Eight-to-ten days too long?

[bumbershoot]

We had ann8 night stay and it was fine. But we had a car.

I think the 6 days in LA is too long though.

 

[mummabear]

We are having a debate in our household regarding our upcoming trip in August. We have two options.

1: spend 6 days in the LA area followed by 8-10 days at Disneyland staying offsite. We won't have a car. We are DL vets having spent 5 nights onsite each year for the last 5 years.

2: spend 9 nights at WDW followed by a 3 night Disney cruise and 2 days at Disneyland on the way back home to Australia. We have been to WDW three times previously.

I prefer Disneyland to WDW and in August Florida is like the surface of the sun. However, at WDW we get to stay onsite and have many more dining options and water parks we enjoy. Dining is a big deal to us. Then again the idea of only 2 days at Disneyland sounds devastatingly short.

My question is whether 8-10 days at Disneyland is going to be too long?

We alternate DLR and WDW each year from NZ. We do 10 days at DLR when we come plus another week either in LA and/or San Diego.
But we don't spend 10 days all in a row, and not full days. One sometimes two we don't enter until dinner time and just go in for a few hours.
Would you be staying somewhere with a good pool so you can hang out relaxing a bit for some of those 10 days?

I personally out of your two options would do WDW with a stopover for DLR, we have done this in the past, when we got to DLR we just focused on DLR only rides/fireworks etc

 

[tarheelalum]

I would go with number 2. LA stinks with a car and without a car, LA is simply impossible. Its crowded and no where to park. 9 days at WDW sounds fantastic. Go to the awesome water parks they have every day to deal with the jungle like heat.

 

[Susie63]

We have done a couple of long trips and loved them! It is nice to be able to stroll along at your leisure. We like to go to Animation Academy a few times. Great moments with Mr. Lincoln was nice to do .....once. Main Street cinemas is fun as well. The nice thing about a longer trip, is that you can take your time and when you leave you are not exhausted.

 

[DDhunter]

If you like water parks why not stay a day or two at the Great Wolf Lodge in Garden Grove? However, I don't think any amount of days at Disneyland is too much. I have tried to figure out many times how to move to Anaheim. Our first year with Annual passes we took three 5 day trips and went several times a month and it was still never enough. There are a ton of things to do in SoCal though. The idea of going down to San Diego is a great one. Do the Zoo or Sea World or just hit the beach. They have some fantastic restaurants down there as well.

 

[danceanddisney2010]

Both sound like such great trips! Personally having never been to WDW, i'd pick number 2! But I love Disneyland so so much and our trips are always 6 days lol... so a couple more days added on to that would be absolutely no problem! I LOVE not having to rush and being able to literally just take it easy ... no stress. I have been on short trips in between (like 2 days) and they have been rough! With SO many people there is so much much you don't get done or if you do get it done you have to stick to a strict timeline in order to do so.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

I would just like to say that I am jealous of both of your options.

Even as a local who goes to DL all the time, the idea of that much pure "vacation" time sounds heavenly. You can't go wrong!

 

[seacruise]

8-10 days sounds way too long especially without a car. The area around DLR isn't so nice that you are going to want to hang out there for a couple weeks. The most we did was 6 days back when you could still get a 6 day pass and that was a day or so too long. We are doing 4 days next month, but really only 3 full days in the parks. The 4th day was really cheap to add so decided to do another morning before we head to San Diego.

 

[GeneralTso]

For me, yes. I can handle about 4 days at the parks and then get max'd out!
We always have a car though, so we take trips all over LA/OC. It's a So Cal vacation, not just Disney.

 

[Jfsag123]

I would take option 2 primarily for the resort experience. If you're staying that many days you're bound to have some downtime and I'd rather spend that downtime in an onsite WDW resort than an offsite hotel near DL. Yes, it will be hot and muggy, but if you've got a nice resort with a good pool it helps make it more manageable. Plus, as others have mentioned, WDW has the water parks.

I don't think we could spend 8+ days at DLR, but we spent 13 days at WDW last summer and still weren't ready to leave when it was over. We had lots of downtime and it was wonderful.

 

[Nevada Jen]

I'm going to second great wolf lodge. If you can swing it, stay there the entire time. Its much nicer than anything off site walking distance to dlr. And uber to the gate of dlr was only 5 bucks each way. Our most recent trip we would go to dlr in the morning, leave when it got crowded and then hit the water park at.the hoteL. It was perfect. I could easily see doing that for 10 days. Keep an eye on Groupon for a good deal.

 

[cp11]

It all depends on your family and how much you love Disney. We've been for 14 days, with two of it being in San Diego. And we were still fine when it was time to go. We love to try everything, love to sit around at restaurants with outdoor seating (we're from Washington, doesn't happen much here) and people watch.

We would go to DL in the morning, go back to room in the afternoon, take naps, swim, etc, and then head back at 8 or 9 at night. It was so much fun. Our seven day trips we also use this method. But our shorter trips, four or five days, we tend to try to stay in the park for longer periods of time unless it's crazy busy and I can't stand all the people anymore.

 

[az4boys]

I think it depends on a lot of other factors. If it were 8-10 days going to DL open to close... way too long. If it were 8-10 days at an older motel across the street... way too long. However, if you found a nicer hotel with good options for relaxing, then it might be an awesome trip. We have stayed at the new Homewood Suites near the convention center. I could stay there for an extended vacation and go to Disneyland a lot, but not necessarily all day or every day. Good luck! Either choice can be a lot of fun.

 

[GoldeneyezCA]

Option 2! You said WDW, then Disney cruise, then DL, right? I'm a SoCal resident, and that sounds divine, especially if you get to go to Castaway Cay on that itinerary.

As a local and an AP, 8 days sounds like a lot of time at DL given the crowds lately, but you can easily fill 6 days in LA or OC. In LA, you can check out Santa Monica, Malibu, Getty Center or Getty Villa, the Peterson Automotive Museum, Griffith Park Observatory, Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal, catch a sporting event or concert (you could even get tickets to see Hamilton if you're lucky - it will be here starting in August), etc, etc. In OC, Fashion Island is actually much prettier for strolling and people-watching than South Coast Plaza, and you can go to the beaches (Laguna or Huntington are within 30 min), see a show at Segerstrom Center, catch sporting events, etc, to break up your trip. I have family that comes here for a week every year and barely fit in everything they want to do, and that's without doing anything Disney at all.

You have wonderful options either way. Have fun deciding!

 

[disneychrista]

8 - 10 days of NOTHING but Disneyland is way too much time IMO. My upper end would be 5 days.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I melted in FL in early Nov a couple years back so that's a solid "heck no!" for my vote on WDW in Aug!

What about other parts of CA? San Diego is the closest down there & good for a few days. Like to drive? Have you seen SF? Taken a couple days on PCH? A different direction would be have you seen the Grand Canyon or Vegas? IMHO 6 days is a lot in LA & 10 is a lot in DL. Take a few of those LA days & a couple DL days & do something you haven't!
As for how long to DL- go with your gut! As a DL vet you have some idea of how long is too long, how much you can take, when you'll get bored (insert dodging emoji here- I can't find it on my phone!). A nice day trip in the DL area is Knotts! Fun, different, less crowded.

 

[azdisneylover]

I would relish spending 10 days at Disneyland! I agree with other posters about staying at Great Wolf Lodge and taking Uber to and from the parks. You can take your time in the parks and DTD. You can catch a movie or two at the AMC theaters. Perfect to catch an early matinee, followed by lunch in DTD. We do that at least once every time we go to Disneyland. It is a great way to avoid the heat and crowds! Then, we are ready to head back into the parks!

 

[pennym]

We almost always stay 2 weeks with at least 8 days in Disneyland and love it! we also do Knotts, Universal and plenty of shopping. If you like shopping there's heaps of options around. We Kiwis LOVE Marshalls, there's a good one in Fullerton a short taxi ride away. Then there's the Outlets at Orange and several nice malls around. I would always recommend plenty of time in DL especially if you're coming that far! We have been to Vegas, Grand Canyon and San Diego, all fun but it's Disney we keep coming back to!

 

[carrierael77]

Doesn't sound too long for me, BUT, if option is 10 days at 1 resort vs a decent amount of time at 2 resorts AND a cruise, I would choose option 2. That sounds like a dream to me!

 

[MrJT]

I personally think that it is too long. After 3 days of walking everywhere, my feet were in so much pain. I did 10 days at WDW once, and I thought that I could have shaved a day or two off that trip with no regrets.