Disneyland visit ... how many days?

[Solomani]

As far as Fast Passes go...they are printed with a one hour return window on them. This is the time you can ride the ride. If you show up before or after the time, you will not be able to use the FP. What Hydroguy was getting at is if you pull a bunch of FPs in the morning for your wife to use later...well, that is likely impossible. The FP's you pull in the morning will likely have return times before you are to meet for lunch.

Yep. The HKDL and TDLR FP strategy won't work in the US it seems.

 

[Rubygoose]

As far as Fast Passes go...they are printed with a one hour return window on them. This is the time you can ride the ride. If you show up before or after the time, you will not be able to use the FP. What Hydroguy was getting at is if you pull a bunch of FPs in the morning for your wife to use later...well, that is likely impossible. The FP's you pull in the morning will likely have return times before you are to meet for lunch.

But what you can do is get a rider swap card so that your wife can ride with the big kids any time that same day. On most rides you don't even need to have the little ones present to get the card, but at RSR we were asked to show "the baby" in order to get the rider swap card (and my 2.5 year old who was so mad that he couldn't ride sure didn't like being called a baby!) You can even get a rider swap card while using a FP. So, you can get a FP in the morning, ride with the big kids and ask for a swap card. Then, when your wife and the little ones arrive you can take the little ones on a ride while your wife and the big kids use the swap card.

 

[Solomani]

Hi Ruby, nice tip, thanks! Are rider-swap limited or I can ask for it at any ride?

 

[Mickey13]

4 days or more. I am married with an 11 and 14 year old. We went in late December and had 16 hour days. Those long days and combined with 4 days worked well for us.

 

[mummabear]

Hi Ruby, nice tip, thanks! Are rider-swap limited or I can ask for it at any ride?

Only rides with a height requirement, in my experience you also need to show the child who is unable to ride as well

 

[Solomani]

Hi all,
We booked our trip finally and will be in the US for 3 weeks with 7 days at Disney from the 16th to the 23rd of October. However, the only walking distance accommodation I could get was the Days Inn Disneyland West which has mixed reviews. Was really after something with a kitchen/washing machine etc.

Our preference is the Desert Palm but its currently booked. Any recommendations on something similar the the Desert Palm within walking or short driving distance to DLR?

Thanks in advance.

 

[pjpoppins]

We did 5 (maybe 6?) day hopper last September and felt like we didn't have enough time lol. But we like to just walk around and go on things over and over (like Cal Screamin). So I would err on 5 days. I look at it this way....you're spending all this money to get here and doing all this planning, both for the parks and you're personal life...so why not add another day?

 

[CateinPhoenix]

Was really after something with a kitchen/washing machine etc.

Your best bet might be a Residence Inn (Marriott brand), SpringHill Suites (Marriott), they both tend to have kitchens and laundry facilities. I believe there are a few choices close to DLR.

 

[sgrap]

Hi all,

I am in the initial planing stages of a trip to Disneyland from Australia with my family (6 of us with 4 kids aged 10, 8, 5, 3). I am looking for advice on how long we should allocate for Disneyland and Adventure park? Is 3 days enough?

We have extensive experience with HKDL (1 day is plenty even with kids), TKDL/Sea (2 days per park works well) so just wondering what I should target for DL? I am thinking 3 days.

Our normal plan of attack is for me to take the older two early in the morning, grab fast passes for as many rides as possible and ride as many rides as we can. Then my wife with younger two usually join to have lunch with us and we swap - I take the younger two on age appropriate rides while she goes with the older ones and burns through the fastpasses. We also usually retreat to the hotel by 1400 for rest/nap then return for dinner and the night shows. This has worked very well in HKDL and TKDL/Sea.

Current target is September 2014 after school reopens in the US (so 10th for first day visit). However we are flexible with time.

Thanks in advance.

5 days at least! we had 8 day hoppers back when they solve them and we still didn't feel like we did everything.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

Hi all,
We booked our trip finally and will be in the US for 3 weeks with 7 days at Disney from the 16th to the 23rd of October. However, the only walking distance accommodation I could get was the Days Inn Disneyland West which has mixed reviews. Was really after something with a kitchen/washing machine etc.

Our preference is the Desert Palm but its currently booked. Any recommendations on something similar the the Desert Palm within walking or short driving distance to DLR?

Thanks in advance.

Do you mean an ensuite washing machine? Some of the Good Neighbor hotels (and all of the Disney hotels) have common-area laundry rooms. (We do our laundry mid-trip at the HoJo, for example.)

 

[Solomani]

Your best bet might be a Residence Inn (Marriott brand), SpringHill Suites (Marriott), they both tend to have kitchens and laundry facilities. I believe there are a few choices close to DLR.

Great, thank you. Any idea how far a walk those are?

 

[LostGen]

My favorite trips are the ones that were two weeks or more because it became like our second home. We didn't feel the need to rush around from ride to ride; we could sit in New Orleans Square and sip mint juleps and people watch.
Yes, I realize there were clearly some aspects of my childhood that were luxurious. But hey, it's all about choices. Some families have a cabin on the lake or a beach house, we had Disneyland.

 

[hootey]

We have been enjoying DL for years taking five to ten day trips We have two sons that just can not see why people go to "The Happiest Place On Earth" for less than 5 days We stay on property and take our own sweet time enjoying the parks We see and do everything a couple times at least We do enjoy being there