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Old 10-28-2016, 09:32 AM   #43
Tron_fdc
In Your MCP
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Watching Hot Dog Hans
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Like others have said, get to know the switch pass and the fast pass. You can "game" the lines with them.

Grab fast passes for the popular rides as soon as you get there. They only release a set number of fast passes, so if you get there late you're not going to get one for popular rides like Radiator Springs or Star Wars.

I go to Disney once or twice a year (wife and kids are addicts). We usually stay within walking distance, and the last hotel we scored was Hyatt House on Katella. It's brand new, and we paid $175 a night for a suite that had a kitchenette. Has BBQ's on the pool deck, good fitness facilities, and is right by the south end. We walked to DL every day, making a pit stop at the CVS for drinks and snacks which you can take in.

If you're a baller stay at the Disney Grand Californian, you get access to the park an hour before it opens.

Don't get hopper passes. No way can you hit everything in both parks in one day. We do 12-14 hours a day on each side and still don't get to everything.

Try to go on season pass blackout dates. Less busy (sort of).

Characters all come and go from the same entrance/exit which isn't marked. In Disneyland it's right at the front entrance, east side by main street cinema. Wait there, and when a character comes out send your kids after them. The characters will grab a kid, hold their hand and walk over to where you get to meet them and take photos. My kids saw just about every character over a few hours, got photos and autographs, and basically lost their minds every 5 minutes. On the California side it's right by the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Theater.

Our typical day was get there early, get fast passes for popular rides, hit as many less popular rides as possible before the lines hit, get more fast passes the minute you were able, hit the popular rides and ask for a "switch" pass, then go as many times on that ride as possible. Keep doing that all day and you won't see a lot of lines, and you will get maybe 50% of the rides in through one day.

The absolute WORST thing you can do is show up without a plan and wait in a 2 hour line for a ride like Peter Pan that is 5 minutes long. F that. Plan it out and have a WAY better day.
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