3 - 4 - 5 You pick the number of days.

[bmorr1963]

Summer of 2012 will be our first trip to DL after more than a dozen at WDW.

We'll be visiting San Diego for a couple of days to visit Sea World and hit a beach then drive up to DL. So - - how long do we need to get a full experience at Disney Land and California Adverture Park. I know this is subjective from family to family but want to get a general idea. While we already have experience on many of the rides that are duplicates to WDW (i.e., Haunted Mansion, Soarin', TS Mania, etc), that doesn't mean we wont hit them again, many times!

Let me know your thoughts and thanks in advance to your responses.

 

[sonnyjane]

It kind of depends on who is in your group (little kids that can't ride everything? those that prefer a slower pace and taking in the shows? etc.) but 3 is the minimum, especially during summer. If you'd like to do a more leisurely pace, then I'd bump it to 4. I haven't ever gone for 5 days but plenty of people on the boards do and still complain that they didn't see everything they wanted to! Like I said, the main thing is who is traveling in your party and what your touring style is.

 

[jernysgirl]

More is always better! I say five days would be great if you could swing it (money & time wise), especially during next summer as sonnyjane said. It is a warmer time of year, more people, and the majority of construction on DCA (including Carsland) should be done.

We go to DLR regularly, and always go for 5 and sometimes even 6 days. Why rush to cram everything in in three days when you can slow down, relax and really soak in the magic?

But, that just my opinion.

 

[Mama Who]

Is this a trick question? Five!

 

[momjkm]

I recently went for the 1st time for 3 days. 5 would have been ideal. Three is not enough even with extended hours. We went for long periods of time, took small breaks, and have a list of "I wish we had's...". And it was 2 adults. (but did the little kid stuff~

Jill

 

[ND Disney Daddy]

3, 4, or 5...

why not 6?

 

[bmorr1963]

sonnyjane - - I see you are from San Diego....although I have been there many times without children we plan to go to SD prior to Disneyland. Having never seen the pacific ocean, I want to pick a beach that is good for children of 4, 6 and 8 years of age. I am not sure what day(s) night be beach days but it could be the weekend given we want a Mon-Fri disney experience. Let me know what beach youthink is best and anything else besides a beach and sea world visit for our 2 1/2 day San Diego visit.

 

[sonnyjane]

sonnyjane - - I see you are from San Diego....although I have been there many times without children we plan to go to SD prior to Disneyland. Having never seen the pacific ocean, I want to pick a beach that is good for children of 4, 6 and 8 years of age. I am not sure what day(s) night be beach days but it could be the weekend given we want a Mon-Fri disney experience. Let me know what beach youthink is best and anything else besides a beach and sea world visit for our 2 1/2 day San Diego visit.

I just responded to your PM

 

[Minnie Loves Mickey]

4 days minimum, but if you could swing 5 all the better!!! When pricing everything out see what the price difference is. Sometimes its only $10 a person...even if the 5th day is just half a day it would be worth it.

 

[clareita]

3 days should be fine. Of course, you can always have fun for 4 or 5 days, but if you are combining this with a San Diego trip, this means you don't have all the time in the world for DL. We did this trip about 5 years ago, and 2 days in San Diego and 3 days at DL was great. No, you don't see and do everything, but you do a lot and you'll have a great time.

 

[twelvesixteen]

Summer of 2012 will be our first trip to DL after more than a dozen at WDW.

We'll be visiting San Diego for a couple of days to visit Sea World and hit a beach then drive up to DL. So - - how long do we need to get a full experience at Disney Land and California Adverture Park. I know this is subjective from family to family but want to get a general idea. While we already have experience on many of the rides that are duplicates to WDW (i.e., Haunted Mansion, Soarin', TS Mania, etc), that doesn't mean we wont hit them again, many times!

Let me know your thoughts and thanks in advance to your responses.

Personally, it depends on how efficient and gung-ho you are about getting through rides, and how many "tricks of the trade" you are aware of re: rides, food, characters, etc. Definitely also depends on how many children, age of children, number of seniors, etc. For the summer months I'd say if you're moving quickly and you want to get a full-out experience (almost every ride at least once) I'd say 4 days is a must, if not the full 5. Only because it's summer. If it was school time I would say three.

For me, I'm 19 and I go with my younger brother and mom and dad. We need a full 4 days to fully experience and then a fifth day to relish our favorites one last time.

 

[Bungle]

We went for 4 days and had a great time. Weren't really rushed but still didn't get all the rides in. It was our youngest sons first trip so we spent a LOT of time in fantasy land though. Next time we will be going for 5.

 

[Brer Cameron]

I always go for 5.

 

[HydroGuy]

Up til this year the minimum has been somewhere between 3 and 4 days. With Cars Land it will be a solid 4 days needed to get a good, thorough DLR experience.

 

[jennilouwho]

I think 4 is the new minimum if you have kids with you and will be doing baby swaps through out the day. We were just there for 5 days in July with little kids and that felt just right. We did take 3 hour breaks every day, the kids really needed that.

 

[Disneylovers2000]

My vote is 5!

 

[mousterpiece]

Especially if you're going with three kids, I'd go for 5. The addition next year of Cars Land is going to make touring both parks in 3 days with kids almost impossible, just because there will be so much more to do.

 

[WICKEDW3NCH]

I would recommend 3-4 days to make sure you get to do everything and still have time to enjoy the park without rushing around

 

[jacs1234]

With my family of 6 with 4 kids aged 11, 9, 6 and 5, we would need at least 5 days. You don't want to be rushing the kids around all the time, it's nice to slow down and enjoy it a little more. Also there are so many attractions like turtle talk, playhouse disney, Aladdin, WOC and Fantasmic that take up large chunks of time. We can't do all of DCA in one day with all of the shows that happen over there, and they're all such great shows we can't miss them. So my vote, with a family similar to yours, is for 5 days.