Crowds At DCA?

[Castillo Mom]

Next week will be our first visit to DCA. I know, shame on me since I live only 15 minutes away. We just hadn't been that interested in going before. Since we got 4 day passes, we thought we'd go check it out. Anyway, how are the crowds mid week? I've been reading that we don't need a full day. Park hours are 10:00-10:00. We'll be going to Disneyland the day before, so we'd like to sleep in the day we go to DCA. Here's our "must do" list:

Grizzly River Run
Soarin'
TOT
ITTBAB
Muppet Vision 3D
Disney Animation
Aladdin show
Electric Parade
Block Party Bash (maybe)

Is there any reason for us to get there at or before opening? Ok to sleep in that day and arrive at, say noon? Would there be time to go to Downtown Disney that day and then come back to DCA? I'm trying to find a day to fit in DD because I don't think I'll be able to tear the kids away from DL the other 3 days. BTW, if it makes any difference, we'll be staying at Crown Plaza. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[denyd]

DCA is a perfect mid-day / early evening park.

If those are park hopper passes, I'd suggest doing DL in the morning until about 10:30am, then heading over to DCA.

Send a runner to get Soarin' fastpasses while everyone else heads for Animation and Muppets 3D, Animation then on to ToT (for those who want to skip ToT try Playhouse Disney), then I'd track down lunch at Strips N Chips. Once that's done, head to the first Aladdin show (to let lunch settle) before heading over Soarin if your fastpasses are ready or try one of the Paradise Pier rides like Mulholland Madness or Maliboomer. If you time it right you'll be able to do Grizzley Rapids (or get an FP) on the way to Soarin. That should put you about 4-4:30. I'd head over to the Bug show then and head towards one of the last two action zones for the Block Party parade (most people seem to crowd the first zone), you might want to pick up a snack & beverage on the way. Once the parade is over I'd head over to Ariel's Grotto for dinner (you'll need a PS). That should carry you through until about 7:30. You've now got about an hour to kill a little shopping or stroll on the Pier (King Triton's Carousel is a favorite) before catching the Electrical Parade. If you've still got some energy left a return trip to GRR or Soarin are on the way out or you can stroll back around the pier to the entrance and watch the DL fireworks. And for the truly brave, there's still time to re-enter DL and get in a couple of late hour rollercoaster rides. If this is a thought, grab fastpasses before leaving in the morning. A caution though, Splash Mountain might have sounded like a good idea at 10am, but few people like getting wet at 10pm.

While it's not the 15 hour day that DL provides it's a pretty full day.

 

[iheartdisney]

Definately remove the maybe from Block Party Bash! I thought, well, we're here, let's check out the parade. It was AMAZING (i don't know how those guys aren't dying by the end- it is very energetic!!!!) I don't know about mid-week, we went on a Saturday, and it was very light!
Do you have any small children in your family? Bug's land is PERFECT for the little ones, and there are alot of the sprinkler/water shoot type areas in bug's land.
You won't have any problems if you sleep in that day, and you'll probably want to go back when DL is super-crowded. It is such a relief!

 

[mtemm]

we got there around 11 or so this past tuesday and pretty much walked onto everything we wanted to do (soaring, grizzly, tot). Crowds were minimal at best.

 

[Castillo Mom]

Thanks everyone, you've given me great advice! My kids are big, 11, 13 and 16, so we won't be doing any of smaller kiddie-type activities. Looks like we get to sleep in one day!

 

[caimakale]

I was there yesterday with my 3 daughters, ages 2, 4, 7.

We had plenty of time to hit almost every ride. Most of what you mentioned plus all of bug's land. We did it also while taking 3 hour nap in our room. We did it by using fastpass on soarin, tot, and the river rafting one. Other than that, everything else was a walk on for us. The longest wait we had all day was waiting on Aladdin. We showed up 30 minutes early and used our priority seating. It was a good thing we showed up 30 minutes early though, it was packed. Block party was definitely worth seeing, and the electrical parade was also great. The nice thing about block party and electrical parade is, you don't have to line up an hour before to get a good seat. We walked up to the electrical parade about 5 minutes before it started and sat right on the ground on the parade route, great seats without a wait.

 

[blackjackdelta]

Right now the crowds are real heavy so I would not go on the weekend. Security in the park is a laugh It is much safer in Iraq.

Have a great day.

 

[caimakale]

Yeah, we went down today, and what a joke. You can't move in disneyland. I will find out about DCA soon, we have a character dinner there in a couple hours. Disneyland is such a joke, after we finished a couple rides and the birthday party at the plaza inn, we came back to our hotel room. I am going to upgrade my 4 day park hopper passes to annual passes. I was thinking of getting the "top" annual pass, I think its the premium one, but I don't care to come back here on a saturday during the busy season again. (Saturdays during busy season and major holidays are blacked out on the regular season pass).

This place is much better during the week. Avoid it like the plague on the weekends!!!