New Touring Plan: Disney California Adventure Two-Day Touring Plan for Parents with Small Children

Guy Selga Jr. September 17, 2012 7 Comments

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Note: If you’re interested in adapting this touring plan for your family’s visit, you can use our free Disneyland touring plan software to create your own version. No subscription or download is required. Your plan can include different attractions, character greetings, an afternoon break, sit-down meals and more.

One of my goals is to expand the number of touring plans for the Disneyland Resort. With Disney California Adventure’s multi-year makeover now complete, it’s a perfect time to share some plans I’ve been working on.

The first is a Two-Day Touring Plan for Parents with Small Children. It includes almost every child-friendly attraction and show in the park, including re-rides on some popular attractions such as Toy Story Midway Mania. The plan features long mid-day breaks for rest and naps outside the park. I recently tested this plan myself. Here are the results:

Day 1:

Step	Attraction	Arrival Time	Estimated Wait (Minutes)	Duration (Minutes)	Walk Time to Next Step (Minutes)
1	Disney California Adventure Entrance Notes: Arrive at the entrance 40 minutes before official opening time.	9:00 am	0	0	9
2	Radiator Springs Racers (Note 1)	9:09 am	99	6	4
3	Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree	10:58 am	21	2	4
4	Tuck and Roll’s Drive ‘Em Buggies	11:25 am	6	2	1
5	Flik’s Flyers	11:34 am	6	2	8
6	Toy Story Midway Mania!	11:50 am	29	8	1
7	King Triton’s Carousel	12:28 am	2	2	3
8	Silly Symphony Swings – Tandem	12:35 am	5	2	4
9	Lunch	12:46 pm	0	30	7
10	The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror FASTPASS Booth (Note 2) Est. Return Time: 01:45PM	1:23 pm	0	1	2
11	Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!	1:26 pm	7	5	2
12	Animation Academy	1:40 pm	30	35	4
13	Soarin’ Over California FASTPASS Booth Est. Return Time: 03:05PM	2:49 pm	0	1	4
14	*MuppetVision 3D**	2:54 pm	8	19	10
15	Break	3:31 pm	0	30	10
16	The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (using FASTPASS)	4:11 pm	4	6	1
17	Disney’s Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular	4:22 pm	0	55	5
18	Soarin’ Over California(using FASTPASS)	5:22 pm	4	5	4
19	It’s Tough to Be a Bug!	5:35 pm	5	10	3
20	The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure	5:53 pm	11	10	6
		Totals	237	231	92

Note 1: Occasionally and without prior warning, Radiator Springs Racers will open up to two hours later than the rest of the park. Disney claims this is due to occasional extended maintenance that is needed. If you are in the park using this plan and find that Radiator Springs Racers is closed in the morning, proceed to the Fastpass distribution for the attraction. This is currently located near the entrance of It’s Tough to Be a Bug. During most mornings the line to obtain a Radiator Springs Racers Fastpass will extend all the way back to Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood Land.

Note 2: If your little ones need to skip the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror use this time as an extra break or head to the Disney Animation building to check out some of the exhibits.

Day 2:

Step	Attraction	Arrival Time	Estimated Wait (Minutes)	Duration (Minutes)	Free Time Before Next Step (Minutes)	Walk Time to Next Step (Minutes)
1	Disney California Adventure Entrance Notes: Arrive at the entrance 40 minutes before official opening time.	9:00 am	0	0	0	9
2	Luigi’s Flying Tires	9:08 am	46	4	0	9
3	World Of Color FASTPASS Booth Est. Return Time: 9:20 PM or 10:00PM	10:07 am	0	1	0	6
4	Character Close-Up	10:14 am	0	10	0	1
5	Turtle Talk With Crush	10:25 am	25	17	0	4
6	Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train	11:11 am	5	2	0	1
7	Francis’ Ladybug Boogie	11:19 am	4	1	16	10
8	Lunch	11:50 am	0	30	0	10
9	Disney Junior – Live on Stage! (Note 3)	12:30 pm	0	25	0	3
10	Walt Disney Imagineering Blue Sky Cellar	12:58 pm	0	20	0	2
11	The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure	1:20 pm	11	10	177	7
12	Pixar Play Parade (Note 3)	4:45 pm	15	0	0	9
13	Goofy’s Sky School FASTPASS Booth Est. Return Time: 06:05PM	5:09 pm	0	1	0	1
14	Golden Zephyr	5:11 pm	4	3	0	1
15	Jumpin’ Jellyfish	5:19 pm	5	1	0	2
16	Mickey’s Fun Wheel – Non Swinging	5:27 pm	13	9	0	2
17	Goofy’s Sky School(using FASTPASS)	5:51 pm	4	2	26	10
18	Dinner	6:26 pm	0	30	0	10
19	Toy Story Midway Mania!	7:30 pm	25	8	64	5
20	World of Color (using FASTPASS)	8:45 pm	15	30	0	7
		Totals	189	204	280	100

Note 3: Make sure to check the actual show times early in the day so you can make any necessary adjustments.

During testing I found this plan to be very efficient. I experienced all of DCA’s marquee attractions during the first day of the plan. The second day left plenty of free time including over two and a half hours in the afternoon for park hopping, napping, or exploring Downtown Disney.

The benefit of doing a two day plan is that the insanity of the Radiator Springs Racers morning rush and obtaining a World of Color Fastpass will be separated to two separate mornings. The great part about using our mobile app Lines (iTunes / Android), is that you can add or subtract any steps. Just click the ‘Optimize’ button on your touring plan and Lines will figure out what to do next, based on where you’re at in the park and the waits in line at the attractions left to visit. No matter what just happened, Lines will figure out the best way to continue your day in the park.

Please leave a comment in the section below if you have any feedback. Thanks!

7 thoughts on “New Touring Plan: Disney California Adventure Two-Day Touring Plan for Parents with Small Children”

Renee

January 21, 2014 at 1:37 pm

Does the iPhone App work. Or is it Apple that’s giving me grief?
Claud

September 18, 2012 at 7:49 am

Hi!

How can I copy the 2 day plan and customize or save it? Are there 3 or 4 day plans? We are going in Oct 2012 – 5 adults 5 kids from 0-9 yrs. thanks,

Claud
- Guy Selga, Jr.
  Post author
  
  September 18, 2012 at 11:53 am
  
  The easiest way is to customize go to our personalized touring plans section found here. There you can set the date you’re planning on visiting and select all the attractions and shows you may want to experience. Or if you want to have a good starting point you can load one of our existing plans (found here) and click “copy this plan” near the top of the page. That will copy the pre-made touring plan in to a personalized plan and you can make your edits. We don’t have any 3 or 4 day plans on the site but you can also do this by making a personalized plan for each day of your visit.
Andrea

September 17, 2012 at 5:09 pm

Hello Guy,

I’m looking at the wait times you experienced at park opening and I can’t figure out why you had a 99 minute wait for Radiator Springs Racers. Was their EMH that morning? Also, what was the crowd level on the days you tested the plans?

I’m planning a trip in October and DCA’s crowd level is predicted as a 3.3, and I’m hoping to avoid 90 minute waits.

Thanks for the update,

Andrea
- Guy Selga, Jr.
  Post author
  
  September 18, 2012 at 11:59 am
  
  This plan was made and tested by being at the park at rope drop for regular park hours. The 99 minute wait is really a worst scenario situation, the crowed level on the day I tested the plan was a 3 and my wait for Racers was around 50 minutes. Whatever the wait is, it won’t effect the rest of the touring plan. Also, if you get to the park and Racers does have an insane wait time you can skip the stand by line and go for Fastpass instead. Generally I’ve experienced around 30 minute wait to obtain Fastpass in the morning.
  - Andrea
    
    September 18, 2012 at 1:13 pm
    
    Thanks for the clarification. I guess I was delusional in thinking I could immediately obtain a fastpass without waiting.
  - Guy Selga, Jr.
    Post author
    
    September 18, 2012 at 8:33 pm
    
    Unfortunately it takes some waiting to get Racers Fastpasses. The Fastpass tickets run out within the first hour of the park opening.

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Guy Selga Jr.

7 thoughts on “New Touring Plan: Disney California Adventure Two-Day Touring Plan for Parents with Small Children”

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