Friday, Oct 28

[1 goofy family]

My husband surprised the family with a short trip to Disneyland since we have some business to attend to in LA. We will be staying overnight at the GCH on Thursday, I bought the Costco package that comes with a 2 day park hopper pass.

We will be spending all day Thursday in the park but on Friday my husband and I have to leave early to go to a meeting in downtown LA.
I'm thinking of leaving my son (17) and daughter (16) at DL while my husband and I go to our meeting, then driving back to spend the rest of the afternoon with them.

Could you help me figure out if it would make sense to make the drive to downtown and back in the Friday afternoon traffic? My original plan was to drop them off at the outlet mall near downtown LA, my daughter loves this idea, my son is less than thrilled They would both love to spend more time at Disneyland.

We would have to be in Downtown LA by 11:00am on Friday, so I'm thinking we'd leave the park by 10:00.
We would be driving back to Disneyland at around 1:00. We are moving to a hotel in the downtown area for the remainder of our trip so we'd have to drive back to LA at the end of our day.

I see that the Halloween Party is scheduled for that night as well, would the crowds be crazy in the afternoon because of it?

I appreciate any advice you might have, thanks!

 

[skiingfast]

I see that the Halloween Party is scheduled for that night as well, would the crowds be crazy in the afternoon because of it?

I appreciate any advice you might have, thanks!

This all looks pretty good except for one thing which I'll adress after answering your question.

Fridays start out fine. In the afternoon they are moderate. Late afternoon will feel a bit busy. After 5, very busy, as people show up after work for the party.

I might consider changing your reservation and at short notice this may be tough. If you attend the Halloween Party you can enter DL at 3pm which would work well for yourself and DH. If you haven't been the parties they are fun and the Fireworks are the best. If you do want to do this buy your tickets ASAP because the party will sell out.

 

[1 goofy family]

Thanks skiiifast! I will already have a park hopper pass for Friday, would I have to buy an additional ticket to enter the park because of the party?

I know traffic can be rough on Friday afternoons -- it says on googlemaps that the estimated travel time is around 40 minutes, should I assume it would be more like an hour to try to drive back to the park?

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

You would need ahalloween party ticket to stay in Disneyland past 7. You can hop to DCA once DL closes for the party.

 

[skiingfast]

I know traffic can be rough on Friday afternoons -- it says on googlemaps that the estimated travel time is around 40 minutes, should I assume it would be more like an hour to try to drive back to the park?

Driving will be fine as long as there are no accidents. Your travel times are rather ideal, coming and going.

 

[1 goofy family]

Awesome! Thanks for the help skiingfast and 3Minnies. I think we're going to plan to come back to DL and have a late dinner before heading back to downtown. Can't wait!