DL 4/9-4/11 2020 - Is it worth it?

[higdonk]

Considering adding a 2.5 day visit to Disneyland (Thursday-Saturday morning of week before Easter) to a California trip. There are 5 of us and we have made 3 trips to WDW, but never California. This would be the front end of a trip down to San Diego for a week. But I have no experience with Disneyland and $1500 for tickets for 5, plus all the extras is a good chunk of change and I am trying to figure out how crazy it will be. From what I have read crowd calendars don't apply exactly like they do at WDW. If you plan your days, can you stay ahead of the crowd with a touring plan or will it be too crazy that close to Easter to even enjoy it? I realize this is kind of a vague question, but I would appreciate any genuine feedback from DLR experts. We will be coming from the eastern timezone Weds night, so I wouldn't think getting up early for rope drop will be an issue at all. Thoughts? Odds are we won't be making another family trip to California, so I hate to pass up the chance, but I don't want to drop a lot of money to stand in massive crowds and not enjoy any rides either.

Thanks

Kate

PS. I should say I have used the DIS for all our WDW trips and done all the research and touring planning etc.

 

[VandVsmama]

Is it worth it? Yes. Here's how you handle the crowds:

• Be at the parks for rope drop every morning. This means being in line 45 min before park opening.
• Use your Magic Morning entry. I'd use it on Thursday.
• Pay for Max Pass for each of the 3 days you'll be there.
• During your MM hour, go to Fantasyland and go on these rides in about this order: Dumbo, Mr Toad, Matterhorn, Alice, Mad Tea Party, King Arthur's Carousel.
• At 1 hour after regular park opening, be at the entrance to Toon Town (so this would be 9:00 am). Walk straight to Mickey's house and meet him without a wait.
• Then go straight on Roger Rabbit with not much wait.

Here's how you can take best advantage of Max Pass:

• As soon as you have all of your tickets scanned, select your first FP using Max Pass.
• It'll tell you the time that you can select your next ride using MP. Set an alarm on your phone for that time.
• When your phone's alarm goes off, select the next FP. You can pick the same ride as you did before as long as you've already used the FP from that ride. In other words, you can't have 2 FPs at the same time for the same ride.

If you do Fantasyland first during your MM hour, I'd recommend picking your 1st FP to be something in Tomorrowland. Probably Space Mtn first, then Star Tours, then Buzz Lightyear. Target to get on Autopia before 9:30 am because the line for it builds on busy days.

After Space Mtn & Star Tours FPs, we usually pick Indiana Jones, then Splash Mtn, HM, BTMRR.

When you're there, they'll probably have the Davey Crockett canoes running. That's a super fun way to experience the Rivers of America from a totally different point of view. That's a good time filler in the middle of a busy afternoon.

At DCA, follow basically the same method. Once you get everybody in the park, select your first FP on Max Pass. Lots of people prioritize RSR or GotG first. RSR FPs run out every day, so I'd probably pick that one first. Then when your alarm goes off, if you've ridden RSR already, pick RSR a 2nd time (because it's that great of a ride). Then pick other stuff.

 

[VandVsmama]

You'll probably notice around noon that it'll be busy. That's when you either take a hotel break or you do stuff like the following:

• Frozen show at DCA
• Animation building attractions at DCA
• Tom Sawyer's Island
• Mickey & the Magical Map show at DL
• shows at Fantasyland theater
• take the monorail to the DL hotel and eat at one of the restaurants there
• Great Moments with Mr Lincoln
• check out the early Mickey cartoons at the Opera House on Main Street
• take some photos with a PP photographer
• go on the train all the way around DL

If you want to see World of Color or Fantasmic and it falls within your budget, it would be worthwhile to consider doing a dining package for either of those shows.

 

[higdonk]

Wow thanks for the detailed replies! I should mention that we are planning on staying at the Hilton Anaheim right by Disneyland (DH has Hilton points), so I don't think we will have extra magic hours, unless they have some kind of arrangement. I assume we can still make it work?

 

[katyringo]

Wow thanks for the detailed replies! I should mention that we are planning on staying at the Hilton Anaheim right by Disneyland (DH has Hilton points), so I don't think we will have extra magic hours, unless they have some kind of arrangement. I assume we can still make it work?

Any ticket bought in advance online for 3 or more days includes 1 early entry day to Disneyland park on a Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday.

 

[higdonk]

Any ticket bought in advance online for 3 or more days includes 1 early entry day to Disneyland park on a Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday.

Cool! I had no idea. I thought it was linked to onsite Disney Hotels like WDW. Thanks for the great tip!

 

[disneylover102]

If you can go, go. It may be crowded but that doesn’t mean you have to wait in long lines! You just need to know the tricks to beat the lines.

Get Maxpass. It is $15 but there are 3 main reasons to get it that make it worth it: First, you can get a new FP at least once every 90 minutes as opposed to 2 hours with the regular FP system (of course if the return time is sooner than 90 minutes you can get a new FP sooner). Second, it is SO convenient to get FPs on your phone, especially with a park hopper. And third, FP return times are often sooner with Maxpass (mainly because people can cancel FPs).

Go in the morning. Do rides like Peter Pan or SWGE first (but if you do SWGE first know the strategies and don’t wait an hour or two first thing in the morning). Get there an hour or so before park opening.

Single rider lines are sometimes great. From my experience, the Space Mountain, Matterhorn, Grizzly River Run, and Radiator Springs Racers Single Rider lines are usually very good. (Occasionally Matterhorn has been a little slow but it’s generally pretty fast) The Splash Mountain and Incredicoaster SR lines are good sometimes and sometimes they’re terrible. Do NOT use the SR line for Indiana Jones. I have never used the SR line for Star Tours (it’s relatively new) but I’ve heard it’s good.

 

[azdisneylover]

You have gotten great advice already. Around spring break, there will be more people, but the park are open longer, so being at opening time each day will be in your favor. I suggest check out the menus on the Disneyland website (they are on the Disneyland app) so you can plan meals and/or snacks in both parks. The portion sizes are on the large size so you can share food. I would recommend Carnation Cafe in Disneyland for a late breakfast or an early lunch after a morning in the parks. I highly suggest making a reservation hereT, so you can relax while others are rushing here and there. There are quite a few really good counter service places in both parks, DTD and in the hotels.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Considering adding a 2.5 day visit to Disneyland (Thursday-Saturday morning of week before Easter) to a California trip. There are 5 of us and we have made 3 trips to WDW, but never California. This would be the front end of a trip down to San Diego for a week. But I have no experience with Disneyland and $1500 for tickets for 5, plus all the extras is a good chunk of change and I am trying to figure out how crazy it will be. From what I have read crowd calendars don't apply exactly like they do at WDW. If you plan your days, can you stay ahead of the crowd with a touring plan or will it be too crazy that close to Easter to even enjoy it? I realize this is kind of a vague question, but I would appreciate any genuine feedback from DLR experts. We will be coming from the eastern timezone Weds night, so I wouldn't think getting up early for rope drop will be an issue at all. Thoughts? Odds are we won't be making another family trip to California, so I hate to pass up the chance, but I don't want to drop a lot of money to stand in massive crowds and not enjoy any rides either.

Thanks

Kate

PS. I should say I have used the DIS for all our WDW trips and done all the research and touring planning etc.

Agree with the others: yes, it can be totally worth it! Here are some threads with good information to help you with your trip planning:
From the sticky threads at the top of the first page:
* DLR Info/Links - Maps, Hotels, DISer Reviews, Hydroguy's tips, NEWBIE INFO here! -- tons of great information here!
From that sticky:
A DLR Guide for WDW Vets -- very helpful reading for you!
HydroGuy Tips Compilation -- a treasure trove of helpful threads here!
Tell me about the Hilton Anaheim -- a recent thread with information about your hotel
Some clarification about MM: multi-day tickets for 3-5 days come with one MM at DL only, TL and FL only, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays (always double check -- Disney can change the dates, e.g. Christmas Week).

 

[mich311e]

We went Friday, Saturday, & Sunday Easter day this year. I didn't find it too crowded at all. It wasn't dead by any means, we had a great time. Get MaxPass though!

 

[Becca1007]

Is it worth it? Yes. Here's how you handle the crowds:

• Be at the parks for rope drop every morning. This means being in line 45 min before park opening.
• Use your Magic Morning entry. I'd use it on Thursday.
• Pay for Max Pass for each of the 3 days you'll be there.
• During your MM hour, go to Fantasyland and go on these rides in about this order: Dumbo, Mr Toad, Matterhorn, Alice, Mad Tea Party, King Arthur's Carousel.
• At 1 hour after regular park opening, be at the entrance to Toon Town (so this would be 9:00 am). Walk straight to Mickey's house and meet him without a wait.
• Then go straight on Roger Rabbit with not much wait.

Here's how you can take best advantage of Max Pass:

• As soon as you have all of your tickets scanned, select your first FP using Max Pass.
• It'll tell you the time that you can select your next ride using MP. Set an alarm on your phone for that time.
• When your phone's alarm goes off, select the next FP. You can pick the same ride as you did before as long as you've already used the FP from that ride. In other words, you can't have 2 FPs at the same time for the same ride.

If you do Fantasyland first during your MM hour, I'd recommend picking your 1st FP to be something in Tomorrowland. Probably Space Mtn first, then Star Tours, then Buzz Lightyear. Target to get on Autopia before 9:30 am because the line for it builds on busy days.

After Space Mtn & Star Tours FPs, we usually pick Indiana Jones, then Splash Mtn, HM, BTMRR.

When you're there, they'll probably have the Davey Crockett canoes running. That's a super fun way to experience the Rivers of America from a totally different point of view. That's a good time filler in the middle of a busy afternoon.

At DCA, follow basically the same method. Once you get everybody in the park, select your first FP on Max Pass. Lots of people prioritize RSR or GotG first. RSR FPs run out every day, so I'd probably pick that one first. Then when your alarm goes off, if you've ridden RSR already, pick RSR a 2nd time (because it's that great of a ride). Then pick other stuff.

Heads up on the Mickey Toontown tip... the last three visits (October, Nov & Dec 2019) we have been there at Toontown open and Pluto has come out to meet everyone at the gate but no Mickey and then it was 30 minutes after that for Mickey and Minnie to make it to their houses for photos. We actually found the best time for a Mickey visit was about 60-90 minutes after Toontown opened.

 

[RemainSeatedPlease]

Definitely worth it! I have been at crazy busy times and low crowd times, and it was always worth it. Just be a little smart in your touring (be there at rope drop, use your Magic Morning at Disneyland, use MaxPass) and you'll be just fine. Park Hoppers may help because if you find one park too crowded for your liking, you can hop on over to the other park. You can make FastPass reservations in both parks using the app, once you have checked in to either park for the day. This means that you can even be making FastPass reservations from your hotel if you go back for a break in the middle of the day! Many people do go back for a break at DLR, partly because it can sometimes get hot in the early afternoon, but also because it's more crowded at that time. I usually go on tons of rides in the morning, then go somewhere like Tom Sawyer's Island, or eat at Blue Bayou, for a relaxing lunch.

 

[twodogs]

Best advice from someone who has gone all times of year: buy MP every day (buy in advance since it is easier) and use it wisely. Study the thread here that explains MP (it was very, very different to FP at WDW, and far superior to it, IMO). Mobile order everything you can, including just a beer! You can play with the Mobile ordering on the App ahead of time to see how it works; it will save you so much standing in line. Get there early, take advantage of those early hours to get stuff done. We don’t really do Fantasyland often because those aren’t our favorite rides, so we go right to SM at rope drop, but whatever works for you, get there early!

 

[RedVines2001]

Park Hoppers may help because if you find one park too crowded for your liking, you can hop on over to the other park. You can make FastPass reservations in both parks using the app, once you have checked in to either park for the day. This means that you can even be making FastPass reservations from your hotel if you go back for a break in the middle of the day! Many people do go back for a break at DLR, partly because it can sometimes get hot in the early afternoon, but also because it's more crowded at that time. I usually go on tons of rides in the morning, then go somewhere like Tom Sawyer's Island, or eat at Blue Bayou, for a relaxing lunch.

You got some really great advice already. I'll just add that i agree with everyone else that a trip is definitely worth it and don't let the crowd calendar throw you. I've been pleasantly surprised before. I'll just reiterate the points made above, you should really consider park hoppers if you haven't yet. A lot of WDW ppl don't realize that the gates for the two parks are literally 100 yards apart from each other. I hop between the parks multiple times a day and get on loads of rides that. Don't let up on Maxpass. Once you scan your ticket in the morning set alarms throughout the rest of the day to get fastpasses. There's a good thread on stacking fastpasses for the evening if you take an afternoon break somewhere. maybe someone more knowledgeable can link you to it. In either case, DL takes a lot less preplanning than WDW and you can have a great park day and do a lot on the fly even if it's crowded. I highly recommend the frozen musical, mickey and the magical map and world of color.

 

[eMoneyBug]

My wife are pumped for the Easter egg hunt

 

[wench]

Those days are during spring break for most of the schools in Western Washington (and I’m sure many others as well). Based on the last time we went during spring break, pretty much all of Washington was there. I think I saw 3 different people/families that I knew from home on that trip. I would expect it to be very busy.

But, with that said.... It’s not stopping us from going. We’ll be there the 6th-11th!

 

[wench]

Those days are during spring break for most of the schools in Western Washington (and I’m sure many others as well). Based on the last time we went during spring break, pretty much all of Washington was there. I think I saw 3 different people/families that I knew from home on that trip. I would expect it to be very busy.

But, with that said.... It’s not stopping us from going. We’ll be there the 6th-11th!

 

[tasha99]

Cool! I had no idea. I thought it was linked to onsite Disney Hotels like WDW. Thanks for the great tip!

Be aware MM is ONLY for Disneyland. There is an extra magic hour associated with staying at Disneyland hotels as well that includes both parks (on different days). I say this, because the last two times I was in line for early entry into California Adventure, I saw a cast member turning away a family who misunderstood the difference between the MM hours and EMH hours.