Disneyland in a day?

[Nevergrow'nup]

Is this possible? or just not worth it? I am going out to visit family and thought we could take a quick side trip. have been to DW several times and would like to see DL. It will be all adults, no kids. Is a park hopper for water parks or is there more than one park at DL?

Thanks so much!!

 

[DLR29]

It is definitely worth it. There are 2 parks at DLR (Disneyland Resort): DL (Disneyland) and DCA (Disney's California Adventure). No water parks, but there is a Downtown Disney. Hopping between parks takes about 2 minutes because all you have to do is walk across a plaza to get from one park to the other.

The best thing to do is read Hydroguy's amazing "DLR for WDW vets" guide. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

It tells you all about the differences between the resorts.

 

[RangerPooh]

A one day park hopper is adequate if you plan on making it along day. As you said, you've been to WDW before, and are considering making this a side trip. If you do decide to go and only have the one day, then I would make a list of the rides/attractions that you really want to see and do. DL and WDW do have different versions of many rides, and DL does have rides that WDW does not. Here are a few things to consider for the day that you visit DLR.

What rides have fastpass?
DLR: Autopia, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Indiana Jones™ Adventure, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain
DCA: California Screamin', Grizzly River Run, Mulholland Madness, Soarin' Over California, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

What rides does DL have that WDW does not?
DLR: Matterhorn, Storybookland Canal Boats, Casey Jr. (if you have younger kids otherwise skip it) Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Pinocchio, Roger Rabbit, Indiana Jones, Alice in Wonderland, Fantasmic!
DCA: Mullhand Madness, Monster's Inc, Grizzly River Run, Ca Sceamin', Aladdin (show),...most of the others are run of the mill, hit or miss...

What rides are different from those at WDW?
Snow White (slightly different), Autopia, Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Splash Mtn, Big Thunder, TSI,

If you only have 1 day at the parks, what rides do you want to go on the most?
Those that are different/not at WDW?
E-Tickets?
Those for families with younger kids?
As many as possible?


If you plan to hit Fantasyland do it first thing in the morning as there are NO fastpasses! Then start getting your FP for the big rides. When the park get's really crowded head over the DCA for a while and hit some of their rides. I would plan to make it a long day, open to close if possible. Also, a mid week day would probably work the best, even with the limited hours. HTH, and have a great trip!

 

[perlster]

a 2-minute jaunt between DLP and DCA. A person with a vigorous stride might be able to get from gate to gate in 2 minutes, but that's really irrelevant. A visitor is not going to conveniently be right next to the exit of one park when the desire to go to the other one arises. For example, suppose you have just seen a parade on Main Street and want to go to DCA. No mortal would be able to walk to the Disneyland exit gates in 2 minutes. How about the other direction? Any ride you might have just exited at DCA is nowhere near the exit gates of that park.

It's really doing a disservice to visitors unfamiliar with DLR to suggest that they can hop from one park to another so quickly. This myth deserves to be buried.

 

[Sherry E]

Just to kind of present another side - while riding as many rides as possible is usually the number one thing on people's lists to do, for some people it may be secondary. A lot of folks don't need to hit all the rides or even get on that many rides in a day. Some prefer to see shows or parades. Some prefer to just eat and stroll around and take in the atmosphere, maybe catching a few rides here and there (which is basically what we did on the last two trips we made to DLR). So if getting on the most rides is the main thing for you, by all means use Fast Pass and whatever other time maximization tools you can to get the most out of your day in both parks. But if you want to just kind of stroll around both parks (and I DO think that a Hopper is worth buying) and get a 'highlight tour,' where you soak in the atmosphere, eat, shop and hit a handful of rides in both places, you can definitely do that in one day. A highlight tour of both parks is definitely possible in one day with a Hopper. But you will miss a lot of rides - which may or may not be of importance to you.

 

[lugnut33]

Do eeeeeet!!!!!

Definitely worth it. DL is awesome. Great park packed into a tiny area. DCA is about 100 yards away.

 

[Nevergrow'nup]

The rides are definitely important!! Not too worried about the parades or the shows. Even seeing the differences between DL and DW will be great! I am going with my DB and DSIL who LOVE DW and my DSis and DBIL possibly. I just have to convince them that they NEED to GO!! My DSis has been.
Just trying to make a case for them to go

Knew this was the place to come.

Also for the crowds, we would be going in the first two weeks of June. Any ideas on how crowded? My DB has been at Disney on Christmas so it wouldn't bother him.......

Thanks again!!

 

[oc_tony]

My family loves WDW, too, and we enjoy seeing the differences between the "land" and the "world". You'll have a great time, and I would also recommend a park hopper if you plan to spend the entire day touring. Those who are used to the bus/boat/monorail treks associated with park hopping in Florida are quite pleasantly surprised by the relative ease of hopping from DL to DCA. From one gate to the other, it is a two minute walk.

Some rides are the same or similar to WDW's, so I would focus on those that are unique to DL/DCA like Matterhorn, Indy, Alice, and Storybook Land (in DL) and California Screamin' (in DCA). Some rides are the same, but with interesting differences that you might enjoy such as Space, Pirates, and Haunted Mansion. These boards are a wealth of information, so keep researching and asking your questions.

Have a great time at Walt's original magic kingdom. You'll love it!

 

[DLR29]

a 2-minute jaunt between DLP and DCA. A person with a vigorous stride might be able to get from gate to gate in 2 minutes, but that's really irrelevant. A visitor is not going to conveniently be right next to the exit of one park when the desire to go to the other one arises. For example, suppose you have just seen a parade on Main Street and want to go to DCA. No mortal would be able to walk to the Disneyland exit gates in 2 minutes. How about the other direction? Any ride you might have just exited at DCA is nowhere near the exit gates of that park.

It's really doing a disservice to visitors unfamiliar with DLR to suggest that they can hop from one park to another so quickly. This myth deserves to be buried.

Wow....was it really necessary to attack my statement like this--saying that my helpful statement was a "disservice" with a post that doesn't help one bit.

First of all the 2 minutes was not a literal, EXACT time. It was just a small number used to demonstrate how little time it takes to hop compared to hopping at WDW (which is what the OP is familiar with), which can take up to an hour just to go from one park's gates to another.

Second of all, I'm not talking about going from Roger Rabbit in Toontown to California Screamin. I'm talking from gate to gate. And from most WDW vets who visit DLR, they are very happy to know the ease of hopping.

So no, I will not bury this "myth".

 

[perlster]

Yes, posting a falsehood is a disservice. No person can possibly travel from any point where they would actually be at DLP or DCA to the other park in anything close to two minutes.

 

[DLR29]

Yes, posting a falsehood is a disservice. No person can possibly travel from any point where they would actually be at DLP or DCA to the other park in anything close to two minutes.

Do I have to repeat myself? The 2 minutes was not to be taken so literally. Would you rather me put 5 min? 10 min? Either way, it's still MUCH shorter than park hopping at WDW, which is the point I am trying to make and THAT is not a falsehood.

 

[Eeee-va]

You will have a great time! I know you're not into shows but I would strongly consider seeing the "Aladdin" show in DCA, and/or Fantasmic in DL (if either are running). If you've seen Fantasmic in DHS, it's much better at DL. Aladdin is just a high-quality show period. Doing both in just one day might be overkill since you only HAVE one day, but one might give you a nice rest. (You'll need to choose whether to go on a weekday or weekend--weekdays (excluding Friday) will probably close pretty early and have less entertainment but weekends (including Friday) offer more entertainment with longer hours.)

I think it is more than fair to emphasize how close DL and DCA are. Some people don't want to hop because they think it's a long walk, but once you're at the gates, it is probably 2 minutes from gate to gate. When someone says it's a 5 minute walk from an off-site hotel to Disneyland, they are generally starting at the edge of the hotel property and going to the front gates. I know I would never assume that the timer would start at a 12th-floor room in the back of the hotel and end at Fantasyland. It's really all technicalities and the point is, you don't have to take a bus or monorail or boat to get from DL to DCA.

 

[Sherry E]

For what it's worth, I would have said "2 minutes" as well - just as a generalization illustrating the amount of time it takes to get from one gate to another gate, not from any given ride in one park to a ride in the other park, which would obviously take much more time. I think it took us just about 2 or 3 minutes to walk from the gates of DL to the gates of DCA one week ago when we were there. But that is a very loose time frame, and, again, it is just a generalization, not meant to be an exact science. Bottom line is, the two parks are in very close proximity to each other and you can walk from one gate to the other gate in minutes, whether it be 2 or 3 or 5. This is a huge advantage over the time-consuming travel from one park or resort to another in WDW. When my friend went to DLR last year - and she had just been to WDW a few months prior - she was worried that her group would not be able to get to both parks in one day because she assumed that the layout was similar to WDW, and that buses and other modes of transportation would be involved to get from DL to DCA. She was thrilled and relieved to see that one park was right across the esplanade from the other one.

Seeing that the plans for DCA involve moving the entry gates further out to where the letters currently stand, and thus, closer to the gates of DL, I wonder how long the walk will then be.

 

[ktlm]

DH and I did that very thing last July. I had a Monday business trip nearby, so we flew out on Saturday and spent Sunday at DL and CA. We had a blast. We were there from open to close and did both parks. Even though it was a weekend in the middle of summer, we managed to do almost all the rides, even with catching the 45 minute Aladdin show. As far as the "2 minute" thing, if you have been to WDW (which we have several times), everything feels like it is only 2 minutes apart at DL. Everything is so close together, it makes it pretty easy to get a lot done! Don't miss the Indiana Jones ride, we loved that one!

 

[syvmom]

I concur, park-hopping is very easy. We were there for three days during the holidays and went back and forth between the two multiple times, as well as out into Downtown Disney.

Gate-to-gate is a very reasonable way to quote the distance as there's no way of knowing where exactly in the park anyone will be starting from, but everyone will be going "gate to gate" ultimately and can use that as a comparison between DW and DL.

Be sure and catch Fantasmic! It was amazing!

 

[ColB]

You also need to go on Peter Pan, It's a small world, Haunted Mansion Holiday and Snow White, as these ride all have big differences in them over WDW.

 

[Nevergrow'nup]

I Have learned so much!! This side trip is kind of a whim, a side remark from a Christmas discussion...... I wanted to get my facts before I made too many hints but wow!! It sure sounds doable and will make a short trip ALOT more fun!!

 

[belle aube]

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions for Nevergrow'nup. I am considering a quick day trip to DL next week, and the information is extremely helpful! I visited DL 14 years ago, so much has changed in the mean time. I'm a WDW frequenter, and I only have one day to leisurely visit DL while comparing differences between the parks and rides and just enjoying myself.

 

[MagicalMomAZ]

I didn't read every post....but if you're going in a down time - TOTALLY!

We went Jan '08 (trip report in siggy) & OMG.....we thought we needed 3 days & it took less than 2! For 2 parks!! We didn't do EVERYTHING....but if you go in w/ the acceptance that "everything" is not what you need - you can have a very satisfying day!

 

[GrandBob]

Wow. My reaction to the 2 minute comment was that there's no way it takes that long, unless you're travelling with a young'un or senior. I'm sure I can make it gate to gate in a minute. But then, I walk fast. 2 minutes may be right for the average person.

-Bob