Critique my schedule please!

underminer

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jul 27, 2006
Messages
159
Heading to So. Cal next month with DD 18 and will be there sept. 12-18. DLR is our top priority but we also love thrill rides. Got a good deal on a city pass through work so will also hit seaworld and universal with our DLR 3 day hoppers. We also have one more day to hit either six flags or knotts (leaning towards 6 flags). So here is our tentative schedule:
Thurs. 12th- seaworld
Fri. 13th - DL (fireworks or fantasmic if available)
Sat. 14th - DCA (fireworks or fantasmic)
Sun. 15th - six flags then DTD in the evening
Mon. 16th - universal/city walk.
Tues. 17th - DL/DCA hopping and WoC to finish
What do you think? Does that seem like a reasonable matchup of days and parks? Would you go to knotts over six flags? Thanks for your help!!!
 
If you love thrill rides Six Flags is for you. I haven't been to Knott's since I was a kid and didn't think much if it then.

Six Flags is 62 miles north of Anaheim and SeaWorld is 91 miles south of Anaheim and you will most likely hit bad traffic in both directions. Unless you're driving in the wee hours of the morning, plan on at least a 2 hour drive from DLR to San Diego and a pleasant surprise if turns out to be less.

Are you flying in or driving?
 
We are actually driving into San Diego first (from Arizona) on Wednesday and staying wed. and thurs. night in San Diego area before driving into Anaheim on Friday morning. We will then stay at the Red Lion Anaheim for the rest of our trip.
 
That's a lot of driving back to back on Sunday/Monday. I think I would rather put an easy day at Disneyland between those two possibly stressful days. JMO. And one more piece of advise: be sure to carry a good, old fashioned paper map with you; don't rely 100% on GPS. On my last trip, my brand new (and completely up to date) GPS gave me very poor routing...through some very shady neighborhoods. ugh

Have fun!
 

That's a lot of driving back to back on Sunday/Monday. I think I would rather put an easy day at Disneyland between those two possibly stressful days. JMO. And one more piece of advise: be sure to carry a good, old fashioned paper map with you; don't rely 100% on GPS. On my last trip, my brand new (and completely up to date) GPS gave me very poor routing...through some very shady neighborhoods. ugh

Have fun!

I totally agree! We've printed out directions for every stop. I have a good GPS, but technology can fail. Getting lost stresses me out, so I like to avoid it!

We are actually driving into San Diego first (from Arizona) on Wednesday and staying wed. and thurs. night in San Diego area before driving into Anaheim on Friday morning. We will then stay at the Red Lion Anaheim for the rest of our trip.

It seems like you're going back and forth a lot. On each of our trips, we go to at least 2 other places as well as Disney. Instead of driving back and forth to Anaheim, we get hotel rooms in each general area. If we were to do your trip, we'd do this:

  • Thursday, the 12th: SeaWorld (hotel in SD)
  • Friday, the 13th: (check out of SD hotel) Six Flags (Check into LA Hotel)
  • Saturday, the 14th: (Check out of LA Hotel) Universal / City Walk (check into Anaheim Hotel that night), Hang out in DTD
  • Sunday, the 15th: DL - Fireworks and 2nd Fantasmic show
  • Monday/Tuesday, the 16th and 17th: DL/DCA/WOC
Here's my thought process: Disney is our favorite, so we like to end with a visit to the parks. If you stay near your attractions, you aren't spending so much time going back and forth in the car. The only real downside of my plan is that you'll be going from SD to LA to Anaheim. Since Anaheim is between the other two, it'd be more logical to go SD/Anaheim/LA. The reason I didn't suggest that is Fantasmic and Fireworks are only on weekends during your trip.

Just my humble opinion...
 
If it were me, I also would not like the two days of lots of driving. In May, we drove from PHX to Escondido one night, and then from Escondido to Anaheim the next afternoon, and that felt like a lot for me (I'm the 18 year old driver in this family)

Your schedule looks sound, for a lot of reasons:

---You are visiting Universal on a weekday, which is GREAT. We went in February on a Monday, and we got the rides done within 45 minutes of opening. BE THERE FOR OPENING. Despite what people say, we go against the popular decision and head down to the lower lot first, do the rides, then go back up and do the tram tour. Everyone rushes to get the tram tour "out of the way", so you end up waiting for both the trams, and the rides later. We generally go on a few rides more than once (Walk-ons), go back up to Simpsons, and then try to time the tram with lunch, so the line will be generally shorter. You could then do a late lunch in the park, see shows or reride things, closing down the park, and then head to CityWalk after for dinner. By doing this, traffic should also be lighter when heading back to Anaheim (There are not any sporting events this night - even better!)

---You are going to Disneyland on the weekends. This is great due to the longer hours and entertainment, obviously. The one thing I'd change is that I'd hop back over to DL on Saturday the 14th after DCA closes for a few rides with lower crowds. You can actually get quite a bit done!

Now just some things I'd note:
---I'd personally go to Knott's. We have been two times within the past year, and are going back this winter. There is actually quite a bit to do. There are the big roller coasters (Ghost Rider, Silver Bullet, Xcelerator) and some slower rides that are classics (log ride, mine train). Also, just by its proximity to DLR, the less amount of traveling would make it much more enjoyable for me. Don't have to worry about leaving incredibly early (I'd still try to aim for opening). The less gas is an added bonus. There is also a Dodgers/Giants game on the 15th in LA that could affect traffic on your way to Six Flags.

---I'd also extend your DL tickets a day. It would cost you $25 a person, but if you go to KNott's, your gas savings could be justified as going towards this. This would allow you to go back to Disneyland after Knott's, since it closes at 7. You could get in fireworks or Fantasmic here. Counting on the parks closing at their normal 10 and 11 (DCA, DL, respectively) I feel you would easily get your money's worth.

---You are going for Friday the 13th. Disneyland is open (or supposed to) until 1 am. This will probably affect crowds, especially when the locals get off of work. Be especially flexible on this day.

---When are you using your MM? Are you using your MM?

---Be sure to go into the Animation Academy in DCA and see the Toy Story Zoetrope. It's immediately on your left as you walk in. This is one of the coolest things I have ever seen.

Just my two cents. pixiedust:
 
I would put the Universal and Magic Mtn days on Sat and Sun so you won't have to think about traffic as much, and I assume you'll get longer hours at those parks on the weekend as it's slow season.
 
I really appreciate your suggestions and it has given me a lot to consider. Especially going maybe to knotts on Sunday instead of magic mountain. I last went to knotts 10 years ago and magic mountain over 20 yrs ago so I figured 6 flags would have more new stuff to check out. I realize its a lot more driving but it will just be me and my 19 yr. old daughter so we can be pretty flexible. My rationale for my schedule is based on getting the most out of time. I struggle with doing DLR on weekends vs weekdays. Lower crowds vs. longer hours and more shows. Since we are starting in San Diego, I feel like it would be too far to go up to universal the next day and get there when the gates open. Plus I feel like there is less to do at universal so I don't need longer weekend hours even though the traffic is better on the weekends. The longer hours would be better utilized at DLR. Since six flags is only open on weekends in September I thought sunday would be the less crowded of the 2 days.

I plan to use my MM on our last day Tuesday because I want to hit DCA on a non EMH day (saturday) when the park opens early to hit RSR FP and lots of TSMM since it will be closing the next week for a few days.

I did have a question about how you can extend the passes for a day for only 25 bucks. Is that through city pass? I plan to get my city pass through my work so I am not sure if that option is available? Thanks again!
 
I did have a question about how you can extend the passes for a day for only 25 bucks. Is that through city pass? I plan to get my city pass through my work so I am not sure if that option is available? Thanks again!

You can do that at a ticket booth at DLR.
 
I did have a question about how you can extend the passes for a day for only 25 bucks. Is that through city pass? I plan to get my city pass through my work so I am not sure if that option is available? Thanks again!

You take the paper ticket they will give you at the turnstiles (or wherever you get the 3 day PH from the Citypass) and take that to the ticket booth. They will give you an upgrade value of $260 each, which can be used towards the purchase price of a ticket with more days ($25 more for 4 days) or an AP.

Also, I agree with doing Disney on the weekend days. The longer hours at Universal would be outweighed by higher crowds.
 


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