First Time Trip to Disneyland California

[jmleon84]

Hello, I'm taking my best friend (40yr old) and daughter (15yr old) to Disney for their first time ever. I want to make it a great trip for them but we on a budget. We will be there in February 2025 Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday for 3 park days split between California Adventure and Disneyland. I wanted to do one full days in each park and a hopper for the last day because I don't know which one they would love the most. The 15 yrold wants to see the villain characters the most. Are their show at night that I should look out for cause I think that is more memorable then going early to the park. I didn't purchase tickets yet cause so many places to get them not sure which is the best bargan. Are their any dinning experience I should explore for them like the pirate one cause the girls aren't really into the princesses but like the tinkerbell. They are not picky eaters so that is helpful. Does anyone have any tips?

 

[Mouse Tracker]

It's my understanding with WDW tickets, adding hopper $ on last day is the same as adding hopper $ to start with. I may be wrong.

If true at DL, just get the 3 day tickets with hopper.

 

[pblack]

You would be better off getting park hopper tickets from the get-go. It takes less than 5 mins to hop from one park to the other.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Hello, I'm taking my best friend (40yr old) and daughter (15yr old) to Disney for their first time ever. I want to make it a great trip for them but we on a budget. We will be there in February 2025 Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday for 3 park days split between California Adventure and Disneyland. I wanted to do one full days in each park and a hopper for the last day because I don't know which one they would love the most. The 15 yrold wants to see the villain characters the most. Are their show at night that I should look out for cause I think that is more memorable then going early to the park. I didn't purchase tickets yet cause so many places to get them not sure which is the best bargan. Are their any dinning experience I should explore for them like the pirate one cause the girls aren't really into the princesses but like the tinkerbell. They are not picky eaters so that is helpful. Does anyone have any tips?

If you want to hop at all, you should buy the tickets with hopping from the outset; the hopping add-on cost is the same whether you add hopping at the beginning or the end or use it for only 1 day of your tickets or all days. There is no pro-rated hopper add-on.

Depending on when you go in February, California Adventure park may be celebrating Lunar New Year. This usually includes extra food and entertainment offerings.

It is likely that World of Color will be running nightly at California Adventure during your visit. The refurb calendar doesn't go out that far, so there is of course no guarantee. In Disneyland, the Sunday night might have fireworks and/or Fantasmic depending on weather and refurb schedules. On nights when fireworks don't run, there is usually a projections show on Main Street and the castle and the It's a Small World building.

 

[OlliePop27]

One thing to consider is days of the week. During February, fireworks will likely only be showing on Fri-Sun nights. Also, crowds are often heavier on weekdays than weekends for a variety of reasons (yes, I know that seems backwards but it's true at DL).

If you're choosing weekdays thinking crowds will be better, that's actually likely not the case. If the dates you've chosen work best with your schedule, then don't change plans just for this reason. Go in knowing the crowds will still be heavy barring rain.

Mondays in particular often have the absolute worse crowds of the week during non-holiday or summer times of year.

If you're visiting President's Day weekend, it will be busy, but actually probably pretty good.