Disney themed flight

[Mel]

Great advice by Lisa and Beth, I have been to DL for a total of 20+ days in my five trips there and I STILL haven't seen it all, so don't try. The priority list is the best way to go and make sure you ENJOY it and not spend all your time worrying about fitting it all in. Even if you only do and see half of it all, you will still have a magical time

[KeithS]

Great advice from Lisa on "The Plan".

You already have a few set items booked in like the Australia Day BBQ on the 26th - so to begin with, you know you'll be in Disneyland on the 26th - that's a given. So what we do is list each day and fill in things that we've booked like character meals and other special events such as the BBQ. That allows us to determine what park we will visit on a given day. We occasionally park-hop between DCA and DL, but generally try not to. We also determine what we must ride during our visit such as Space Mountain, Tea Cups, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion etc in Disneyland, and Soarin', Tower of Terror, Screamin', Turtle Talk with Crush, Toy Story Mania, etc in DCA - but as we usually stay around 8-10 days, we do not follow a consistent plan to ride these. But prioritise the rides for what is important and fun for your family. On the magic mornings, you are 100% correct - do the slow loading Fantasyland Rides such as Peter Pan and Dumbo, then scoot over to the Submarine Voyage - these are some of the slower and popular rides.

Also - if you are into character greeting and want to meet Tinkerbell in the new Pixie Hollow - be aware that it is VERY popular. It opens with the park at 10am, so if you are in a magic morning, after doing some rides head over to Pixie Hollow about 9:45 and line up - that way, you'll be near the front of the queue. If you wait until after 10am, the main hordes coming through the front gate at opening will cause the Pixie Hollow wait time to blow out! (Don't forget Photopass in Pixie Hollow!)

As for shopping - Lisa is 100% correct - shop while you go. If you see it, and like it, then BUY IT! Merchandise does disappear, and there is nothing worse than running from shop to shop on your last day looking for that awesome jacket you should have bought when you first walked through the gates! Trust us on this point!

Drink often - one of the problems Della and I had on our first visit was that we were having so much fun, we didn't stop all day and dehydrated (bad hangover like headaches at night and the next day!) Make a conscious effort to stop and drink. We carry water bottles on our belts and force ourselves to drink while waiting in lines.

Use Fastpass if required (definitely Indiana Jones and Splash Mountain). The dates that you'll be at the park shouldn't be too bad for crowds - the local schools will be back and there are no major conventions on that week in Anaheim (this is a rare week for January-February!) so you may find the crowds and the wait times at most rides to be okay. We've been to the park on numerous occasions and haven't had to use the Fastpass as every ride was a walk on - it all depends on crowds.

Buy candy

Have fun -/

[jojozep]

I can't thank you enough everyone, I really really appreciate all the fantastic tips! You guys rock!!

clearly you are a 'planner' so....

LOL yes sorry I am a little bit anal when it comes to big events that I am responsible for - hosting Christmas at our house this year was not ideal for me when I wanted to be in Disney mode!! Luckily we just incorporated it, with Christmas Minnie and Mickey plush under the tree - we got them last year for Christmas, several other themed presents (mainly things I bought to try and win the merchandise comp) and a game of ThinkFast Disnet trivia on the Wii after lunch etc

I even have draft schedules for the kids with pictures of the main thing happening each day as well as what they might wear so they have an idea of what is happening!!!

The park maps I bought off a US ebay seller arrived today so that is extra exciting! I think the rescue remedy and phenergan will have to be mostly for me!!

[sandie]

A. there is nothing wrong with being a planner!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I plan down to meals!

B.

Sandie I actually bought some Rescue Remedy Sleep and also Phenergen at the chemist this afternoon

Test it!!!!! this stuff makes my kids turn into hyperactive gorillas - but polaramine knocks them out!

Sandie

[bigam]

Sorry to ride coattails Jo but I've been reading this post laughing becasue I came on today to ask a lot of the same questions!!
Also spoke to the promoter today - apparently the flight over is going to have lots of fun on board and there's going to be all sorts of fanfare at the departure lounge.

I don't have to worry about the stroller bit though as boys are 17 and 15. So the food bit is extremely relevant to them - especially 15yo!

My question is - would the character breakfasts be a bit "goofy" for my teenagers?

Jojo - can I look at your maps on the flight too

And I'm assuming fast passes can be used on Tower of Terror!

[Mel]

I'm a planner too, so I don't blame you one bit for planning in so much detail! I'm having to take it easier with this upcoming trip because I can't book in PS in Tokyo in advance... it's driving me crazy!!!!

Character meals are a lot of fun. I don't have teenagers, but I can imagine that away from their friends they will be less worried about trying to be cool and will actually enjoy it. Besides, most of them are all you can eat buffets, so maybe talk up the food aspect of them a bit if they seem reluctant. The characters are usually pretty good at sensing when they are not wanted around too much anyway, so they may only pay a short visit to your table if your boys aren't too interested.

[calisota]

Hmmm, wonder if there is any way a little brochure/flyer with the address of this forum of ours could be slipped to everyone on this flight. Could get a few more members out of it.

Actually it might even come in handy for a lot of people if they knew about us before then.

Greg

[churros]

Hmmm, wonder if there is any way a little brochure/flyer with the address of this forum of ours could be slipped to everyone on this flight. Could get a few more members out of it.

Actually it might even come in handy for a lot of people if they knew about us before then.

Greg

Well if they had of had the decency of letting one of us win a seat on this plane we could have obliged! (by us a mean a pre-existing forum member, I mean no slight on our new members who were fortunate enough to win a seat on this plane, I am just insanely jealous )

[bigam]

n o offense taken as a newbie! It was just incredible luck that I joined on this site and within hours won a trip!

With the club's permission, could I post about the Disneyana Club in the Magical Journey facebook page for the other winners of the trip?

[calisota]

With the club's permission, could I post about the Disneyana Club in the Magical Journey facebook page for the other winners of the trip?

I guess I can speak for the club by saying "Yes, yes , yes...please do".

Greg

[bigam]

LOL Greg - I've put it in!

Here's the facebook page I'm referring to

http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/Disneyl ... 698?ref=mf

I didn't put the url of this club itself in case there were rules about it. People should be able to google it!

[KeithS]

The more publicity the better! Thanks Kris

[churros]

I started to look at the facebook site and started to get very depressed. I live vicariously through other people's trips but Mr Green overpowered me.

[KeithS]

I live vicariously through other people's trips but Mr Green overpowered me.

Were there just too many excited people in the Facebook page Beth?! I have to say that it was an awesome contest and I can't wait to hear the general feedback when Jojozep and Kris return.

[Mel]

I quite enjoyed reading all the comments actually! It's great to see all their excitement.

Don't know how happy I would have been for everybody who won if I didn't have my own trip in the works right now though...