Disneyland & DCA

[walkerbunch06]

I will be in the area for one day in October with my 10-year old twins. If I skipped the parades & shows, would it be possible to cram both parks in one day? I haven't done much research yet, but I certainly would purchase the Disney MaxPass.

 

[FCDub]

You'll get a better response over on the Disneyland board.

Short answer: You will not be able to do everything, but you can get a lot done, especially with MaxPass.

 

[Winnowill]

If you're ignoring shows, yes, you can get all the majors and a lot of minors done with judicious application of MaxPass. Over Christmas, we did every headliner at DCA twice (GotG three times). And we took a two-hour midday break. At DL, we did every major attraction at least once and many twice, plus we saw a parade, the lighting of the castle and IaSW, and Mickey and the Magical Map. We did not hop those two days, though - that probably would have been too much.

 

[gatorlisa]

You can't get everything done, but you can do a lot and have a fun day. My first visit was a one day visit to both parks, with a red eye flight back to Atlanta immediately after. I had visited WDW many times, so my focus was mostly on things not found at WDW as well as favorites from WDW for comparison. Admittedly, this was before Cars Land existed, so there was less to do at DCA. I would say it's probably not an ideal way to experience DL and DCA, but if a day is what you have, you can plan your day out with your must dos and have a great time!

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I think you will have a fun day if you:

1. Have a detailed plan
2. Arrive for drop drop
3. Use MaxPass
4. Don’t go on a day where there’s a Halloween Party

Obviously you won’t see it all, but you can do the highlights of both parks.

 

[skyblue17]

You can definitely do it! I'm currently in the process of writing up a trip report from our single day this week, on a pretty crowd-heavy day. With MaxPass and some ideas of what we were prioritizing beforehand, we were able to get on all the available Majors and sprinkle in a few minors, plus get in a quick lunch break and longer dinner break. Given the length of some standbys, we likely could have done a few different non-ride things if we had wanted, so it's all about what you want to do and staying a little organized as far as utilizing MaxPass.

 

[tarheelalum]

October is a very crowded month. Often more so than the summer months now. You can certainly get a lot done but probably not everything.

 

[figment_jii]

I think it also depends a lot on when and which day in October you are going. Some nights have MHP, which means DL will close at 6:00 or 7:00 pm and there will be pretty heavy crowds during the three hours leading up to the party in both parks. Hours may be on the short side on weekdays, but weekends are usually pretty busy because HalloweenTime is very popular.

I also think that you can get a lot done, but I don't think it's possible to do every attraction in both parks in a single day. If you plan out in advance what you want to ride the most and make good use MaxPass, I think it should be is possible to get a lot done.

 

[walkerbunch06]

I will be in the area for one day in October with my 10-year old twins. If I skipped the parades & shows, would it be possible to cram both parks in one day? I haven't done much research yet, but I certainly would purchase the Disney MaxPass.

 

[tarheelalum]

You can do a lot of things but not everything. With the crowds, trying to do so can become very stressful.