Disneyland for a day? Where do I begin?!

[stindall]

So my husband and I typically take an anniversary vacation every year. Next year we're planning on California (Yosemite mainly) and since I have post WDW blues (my brother and I just got back from a week trip on Sunday) I started thinking "What if we go to Disneyland next year while we're in California?!" We've never been and I don't know where to start planning. We'll probably only do a day there so where do I start with planning?!

 

[HydroGuy]

So my husband and I typically take an anniversary vacation every year. Next year we're planning on California (Yosemite mainly) and since I have post WDW blues (my brother and I just got back from a week trip on Sunday) I started thinking "What if we go to Disneyland next year while we're in California?!" We've never been and I don't know where to start planning. We'll probably only do a day there so where do I start with planning?!

This is the typical place to start for folks in your situation:

"A DLR Guide for WDW Vets" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

And Yosemite is an awesome place! I am often disappointed by folks who travel all the way to California and then spend the whole time at theme parks! California is NOT Florida and offers much, much, MUCH more outside the resort.

Have a great trip!

P.S. Be aware of the 60th anniversary celebration in 2015.

 

[Dot2Vegas]

And Yosemite is an awesome place! I am often disappointed by folks who travel all the way to California and then spend the whole time at theme parks! California is NOT Florida and offers much, much, MUCH more outside the resort.

Agreed! California has so much to offer other than Disneyland. Sadly DH and I have such the Disneyland bug that we almost never see anything else. Every trip to California begins or ends with Disneyland and that usually trumps whatever else we had planned. We vowed this year to skip our Spring Disneyland visit and see something else. California without Disneyland will be tough for us haha! I feel a little guilty that we have been to SoCal many many times and have not seen much outside of Anaheim!

 

[shelemm]

This is the typical place to start for folks in your situation:

"A DLR Guide for WDW Vets" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

And Yosemite is an awesome place! I am often disappointed by folks who travel all the way to California and then spend the whole time at theme parks! California is NOT Florida and offers much, much, MUCH more outside the resort.

Have a great trip!

P.S. Be aware of the 60th anniversary celebration in 2015.

Florida also offers a lot apart from the theme parks. My first two trips to the Orlando area with little kids, we didn't go see any of the amusement/theme/animal parks.

 

[JKalai]

Do you plan on park hopping? or are you only set on Disneyland and not California Adventure?

IMO, Disneyland does not nearly require as much planning as WDW does. Fastpasses are still the paper "legacy" fastpasses and you should find reservations for most restaurants on the day of.

 

[stindall]

This is the typical place to start for folks in your situation:

"A DLR Guide for WDW Vets" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

And Yosemite is an awesome place! I am often disappointed by folks who travel all the way to California and then spend the whole time at theme parks! California is NOT Florida and offers much, much, MUCH more outside the resort.

Have a great trip!

P.S. Be aware of the 60th anniversary celebration in 2015.

This was a great place to start thank you. Might I ask what week in August do you think may be best to visit? Thanks for the tip on the 60th anniversary, I wasn't aware!

Yosemite has been on DH's most desired places to travel to for a very long time! We're both very excited! We'll be focusing most of our time there but hope to see a few other things as well!

 

[stindall]

Agreed! California has so much to offer other than Disneyland. Sadly DH and I have such the Disneyland bug that we almost never see anything else. Every trip to California begins or ends with Disneyland and that usually trumps whatever else we had planned. We vowed this year to skip our Spring Disneyland visit and see something else. California without Disneyland will be tough for us haha! I feel a little guilty that we have been to SoCal many many times and have not seen much outside of Anaheim!

I have the same issue with Florida! I know it has other parks and beaches etc but I just can't bring myself to part from WDW! (although to be fair I'm not a big beach person anyway)

Do you plan on park hopping? or are you only set on Disneyland and not California Adventure?

IMO, Disneyland does not nearly require as much planning as WDW does. Fastpasses are still the paper "legacy" fastpasses and you should find reservations for most restaurants on the day of.

I think we're going to hop. I think right now the plan is to fly in, stay the night and then do an open to close the next day doing as much as we can. I don't think I can talk him into more than one day!

What are going to be the things we want to fast pass?

 

[Blue32]

I have the same issue with Florida! I know it has other parks and beaches etc but I just can't bring myself to part from WDW! (although to be fair I'm not a big beach person anyway)



I think we're going to hop. I think right now the plan is to fly in, stay the night and then do an open to close the next day doing as much as we can. I don't think I can talk him into more than one day!

What are going to be the things we want to fast pass?

If you are REALLY only going to spend one day there, I would make a list of the attractions you want to see most and then people can help you with FP priorities. You will find that you really will have to skip many things but one day is better than none!

 

[gottalovepluto]

So my husband and I typically take an anniversary vacation every year. Next year we're planning on California (Yosemite mainly) and since I have post WDW blues (my brother and I just got back from a week trip on Sunday) I started thinking "What if we go to Disneyland next year while we're in California?!" We've never been and I don't know where to start planning. We'll probably only do a day there so where do I start with planning?!

Do keep in mind Yosemite is in Central CA and about 6 hours (and a very hot drive) from Disneyland one-way. You might want to map out what you want to do in CA on google maps or something so you have an idea of the scale of travel you're looking at.

With one day to do DL & DCA you'll want to go full-on open to close, consider staying on site for the extra morning hour. As for dining reservations if you want Blue Bayou you'll want to reserve that before the day-of.

 

[SMD]

Or look into flying from somewhere in Northern CA down to SNA for the Disney portion.

I would avoid the first week of August due to the end of AP summer blackouts that week. Labor Day is later this year, so hard to say what the last week of August will look like.

 

[JKalai]

I think we're going to hop. I think right now the plan is to fly in, stay the night and then do an open to close the next day doing as much as we can. I don't think I can talk him into more than one day!

What are going to be the things we want to fast pass?

Awesome.

First thing I would recommend picking up a FP for is Radiator Springs Racers. People line up for those machines before the park even opens and it does get pretty long. You'll be able to fly by the longest line in DCA with a FP for RSR and knock out everything else in which the waits shouldn't be too long that early in the morning. I would definitely head to TSMM as that will be the second longest line in DCA. What I usually do if you really wanted to crunch in as many rides as possible is have one of you wait in the FP line for RSR (which does go pretty fast) and have one of you in front of the rope. One of you would get the FP for RSR and one of you would head straight to TSMM and stand in line and eventually meet up at TSMM. TSMM in DCA does not have FP unlike in WDW.

Great FP's to pick up in DL would be Indiana Jones, Space Mountain, BTMRR, and Splash Mountain.

Most other rides lines should move pretty efficiently depending no how crowded it is going to be. Lines are lowest in the early morning before all the locals come in the afternoon/night time.

Either way you'll have a blast

 

[MommyJKM]

So my husband and I typically take an anniversary vacation every year. Next year we're planning on California (Yosemite mainly) and since I have post WDW blues (my brother and I just got back from a week trip on Sunday) I started thinking "What if we go to Disneyland next year while we're in California?!" We've never been and I don't know where to start planning. We'll probably only do a day there so where do I start with planning?!

BTW We camp in Yosemite every year and you have to call 3 months ahead of time to get a reservation. Just be aware it's VERY hard to get a reservation.
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/camping.htm

I live 4 hours from Yosemite near Oakland Airport and it would probably be easier to fly from OAK with Southwest Airlines having $69/each way flights than to drive. It's a long 6 hour drive to Anaheim from here.

 

[SnowBelleAlice]

Here's how we spent one day visiting both parks - http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2232766

 

[SMD]

Look at Sacramento and San Jose as the closest airports that Southwest flies to. But there are also some regional airports.

 

[stindall]

Or look into flying from somewhere in Northern CA down to SNA for the Disney portion.

I would avoid the first week of August due to the end of AP summer blackouts that week. Labor Day is later this year, so hard to say what the last week of August will look like.

I honestly hadn't even thought about flying within California, I'll have to look into that! Right now I think we're looking into the 23rd-29th. We usually go early August but I feel like pushing it back a little may be a good idea.

Do keep in mind Yosemite is in Central CA and about 6 hours (and a very hot drive) from Disneyland one-way. You might want to map out what you want to do in CA on google maps or something so you have an idea of the scale of travel you're looking at.

With one day to do DL & DCA you'll want to go full-on open to close, consider staying on site for the extra morning hour. As for dining reservations if you want Blue Bayou you'll want to reserve that before the day-of.

Yup we're aware of the distance and a long drive isn't really a big deal for us. I had thought about staying onsite, even though it may be expensive it might be a nice little treat for a night!

BTW We camp in Yosemite every year and you have to call 3 months ahead of time to get a reservation. Just be aware it's VERY hard to get a reservation.
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/camping.htm

I live 4 hours from Yosemite near Oakland Airport and it would probably be easier to fly from OAK with Southwest Airlines having $69/each way flights than to drive. It's a long 6 hour drive to Anaheim from here.

Thank you. We've looked into staying at Curry Village, planning it this far out I have no issue with obsessively checking for availability.

 

[stindall]

Awesome.

First thing I would recommend picking up a FP for is Radiator Springs Racers. People line up for those machines before the park even opens and it does get pretty long. You'll be able to fly by the longest line in DCA with a FP for RSR and knock out everything else in which the waits shouldn't be too long that early in the morning. I would definitely head to TSMM as that will be the second longest line in DCA. What I usually do if you really wanted to crunch in as many rides as possible is have one of you wait in the FP line for RSR (which does go pretty fast) and have one of you in front of the rope. One of you would get the FP for RSR and one of you would head straight to TSMM and stand in line and eventually meet up at TSMM. TSMM in DCA does not have FP unlike in WDW.

Great FP's to pick up in DL would be Indiana Jones, Space Mountain, BTMRR, and Splash Mountain.

Most other rides lines should move pretty efficiently depending no how crowded it is going to be. Lines are lowest in the early morning before all the locals come in the afternoon/night time.

Either way you'll have a blast

Very helpful thank you!!

 

[HydroGuy]

This was a great place to start thank you. Might I ask what week in August do you think may be best to visit? Thanks for the tip on the 60th anniversary, I wasn't aware!

In 2015 there will be the D23 Expo on Aug 14-16. And AP blockouts usually lift around Aug 16 or 23. I personally would avoid going after the blockout lifts - especially in a year with a 60th anniversary going on - and would choose a weekday before Aug 14.

 

[stindall]

In 2015 there will be the D23 Expo on Aug 14-16. And AP blockouts usually lift around Aug 16 or 23. I personally would avoid going after the blockout lifts - especially in a year with a 60th anniversary going on - and would choose a weekday before Aug 14.

Great! Very helpful, we picked the 9-16th to be in the state with the 10th being our DL day. I know a Monday isn't ideal but it'll work best for us. Thank you!

 

[DLandMomof5]

Depending on what your favorite things to do are, it can totally be perfectly enjoyed in a day. We are 4 hours away so get to go 3-4 times a year but we only go for a day and, with little ones the past few years, we sometimes don't even last until dark. We like characters so we do meet and greets and photo ops, DL still has lots of characters just wandering around unscheduled so it's still fun. We have two boys who each get to pick the one ride they HAVE to go on and a second choice if we have time. We always do 2-3 Fantasyland rides for our girls, aged 1-4. If we're running out of steam, my hubby will take the boys on a ride or two while I do something quiet with the girls... that way the boys feel like they're getting more out of the day. I need a churro. I need a Dole whip. I need a villain. I need a ride on Haunted Mansion. My trip is a good one if I get those things done!

 

[princesshalo22]

I live near DLR and almost every time we go it is only for a day and we usually have no problem getting everything (the things we want) done. So it really depends on the things you want to do. The only issue with only having one day that I have found is if it is EXTREMELY crowded (Spring Break this past year), and the fact that the way World of Color and the Fireworks are scheduled, it is nearly impossible to get good viewing for both. I usually opt for the good viewing for World of Color for multiple reasons. 1) there are fireworks a lot of places, even though they might not be Disney they are still fireworks. There aren't many places with shows like WOC 2) The fireworks can still be at least partially seen from a distance (between the two parks on big star on the ground) 3) World of Color offers fastpasses for preferred viewing and some dining experiences come with world of color preferred viewing. If you want to go on RSR it is a necessity to get a FS FIRST thing in the morning when DCA opens, they run out VERY fast and the wait for RSR stand by is always at least 90 min long. The FP distribution area for RSR is actually in a Bug's Land, NOT near the ride. Even the FS area has a line, that's how popular that ride is. As far as Disneyland, again it really depends what you want to see. FP are helpful for Space Mountain, Star Tours, and Indian Jones.