Going to DL in AM before DCA?

[buckler]

We'll be in the parks Tues June 19 through Thurs June 21. Tentatively I'm thinking that we'll do DCA on Tues., DL on Wed. and DL on Thurs with EE. We'll save the Fantasyland rides for our Thurs EE day.

My question is, on our DCA day DL opens at 8:00 and DCA opens at 10:00. Should we start out the day at DL and do a few quick rides before heading over to DCA? I'd like to be at DCA when it opens though.

Looking at Ridemax it looks like we could get into DL at 8:00, ride POC and HM and slip back out in time to get in line for DCA to open. I thought POC and HM might be good choices since they are further away from Fantasyland (which would have been open for EE that day) and Tommorowland which are where most of the crowd should be. Is this a good idea or just too much stress? Should we just start the day at DCA and forget DL the first day? Early rising shouldn't be a problem since we will still be on eastern time sleep wise.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

We'll be in the parks Tues June 19 through Thurs June 21. Tentatively I'm thinking that we'll do DCA on Tues., DL on Wed. and DL on Thurs with EE. We'll save the Fantasyland rides for our Thurs EE day.

My question is, on our DCA day DL opens at 8:00 and DCA opens at 10:00. Should we start out the day at DL and do a few quick rides before heading over to DCA? I'd like to be at DCA when it opens though.

Looking at Ridemax it looks like we could get into DL at 8:00, ride POC and HM and slip back out in time to get in line for DCA to open. I thought POC and HM might be good choices since they are further away from Fantasyland (which would have been open for EE that day) and Tommorowland which are where most of the crowd should be. Is this a good idea or just too much stress? Should we just start the day at DCA and forget DL the first day? Early rising shouldn't be a problem since we will still be on eastern time sleep wise.

to be perfectly honest with you...I rarely see anyone who takes the whole day over at DCA...its one of those things that you can see in a few hours..its nowhere near as crowded as DL..but definitely hit DL first thing in the am..Ive always done that...

 

[Judy from Boise]

If early rising isn't a problem I would start at DL every day.......and slip over to DCA around lunch time every day(unless it is a swim day). Then I would chose a single park to finish up the evening.

This works well for my family since it avoids crowds, and also there are lots of good eating places at DCA.

 

[spazzyjazzy]

We go back and forth between each parks. We have never done a whole day at DCA. When Disneyland gets too crowded we head over to DCA.

 

[CalGal]

Disneyland before 10 is so wonderful, especially around New Orleans Square. It's so peaceful. You should be able to do several rides and grab a couple of fastpasses for later in the day all before 10. I always hit DL first thing. A few times I have gone to DCA at opening it, but usually tend to get over to DCA a little later in the day since the crowds are much lighter midday compared to DL. Regardless of when I go to DCA, I have always found it worth while to go to DL first thing.

BTW, most of the time they will open the gates to DCA around 1/2 hour early, and you can ride Soarin' before the official opening.

Hopping back and forth between parks is a breeze -- most of the time (occassionally you'll hit some lines at the turnstyles going back into DL).

 

[disney_fan_fam]

If early rising isn't a problem I would start at DL every day.......and slip over to DCA around lunch time every day(unless it is a swim day). Then I would chose a single park to finish up the evening.

This works well for my family since it avoids crowds, and also there are lots of good eating places at DCA.

YES! I agree

 

[NVDisMom]

Definitely hit Dl in the morning. Do a few of your favorite rides, gather as many fast passes as the system will allow(use a runner rather than your entire party tromping around DL gathering them), and enjoy your morning. You'll probably be surprised at how mellow DL is in the morning even on busy days. Then, like others said, head over to CA for lunch once DL starts getting really busy. Get a fast pass for anything that looks like it is a long wait (probably TOT, Screamin', or Soarin') and enjoy the lack of crowds. You'll probably be done with CA by dinner time, then you can enjoy a meal and head back to DL armed with fast passes you collected in the morning and enjoy the entertainment in DL that night. There is one thing that I would be absolutely sure to schedule in at CA tho. The Aladdin show is a must see, even if you hop over for an afternoon showing on one of your DL days. Honestly, we usually hop between the parks daily, its easy, and once in a while the crowds at DL get annoying. CA is a nice break.

 

[mystic_path]

I agree with everyone here, DCA is a wonderful park but you can see the whole thing in an afternoon. There are obviously going to be favorite things you are goin to wanna go back and see in DCA but I cant see spending a whole day there. I would totally park hop as there are things in DL that you will want to go back for. But for sure if you wanna spend the whole day in DCA go for it, but I would totally go to the regular DL park first thing in the morning. You might as well take advantage of a full day of disney if you have a hopper ticket.

 

[HydroGuy]

I agree with everyone here and would add the following. We use DCA in one of several ways. Overall it is rare for us to ever spend an entire day at only one of the parks. In other words, we almost always hop every day, and sometimes more than once.

First, if we want to do DCA when it opens then if we have energy we will get up to do DL first when it is not crowded, collect Fastpasses for later use, then hop to DCA.

Second, if we want to do DCA when it opens then these are good days for us to sleep in a bit more, so if we are tired we try to do "sleep in" days on a DCA start day.

Third, even when we skip DL before DCA we always try to get at least one DL Fastpass before we head into DCA. In order to do this, everyone has to either enter DL or DCA to get the park tickets initialized for FP collection. We do this in one of two ways. If we want to start DCA all together then we need to have everyone enter DL before 10AM (when DCA opens) and then the runner goes to get a FP set at DL while everyone else just immediately exits DL and gets in line at DCA.

The FP runner gets the FPs and then rejoins the group at the DCA gate. Then everyone enters DCA together and no one has to miss any DCA activities.

On the other hand, if the group wants to start DCA on an activity which the runner is not interested in and does not mind missing, then everyone enters DCA at 10AM and the runner takes everyone's park tickets and leaves DCA and enters DL. The runner gets the DL FP set, leaves DL, re-enters DCA and then on the way to rejoin the group gets a FP set at DCA. If it is convenient we also get a second DCA FP set on the GRR ride at this time (because GRR is disconnected)

When it comes time to take a break (1-2PM), we leave DCA and everyone returns to the hotel but the runner goes into DL one more time to get another FP set. This way we have two FP sets at DL for an evening return.

Something we always do, no matter how much time we spend at DCA, is to enter DL after DCA closes and finish the day at DL.

On some days we do not go to DCA when it opens, but just stay at DL and then visit DCA after our break time in the late afternoon or evening. On these occasions when we are taking our break we send a runner into DCA to get FPs we can use after our break.

Finally, I guess it depends on when you are going but when we visit DLR in the summer I would definitely not say that DCA can be done in an afternoon. If all you want to do are rides, you can do a lot of their rides in an afternoon but certainly not all. If you want to see some of the entertainment (Aladdin, Block Party Bash, Electrical Parade) then you will need more than one physical day at DCA. If you can break it up over multiple days through parkhopping and get FPs collected, you can do most of DCA in two solid half-days. But I think doing every ride and every show at DCA would take more than a day. At least on summer weekdays when we visit.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

My question is, on our DCA day DL opens at 8:00 and DCA opens at 10:00. Should we start out the day at DL and do a few quick rides before heading over to DCA? I'd like to be at DCA when it opens though.

Yes unless you think you need the extra sleep.

Looking at Ridemax it looks like we could get into DL at 8:00, ride POC and HM and slip back out in time to get in line for DCA to open. I thought POC and HM might be good choices since they are further away from Fantasyland (which would have been open for EE that day) and Tommorowland which are where most of the crowd should be. Is this a good idea or just too much stress?

Sounds like a good plan to me. You've hit the nail on the head. There are no guarantees but given FL has been hopping for an hour and Nemo is going to draw to TL, that side should be more quiet. But those in the know that come in after EE will be heading your way too. Ironically there are some that will enter with you that will troop to FL and TL and wonder how it is that everyone got in ahead of them.

But I think you would be able to get Pirates and HM in and then go across. Doesn't sound all that stressfull either.

Finally, I guess it depends on when you are going but when we visit DLR in the summer I would definitely not say that DCA can be done in an afternoon. If all you want to do are rides, you can do a lot of their rides in an afternoon but certainly not all. If you want to see some of the entertainment (Aladdin, Block Party Bash, Electrical Parade) then you will need more than one physical day at DCA. If you can break it up over multiple days through parkhopping and get FPs collected, you can do most of DCA in two solid half-days. But I think doing every ride and every show at DCA would take more than a day. At least on summer weekdays when we visit.

I would echo this. If you're a first time visitor or for whatever other reason you want to ride and see most everything DCA has including the parades and shows and what some deem attractions not worthy, then a single afternoon (12-6) isn't nearly enough time.