What if we can't get to the park in the morning?

[Disneylovers]

I've been faithfully checking in to this board as our trip gets closer, and one thing I notice is the helpful hint to get to the park early to ride the popular rides. Well, due to the fact that the other reason we're going to be in CA is a skating competition, and the DDs are skating in the a.m. we probably won't get to DL until noon or 1. We are arriving on Monday in the a.m., but I figure with renting a car, and checking into our hotel, we wouldn't get to the park until 1, so I tried to convince the troops that we could use the day to tour Hollywood, and get our bearings to the surrounding area where the competitions will be held, with a stop at DTD in the evening. But, how much can we do if we don't get to the park until noon, or even 1:00?

I did spring for 4 day hoppers, and there will be two days of our trip that we can get into the park early, but I don't want our first experience with DL to be frustrating, waiting in lines forever, or not being able to do much. So I turn to the experts for suggestions. Thank you
Pat

 

[peachgirl]

On our first day we didn't get to the park until around 2pm.

You might want to use that day for watching the later parade and fireworks afterwards.

What we did was get a fastpass for Indiana Jones as soon as we got to the park and rode rides that didn't have really long lines until that fp window opened. Then, we got another fp for a different ride before riding Indiana Jones. When the lines got too long for us (we don't stand in lines much longer than 20 minutes...just won't do it!), we shopped and snacked until time to head over for the late parade, then stayed put until the fireworks.

We didn't grab a spot for the later parade until just about 1/2 hour before it started. We got a spot at the top of the hub. It was perfect for the fireworks!

It worked pretty well and we never felt like we were wasting our time standing in long lines.

 

[CalGal]

While the morning is definitely the best time to do rides, you should still be able to pick up some FastPasses for later in the day, and enjoy some of the afternoon shows. Be sure to catch Aladdin. Tom Sawyer's Island is fun to explore. Check out the Information boards to get an idea of queue times for the more popular rides. Disneyland's info board is at the end of Main Street on the left side near the entrance to Adventureland; DCA's info board is near Sunshine Plaza I think. DCA will be less crowded that DL, so you may be able to get a lot done there in the afternoon and evening. And, of course, the fireworks, Fantasmic, and parades can only been seen in the afternoon and/or evening.

 

[roscodog]

I was in DL a month ago and it was already pretty crowded. We spent the morning at CA and did not park hop over to DL until 3 pm. Even then, we were able to get on a number of rides including, POC, Small World, the Matterhorn, Buzz and Splash. We are also able to get on to a few smaller attractions. It was a pretty full day plus we also saw the parade and fireworks. The only FP we got was for Splash and this was for late in the evening. I was actually surprised we got so much done at DL.

 

[Anewman]

If you are going to do a late arrival, MONDAY is the day to do it.

We are AP holders and tend to do lots of Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons, and they have not been that bad. Other than the first two weeks of the celebration.

If you get there in the afternoon, DCA would be the place to go first. On our full day visits, we usually hit DL early till it gets packed(usually around noon) then head over to DCA where it is not so bad and and return to DisneyLand about an hour b4 DCA closes. Do not wait till DCA closes to head back to Disneyland, even though you will be tempted cuz crowds will be lite. If you do wait expect to stand in line for half an hour to get back into Disneyland, cuz when DCA closes everybody in that park heads over to DL.

 

[armywife]

Usually it's pretty late by the time we arrive in Anaheim, so for the first day we eat dinner, & at least watch a parade or window shop at DTD. If you don't mind missing the parade/fireworks the first night go to one of the popular rides like Indiana Jones. Everyone is at the parade = no lines! DH & I rode Indiana Jones 5 times in a row last time & got right on.

If you get there at 1-2 you can still get quite a bit in the first day.

 

[boosmom96]

Pat,
Judging by your timer we'll be there the same days as you!!! We're landing at SNA about 11:00 am and figure by the time we get picked up and checked in we'll be in the parks about 12:30 pm. With DL open until 12:00 am we figure it's still plenty of time. We're planning on hitting DL first, but we've got 3 kids - 5, 7 and 8 so we really don't have a choice! (I think they'd lynch us if we tried to go to DCA first!!) We are not the type to get to the parks first thing in the am. The kids are all night owls and would much rather stay out late and sleep in. I can't see pushing them up and out if they'll be miserable. This is our first high season trip to DL; we just couldn't pull our DD out of school twice in the fall; so I may regret this strategy, we'll just have to see.
Whatever happens, we're going to have FUN!!!!!!!

 

[Disneylovers]

Thank you everyone for your ideas so far. From what you've told me, I think we are going to stay away from the parks our first day there (there is NO way we can go into the parks and leave early!) Since younger DD has to be at the ice rink at 7:45 Tuesday morning, it's gonna be an early night Monday! But these ideas could work for us Wednesday, when my older DD is finished with her skating, and we can concentrate fully on all things Disney (which is what I'd love to do for the whole trip, but I must be the supportive skating mom!).

Since we're WDW veterans, our first priority is to see the DL "exclusives", those rides/attractions we can't see at WDW, then to see the "classic" DL rides and attractions, then anything else will be a bonus! Thank you everyone!

 

[raidermatt]

As others have said, FP and rides with shorter lines are the way to go.

Parade times can also be good, as can be near closing. We walked onto Pirates on three separate nights recently within the last hour of DL's operation. (Even though MK has that one, I'd treat it like a DL exclusive as it has more to it than MK's version)