Leaving Friday for my first trip in nearly 20 years... tips?

[Vexorg]

New poster here, I'm currently in the process of planning a Disneyland trip on short notice, and I've been lurking and reading the site over the last day or two, and so far the info has been helpful, but I'm trying to get some ideas for what to do.

First of all, the situation:

As I said, I am going to Disneyland on Friday on a trip being planned on short notice. I am using a certificate for a free round trip plane ticket which was set to expire in three weeks, and I only found out that I had this last Saturday. This happened to correspond with another trip which was already being planned by some other people.

I have been to Disneyland once before, but it was so long ago that I only have very vague memories of the visit (I believe it was in 1987, back when Star Tours was the newest ride in the park and Splash Mountain was still being built) I was only there for one day, and there were a number of rides that were closed that day (including the Matterhorn and Autopia. I also had to watch my infant brother while the others went on Space Mountain.) Given how long it's been since I was last there, much of this will be new to me.

I will be taking an early flight from Seattle on Friday morning arriving at SNA around 9 in the morning. From there I plan to take a shuttle to my Friday night hotel (the Anabella, which I've seen very mixed reviews on, but I'm only there for one night anyway) This means for Friday I'll be on my own in the park. On Saturday morning some other people will be arriving, and I will be staying with them at the Paradise Pier Hotel for the next two nights. Saturday and Sunday will be spent in the park, and we will be leaving on Monday, but not before going up to Hollywood to go try to get on The Price is Right.

With all that in mind, here's a few questions:

-What should I expect for crowds?

-What's the quickest way from the Anabella (basically the corner of Disneyland Drive and Katella Ave.) to the gates?

-Which rides should I try to get to first on Friday when the parks are (presumably) less crowded?

Anything else that's good to know?

 

[DisneyDotty]

Welcome to the Boards! And what a fun, spur-of-the-moment trip for you! We were just at DL for the first time last month and LOVED it. The crowds should be okay on Friday, but lots of locals hit DL on the weekend, so Saturday may be crowded.
As for not-to-be-missed rides, I'd definitely hit: Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Indiana Jones, Matterhorn, Pirates, and Peter Pan. But those are just my favorites. Be sure to use the FastPass system to save yourself time in lines. Are you getting Park Hopper tickets? You might want to wander over to CA and hit Soarin' and some of the rides there.
Enjoy your trip!

 

[Vexorg]

I'm going to have a 3-day park hopper ticket, so I'll be able to see both parks. I don't know if I'm going to spend a whole lot of time at California Adventure, but I definitely want to check out Soarin' and a few other rides over there.

 

[Disney Hot Mama]

I'm going to have a 3-day park hopper ticket, so I'll be able to see both parks. I don't know if I'm going to spend a whole lot of time at California Adventure, but I definitely want to check out Soarin' and a few other rides over there.

Don't forget Screaming and the new Monsters Ride (it's opened now) and the Alladin stage show is great!

As for Disneyland grab a fast pass for Space Mountain immediately - it doesn't matter what time of day you go that ride has a loooong line. I too love Splash Mountain and we usually do a fast pass for that ride then head over to ride Haunted Mansion as well as Pirates before the fast pass is available. We love to ride Big Thunder Mountain too. If you are not going with kids I would skip Fantasyland unless you have extra time. The 50th show off main street on the right as you enter the park is great. It's hosted by Steve Martin who used to work at DL 50 years ago.

We go to DL often so if you have any other questions let me know. I am by no means an expert but love DL. We will be there again the end of the month too.

 

[AFMom]

A good plan for Sat when the crowds will be higher is to go to DL first thing - be there about 30 minutes prior to opening, and do DL until the crowds get thick - then head over to CA to enjoy the relatively low crowds. Sometime in the late afternoon - head back over to DL and get ready for dinner and all the evening shows!

 

[1000th happy haunt]

If you haven't been to DL since 1987, you're going to be very surprised at the changes. What used to be the parking lot is now Disney's California Adventure and the Grand Californian Hotel. They also now have a Downtown Disney.

One must do attraction at Disneyland is the Indiana Jones Adventure. And you'll be lucky enough to catch the Haunted Mansion Holiday (which closes on 1/18 this year). And be sure to ride Pirates before it closes for refurb.

At DCA my favorites are Soarin', Tower of Terror, Grizzly River Run, and the new Monsters, Inc. attraction.

 

[blackjackdelta]

Just plain ol have fun. The park is the same, it grows better with some age and change.

Jack

 

[jlmarr]

-What's the quickest way from the Anabella (basically the corner of Disneyland Drive and Katella Ave.) to the gates?

I'd suggest walking north on DL Drive and go through the Grand Californian lobby to the north entrance that takes you to DTD. You'll know you're on the right path if you see the monorail beam over the north GC garden. Then turn right (east) once you get to DTD.

But you might want to linger a bit in the GC lobby. It's a very nice hotel.

 

[Vexorg]

Some good advice here so far. Even though it will (presumably) be less crowded on Friday I think I'd like to try to take it easy to some extent (I have a bad history with trying to do everything at once on the first day of a trip then spending the rest of the time really sore from the first day) but I'd still like to try to hit the popular rides that day also.

Just three days until I'm there... I could get used to this "not waiting three months before going on a trip" stuff...