3rd day at DLR: Full park day or Halloween party?

[FriendoftheHatter]

Hello all,
I'm a WDW vet (and CP alum) but i'll be taking my first trip to Disneyland with my mom in early october. We'll be there from sunday to tuesday and we can spend a full day in the parks all three days. We're planning on getting 3 day park hoppers or 2 day park hoppers and a Halloween party ticket. I'm looking for opinions on which to do.

Halloween party pros:
We love the villains so doing some villain pictures would be great
I've heard ride lines are a lot shorter so we can be more efficient with the shorter time
Having the morning to explore DTD and the disney hotels would be cool
I love watching the fireworks with the castle my last day at disney

3rd ticket day pros:
much more park time that day
a little cheaper
early morning magic with the 3 day ticket(?)

Disneyland vets let me know your thoughts!

 

[figment_jii]

You do get Magic Morning with most 3-day or longer pre-purchased tickets, but assuming the schedule holds, your only day will be Tuesday (Sun and Mon usually only have EMH at DCA). So you'll need to be able to get there pre-rope drop to really take advantage of the extra hour. It is worth noting that MM in DL only includes Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. It's a good chance to knock out some of the FL or TL attractions (except Alice and PP, who have long lines that build up quickly).

Fireworks: I would try to see whatever show is being offered on Sunday because there is a chance that they'll only be offering fireworks on weekends (Sat and Sun) during that time period. There will be fireworks for MHP, but only guests attending MHP will be able to watch the show from inside the park (you could watch them from the Esplande if you opt to forgo MHP on Tuesday, but they do not pipe in the music and you can't see any of the castle effects).

MHP: Have you been to MNSSHP in MK? While MHP is not the same, it has some similar elements and somewhat a similar vibe. The parade and fireworks shows are different, and it's much easier to get a lot of candy (most all of the treat stops are actually treat trails). If you liked MNSSHP at MK, then I think MHP is a good choice. If you didn't really care for MNSSHP or aren't interested in the Halloween Party specific activities and offerings, then I'd forgo the party. Ride lines are shorter during the party, once day guests have cleared out of the park, but it can take a while (I'd say to expect normal crowd levels the first hour or so). The most popular attractions (like HM and Space) will still have lines (Space was about 30 minutes at the end of the party last year when I went), but other attractions will be closer to walk-on/short wait by the last hour of the party. There was a pretty good selection of villains at last year's party, but it hard to predict who will be out when. They had two official meet and greet locations in Town Square/Villains Square and then a couple of "roaming" villains. The roaming villains at M&G villains do overlap (not at the same time, but over the course of the night). So you might see Gaston at the M&G location at one point in the evening and then roaming around Villains Square at another. It'll be interesting to see who is out this year, but last year I recall seeing Dr. Facilier, the Evil Queen, Maleficent, Gaston, and Queen of Hearts. Some of the villains also meet during the day (like Cruella, the Evil Queen, etc.), so keep your eyes open for them.

DTD & Hotels: DLR's DTD is not like Disney Springs. It's much smaller (and part of if will be under construction when you're there, so it'll be even smaller than it is now) and there isn't as much to do or see. There are only three hotels to visit. I like visiting DTD and the hotels, but it's something that can be done fairly quickly (a couple of hours at most, unless you really like to shop). That being said, there are some pretty good restaurants (e.g., Brennan's Jazz Kitchen, Storytellers).

 

[chickapin parterre]

I guess it boils down to the level of your mercury poisoning.......what do you want your memory of Disneyland to reflect......Halloween candy and villain photos or textures of the mornings and evenings at Disneyland and DCA. Disneyland is very stylized and as a first time visitor, on a MHP plan, you will miss over 50% of the texture with the park hopping plans. Hidden Mickeys? Walt's historical touches, Main Street, both sides of the matterhorn, and now both sides of BTMRR are worth exploring. Club 33 photo, talking heads, little people photos, just how many light bulbs are there at Alice in Wonderland while waiting in line......working. Rainbow Ridge, Martinez palm tree, lost baby elephant,, coke corner....and by the way, do you plan to play musical chairs with your friend?

 

[theluckyrabbit]

...I love watching the fireworks with the castle my last day at disney...

Have a back up plan ready to go since it is not uncommon, especially at that time of year, for fireworks to get cancelled at DL (usually for safety reasons due to wind speed/direction). Also, the castle area at DL is much smaller than it is at MK, so if you want to view from in front of the castle, you'll need to invest a large amount of time saving viewing spots (large amount of time = up to several hours?). Fireworks at DL are great, and the Halloween Screams show for MHP is one of the best they do, but it is a different experience from watching at WDW. There are different viewing areas (and these matter since viewing real estate at the castle is so tight) and during Halloween Time, the regular fireworks may only show on weekends (as the pp stated) and Halloween Screams are for MHP guests only.

 

[DizneyMommy]

Very unlikely that there will be fireworks on Monday or Tuesday during the school year, except for during the party and certain special permits Disney gets.

 

[FutureDisneyEventPlanner]

I am going with my mom first the first time as well! I am doing a 2 Day Park Hopper and a Halloween party

 

[tzeitel]

I love park hoppers at DL, having said that - if $ is the issue I would do a 3 day 1P per day ticket and the party. The difference between a 2 day hopper and a 3 day 1P1D is around $20 (on lmtclub). DtD does not take much time to go through, neither do the hotels - although you can always have lunch at Trader Sams and spend a couple of hours there With 3 days you can spend a whole day at each park, then on party day you can go early to either park and then use your party ticket (either 3 or 4pm whenever your party starts).

 

[lindyv321]

We had never been to a party and since it fell on one of the days we would be there I decided to buy tickets. I didn’t want to get kicked out of DLR early after having already purchased my three day hopper. By the time the party started we were tired from spending all day in the parks and even my teenage children were falling asleep watching the parade. In hindsight I wish we had just gotten a two day hopper and done the party since we wouldn’t have been so tired and it would have saved some money.

 

[Lm3js]

We went last year and did a 3 day park hopper + the Halloween party. I couldn't stand being at Disney w/o being in the park. I bought from LMTclub so it wasn't really THAT much more between 2 day or 3 day PH. We loved loved loved the Halloween party and I would do it again in heartbeat. We started day 3 at DCA and then moved over to MHP for a early dinner and party!

 

[azdisneylover]

Hello all,
I'm a WDW vet (and CP alum) but i'll be taking my first trip to Disneyland with my mom in early october. We'll be there from sunday to tuesday and we can spend a full day in the parks all three days. We're planning on getting 3 day park hoppers or 2 day park hoppers and a Halloween party ticket. I'm looking for opinions on which to do.

Halloween party pros:
We love the villains so doing some villain pictures would be great
I've heard ride lines are a lot shorter so we can be more efficient with the shorter time
Having the morning to explore DTD and the disney hotels would be cool
I love watching the fireworks with the castle my last day at disney

3rd ticket day pros:
much more park time that day
a little cheaper
early morning magic with the 3 day ticket(?)

Disneyland vets let me know your thoughts!

If you decide to do 2 days and a Halloween party ticket, how about a park hopper for the two days, the morning of Tuesday, sleep in, go have a character meal, or check out all of the hotels and then, you can go into both parks starting at 3pm for the Halloween party.

 

[lindyv321]

If you decide to do 2 days and a Halloween party ticket, how about a park hopper for the two days, the morning of Tuesday, sleep in, go have a character meal, or check out all of the hotels and then, you can go into both parks starting at 3pm for the Halloween party.

This is what I wish we had done!

 

[AdamEfimoff]

is there fireworks ?

 

[dina444444]

is there fireworks ?

Yes, there is a special Halloween fireworks show called Halloween Screams that is only shown during the party.

 

[Geemo]

Yes, there is a special Halloween fireworks show called Halloween Screams that is only shown during the party.

If the weather/wind allows.

 

[cruisehopeful]

2 day park hoppers and a Halloween party ticket

That is what I'd do. You'll get in 3 hours before the party with the party ticket. It will be like having 3 full park days, only more variety.