I Received Disney Mail Today

[5thGenTexan]

I had a package in the mail today. It contained 4 Park Hopper tickets for Disneyland Resort, 4 Disneyland luggage tags, two autograph books, and other assorted documentation. The airline tickets have been purchased. All we need now is to leave.

We arrive at SNA on a Sunday about 10:20. It takes however long it takes to get to HoJo and drop off the luggage. We either spend the rest of the day till check in time looking around Downtown Disney and/or playing in the pool.

Then things get less certain for me at least.

Do we hit DCA on Monday bright and early and use our one Magic Morning day on Tuesday at the other park? Or DL on Monday and DCA on Tuesday since there is no Extra Magic Hour that day so we have a better chance at Radiator Springs Racers. Then use our Magic Morning at DP on Thursday.

Single rider are not an option for our trip. We have a 5 and 7 year old.

I am thinking I may not get to experience the Indiana Jones and Hyperspace Mountain this trip. I know at DCA to get to Radiator Springs Racers first, but in DL do we need to make sure we get on POTC and HM before things get busy and then head for Fantasyland?

Am I over thinking it?

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

I had a package in the mail today. It contained 4 Park Hopper tickets for Disneyland Resort, 4 Disneyland luggage tags, two autograph books, and other assorted documentation. The airline tickets have been purchased. All we need now is to leave.

We arrive at SNA on a Sunday about 10:20. It takes however long it takes to get to HoJo and drop off the luggage. We either spend the rest of the day till check in time looking around Downtown Disney and/or playing in the pool.

Then things get less certain for me at least.

View attachment 143254

Do we hit DCA on Monday bright and early and use our one Magic Morning day on Tuesday at the other park? Or DL on Monday and DCA on Tuesday since there is no Extra Magic Hour that day so we have a better chance at Radiator Springs Racers. Then use our Magic Morning at DP on Thursday.

Single rider are not an option for our trip. We have a 5 and 7 year old.

I am thinking I may not get to experience the Indiana Jones and Hyperspace Mountain this trip. I know at DCA to get to Radiator Springs Racers first, but in DL do we need to make sure we get on POTC and HM before things get busy and then head for Fantasyland?

Am I over thinking it?

POTC and HM are not priorities - you can hit them at any time during the day. Hyperspace Mountain and Star Tours are the hottest FP tickets in Disneyland right now, with Indiana Jones coming in a close third. Magic Morning at DL is good for Peter Pan access (no FP, long line all day every day).

You can also do a rider switch pass to ride things like Indy and Hyperspace if your kids are too small or not interested.

 

[ForeverAnna]

Go to DCA on Tuesday. At DL on your early day get Fantasyland out of the way first thing then get Fast Passes for Star Tours or Hyperspace Mountain. Get them for the other as soon as you can. As said above, you won't have any trouble with Pirates and Mansion.

 

[PacNWTigger]

Don't overplan either. Just let things unfold as the day goes on. It's a different speed than WDW so you don't have to figure out what you're doing three months prior to leaving home to be able to get everything done at the parks.

 

[fosse76]

Another thing to keep in mind: the FP machines are not turned on until the park officially opens for the day, so FPs will be unavailable during Magic Mornings. Another thing to note is that Disneyland is very much a locals' park, and it will get more crowded in the early afternoon and early evening as people get off work.

If Space Mountain is a must, I urge you to get a FastPass as soon as possible, or try and ride it during your Magic Morning. Even on a light day Space Mountain can have a wait over an hour (particularly in the evenings when the locals get off of work). I wouldn't worry too much about Star Tours. Even if the waits get unbearably long, it doesn't usually run out of FPs until the evening (in my experience). But as was said above, don't over-plan. The best thing to do is to identify what you want to do and then go from there. Oh, one other thing to keep in mind. DLR doesn't have nearly as many FP attractions as WDW. None of the Fantasyland attractions have it, so my advice to you is when you use Magic Morning for Disneyland Park, be there before they even let you in and go to Peter Pan immediately. The line will build to 45 minutes in less than 5 minutes once the park opens.

 

[5thGenTexan]

My WDW trips were in 1986, 1989, and 1992. Part of a day in 2013. So I have no experience at all with FP and I don't have any comparison reference with WDW in that regard. I do remember POTC and HM being very long waits then so that is why I thought it might be good to get them out of the way sooner rather than later, but that doesn't seem to the case.

 

[ForeverAnna]

You'll probably find waits of 30 minutes or so for each. Sometimes HM uses fast pass.

 

[5thGenTexan]

Tomorrow we fly home. We didn't get to do everything but got most of it. Managed all 4 mountains today before noon.