childless disney nerd with 2 days! questions about time, cost and practicality...

[alagator19]

Thank you so much for your helpful advice everyone. Obviously, i'd love to turn my South California trip into a 'Disneyland' trip, but with your advice i have some helpful things to consider and make the most of my two days.
ally

 

[superdeluxe]

1.) Park hopper or no park hopper? We are staying off site and driving in both days. Is it better to just do one park a day? (this also means we can park closer to each respective theme park) - Park Hopper yes! Maximize opening/closing times to get fast passes for the most popular attractions (Carland etc) and go back and forth.

2.) max pass- kind of on the fence over the extra 60.00 (US!!!) because i felt that at WDW i fast-passed like a BOSS. Is it worth it? Max Passes are 10$ a day I believe? YES worth it to keep your fast passes and All the Photos!

 

[RemainSeatedPlease]

I think that Park Hoppers are necessary, not just because it's so easy to switch between parks throughout the day, but because I don't think California Adventure is a full-day park. For me and my family, we typically finish up everything we want to see in that park by the afternoon, then hop back to Disneyland for the rest of the day.

 

[CharleneTheDM]

Fellow Canadian here! I highly recommend Uber/Lyfting to the parks if you're staying off-site. No need to worry about parking etc. A lot more convenient!

 

[Aladora]

Hi from the Canadian Prairies!
Well, i always read these boards and listen to podcasts and i've been to WDW 2x. As a university student I was a disney princess for birthday parties (rapunzel, elsa and cinderella thank you very much!) and never thought i would be posting a question about my upcoming trip! I am a pretty determined young lady with fast legs and no kids as i think this information is helpful.

I am going with a not-so-much disney fan but he is giving me TWO days with the mouse! He says he is game for EVERYTHING. Here are my questions:

1.) Park hopper or no park hopper? We are staying off site and driving in both days. Is it better to just do one park a day? (this also means we can park closer to each respective theme park)

2.) max pass- kind of on the fence over the extra 60.00 (US!!!) because i felt that at WDW i fast-passed like a BOSS. Is it worth it?

3.) Parking, is it worth it to park in the allocated parking lots or would i be okay just parking off site at some of the hotels?

I know 2 days is not much. At WDW it would NEVER be enough time but i DO know from reading and listening to you guys DLR is much smaller. Is DLR doable in two days with no kids?

Have a magical day!
Ally

Hi from Vancouver Island!

1. Big yes to park hoppers, we bounce back and forth between the two parks a few times each day depending on lines and fast passes. The two parks are around 75 meters apart so hopping is REALLY easy!

2. I hear ya on the cost, $15US/person/day is a big ask but in my opinion it is absolutely worth it. We're going for 5 days with 3 of us and we are absolutely adding on MP. The FP systems between WDW and DL are quite different and you can get so much done in DL/DCA with MP.

3. We never drive so I can't talk about this. We fly into SNA most times, take a cab to our hotel and walk to the parks.

Is DLR doable in 2 days? You can absolutely get your "must do's" done in that time and many of your "want to do's" but you will not be able to do everything. My recommendation is to make 3 lists. The first has the attractions, shows and meals you HAVE to do. The second is of ones you want to do and the third is of ones that you would like to do but won't be crushed if you miss.

If you have not yet bought your tickets, look at Last Minute Travel Club. If I can't get our tickets through Airmiles, then I usually find the best price at LMTC.

 

[NorthernCalMom]

Max Passes are 10$ a day I believe?

No, those were the good old days... now they’re $15 per person per day (hence the original poster’s accurate $60 for two people & two days).

My suggestion would be a definite, absolute, wholehearted YES on the park hoppers. Since you won’t have early admission, get up early and start at the park that does NOT have early admission that morning. If you are like me, you will potentially run out of things to do in California Adventure in the afternoon, when you will be happy to have your hoppers, allowing you to shift over to Disneyland (which has so much more stuff to do & usually also closes much later than the other park). If you have gotten Maxpass, you may, at that time, have some great Fastpasses lined up, allowing you to do lots of great rides after hopping across, even if the parks are busy.

I would suggest that you do NOT get Maxpass when buying your tickets but that you instead add it on using your app once you are scanned into the park. This way you can use it on the first day (for a pricetag of $30 for the two of you) and can then, on day two, decide based on that experience if you feel that it’s worth it to get it again or not.

Maxpass is simply a more convenient interface for DLand’s (“Legacy”) Fastpass system (with a few very nice additional perks that may come in handy if you only have two days & don’t know when you’ll be able to visit again in the future).

Special Maxpass perks are:

(a) the ability to draw more passes overall, due to the wait time for getting another if you have a late return time is only 90 mins and not, as when using the traditional FP kiosks, 120 min (those different 30 mins chunks do add up!),

(b) the convenience of, once scanned into either park, being able to draw Fastpasses from any of the two parks, given the system’s rules and limitations (there are some fantastic Fastpass strategy threads here on the Disneyland portion of the Disboards site, which are well worth reading, regardless of which of the two methods of access—Maxpass or kiosk—you end up using), which will make for far greater efficiency in your touring and less achy feet, especially if you park hop,

(c) the ability to access canceled Fastpasses later during the day, when the regular ones have run out.

Besides those three perks, anything else that Maxpass can do, legacy Fastpass can do, too, with a little more legwork...

So if you get Maxpass day-by-day rather than for the entire trip ahead of time, you are only out $30, if you decide you won’t need it for day two, or, if you do get it on both days, you’ll be able to do so with the knowledge that you’re making a well-informed decision.

Whatever you decide, I’m sure you will have an amazing time!

 

[superdeluxe]

No, those were the good old days... now they’re $15 per person per day (hence the original poster’s accurate $60 for two people & two days).

My suggestion would be a definite, absolute, wholehearted YES on the park hoppers. Since you won’t have early admission, get up early and start at the park that does NOT have early admission that morning. If you are like me, you will potentially run out of things to do in California Adventure in the afternoon, when you will be happy to have your hoppers, allowing you to shift over to Disneyland (which has so much more stuff to do & usually also closes much later than the other park). If you have gotten Maxpass, you may, at that time, have some great Fastpasses lined up, allowing you to do lots of great rides after hopping across, even if the parks are busy.

I would suggest that you do NOT get Maxpass when buying your tickets but that you instead add it on using your app once you are scanned into the park. This way you can use it on the first day (for a pricetag of $30 for the two of you) and can then, on day two, decide based on that experience if you feel that it’s worth it to get it again or not.

Maxpass is simply a more convenient interface for DLand’s (“Legacy”) Fastpass system (with a few very nice additional perks that may come in handy if you only have two days & don’t know when you’ll be able to visit again in the future).

Special Maxpass perks are:

(a) the ability to draw more passes overall, due to the wait time for getting another if you have a late return time is only 90 mins and not, as when using the traditional FP kiosks, 120 min (those different 30 mins chunks do add up!),

(b) the convenience of, once scanned into either park, being able to draw Fastpasses from any of the two parks, given the system’s rules and limitations (there are some fantastic Fastpass strategy threads here on the Disneyland portion of the Disboards site, which are well worth reading, regardless of which of the two methods of access—Maxpass or kiosk—you end up using), which will make for far greater efficiency in your touring and less achy feet, especially if you park hop,

(c) the ability to access canceled Fastpasses later during the day, when the regular ones have run out.

Besides those three perks, anything else that Maxpass can do, legacy Fastpass can do, too, with a little more legwork...

So if you get Maxpass day-by-day rather than for the entire trip ahead of time, you are only out $30, if you decide you won’t need it for day two, or, if you do get it on both days, you’ll be able to do so with the knowledge that you’re making a well-informed decision.

Whatever you decide, I’m sure you will have an amazing time!

You also get photopass with the max pass! So many great photos!

 

[NorthernCalMom]

You also get photopass with the max pass! So many great photos!

Oh, yes! I forgot about that one!!!

 

[TheFierce]

Hi there- just to chip in on the parking/transportation motif - you could also explore use of the ART (Anaheim Resort Transportation) shuttle system depending on where you are staying in the area. It’s a mini public transportation system for the Resort and surrounding areas, and its quite reasonable financially.

Have fun on the trip my friend

 

[skyblue17]

The last time we drove in, GPS took us to the Toy Story lots instead of the parking structure. We found it a little less stressful, as the shuttles are actual busses and leaving the park at the end of the day is a bit more organized than the tram situation. So that's always a possibility.

I'd definitely get Park Hoppers, especially since combined with Max Pass, it allows you to plan rides in either park, most of which are pretty easy to get to even if you're in the other park. We bounce a few times a day when there for one day, and being able to do that over two days seems ideal as well!