Disneyland Day Off

[kayteekt]

Planning a trip to DL this December. Flying from East Coast. We are doing 5 day PH tickets. Staying at DL Hotel/Villas. DH and I are early 40's. Kids are 12 and 16.

We have a day off (a Saturday). What should we do? Normally at WDW we resort hop or do Disney Springs. Not sure there's enough at the DL hotels to keep us busy for a day (especially since it most likely won't be swimming weather).

So what should we do?... No car (unless there is a way we can rent for a day easily). I wanted to do the Disney Studios tour but they're not running any the week we're there

I've seen some Hollywood/LA Tours that will pick up from Anaheim, my concern is most seem to be 7-9hour tours. This seems a bit advantageous for a rest day.

Anything history/old Hollywood related would be interesting to us. Maybe the Warner Bros. tour? Other options? Total novice to DL so open to all suggestions!

 

[OlliePop27]

I strongly recommend considering Huntington Beach. It's a fun beach town and very close by. In addition to the beach, there's a long pier, shops, and restaurants. Many people also really like Newport Beach. Long Beach is also close and there's lots of interesting things there. It is possible for it to be cooler/rainier in December, but most days are pleasant and in the 60's or 70's. You might have to pivot if the forecast looks bad for the beach.

You can rent a car easily from several locations within walking distance to DLH, like Alamo/National. They have a location on Katella and I believe there's still one at the Pixar Place Hotel (but I might be wrong).

Another option is rideshare or renting a shuttle to/from somewhere. I know Anaheim Town Car does shuttles to Huntington Beach.

I mention these three locations because they are all within about 30 minutes. Once you get to any of these spots, you could easily spend 5-6 hours experiencing walking distance activities. Just a shuttle to/from.

LA is a haul and will be more complicated travel wise. One really fun option if you do venture up there is the WB Tour in Burbank. One of the best IMO. It would take probably an hour each way, assuming good traffic. You could also rideshare over to the Griffith Park Observatory and do some hiking in the area for beautiful views of the LA basin.

 

[Howry]

Not that this would give you much of an off day but you could go check out Knotts Berry Farm. Your kids may really like the rides they have there and it is very close to Disneyland. About 7 miles away so a quick uber trip.

There are a few outlet malls near Disneyland, also quick uber trips. You could also visit the Anaheim packing district for some food options.

Enterprise rental has cars available from the Disneyland resort, so easy to get to and return if you want to head to the beach or LA Etc. Keep in mind that going anywhere near or in LA means you will probably be in the car for 2-3 hours round trip. It is a weekend and that does help but you never know how traffic is going to be in LA.

There are tour companies that will take you to things from Anaheim but expect to pay about $100 or so per person and like you mentioned most will take up the majority of your day.

 

[Porsche4]

We have two planned non park days for our upcoming December trip. One day we are going to play a round of minigolf which we always find fun no matter where we are in the world. Our other day we are heading to Old Towne, Orange to check out a few of the antique shops there but that is probably not something your kids would be interested in. I was contemplating going to the Aquarium of the Pacific at Long Beach, maybe that is something you could look into if it is of interest. We plan on catching Ubers to and from our destinations as there is no way I want to drive in LA.

 

[wench]

Are you sure you want to take Saturday as your off day? Friday, Saturday & Sunday are normally the least crowded days in the park. I don’t know what days you’re there specifically, but you may be better off skipping a Monday or Tuesday in the park as those are the busiest.

 

[kayteekt]

Are you sure you want to take Saturday as your off day? Friday, Saturday & Sunday are normally the least crowded days in the park. I don’t know what days you’re there specifically, but you may be better off skipping a Monday or Tuesday in the park as those are the busiest.

So I've been struggling with this. I've seen in recent vlogs that Mondays seem to be the busy day. I was thinking this was because of the Summer ticket offer not being good on the weekends.

TPs and other crowd calendars show that Saturday as being busier than Monday (TP #s 8vs5). We are going Dec 13-19. So it would be Sat. Dec. 14 or Monday Dec. 16.

I'm guessing with Christmas coming soon people from CA and surrounding areas might be taking the weekend to visit DL. Maybe the Monday would be less busy b/c kids are in school and wouldn't want to take them out right before their break.

But I'm not really sure. Would love any other thoughts on this because I'm stumped as well.

 

[OlliePop27]

Ignore crowd prediction services at DL.

More important variables are single day ticket prices and passholder blockouts.

The people visiting are local heavy, so they pull kids out of school to go when it's cheaper. This makes Mondays especially, but all weekdays, terrible.

As someone above noted, Saturdays are often the best day of the week to visit.

This does not mean it won't be crowded. It will just likely be less crowded than Monday.

 

[LKing]

So I've been struggling with this. I've seen in recent vlogs that Mondays seem to be the busy day. I was thinking this was because of the Summer ticket offer not being good on the weekends.

TPs and other crowd calendars show that Saturday as being busier than Monday (TP #s 8vs5). We are going Dec 13-19. So it would be Sat. Dec. 14 or Monday Dec. 16.

I'm guessing with Christmas coming soon people from CA and surrounding areas might be taking the weekend to visit DL. Maybe the Monday would be less busy b/c kids are in school and wouldn't want to take them out right before their break.

You are over thinking this. California is a huge, very populous state (39M people). There are MK holders who regularly drive two hours to go to the parks and drive home the same day. That doesn't mean that they are there from rope drop until closing. It also doesn't meant that they are going to be purchasing LLMP or going on rides.

Three of the four MK are blocked on Saturdays in December. All MK are blocked Dec 21-Jan 3.

 

[kayteekt]

Ignore crowd prediction services at DL.

More important variables are single day ticket prices and passholder blockouts.

The people visiting are local heavy, so they pull kids out of school to go when it's cheaper. This makes Mondays especially, but all weekdays, terrible.

As someone above noted, Saturdays are often the best day of the week to visit.

This does not mean it won't be crowded. It will just likely be less crowded than Monday.

You are over thinking this. California is a huge, very populous state (39M people). There are MK holders who regularly drive two hours to go to the parks and drive home the same day. That doesn't mean that they are there from rope drop until closing. It also doesn't meant that they are going to be purchasing LLMP or going on rides.

Three of the four MK are blocked on Saturdays in December. All MK are blocked Dec 21-Jan 3.

Thanks for the response. Looks like PH blockouts on Saturday are for Believe, Enchant and Imagine Keys, single day ticket is $184. That Monday the blockouts are for Enchant and Imagine, $169 for ticket.

I'm assuming that means Saturday is likely to be less crowded because more MK are blocked out and tickets are more expensive?

 

[OlliePop27]

Thanks for the response. Looks like PH blockouts on Saturday are for Believe, Enchant and Imagine Keys, single day ticket is $184. That Monday the blockouts are for Enchant and Imagine, $169 for ticket.

I'm assuming that means Saturday is likely to be less crowded because more MK are blocked out and tickets are more expensive?

Correct, the Saturday will be better with those three passes blocked and the higher ticket price.

Please don't overthink it though. We're talking about the difference between crowded and still crowded but less crowded.

If you are going for multiple days, getting park hoppers, going for rope drop and later at night, and using LLMP, you will be fine no matter when you go. Having a plan is the key, not trying to decipher whether the crowds are an 8 or a 6.

There's so much to see and do at the two parks, especially during the holidays with all the special activities and entertainment. The parks soak up crowds very well.

Just go when it fits your schedule best and have a plan before you get there!

 

[Porsche4]

I too am debating what days to takes off. We have a nine night stay with 7 days in the parks (2 days off). I don't care about wait times so much as we will have LL but I do care about crowds and how busy the park "feels" as our party of three all suffer from autism and don't handle huge crowds well. Our first park day is planned for Sunday the 1st of Dec, we will take Mon the 2nd off, be in the parks Tues-Fri (3-6) take Sat the 7th off and then finish up with Sun 8th & Mon 9th (we have an early evening flight home so planning on being in the parks till about 3:00). Even though the Saturday is blocked out for most Magic Key holders and the day ticket price is high, Sat & Sun (7th & 8th) are Candlelight Processional days. Would love peoples feed back on if my choice of days sound okay. Again just worried about numbers of people in the park not about ride wait times.

 

[crickee]

We've done a number of day trips while at DL. it's pretty easy to rent a car for a day. We've gone to Mission San Juan Capistrano and then a stop at Huntington Beach, done studio tours at Paramount, Warner Brothers, & Sony. We did a whale watching tour (no whales seen but alot of seals, dolphins & other marine life) at Newport Beach. We also did a bus tour to Los Angeles. It was a long day but we had a great time and didn't have to worry about driving. We've also visited Griffith Park & the Hookywood area ( glad it was my DH driving & not me!). DH & DS also did a self driving trip to the Petersen Automotive Museum in LA. We also drove to the Huntington Library & Botanical Gardens in the Pasadena area which was fatastic. All these places are approximately an hour drive although you need to take that with a grain of salt when adding in traffic.

 

[LAS2AMS]

I agree crowds are hard to predict, but I’m strongly included to believe that weekends will be far more crowded in December than weekdays. The top two Magic Keys tiers are available all but one Sunday for the first half of December. The mid key is available weekdays only. The bottom tier keys are blacked out entirely. So, if they want to experience the Holiday season.. they’ll have to buy a pass.

And looking at Thrill Data, average wait times have been significantly shorter today (Monday) thank over the weekend. And I know it’s not Disney, but I stopped at Knott’s today and the park was absolutely dead - the person I chatted with guessed attendance peaked around just 2,000 people.