Disneyland MM or DCA?

[Karen87]

My husband and I are planning a last minute trip to DLR on May 6-8. We'll be in California visiting my family. I grew up going to Disneyland at least once a year, but have never been to DCA.

I haven't been to DLR in about fifteen years and as a Texas resident for the last 20 years or so, I am now more familiar with EMH at WDW (and avoid it like the plague). We have three day Park Hopper tickets with a Magic Morning on Thursday at DL. We are staying off property and are not eligible for the DCA MM.

So my actual question is this: Should I abandon the MM at Disneyland and hit rope drop on DCA on Thursday since there is a MM at DCA on Friday? Would that make DCA less crowded on on Thursday morning and DL less crowded on Friday morning?

 

[MouseEXP]

Yes I would avoid it

 

[figment_jii]

I would generally also also to go to DCA on the non-EMH morning, but it depends a lot on what you want to do. The biggest impacts of the EMH morning are on RSR and TSMM. RSR will have a fairly lengthy standby line by the time the park opens to everyone, but you can still get a FP because they don't start issuing those until the park opens to everyone. TSMM is the other 'big' attraction that tends to have a fairly long line and it does not have a FP. So if you wanted to ride TSMM (maybe more than once), with a minimal wait, then you'll need to go to DCA on a non-EMH morning at rope drop.

Another option...and it depends on whether you're an early morning person or not...is to go to part of DL's MM and then "hop" over to DCA before it opens. If you get to the ticket gates well before MM starts in DL and are near the front of the entrance line, I think you can probably get in one or two rides before hopping over to DCA. I did that on a previous trip. We did Peter Pan during MM (getting in and waiting took almost 45 minute) and then I hopped over to DCA to get WoC and RSR FPs. I made it over there just after the park opened, but I could have made it before DCA opened if I wasn't waiting for someone.

 

[CCgirls]

Does anyone know if I purchase 3 day hopper tickets through our Aeroplan miles, does that affect being able to get the Magic Morning pass? Is this a pass you have to buy at Disneyland? I'm taking my family in September...and I was only there once before when I was young. So I'm trying to learn all the in's and out's. Thank you!

 

[figment_jii]

No, the MM perk associated with certain tickets are not limited to tickets purchased through Disneyland.com. I've not heard of Aeroplan, so I suggest contacting them and asking if their tickets include one Magic Morning or not.

 

[agamble]

Avoiding MM at Disneyland is not as important as at WDW since people hop all day. If you have park hoppers I would spend the MM hour at DL and then hop over to DCA when it opens. FP will be available for RSR for several hours. Thursday will likely be the least busy morning at DCA during your trip, but you're going during a pretty low season.

EDIT!
Did you look at the hours for May 7? Your Magic Morning is at 7am, but DCA does not open until 10am. You can have nearly 3 relatively low hours at Disneyland and then hop over to DCA 15-30 minutes before it opens.

 

[figment_jii]

It is worth noting that May 7 to 10 is the Tinkerbell Half Marathon weekend. So expect higher than normal crowds due to the marathon.

 

[CCgirls]

Avoiding MM at Disneyland is not as important as at WDW since people hop all day. If you have park hoppers I would spend the MM hour at DL and then hop over to DCA when it opens. FP will be available for RSR for several hours. Thursday will likely be the least busy morning at DCA during your trip, but you're going during a pretty low season.

Thank you!

 

[Karen87]

Thanks for all the advice! I had not yet noticed that DCA opened at 10am on Thursday, so that does give us several MM hours before RD at DCA. I also noticed that DL closes early two nights that we will be there. Is that because of the marathon? I've never been to any of the parks during one of the marathons before.

 

[Chiomaca]

No, the marathons don't have anything to do with the park hours, I'm sure this is for the 60th preparations at the end of the month.

 

[agamble]

I'm sure this is for the 60th preparations at the end of the month.

Yes, these early closing hours are occurring throughout the month of May up until the 60th Kickoff. It's not so bad though as one park still stays open until regular hours, and Disneyland is opening really early on some days (like your MM day) giving additional park hours.