5 year old birthday DL or DCA

[JessieD]

HI! We (me, DH, and DS turning 5) will be at DLR in late October for both Halloween and my son's birthday. His birthday is October 29th, we have not yet decided if we will get park hoppers or just single day tickets. My question is if it were you, would you rather spend your birthday in DL or DCA. We will more than likely do dinner in Goofy's Kitchen that night also.

 

[AZpharmacist]

Are you only going for 1 day? I would definitely do DL unless he doesn't want to miss Cars Land. It's hard to say bc DCA does have the Disney Jr show also. What are his interests? I personally feel like there's more to do at DL but it depends on what he likes

 

[JessieD]

We will be there three full days and hopefully a MHP night as well. I was leaning more towards DL to, but I haven't been since 2002 when DCA was brand new, so a lot has changed.

 

[ADLFAN]

I am bringing a short 6 year old to Disneyland and DCA for his first visit in August, and I think he will enjoy Disneyland a little more because it has more rides he'll be able to enjoy, but I couldn't miss DCA because of the all important Cars Land, plus other tame rides with characters he is familiar with, like The Little Mermaid, mom's favorite, Monsters Inc. And the Bugs Life area. DCA also has the Pixar Play Parade which we have somehow always missed! It is hard to get a good spot for WOC with shorter kids, so Disneyland's new nighttime entertainment might work out better even with a partially blocked view, if he will stay up that late. Disneyland seems to have a bigger restaurant selection, especially for table service and the possibility of a free birthday dessert!

 

[JessieD]

Can you let me know how your visit goes? My son is very tall for his age. At this point he is only too short for Indiana Jones by about two inches and CA screamin roller coaster, which I would not take him on at this age anyway! I know there are things my son will love in both parks. Most of the things you mentioned about DCA, and in DL He will love fantasyland and tomorrowland. I'm hoping he gets picked for Jedi training!

 

[ADisneyFamilyof5]

First I would say get park hoppers if you can. With the parks being so close to each other, it is totally worth it.

If you only do one park, I would do DCA. I know I am probably the minority, but my 5 year old goes on more rides there than DL. Plus he loves Carsland. When we were there for his birthday, the CM had him show Red his bday button and Red played "Happy Birthday" with his horn. My son still talks about it! Plus, DCA is usually never as crowded as DL.

Either way you go your son will have an amazing time! And Goofy's kitchen is a great place to have a birthday dinner!

 

[JessieD]

First I would say get park hoppers if you can. With the parks being so close to each other, it is totally worth it.

If you only do one park, I would do DCA. I know I am probably the minority, but my 5 year old goes on more rides there than DL. Plus he loves Carsland. When we were there for his birthday, the CM had him show Red his bday button and Red played "Happy Birthday" with his horn. My son still talks about it! Plus, DCA is usually never as crowded as DL.

Either way you go your son will have an amazing time! And Goofy's kitchen is a great place to have a birthday dinner!

Do you use the hopper with little ones? My hesitation on getting them is, idk that we'd use them with a 5 year old. I feel like that's a lot of walking. If we were going during a peak time with long hours I would do it without hesitation. However, going in the fall with shorter hours I'm wondering if the hopper would get utilized.

 

[bumbershoot]

I would get hoppers. I haven't gone without hoppers since DS was 2. I don't thik we have ever stayed in ONE park on a given day.

At this point he is only too short for Indiana Jones by about two inches and CA screamin roller coaster

So he's about 44"?

it has more rides he'll be able to enjoy, but I couldn't miss DCA because of the all important Cars Land*, plus other tame rides with characters he is familiar with, like The Little Mermaid, mom's favorite, Monsters Inc. And the Bugs Life area*. DCA also has the Pixar Play Parade which we have somehow always missed!

That's a good amount of rides, especially since Bug's Land has 4 rides, waterplay, and "tough to be a bug" if he likes that. Cars Land is Mater and Radiator...is Luigi's closed now?

Monsters is worth a few re-rides in my opinion.

What about Toy Story Midway Mania? Mickey's Fun Wheel? (I mean, just because I call it the wheel of death doesn't mean a 5 year old won't like it) DS and DH's near favorite, the Golden Zephyr??? OH they LOVE that ride. Sky School (OP's son seems to be 44")?

Grizzly?

The whole Redwood area????? That area is great, and if they still have Smoke Jumpers, it has height requirements AND limits, so get it done while he's both big AND little and young enough!

There is *so much* in DCA.

Ack, Soarin'!

 

[JessieD]

Yes, about 44, and Toy story will be a must do. Maybe I'll just get the hopper and he can decide where he wants to be on his birthday

 

[ADisneyFamilyof5]

Do you use the hopper with little ones? My hesitation on getting them is, idk that we'd use them with a 5 year old. I feel like that's a lot of walking. If we were going during a peak time with long hours I would do it without hesitation. However, going in the fall with shorter hours I'm wondering if the hopper would get utilized.

We definitely use them! And we almost always go off-season. I usually tell my boys what park we are starting at (based on whichever has EE) and from there its up to them. We love the freedom of going back and forth. Walking is (usually) never an issue. We usually hop in the morning and then again after our midday break at least once. DH and DS8 do it even more because they go on more of the thrill rides and can utilize FP (the two parks FP are not connected). Also, you can hop to see the shows and eat at restaurants . DS5 doesn't care for WOC, but wants to see F! every night! Lol we also are very picky eaters and the only actual meal my kids will eat is at Rancho del Zocalo.

Though hoppers aren't necessary, they make my boys happy and my life easier.

 

[Cats2]

If you think that your DS can handle the walking, then I'd definitely say get hoppers. Flexibility is key. Last yr DH & I organized a group of 5 families (our family + 4 of our kids' friends' families) to celebrate everyone's 5th bday. We had six 5 yr olds celebrating at Goofy's for dinner! We've had AP's for a couple of yrs, so my kids were used to the drill: EMH mornings, midday breaks, and no strollers (they refused to use them at age 2 when we brought them to DLR the first time). My kids friends' families still brought strollers for their kids (@ age 5)-but those families were staying for 3d (& often spent long hours in the park vs our family stayed a week and would do half days in the park-we usually skip the night shows except on the last day)

On that trip, my kids discovered they loved Goofy's Sky School & DD definitely loved TOT (we didn't take them on TOT at age 4 even though they were tall enough at that time--it was only because their 5yr old friends rode TOT, that we even took them on the ride).

 

[ADisneyFamilyof5]

Yes, about 44, and Toy story will be a must do. Maybe I'll just get the hopper and he can decide where he wants to be on his birthday

We have taken my older boys for a birthday at DL (one for their 6th and the other for their 5th) and kind of do a "king for a day" thing. The birthday boy gets to pick the character breakfast and how we spend our day. They choose which rides and shows and what we eat (One chose churros for dinner. Lol). They loved it!!!

 

[superme80]

Right now my boys ages 1, 4, 6 would want a hopper pass. They love Toontown and Fantasyland, but Carsland is their favorite. They also like Bugs Land and the Monster's Inc ride, and the Little Mermaid.

 

[sillybaer]

We just came back from a 5-day extended family trip. My dad didn't want to get hoppers but fortunately my mom was there when he was buying and told him to get them. We switched twice because of night entertainment. And on the last day my kids wanted to do Buzz, Dumbo, Tow Mater, Toy Story, and Ariel. And meet Rapunzel. It was great not to tell them no they had to pick. Although we also walked in 35min so they had a stroller to ride in and used that between the parks too.

 

[VandVsmama]

If you are there for just the one day, save your money and just go to one park and make it DL.

We did this just earlier this month on a Monday. Gave our kids the option of having a regular birthday party or go to Disneyland for the day and they wisely chose the latter!

 

[GatorChris]

With a son that's 5, he probably loves Cars. I'd go with DCA if you do just one park tickets. It has a lot that he'd like.

 

[JessieD]

If you are there for just the one day, save your money and just go to one park and make it DL.

We did this just earlier this month on a Monday. Gave our kids the option of having a regular birthday party or go to Disneyland for the day and they wisely chose the latter!

With a son that's 5, he probably loves Cars. I'd go with DCA if you do just one park tickets. It has a lot that he'd like.

We will be there 3 full days, plus hopefully a MHP night, just waiting for those dates to be released.

 

[JessieD]

Thank you all for the suggestions! You have definitely sold me on getting the park hopper! I think I will just leave his birthday plans up to him! We haven't told him yet, but we will about a week before we go!