first trip---only one day?

[canalwondering]

So this is our first theme park visit with our girls (3&5). I have a couple questions I would love some help with. We are very budget conscious on this trip

1. We think we can only swing one day at DL. We originally thought 2, but with passes at $100 a piece (we are Canadians so we are taking a hard hit on exchange with the dollar) it puts us at $400 a day! Yikes! Is it crazy to even considering just doing one day? Or do you think 2 days is the best way to have any kind of disney experience?

2. We also thought about California Adventure, but with both my girls under 40" it looks like there's not much for us to do. They have never seen Cars, so Cars Land wouldn't be draw. Is it not worth attempting it?

3. I see people commenting about ride closures etc, but I can't find dates on the disney site for anything? Is there a website I'm missing to show what will be closed while we are there to better plan out our days?

4. We are thinking Sunday May 17 and/or Monday May 18th. I'm guessing if we can do just one Day, just do Monday? Will Sunday be super busy? I'm guessing it's going to be quite hot and hot and busy isn't my thing! When will Disney release the times for the park? I don't want to miss the fireworks and I've read they might not be on busy days...

Sorry for the random questions! I'll take any advice you can spare!

 

[Disneyluvr]

It actually gets cheaper the more days you go. So if you can swing it I would do a 3 day pass. It's only about 235 so its like buy 2 days get 1 free.

 

[bumbershoot]

See Cars. Go to Carsland even if you haven't seen Cars. Then see Cars.

Our first two visits as adults were one day visits while visiting my brother. The third year we took a longer trip and regretted those one day visits.

 

[iKristin]

I wouldn't recommend trying to cram two parks into one day on a first trip. I honestly wouldn't even recommend one day for a first trip. Not enough time to enjoy the park, it will feel rushed

 

[Fantaluminishes]

If you go on Sunday, there should be fireworks and Fantasmic. However, that weekend is less than a week before the 60th anniversary kicks off. In any case, there won't be either on Monday.

The good news for you is just about all of the refurbs will be done by then. If you only have one day, just go to Disneyland. If you can swing 2 or 3 days, I recommend park hoppers.

 

[LizzyS]

Our first visit was one day and we only went to Disneyland and had a great time, but we also are just two adults with no kids. I had a short list of things I HAD to do and I was able to hit all of those objectives.

It's a matter of opinion what is "worth it" as that will be different for different people.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

check out getawaytoday.com they have some good deals.
Adults at Kids’ Prices on 3-day, 4-day or 5-day Disneyland® Resort Park Hopper® Tickets when you book by March 31, 2015!

I would not recommend going for less then 3 days and get hoppers, see cars, then go to cars land. It is a lovely place.
1 day would be a waist please do everything you can to get 3 days so you don't feel like you are rushed and missing a lot of things.

 

[Nicolette11785]

I don't recommend anyone go for just one day. Look at way.com for tickets and try your best for at least a 3 day with no hopper. If you could add the hopper that would be even better. The more days you go the better value you get per day.

 

[RKKUNK]

I know that you said that you were on a budget. But if you can, I would recommend 2-3 days at least. Right now Orbitz has tickets, Buy 3 days get the 4th free, or 2 parks( one park per day). The 3 day tickets are adults $275.00 and kids $264.00. The 2 day one park per day tickets are adults $185.00 and kids $172.00. Hope that helps!

 

[RKKUNK]

Right now Orbitz has buy 3 days get the 4th free or 2 day 1 park per day tickets at a pretty good price. Sorry, my first post didn't go through at first.

 

[bcwife76]

We are CDN so I feel your pain on the ticket prices! I had to buy 2 kids park hopper and 1 adult park hopper (all for 3 days) and with exchange it was $975 Canadian =0 I had enough airmiles to get 1 adult 3 day park hopper at least to save some money. Do you collect airmiles? If so see if you have enough airmiles to get a parkhopper. Honestly for a first trip 1 day is NOT enough. We never go for less than 3 days and we've been several times over the years. To save a bit of money you can get non-park hopper passes, do Disneyland one day, DCA a second day, etc. You can also buy your passes from Flight Centre. They are the same price as the US tickets but you're paying in CDN so you're not losing anything on the exchange. Again, you can only get 3 day or longer passes from any travel agents in Canada, they do not offer less than 3 days through CDN travel agents.

 

[Amommy21]

So this is our first theme park visit with our girls (3&5). I have a couple questions I would love some help with. We are very budget conscious on this trip

1. We think we can only swing one day at DL. We originally thought 2, but with passes at $100 a piece (we are Canadians so we are taking a hard hit on exchange with the dollar) it puts us at $400 a day! Yikes! Is it crazy to even considering just doing one day? Or do you think 2 days is the best way to have any kind of disney experience?

2. We also thought about California Adventure, but with both my girls under 40" it looks like there's not much for us to do. They have never seen Cars, so Cars Land wouldn't be draw. Is it not worth attempting it?

3. I see people commenting about ride closures etc, but I can't find dates on the disney site for anything? Is there a website I'm missing to show what will be closed while we are there to better plan out our days?

4. We are thinking Sunday May 17 and/or Monday May 18th. I'm guessing if we can do just one Day, just do Monday? Will Sunday be super busy? I'm guessing it's going to be quite hot and hot and busy isn't my thing! When will Disney release the times for the park? I don't want to miss the fireworks and I've read they might not be on busy days...

Sorry for the random questions! I'll take any advice you can spare!

If there is any way you can swing 2 days I would. With two kids that age if you want to see both parks and are traveling so far, you get more bang for your buck with two days. There is plenty for little ones to do in DCA. And the atmosphere in Carsland is worth walking through, prepare the kids ahead of time and let them see the movie. The art of animation is really fun for kids, The Little Mermaid Ride, Toy Story, The World of Color. The Frozen stuff is all over there now.

If you really only can make one day work just do DL and skip DCA.

If Sunday has longer hours it might be better. Sunday and Monday pre summer probably won't have fireworks. I think you can see that on their website. But if you care about fireworks check into that.

 

[SnowBelleAlice]

Here's how a very good friend spent one day in both parks, pre Cars Land ~ http://www.disboards.com/threads/we-did-it-dlr-wed-7-15.2232766/

 

[Rescue Pooh]

It sounds like your money is very tight, but if you can swing it I would recommend at least a two day park hopper. I'm not sure what the height requirements are, but I think your daughters would be able to enjoy some of the rides in a Bugs Land at DCA.

 

[SnowBelleAlice]

Nearly all rides *both parks* have a 40" height requirement, most three year olds are at least 40"

 

[beachdreamr1229]

Most rides are available to all heights, so there will be very few rides you'll miss, mostly the "mountains", Star Tours, Indy, and most of the carnival and roller coaster/thrill rides at DCA.

If you have to go with just one day, here are my thoughts. Go Monday. It will be less crowded. Unless you care about the fireworks, Fantasmic, or World of Color, in which case you'll need to go Sunday. We're locals, so we go a lot, but you'd be amazed at how much you can pack into one day. My kids are 4 and 1, so we don't do many of the "big" rides, but your older one might be able to go on the 40" rides (my oldest wasn't 40 inches until he was about 4 1/2 years old). Usually we only go from 8AM-2PM and still get a ton in. And I'm sure others will have different ideas of how to do it, but since I've got a bit of time on my hands today, here you go:

Do the park hopper. I know some people will disagree, but that way you can see highlights at both parks. Get there at rope drop in the morning and go to whichever park does not have early entry (unless you're staying at a Disney hotel, then do go to the park with early entry, but if your budget is that tight, don't stay onsite). Have snacks for your kids, too. They will be hungry and bringing your own snacks (and water) saves a lot of money. Also, before you go, try to memorize the park maps. I see a lot of people wasting their time looking for rides or attractions that are right in front of them. Oh, and eat before the park opens. Bring some McDonalds or something from your hotel with you.

If you start in Disneyland, go to Fantasyland first. You can ride almost all of the dark rides, Dumbo, and the Teacups within about 1-2 hours. You can save Small World for later because the line is generally fairly short and it loads quickly. If your kids are excited about Autopia or anything in Tomorrowland, do that next. (My kids only really like Autopia and occasionally the Submarines, but the subs are very slow loaders so even a seemingly short line is fairly terrible. Buzz Lightyear would be the only other ride most kids like.) Take the train from Tomorrowland over to the stop in New Orleans Square. You'll see the exciting part of the train ride with the dinosaurs and Grand Canyon, but not waste too much time. You'll want to go on Pirates and Haunted Mansion, then go on over to the Pooh ride if it's something your family would be interested in. If the adults want to ride Splash Mountain, there's a single rider line that's a lot faster than the regular line. At this point, I'd switch over of DCA either before or after eating lunch (there are plenty of other attractions to see, but if you're going to see everything...). As a side note, if you go to DL after DCA, everything still applies, but fantasyland will take much longer.

At DCA, if you start there first in the morning and are not interested in riding RSR, going on any of the faster rides, or seeing the Frozen characters (assuming they are still there), I recommend going to the Toy Story ride right away. If you wait until after DL, the Toy Story ride will have a terribly long line, unfortunately, but it's worth riding if the kids can stay in line long enough. We usually skip Toy Story even though it's amazing. We do Monster's Inc., which is easily my favorite dark ride ever since they have really put a lot of detail into it (including scent). Then, we head over to Little Mermaid, which usually has one of the shortest waits in the park.

By this time, it's usually around 2 and we leave. So, I don't have much suggestion from there, but you can see how it is possible to fit a lot into one day. Just make sure to bring a stroller so your kids can rest and try to work on your own stamina if needed (my 8AM-2PM trips are usually 10-15 miles of walking). Good luck and enjoy!

 

[bcwife76]

Nearly all rides *both parks* have a 40" height requirement, most three year olds are at least 40"

The average height of a 3 year old is 37 inches. My daughter is not quite 4 1/2 and she is *just* 40 inches. I'm hoping she'll be 41 inches by the time we go in October (2 months before her 5th birthday).

 

[SnowBelleAlice]

bcwife ~ OP's 3 year old may turn 4 a month after their trip.
My DD is a wee one, she was barely tall enough for Indy on her 7th birthday trip to DLR. Hopefully OP's younger one is 40" ~ I'd dislike paying for a three year old who couldn't ride most rides.
Since a ticket is required for all those 3 years and older, I'd guess most three year olds are 40", somewhere in their third *technically 4th year* anyway.

 

[bcwife76]

I think my 4 1/2 year old is a bit of a shortie, anyway ;-) I'm just thrilled that's she's finally 40"! When we went in 2013 she was 21 months old so while her sister (who had just turned 5 and is tall for her age) could go on almost all rides, I was stuck on rides like the Little Mermaid endlessly.......I'm thrilled she can go on RR now! But really, there are a lot of rides that the 3 & 5 set can still go on, so a day just can't be long enough LOL

 

[Malcon10t]

Nearly all rides *both parks* have a 40" height requirement, most three year olds are at least 40"

Most rides have no height requirement. 18 out of 83 attractions have any height requirement, 3 of those are 32", a couple of 36", and 13 are 40"+. Plenty to do without being 40".

Most 3yos are not 40". My granddaughter was 40" at 2.5 (exceptionally tall), and just turned 4 and should be tall enough for Indy next trip. My nephew is the same age (2 weeks apart), and while he is 4, he has about 3" before he is 40". Just because they are tall enough doesn't mean they are ready.