Need help with ride order/touring schedule

[angiepharm]

My trip is scheduled for 1 day, from 9am-7pm, solo. I am a WDW passholder, so I am not interested in doing any rides that are too similar to whats available new me, except I want to do Its a Small world(read its a better experience) and Pirates (never done the WDW version) and TeaCups.

I'm trying to figure out a touring plan, but am unsure how to plan the day. I plan to be there at rope drop, and get FP for Indiana Jones, Pirates, the carsland ride, and its a small world. So will do a combination of FP and single rider lines for these. I figured it would be better worth my time to do these or select FP~11am-1pm? the other rides, I want to do are pretty much most of fantasy land rides except dumbo and peter pan. I also want to do a ton of character pics with the characters not available at WDW. I have a list of ~15 I want to see, and about ~10 must sees(my world wont be crushed if they aren't there). I want to see all of the marvel characters, black panther, Captain America, spider man, mr and mrs incredible, edna mode, and dr. fascilliar (spelling) and a few other characters. I'm just having trouble trying to figure out how to plan the day. Most of the touring plans I see include riding incredicoaster, spacemountain, matterhorn, ect, which I don't plan on doing.
I'm going to try to ride space mountain with my 4 year old who loves roller coasters next month when we go back to WDW.

Anyways, any practical tips? I have no idea what to try to ride first, ect. especially with the amount of characters I want to try to catch, im hoping to do DL first at Rope drop, then lunch, maybe at blue bayou, haven't decided yet. then head over to California adventure~12pm, since that's when BPs first meet and greet is. I want to try to get the popular characters 1st, without super long lines. I know to try to be at the waiting areas ~10 minutes before they are scheduled. So,

This long long post, for advice on how to structure the day?? or any touring plans that include character interactions with the rides? I tried searching for non-thrill ride touring plans, but since I do still want to do Indiana jones, snow white, and mr toads, wasn't sure how to structure the day. I wanted to do the rides that had the least wait times later, like ~2ish/3ish. and finish up from 5-7 with the character interactions I didn't get earlier. im not interested in repeating rides either.

 

[skyblue17]

Since you will be there solo, I wouldn't waste a FastPass on Radiator Springs Racers. The ride is designed to fit three people per row (two rows per car), so it's a great ride to do single rider for, as there are often groups of two or four that need a single rider. You can probably ride the ride a number of times this way (we did on a recent trip and did not even have to STOP in line, we literally walked right back on).

Since the two parks are so close to one another, I think it's likely best for you to just plan to be flexible. It's very easy to go from one park to the other to use a FastPass or make a character appearance.

Keep in mind too that not nearly as many rides have FastPasses in Disneyland as do in WDW. There are not FastPasses for Pirates or many of the Fantasyland rides (Peter Pan, Dumbo, etc.).

 

[chickapin parterre]

9:10 in line for Mr. Toad, leave Mr. Toad at 9:40 ( attraction is right side flow over from the crushing line of Peter Pan,sure to catch all those non-PP riders
10:05 board Alice, leave alice at 10:10 (If Matterhorn is open, then should be easy loading, if Mattehorn closed, Alice catches the overflow)
10:12 join line for STBL, board at 10:40 ( seems to always be a late opener in the morning, line builds)
10:50 leave STBL and enter Snow White. ( should be a walk on as with the wooden neighbor)
11:05 leave snow white and join Tea Cups. ( 5 attractions in two hours....depends on your day of the week and month)

Folks here will balk at my liberal time frame....but it is your first time in Disneyland....hard to believe that would just rush around from entrance to entrance...with out looking at the Matterhorn and environs

also Fantsyland is a flow of folks from entrance to entrance to entrance, no walking required of any distance....kinda like your kitchen and the walk to the front door...that close to each other...very easy for tons of folks to flow.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

What is the full list of attractions and characters you’re hoping to experience?

Which day of the week? I’m assuming the parks open at 9; how early are you willing/able to be at security to make the most of rope drop?

 

[angiepharm]

9:10 in line for Mr. Toad, leave Mr. Toad at 9:40 ( attraction is right side flow over from the crushing line of Peter Pan,sure to catch all those non-PP riders
10:05 board Alice, leave alice at 10:10 (If Matterhorn is open, then should be easy loading, if Mattehorn closed, Alice catches the overflow)
10:12 join line for STBL, board at 10:40 ( seems to always be a late opener in the morning, line builds)
10:50 leave STBL and enter Snow White. ( should be a walk on as with the wooden neighbor)
11:05 leave snow white and join Tea Cups. ( 5 attractions in two hours....depends on your day of the week and month)

Folks here will balk at my liberal time frame....but it is your first time in Disneyland....hard to believe that would just rush around from entrance to entrance...with out looking at the Matterhorn and environs

also Fantsyland is a flow of folks from entrance to entrance to entrance, no walking required of any distance....kinda like your kitchen and the walk to the front door...that close to each other...very easy for tons of folks to flow.

This is perfect thank you!!

 

[angiepharm]

What is the full list of attractions and characters you’re hoping to experience?

Which day of the week? I’m assuming the parks open at 9; how early are you willing/able to be at security to make the most of rope drop?

It’s a Friday, California adventure has early morning hours at 8. Both open at 9am. I am not s

What is the full list of attractions and characters you’re hoping to experience?

Which day of the week? I’m assuming the parks open at 9; how early are you willing/able to be at security to make the most of rope drop?

I'm planning to go on Friday 8/17. the parks open at 9am. but DCA has early morning hours. I plan to be there at 8am, per recommendations from here. I'm a early bird, so thats a bit late for me. i'm used to trying to get to wdw by 8am, but i live an hour away, and allowing 30 minutes for parking, walking to the tram, taking the ferry or train and walking to the gates. so this seems like a much smoother process of not having to go through all of that.

Rides i want to ride:
DLR Disneyland park

1. Alice in Wonderland
2. Casey Jr. Train
3. Indiana Jones-FP
4. Mad Tea Party
5. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
6. Pinocchio
7. Pirates of the Caribbean
8. Roger Rabbit-FP
9. Snow White
10. Its a small world
11. Gadget's Go Coaster

 DLR California Adventure

1. Flik's Flyers
2. Francis' Ladybug Boogie
3. Golden Zephyr(maybe, depends on how high up)
4. Heimlich's Chew Chew
5. Jumpin' Jellyfish
6. Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters
7. Radiator Springs Racers
9. . Silly Symphony Swings(depends on how high up)
10. Mater's Junkyard Jamboree

The only things i defiantly want to do in DLR is radiator springs racers, maters, and luigis'. the others are, if they have no waits, and aren't tooo high up. So the majority of the rides i want to do are in DL, but my must see characters are in DCA.

The characters i want to see are:
DCA
1. Black Panther
2. Captain America
3. Spiderman
4. Edna Mode
5. Frozone
6. Mr Incredible
7. Mrs. Incredible
DL
8. Captain Hook(maybe, i think he's available in WDW)
9. Captain Jack Sparrow
10. Princess Tiana (maybe, since she's also available in WDW)
11. Moana
12. Cruella De Vil
13. Darth Vader
14. Dr. Facilier
15. Fairy Godmother (maybe since available at wdw at 1900 park faire)
16. The Mad Hatter
17. The Queen
18. Peter Pan

 

[Skyegirl1999]

It’s a Friday, California adventure has early morning hours at 8. Both open at 9am. I am not s


I'm planning to go on Friday 8/17. the parks open at 9am. but DCA has early morning hours. I plan to be there at 8am, per recommendations from here. I'm a early bird, so thats a bit late for me. i'm used to trying to get to wdw by 8am, but i live an hour away, and allowing 30 minutes for parking, walking to the tram, taking the ferry or train and walking to the gates. so this seems like a much smoother process of not having to go through all of that.

Rides i want to ride:
DLR Disneyland park

1. Alice in Wonderland
2. Casey Jr. Train
3. Indiana Jones-FP
4. Mad Tea Party
5. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
6. Pinocchio
7. Pirates of the Caribbean
8. Roger Rabbit-FP
9. Snow White
10. Its a small world
11. Gadget's Go Coaster

 DLR California Adventure

1. Flik's Flyers
2. Francis' Ladybug Boogie
3. Golden Zephyr(maybe, depends on how high up)
4. Heimlich's Chew Chew
5. Jumpin' Jellyfish
6. Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters
7. Radiator Springs Racers
9. . Silly Symphony Swings(depends on how high up)
10. Mater's Junkyard Jamboree

The only things i defiantly want to do in DLR is radiator springs racers, maters, and luigis'. the others are, if they have no waits, and aren't tooo high up. So the majority of the rides i want to do are in DL, but my must see characters are in DCA.

The characters i want to see are:
DCA
1. Black Panther
2. Captain America
3. Spiderman
4. Edna Mode
5. Frozone
6. Mr Incredible
7. Mrs. Incredible
DL
8. Captain Hook(maybe, i think he's available in WDW)
9. Captain Jack Sparrow
10. Princess Tiana (maybe, since she's also available in WDW)
11. Moana
12. Cruella De Vil
13. Darth Vader
14. Dr. Facilier
15. Fairy Godmother (maybe since available at wdw at 1900 park faire)
16. The Mad Hatter
17. The Queen
18. Peter Pan

Welllllll, that's a lot. You're going to need to prioritize and cut some things unless you get really lucky somehow.

For instance, I would say the following ride plan would be advisable for DL:
1. Use MP to grab an IJ FP.
2. Alice
3. Mr. Toad's
4. Casey Jr.
5. Pinocchio
6. Snow White
7. IJ (RR as next FP)
8. Pirates
9. Mad Tea Party
10. Gadget's Go Coaster
11. RR (IASM as next FP)
12. IASW

On a relatively uncrowded day, that is maybe possible between 9-12, if you hustle and don't do anything else. I mean, let's say you could knock out 1-6 in the first hour. IJ takes awhile, even with FP, so that and Pirates are easily an hour once you consider walking time, line time, and ride time (Pirates is long). So then you'd need to get Teacups, Go Coaster, RR and IASW done in another hour, which could theoretically be possible but I wouldn't bet on it at all (IASW is over 15 minutes just to ride, like Pirates). And if it's a really crowded day, forget about it... this would be a more comfortable and feasible list to accomplish in about 4 hours. (Of course, if you hit a randomly kind of empty day, you could get through this much faster... one never knows!)

But you don't have until noon to just ride DL rides, because you want to be in the Black Panther line over in DCA by 11:45, and you also want to meet DL characters, so you don't want to just do straight rides while rushing about! Also there's food...

IF you were just doing rides, I'd do that above plan, then I'd head to DCA and do Mater and Luigi's together at some point (planning on about 45-60 minutes to get through them with mid-day lines), I'd do Bug's Land at some point (probably 45 minutes?), and then I'd do RSR with FP or Single Rider, maybe multiple times (plan on that to take 30 minutes to get through and ride, even with FP or SR). I would not bother with Golden Z, the Jellyfish (these are high, dude! My daughter's favorite ride is GOTG and she doesn't even like the Jellyfish!), or the SS Swings. Keep in mind you have to walk around to all of these rides, so that's probably a good 2.5 hours of DCA ride time.

Soooo, you see, you could easily get to about 4:00 JUST doing rides and maybe having a quick lunch (later if it's crowded).

But the rides aren't the time-suck! The characters are. Just meeting those 3 Marvel characters is probably about 1.5 hours of park time. Maybe closer to an hour if you're fortunate, but yeah... and characters are tough because you're captive to their schedules, which are often a bit inaccurate on the app. Your DL line up could easily be a few hours of bopping around waiting around for characters to appear, and of course some time in lines (although some, like Peter Pan and often Moana, don't usually do real M&Gs, they just wander and you can kind of snap a selfie if you're quick, so beware).

Anyway, I don't mean to discourage you at all, but I think you will have more fun if you're realistic about what's possible to do and don't walk away feeling like you missed half of your to-do list!

What you might do is keep an eye on the character sets for the next couple of weeks (especially this Friday), and see how they fit in to the above ride plans. Then you can start to get a feel for which things are most important to you!

(I will also say that I know nothing about meeting the Incredibles characters now that Pixar Pier is open, so I can't help you at all there.)

 

[angiepharm]

Welllllll, that's a lot. You're going to need to prioritize and cut some things unless you get really lucky somehow.

For instance, I would say the following ride plan would be advisable for DL:
1. Use MP to grab an IJ FP.
2. Alice
3. Mr. Toad's
4. Casey Jr.
5. Pinocchio
6. Snow White
7. IJ (RR as next FP)
8. Pirates
9. Mad Tea Party
10. Gadget's Go Coaster
11. RR (IASM as next FP)
12. IASW

On a relatively uncrowded day, that is maybe possible between 9-12, if you hustle and don't do anything else. I mean, let's say you could knock out 1-6 in the first hour. IJ takes awhile, even with FP, so that and Pirates are easily an hour once you consider walking time, line time, and ride time (Pirates is long). So then you'd need to get Teacups, Go Coaster, RR and IASW done in another hour, which could theoretically be possible but I wouldn't bet on it at all (IASW is over 15 minutes just to ride, like Pirates). And if it's a really crowded day, forget about it... this would be a more comfortable and feasible list to accomplish in about 4 hours. (Of course, if you hit a randomly kind of empty day, you could get through this much faster... one never knows!)

But you don't have until noon to just ride DL rides, because you want to be in the Black Panther line over in DCA by 11:45, and you also want to meet DL characters, so you don't want to just do straight rides while rushing about! Also there's food...

IF you were just doing rides, I'd do that above plan, then I'd head to DCA and do Mater and Luigi's together at some point (planning on about 45-60 minutes to get through them with mid-day lines), I'd do Bug's Land at some point (probably 45 minutes?), and then I'd do RSR with FP or Single Rider, maybe multiple times (plan on that to take 30 minutes to get through and ride, even with FP or SR). I would not bother with Golden Z, the Jellyfish (these are high, dude! My daughter's favorite ride is GOTG and she doesn't even like the Jellyfish!), or the SS Swings. Keep in mind you have to walk around to all of these rides, so that's probably a good 2.5 hours of DCA ride time.

Soooo, you see, you could easily get to about 4:00 JUST doing rides and maybe having a quick lunch (later if it's crowded).

But the rides aren't the time-suck! The characters are. Just meeting those 3 Marvel characters is probably about 1.5 hours of park time. Maybe closer to an hour if you're fortunate, but yeah... and characters are tough because you're captive to their schedules, which are often a bit inaccurate on the app. Your DL line up could easily be a few hours of bopping around waiting around for characters to appear, and of course some time in lines (although some, like Peter Pan and often Moana, don't usually do real M&Gs, they just wander and you can kind of snap a selfie if you're quick, so beware).

Anyway, I don't mean to discourage you at all, but I think you will have more fun if you're realistic about what's possible to do and don't walk away feeling like you missed half of your to-do list!

What you might do is keep an eye on the character sets for the next couple of weeks (especially this Friday), and see how they fit in to the above ride plans. Then you can start to get a feel for which things are most important to you!

(I will also say that I know nothing about meeting the Incredibles characters now that Pixar Pier is open, so I can't help you at all there.)

Hey thanks for the feedback it’s incredibly helpful. I don’t plan to reride any rides, and I know I have a big to do list. I’ve been watching the characters specifically on Friday’s and written down their times to figure out when and where they are likely to be so I can have a plan already. I have sooo many bc I know some I will likely miss or won’t be there so some are “just in case”. I have my I really want to do lists also. I’ve also made a grid from 9am-7 listing all the charcterntomes in chronological order. It’s a bit much but I like to be organized and have a plan but I’m also realistic and know anything can happen and flexible enough not to let that spoil my day. I like Atleast have a plan even if nothing works out.

My first trip to wdw before I moved to Florida I planned for me and my dung bff and her two daughters and her sister and her daughter. I planned the hotel, made all the dining reservations, did all the research, planned all the fast passes. And ride orders. Nothing worked out bc iltbey missed their flight and I had to go to urgent care but bc of my research we still made it to the princess lunch, be our guest, ohana xharacter meeting, Peter pans flight, haunted mansion, met all the princesses,ect bc I knew what to expect but was still flexible that it still worked out without ruining our vacation. Again thanks so much everyone’s responses have been sooo helpful

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Not to add more to your list (like you don't have enough to think about already...), but SM at DL is pretty unanimously said to be the better ride compared to SM at WDW. Even without a loop, DL's SM is much smoother. And with SR, you could knock this ride out fairly quickly. So, just in case you end up having to improvise on your visit day, keep SM in mind.

 

[angiepharm]

Not to add more to your list (like you don't have enough to think about already...), but SM at DL is pretty unanimously said to be the better ride compared to SM at WDW. Even without a loop, DL's SM is much smoother. And with SR, you could knock this ride out fairly quickly. So, just in case you end up having to improvise on your visit day, keep SM in mind.

Yeah I don’t want to do any of the mountains. Lol I’m a chicken lol I may try them with my daughter bc she’s a daredevil even at 4. But I’m terrified. Even the mummy and Harry Potter rides at universal were a step out of my comfort zone and I had butterflies to do those lolol