Days for Disneyland?

[ifer924]

My family (5, 4 and 1 were frequent theme parkers and pretty hard core on rides, minus the little guy of course) is planning to arrive on a Weds around 2 and depart Sun around 12. Obviously Sunday we will not visit parks, but we may on Weds. Is Thurs. Fri. and Sat enough time? Can we make it work and if I buy a 3 day Park Hopper and end up going Wed can I add a 4th day while ther for Sat? What would you recommend for our 1/2 in the parks. I don't want to do the best stuff first so I was thinking starting low key with the kids by doing the boardwalk at DCA.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

yes you can add a 4th day when there. I would say yes you can do it in three days just make sure not to wait for the big ticket rides for the last day. Try a rsr fp each day or plan on it. That way if it brakes down one of your days. You will not be stuck missing the ride.
if you go in wed then I would do allot of the low key walk on rides, walk around the park figure out what are must do's. Don't plan any that day just walk by and be like oh Ptc is 20 min wait we can do that, or HM is only 10 min wait lets hop on. The first day if its half days I will only do small things.

Or yes do board walk. I don't do board walk often we might do one ride, but i hate the whole fair feel of it so we don't waist time over there.

 

[figment_jii]

Can we make it work and if I buy a 3 day Park Hopper and end up going Wed can I add a 4th day while ther for Sat?

You can upgrade your tickets (add a day) as long as you do it before the day ends on the day you use the last entitlement. So if you go in on Wed, Thur, and Fri, you will need to upgrade the ticket on Friday before the parks close. Plan on paying the diference between what you paid for the ticket and the gate price. You may get the ticket price bridged, but it's not guaranteed, so it's best not to expect it.

Is Thurs. Fri. and Sat enough time?

It honestly depends on what you mean by "enough time" and how much you want to get done? If you want to do everything (as in all of the rides and see all of the shows), then no, I don't think that's enough time. I think you can get a lot done, but you will probably have to forgo some things.

It does also depend a lot on when you are going. In the summer, in the fall? When specifically are you planning on going. In the "off-season" the parks run with reduced hours and entertainment. In the "peak-season" the hours are longer and there is more entertainment, but the crowds are also higher.

I don't want to do the best stuff first so I was thinking starting low key with the kids by doing the boardwalk at DCA.

Do you mean on Wednesday, when you arrive? You can certainly do whatever you want first. The Boardwalk area at DCA has some rides, including TSMM, which can have a very long line. There are some other cute rides in the area.

Otherwise, I would make plans to hit some of the big rides (especially in DCA) at rope drop (assuming your not going to EMH/MM). Things like TSMM and RSR (or RSR FP) have the shortest lines right at rope drop. One common strategy is to ride TSMM right at rope drop (again assuming no EMH) and then get a RSR FP. Otherwise, you're looking at a 45 minute wait for TSMM.

I would not hold on riding "the best stuff" because if you wait and the ride is down when you go to ride it, you might miss out. At least if you start out early in the trip trying to ride the big rides, if they are down, you have time to go back later. Rides like Indy seem to be down frequently, so if you leave it until the last day, there is a good chance you'll miss out on it.

 

[Angrose]

Orbitz has a deal where you buy a 3-day park hopper and get the 4th day free. If you go through Ebates then you get a little cash back as well.

I am old school and really feel like one should start out at DL, not DCA. If you are getting there at 2pm, you can take your time walking down Main St., watch the parade, go on Pirates, maybe grab FP for BTMRR/Splash Mtn and/or do some low key rides like the Mark Twain or Columbia. There's lots to do in the afternoons, and there is no way I could NOT go into the parks on my arrival day! Have fun!!

 

[ifer924]

Yes we are going at a low season time - February 2015 and staying at a DL hotel so we'll have early access. I am a theme park, especially Disney, junky but we frequently travel to DW and primarily do rides, not shows or parades so we pretty much plan a day for AK, MGM and 2 days for MK and Epcot - here I wasn't sure. I really hope there's another buy 3 get the 4th day promotion when I go that would make me feel better about only using a 1/2 day. There are much better ways to get deals at DW - DL is just expensive. Thank you ALL!

 

[JandD75]

I agree with some of the other posts--don't wait to do the 'big' or 'must do' rides. Chances are you'll be doing them at least twice, anyway. Ride those, see the rest of what the parks offer, then come back to your favorites.