

If you're at WDW a good bit, there are a few rides you may want to skip. Star Tours is the same basically, except DL's runs much longer with the lines. So you might want to pass if you're pressed for time.

The Little Mermaid dark ride is also almost exactly the same, so it can be skipped if you're pressed for time.

Soarin' used to be exactly the same at both parks, but has a different ending at DCA, so you might want to do it once. But again, if you're pressed, skip it.

Splash Mountain and Winnie the Pooh are both MUCH better rides at WDW. If you've got time, go ahead and do them, but don't stress if you miss them

Conversely, PoftC is much better at DL. WDW got the cliffnotes version. Do NOT miss that one. Space Mountain is entirely different, so don't miss it. BTMRR is also better at DL (plus tends to run MUCH shorter lines at DL than WDW).

 

[StarWarsGirl]

You speak as if 20 minutes is an extremely long wait for a ride. Maybe 20 minutes is too much for you, but that's a short wait time, especially at this time when even Snow White's and Pinocchio's queues are completely full.

20 minutes is not long. Especially not to a WDW goer. Pirates midday can run 45-60 minutes at MK.