About the 24 hour event - leaving the park?

[taniahappy]

OK So... I am booked for Friday-Sunday but of course we will be there (DL) at around 5am so I am wondering if it will be too much to leave around 4pm to check in and come back in? What are your thoughts? Should I just add thursday night or will it be ok?

 

[whjensen]

I'd add Thursday night, as - reading other threads, not from experience - it's impossible to predict when/if they shut the park.

Another alternative would be to check in earlier, leave the bags at the belldesk, and then come back after the shows briefly. That way you've got your room secured and you don't worry about park closure.

 

[figment_jii]

At this point, no one really knows what the crowds will look on the 24-hour day in late afternoon. The guessing is that the crowds will really start to pick up when folks get off of work and out of school, so somewhere in the late afternoon, early evening time frame. I personally would be hesitant to leave the park around 4:00 pm and hope to get back in somewhere around the 5:00 pm timeframe, but, it might be okay (it was fine last year, but there were no new shows debuting that night). Would it be possible to check into your hotel room earlier in the day? I know a lot of hotels allow guests to check-in early; your room might just not be ready yet.

 

[GenGen22]

I would call your hotel. Your not the only one that will want to check in early. I called my hotel & asked if we could check in early & they said if they had a room available, if not I can leave my luggage with them & they will hold it until my room is available. I'm getting in around 8:30 am and after dropping off my luggage I'm heading to the parks.

 

[taniahappy]

Good idea! We could get into DL at 6am and then leave around 10... I am going tomorrow so I will stop at my hotel and ask them personally! I really wish I had just booked Thur from the start! Now it is too expensive and I would much rather spend tht $ on something else...Thanks!

 

[beachdreamr1229]

I would not wait to leave until 4pm. With the new night entertainment, I think that's likely to be around the time it will be close to capacity. I'm with others in saying drop off your luggage and check in early. Some hotels will let you store your bags even at 4am.

 

[superlarz]

I think you would be fine at 4. But why risk it?

 

[lalasmama]

During the Leap Day event in 2012, we were able to park hop until 8pm-ish, when they started closing the gates on-and-off, and it was an hour-long wait to get back into DL from DCA.

I believe last year's event was a bit less busy, but, honestly, I don't recall if they closed the gates or not (I wasn't there).

So, this is all a long way of saying, in my opinion, if you leave around 4pm to set up your hotel room, and come right back, you'll likely be okay. However, if you leave at 4pm, set up your hotel room, go have dinner off-site, maybe sneak in dessert or a drink somewhere else, and don't get back to the gates until later, you could be risking a LONG wait to get back in, *if* you get back in at all. Somehow, when I take 4pm breaks, it always takes me f.o.r.e.v.e.r to get back to the parks, LOL.

 

[sheetz]

Leap Day 2012 was different, though, because only DL was open all night so that all the folks at DCA funneled into DL after DCA closed. Since then both parks have been opened for 24hr events and this has helped alleviate crowds.

 

[agamble]

Leap Day 2012 was different, though, because only DL was open all night so that all the folks at DCA funneled into DL after DCA closed. Since then both parks have been opened for 24hr events and this has helped alleviate crowds.

True! The only question is how bad will the crowds be with people hoping to catch the new shows at Disneyland? Could DCA be relatively quiet from 6pm-10pm while everyone crowds over to DL to see the parade and fireworks? Could these shows cause a gate closure? Only time will tell. We plan to be in DL by 4pm. However, I doubt the gate will close at 4pm. I just expect it to keep getting busier as the evening goes on. As someone said above if you're just going to go check in, it's probably not a big deal. Leave around 3:30 be back around 4:30, but if you plan to be gone for a few hours you may find a long line to get back in and possible gate closure.

 

[lalasmama]

Leap Day 2012 was different, though, because only DL was open all night so that all the folks at DCA funneled into DL after DCA closed. Since then both parks have been opened for 24hr events and this has helped alleviate crowds.

Yes, it was different... However, those lines started quite a while (hours) before DCA closed.

 

[taniahappy]

It would just be a fast one hour out of the park to check in, we plan on having all our meals inside the park (whether we take food inside or have the meal in one of their rest) ... well coudnt make it to DL today, I wasnt feeling 100% after one of my wisdome teeth got pulled out on thursday so planning on calling the hotel later....

 

[SMD]

You should be fine. Even if they go into the first phase of gate closures you'll be a re-entry.

 

[kangamama]

You should be fine. Even if they go into the first phase of gate closures you'll be a re-entry.

How does being a re entry help, though, if there's a closure?

 

[theluckyrabbit]

How does being a re entry help, though, if there's a closure?

As a re-entry, you'll have priority over guests who are entering for the first time. But being a re-entry doesn't guarantee everything. At the highest level of gate closure, no one no how gets in until enough guests leave the park. (And the fire marshall, not Disney, determines this highest level of closure.)

 

[taniahappy]

Does re-entry work for AP?

 

[SMD]

Does re-entry work for AP?

Yes. If they are getting close to the first phase they'll give you a hand stamp when you leave.

 

[agamble]

We always get hand stamps if we parkhop, even with our APs. The kids like to see them light up on the rides too.

 

[kangamama]

As a re-entry, you'll have priority over guests who are entering for the first time. But being a re-entry doesn't guarantee everything. At the highest level of gate closure, no one no how gets in until enough guests leave the park. (And the fire marshall, not Disney, determines this highest level of closure.)

Thanks for this explanation