First time coming to DLR/DCA... Advice/Tips??

[SlightlyObsessed]

Hiya, pals! I am going on a girls trip with my mom and sister to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving. I have convinced them that since we will be on the west coast, we MUST squeeze in a mini-getaway to the original House of Mouse! It's only a 4 hour drive and I really want to scratch DLR/DCA off my bucket list!

We are planning on driving in Sunday morning, 11/20, staying overnight at Candy Cane Inn, then leaving Monday evening. We are getting two day (no hopper) tickets. I am a parade/fireworks girl, so I am still awaiting to see when PTN will be running, because that is a must see for me! I was thinking DLR on Sunday and DCA on Monday - thoughts/reasons to swap days??

I definitely want to hit a few rides that are exclusive/significantly different from WDW. I know Jingle Cruise will be open, so that is a must, as well as ToT before it goes away. What are some "must ride" attractions that we should include?

Any advice/tips would be greatly appreciated!! Wheeeee.... I'm so excited!!

 

[smartlabelprint]

Pirates

 

[Khokhonutt]

I've read that you can count on traffic driving from Vegas to California on Sundays and from California to Vegas on Fridays. Most seem to agree that getting out very early Sunday is going to be your best bet.

 

[SlightlyObsessed]

I've read that you can count on traffic driving from Vegas to California on Sundays and from California to Vegas on Fridays. Most seem to agree that getting out very early Sunday is going to be your best bet.

I've heard this as well. Rental company opens at 7AM Sunday morning, so the plan is to be there when they open to get on the road ASAP. Not sure if doing Monday/Tuesday would be better? We are booking tonight, so I need to iron out what would be best!

 

[Utah_Disnerds]

The traffic from Vegas to California on Sunday is a complete NIGHTMARE. We made that mistake once, it added 2 hours to our drive. We were literally stopped on I-15 by the state line.....Never again. I would leave Monday if you can, if not the earlier you leave sunday the better

 

[Khokhonutt]

I've heard this as well. Rental company opens at 7AM Sunday morning, so the plan is to be there when they open to get on the road ASAP. Not sure if doing Monday/Tuesday would be better? We are booking tonight, so I need to iron out what would be best!

I'll be interested in what others say about that start time. We'll be driving out to Vegas, then from Vegas to DLR next summer. Our plans have us heading over Sunday morning, but I plan to take advantage of still being on eastern time and probably head out of Vegas by 5am or so. If getting out closer to 7am works just as well, I may earn some points with my passengers.

 

[MrJT]

I believe that Monday's are EMH at DCA, so that could lead to extra crowds in that park too. I would also think about Park Hoppers. Hopping is very convenient at Disneyland.

 

[SlightlyObsessed]

I'll be interested in what others say about that start time. We'll be driving out to Vegas, then from Vegas to DLR next summer. Our plans have us heading over Sunday morning, but I plan to take advantage of still being on eastern time and probably head out of Vegas by 5am or so. If getting out closer to 7am works just as well, I may earn some points with my passengers.

I am going to check with my mom and sister and see if they have a preference in the days we go. I may just change days to be on the safe side. I wasn't sure if the traffic would be different or not, being as school will be out.

Also, with the new info MrJT has provided about the EMH, I may just tell them we need to change to Monday/Tuesday, and do DLR on Monday and DCA on Tuesday.

 

[SlightlyObsessed]

I believe that Monday's are EMH at DCA, so that could lead to extra crowds in that park too. I would also think about Park Hoppers. Hopping is very convenient at Disneyland.

I thought about hoppers, but at an extra $40/ticket, it seems a bit steep. I thought one day for each park would be fine. I would rather put the $40 into a nice souvenir. Am I wrong in thinking this??

 

[MrJT]

It's all up to you. I used the Military salute tickets, so the price was awesome. The hours might make a difference too. When we were there, we watched World of Color at DCA, which closed the park. From there, we were able to get back over to DL and do some more rides,

 

[Nevada Jen]

If you could rent the car the night before so you could actually leave at 7 am, I bet you would shorten the drive by at least a half hour and cut the risk of being way slowed down by lot. Not sure what hotel you are staying at in Vegas but most hotels have car rental places in them. So are you flying in to vegas and then flying out of southern cali? I don't think Monday Tuesday helps you much on the drive time really. My guess is there will be enough people staying over sunday night in vegas, thinking they will leave super early Monday morning that you will hit much worse traffic in that 7 to 8 am window on MOnday than the same window on SUnday. That said Monday Tuesday (particularly Tuesday) will get you lighter crowds in the park. It also might get you a low enough rate at an onsite hotel that you could stay onsite and take advantage of EMH.

And I think hoppers are essential (and I have NEVER hopped at WDW). The parks are so close together that its like the walk from the parking lot into your local high school football game. You don't even have to go through security again. Especially with only two days you might want to start at one park and grab show FP and a headliner FP with a later return time (Riding RSR at night comes to mind and should match up with your arrival time) and then go basically spend the day at the other park until your first park fastpasses kick in.

 

[SlightlyObsessed]

If you could rent the car the night before so you could actually leave at 7 am, I bet you would shorten the drive by at least a half hour and cut the risk of being way slowed down by lot. Not sure what hotel you are staying at in Vegas but most hotels have car rental places in them. So are you flying in to vegas and then flying out of southern cali? I don't think Monday Tuesday helps you much on the drive time really. My guess is there will be enough people staying over sunday night in vegas, thinking they will leave super early Monday morning that you will hit much worse traffic in that 7 to 8 am window on MOnday than the same window on SUnday. That said Monday Tuesday (particularly Tuesday) will get you lighter crowds in the park. It also might get you a low enough rate at an onsite hotel that you could stay onsite and take advantage of EMH.

And I think hoppers are essential (and I have NEVER hopped at WDW). The parks are so close together that its like the walk from the parking lot into your local high school football game. You don't even have to go through security again. Especially with only two days you might want to start at one park and grab show FP and a headliner FP with a later return time (Riding RSR at night comes to mind and should match up with your arrival time) and then go basically spend the day at the other park until your first park fastpasses kick in.

We are flying into Vegas on Friday 11/18 and flying out of Vegas on Friday 11/25. We are staying at Harrah's on the strip. I may price it out and see what the difference would be if we picked it up the night before versus Sunday morning. If it were just me, I would definitely go all out and do the hopper. I don't want to push my mom and sister and run them ragged. I think they will be more in favor of a laid-back approach. We are also trying to keep costs lower, so I think we may just forego hopping and just try to enjoy the time we have in the parks. I do appreciate your advice though!!

 

[jammyjam25]

It's hard to say when PtN will be running during the Holiday Season since all we've been told so far is "select nights" but I do think that a weekend night (Sunday like you're planning) is probably your best chance.

That being said, I'd personally drive over Sunday night so I could be at rope drop for Monday/Tuesday versus leaving Sunday morning and then trying to go to the park on Sunday. If you don't leave Vegas until 7am you're looking at not being in the park until noon (at best) and missing the morning hours when you can get so much done. But again, that's just my personal preference.

And I think for such a short stay you're fine without the hoppers. Have fun!

 

[SlightlyObsessed]

It's hard to say when PtN will be running during the Holiday Season since all we've been told so far is "select nights" but I do think that a weekend night (Sunday like you're planning) is probably your best chance.

That being said, I'd personally drive over Sunday night so I could be at rope drop for Monday/Tuesday versus leaving Sunday morning and then trying to go to the park on Sunday. If you don't leave Vegas until 7am you're looking at not being in the park until noon (at best) and missing the morning hours when you can get so much done. But again, that's just my personal preference.

And I think for such a short stay you're fine without the hoppers. Have fun!

If I had my way, we would definitely drive over the night before. I will speak to my mom and sister about it, but unfortunately I doubt they will go for that. It took me 3 weeks to talk them into going at all!! Budgets are tight since the trip is right before Christmas, and they have shows they want to go to while in Vegas. I know we will miss the morning hours in one park - Do you think I should swap and do DCA when we first get there and rope drop DLR the next day? I'm not sure which park has more to do, but my thinking was that DLR would have more nighttime things to see and do, which is why I chose DLR the first day.

Whatever we decide, I know it will be magical and memorable!!

 

[CalgaryTroy]

I totally understand your dilemma, it sounds like # of days/nights are sorta fixed. So I recommend you DO SWITCH days, hitting DCA the Sunday afternoon should be fine, there is WAY more to do/see in DL.
RE: PtN parade, I thought that was FINISHED ( no more, ended Sep.5 with the end of the 60th anniv. celebration ). If I'm wrong - awesome! maybe I'll get to see it when I go in November.

 

[SlightlyObsessed]

I totally understand your dilemma, it sounds like # of days/nights are sorta fixed. So I recommend you DO SWITCH days, hitting DCA the Sunday afternoon should be fine, there is WAY more to do/see in DL.
RE: PtN parade, I thought that was FINISHED ( no more, ended Sep.5 with the end of the 60th anniv. celebration ). If I'm wrong - awesome! maybe I'll get to see it when I go in November.

Flights to Vegas are already booked. Two days/One night is all my mom and sister will allow for this little side trip I have BEGGED them for! I just don't see us making a special trip to Cali just for DLR/DCA. I live in NOLA and would much rather plan a weeklong trip to WDW, but I REALLY want to see DLR/DCA at least once.


“Paint the Night” parade will return for select nights. Keep an eye on the Entertainment calendar at Disneyland.com for dates. We don’t have information to share on Space Mountain at this time.
Erin Glover on September 13, 2016 at 1:15 pm" <--- Quote on the blog release last week. I am very excited to possibly see this in person! I would assume a weekend night might be a safe bet when dates finally come out, which is another reason I initially thought Sunday would be better for DLR. Other than PtN, there are special fireworks I would like to see. Not sure if I can convince them to stay late enough to see these if we switch our days. Ugh. So hard to decide what to do!! I guess this is a good problem to have though, because at least I get to go

 

[agamble]

Expect bad traffic Sunday. Plan to leave no later than 6AM. We used to live in Vegas and drove to Disneyland several times. It’s a 4-hour drive when traffic is in your favor, it’s an all day drive when it’s not. Not joking, it could take you an hour to go ten miles if the traffic is holiday bad, though that’s the following Sunday. But even on a regular Sunday it gets congested. Unfortunately there aren’t any real alternate routes when you’re in the mountains either, though one time we went off roading through dirt roads . They were on our GPS, but I don’t think we were supposed to drive there…

 

[smartlabelprint]

When do you fly home from vegas? I'd try to change the ticket to fly out of lgb,sna or lax.

Can you branch off without them? Spend a few days at dlr solo?

 

[GatorChris]

I think you have your days a-ok. Hitting DL first is always a good policy. I will say that EMH for DCA are on Monday, so that may make it busy once you get in since you're not at a DL hotel But I'd say the chances of seeing PTN (assuming they show it) are much better on a Sunday than a Monday.

Things to do coming from WDW: Space Mt, Pirates, Big Thunder Mt, Matterhorn (bring some muscle rub for afterwards), Mr Toad's Wilde Ride, Nemo Subs, and Indy. Over at DCA, do it all!!! Soarin' is the same as WDW, and ToT isn't as good as the one at WDW but still a slightly different experience. Everything else is a ton of fun. Definitely catch World of Color - get a FP early in the morning over at the Grizzly River Run FP machine area. You'll love the show - you'll hate all the standing. DL hasn't caught up with WDW when it comes to seats for shows like this.

 

[Nevada Jen]

I forgot about PTN. I think you will have a better idea of whether you will be able to hit it for sure if you go on Sunday well before you need to make a final decision. But based on that, I am leaning towards Leaving Vegas early SUnday Morning is going to your best bet. And if I had 100 bucks to use on park hoppers or getting the car the night before with only two days in the parks, I would get the car the night before and plan on leaving at 6 am. (I should have mentioned, I lived in Vegas and worked for a California company for many years. It is a drive I am all too familiar with.) Keep an eye on Southwest flight sales. it is possible you will find a dirt cheap flight making it not worth it to drive one way or the other. I am paying 39 dollars one way from Phoenix next month.