Should I add a day to tickets for arrival evening?

[lvdis]

Our flight is scheduled to arrive at SNA on Saturday, December 5th at 6:10 PM. We are staying at the Tropicana Inn & Suites. We currently have a 4 day park hopper with plans to be in the parks Sunday - Wednesday. I'm debating adding a day to our tickets so we can go Saturday night to see WOC, but I'm not even sure if we would be able to get fastpasses and we may be arriving too late to do a dinner package. I realize I should probably wait until closer to the time to decide after I see park hours and show times, but since it's on my mind I thought I'd see what you would do. I looked at historical hours and it showed DCA open until 11pm and DL till midnight on that Saturday if that counts for anything.

What would you do? Take it easy on arrival night with dinner and early turn in or go for it and try to squeeze in the extra nighttime entertainment? It will just be 3 adults and we are coming from a time zone that is 2 hours ahead of CA.

Thanks for sharing your opinion!

 

[nikkislaght]

we never hit the parks on a travel day.. and we get there mid afternoon... we like to take our time and go to DTD hang out.. get a good meal and then get to bed early for the next day.. if I was arriving at the airport at 6.10pm thats at least 7.30pm by he time you are in your room.
I dont know if the fast passes would still be available . but Im thinking not... but that would also depend on the time of year as to how fast they go...

Have a great trip

 

[figment_jii]

Normally, I would say to take advantage of as much time as you have and to go into the parks on your arrival day, but given your arrival time, I would probably lean towards just calling it a night when you get to your hotel. I would guess that the earliest you could get into DCA would be 8:00 pm (about two hours after you land, taking into account time to de-plane, get luggage, get to the Tropicana, then get to the park). I do think they'll be out of WoC FPs by that point. If you're going to be in the parks on Sunday to Wednesday, that gives you at least three evenings (Sun, Mon, and Tue) to see the nighttime entertainment. The only one that will probably still be on a weekends only schedule is F! (WoC and fireworks are usually nightly during the Holiday Season and the guessing is that PtN will also be nightly).

I don't know how impacted the parks will be, but it's worth noting that Dec 5 and 6 is when Candlelight Processional is scheduled for (at this point). It's not known if CP will have the same schedule, set-up, etc. as in previous years, but it could mean that DL's MS area will be very crowded in the evening. I don't know if it'll have any impact on DCA (I kind of doubt it, but it's worth noting).

 

[Imdboss]

I would go! The additional cost for your ticket is minimal plus then you can get a nighttime show done and crossed off the list. We are at DL now, I'm keeping notes on how long things take. We landed in SNA on Sarurday, walked off the plane at 3:00, got our 4 bags from baggage claim, were in our Lansky's car at 3:20, dropped my parents off at Worldmark on Katella at 3:40, and we were at Embassy Suites S at 3:50. So my point is you could easily make it to WoC!

 

[lvdis]

We will actually have 4 nights (Sun - Wed) which should probably be plenty. Our flight home is Thursday morning. I just know we love the nighttime shows and want to try to see as many as possible. When we were there in 2013, my husband wanted to see WOC almost every night. I know we will want to see the new fireworks and PtN parade as well (maybe multiple times on the parade if possible). We have always loved the light parades at WDW.

I'm so torn because starting off easy that night is very appealing, but having a chance to see an extra night show is so tempting. I guess the biggest thing is figuring out if we would even have a chance to see WOC. Maybe we could also squeeze in to DL and see the late parade too, but I know it's going to be crazy busy with it being Candlelight weekend.

lmdboss, thanks for sharing your arrival timeline. We will most likely only have carry-on bags so that should speed it up a little more (although it seems baggage claim went very fast for you!).

 

[MichelleWDWfan]

I was having the same dilemma, but we are arriving alot earlier. I bought a 3 day park hopper for myself.
My son decided to go with me so I bought him the 4 day hopper and am going to upgrade my ticket.
We arrive at LAX at 11 am, so I think that is worth upgrading the park closes at 8p that night and WoC is at 8:15p
I ended up booking us a WoC lunch pkg so we can see the show the first night and cross it off of our list.

 

[figment_jii]

I'm so torn because starting off easy that night is very appealing, but having a chance to see an extra night show is so tempting. I guess the biggest thing is figuring out if we would even have a chance to see WOC. Maybe we could also squeeze in to DL and see the late parade too, but I know it's going to be crazy busy with it being Candlelight weekend.

I would just wait until we know more about what the schedule might be for that weekend.

I think there is a chance that the PtN parade schedule is going to be unusual/different because of CP. Assuming CP is presented in Town Square (as it has been for the last several years), that means part of the parade route would be blocked. When CP was presented last year, the Christmas Parade was presented at 1:00 pm and 3:30 pm, which gave them plenty of time to clear the Town Square area and set-up for CP, but PtN is a night parade.

In terms of WoC, I would probably opt to also just wing this one. See what time you get to DCA and go from there. I would not try to do a dining package because if your plane is late, if there is traffic, or any other number of reasons why you could be delayed, there is a $10 per person no show penalty.

 

[lvdis]

I would just wait until we know more about what the schedule might be for that weekend.

I think there is a chance that the PtN parade schedule is going to be unusual/different because of CP. Assuming CP is presented in Town Square (as it has been for the last several years), that means part of the parade route would be blocked. When CP was presented last year, the Christmas Parade was presented at 1:00 pm and 3:30 pm, which gave them plenty of time to clear the Town Square area and set-up for CP, but PtN is a night parade.

In terms of WoC, I would probably opt to also just wing this one. See what time you get to DCA and go from there. I would not try to do a dining package because if your plane is late, if there is traffic, or any other number of reasons why you could be delayed, there is a $10 per person no show penalty.

Thanks for the advice! I hadn't thought about the parade possibly be disrupted by Candlelight but that makes sense.

Is it easy to add a day to our ticket once we are there if we decide to do that? I got our tickets from Getawaytoday. Will that affect the price to add a day? I believe I've read it's better to upgrade after you've used it the first time.

Thanks to everyone for all the good advice/opinions and sharing your experiences!

 

[figment_jii]

Is it easy to add a day to our ticket once we are there if we decide to do that? I got our tickets from Getawaytoday. Will that affect the price to add a day? I believe I've read it's better to upgrade after you've used it the first time.

I would just go ahead and use the ticket without worrying about upgrading on the first night. Upgrading is generally a fairly easy process, but it can take a bit (especially if there is a line at the ticket windows). You have until the end of the day on the last day the ticket is valid/active to upgrade (so you could wait until Tuesday to upgrade). In terms of pricing, DLR does not always "bridge" the prices (i.e., give you the gate price value), so I would go expecting to pay the difference between what you paid and the gate price.

 

[Sherry E]

There were several consecutive years -- a long, long, long time ago -- when Candlelight was relocated from Town Square to Fantasyland, but it has been back in Town Square ever since. This year, once again, it is supposed to be in its regular spot (though I question where the performers will rehearse since they usually rehearse in the Magic Eye theater, and that is likely going to be wrapped up with Star Wars something-or-another later this year, I suspect). I just have a hunch that the performance times might change. Normally there would be a CP performance in the 5:30 p.m. range and the 8 p.m.-ish range (though sometimes they run a bit late, or longer than the 45 minutes that is claimed). Because there will be so much going on around Main Street this year, between the Christmas Fantasy Parade (with possibly 2 showings in the daytime on weekends, which is a rumor), Disneyland Forever fireworks and Paint the Night, I expect that the Candlelight times could shift a slight bit. Disney is making every effort to not advertise it and not bring a lot of attention to it. They haven't even listed Candlelight on the specific site/page where I normally find it, and I think it's because they are really trying to keep it as quiet as possible (in other words, so there is no chaos on Main Street). If they could avoid posting anything online that was publicly visible at all, I'm sure they would.

lvdis -- I know you follow the Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread, so you probably saw my explanation about why the crowds were crazy last year -- that was an exception, with so many things going on over the same weekend. Otherwise, on a normal Candlelight weekend, a lot of the crowds will be caused by people trying to cram in their Disneyland time earlier in the day so they can avoid Candlelight, or trying to escape Main Street when Candlelight begins, as well as crowds standing around and watching CP.

I wouldn't put too much thought into it, though. You know it will be busy -- especially on Saturday. There will be gridlock on Main Street and in Town Square for a while, as well as Disneyland escapees heading to DCA. I think you should play it by ear and wait until closer to your trip to decide about adding a day for either World of Color or Paint the Night -- especially since we don't know the times/schedules for anything yet -- but I tend to think you might as well just take it easy that evening and have a nice, leisurely dinner in Downtown Disney or at one of the hotels. Maybe go to the GCH lobby and enjoy the holiday atmosphere, with Santa, carolers and (hopefully) a new gingerbread creation.

 

[4Siamese]

Another consideration is if rush hour traffic would be an issue. I am not a expert by any means but I would think there would be a potentially significant difference in getting from LAX @ 3:00ish (like a previous poster had mentioned) and 6:00ish.

FWIW during our last trip we got to PPH from LAX around 2:00 and we purchased an additional day ticket so we could go to the park that day. Worked out GREAT!!!

 

[AZpharmacist]

I was there that week last year and honestly, there's plenty of time to do stuff in 4 days unless you're traveling with very small children. It will probably be close to 8 by the time you get in. I would check into my hotel, settle in and go have dinner in DTD. Get to bed early and start at rope drop. You'll have plenty of opportunities to see WOC. Besides, if there's a flight delay, you probably wouldn't make your reservation or WOC

 

[RKKUNK]

Just my opinion, but with your flight getting in when it does, I would just skip the parks that evening. I personally would feel stressed out about time and getting to the park. Maybe that evening is just for getting settled into your hotel, going to DTD to have dinner and shop and enjoy the atmosphere. You could possibly watch the fireworks from the esplanade if they have them that night or just return to your room to turn in as you will probably want to get to the park at rope drop in the a.m.. Whatever you decide, have a wonderful trip!

 

[Geemo]

With being able to upgrade anytime before the end of the last day, wait and see.
If every thing falls into place once you're at DLR your first afternoon/evening then great.
Adding a day to a 4day ticket isn't really too pricey considering the overall expense of a Disney trip.


Geemo

 

[jina]

I'd wing it - if your flight comes in anywhere near on time, and you get to the hotel and feel like going into a park, do it if you're going to be wishing you were in the parks all night.

Having said that, knowing how I am a planner and handle stress when my plans go to pot and past history I'd do what most folks suggested- grab dinner somewhere (even make a reservation for somewhere in DTD or CityWalk), get to bed early and be up bright and early for rope drop. I'd be way too stressed out all travel day hoping our flight gets in on time, then that we're not stuck waiting for a gate, or for luggage, or a taxi, or traffic, or check-in.

This past July on a Monday I had made a 5pm dinner reservation for Jazz Kitchen (DTD) and we were leaving from Big Sur at 8am - I thought we'd have no problem making that reservation - we'd be there by 3! - but we ended up just getting to check in at HoJo's at 4:45pm (lots of traffic along our route and stops were longer than planned) - fortunately I called when I figured out we were going to be late and they were cool with our being late but if I thought I had an in-park ADR to make, a ticket day to use, etc - I would have completely lost it.

 

[lvdis]

Now that we are only about a week away I'm thinking about this again. We are real big into the nighttime entertainment and now that we know DCA will be open until 11pm and DL until midnight, we are seriously considering going into the parks on our arrival night (just 3 adults). We would really like to see at least one version of WOC that night (Saturday 12/5), do you think there will be any way to get into the viewing area when we won't arrive at the park until possibly 8pm? I wish there was a way to get a fp, but we will be arriving so late I figure chances are they will be gone. Does anyone have recent experience with this (since showing 2 different WOC shows)? Thanks!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

What about trying to just see it from the back? Near little mermaid ride there is standing room. If a FP is not available you could try that?

 

[lvdis]

What about trying to just see it from the back? Near little mermaid ride there is standing room. If a FP is not available you could try that?

That might be a good idea. Do you know if it's a very good view? I wonder if they allow entry without a fp into the lower wet zone area if it's not full?

 

[Angel Ariel]

I was having the same dilemma, but we are arriving alot earlier. I bought a 3 day park hopper for myself.
My son decided to go with me so I bought him the 4 day hopper and am going to upgrade my ticket.
We arrive at LAX at 11 am, so I think that is worth upgrading the park closes at 8p that night and WoC is at 8:15p
I ended up booking us a WoC lunch pkg so we can see the show the first night and cross it off of our list.

Just to give you an idea of timing, our flight landed at 11:30am. By the time we got a rental car, which my dad went to get as we got bags, and then drove to anaheim it was 2pm. I'm not sure what time your WOC lunch is, but just wanted to give you info that may help.

 

[Angel Ariel]

That might be a good idea. Do you know if it's a very good view? I wonder if they allow entry without a fp into the lower wet zone area if it's not full?

I stood behind the ropes at the back of the preferred dining section for my second WOC show (we had CC WoC lunch for the first show). It would have been a pretty good view. A security guard ended up pixie dusting me and letting me into the preferred dining section, even though I said I didn't have a package, and I only stood a few feet further in, at the top of a staircase. View was awesome. It would have been great even if I'd stayed where I was originally too.