Help me decide about tickets...

[DVCFan1994]

We are heading to DL for the Avengers race weekend. We are flying to SanDiego from Massachusetts on Wednesday morning to spend a day there. Then we check in to VGC on Thursday, likely mid to late afternoon. We need to go to the race expo to get all our materials, so I do not foresee going into the park that day. The four of us (myself, DH, DS9 and DD7) will be up early to do the 5k at 5:30 am as a family on Friday. Then I will be doing the other two races with early mornings Saturday and Sunday - they will be up earlyish to see me at the finish, but not so early to head to the start with me.

Since early mornings are a necessity for the races, and the kids will have to be back at school on Tuesday, we want to try to essentially stay on East Coast time, or at least within an hour. That means up at 4-5 AM CA time, and kids in bed around 7 CA time. We have never been to DL as a family, and DH and I have only been to DL once for a day over 10 years ago. We want to make the most of our time. Do you think park hoppers are a necessity to do so, or do you think single park tickets are sufficient? Can we adequately see DCA in a day? I am thinking 3 day tickets (racers can get a discount on these), and using 2 days at DL and 1 day at DCA. Will I regret that choice? Should we go for the park hoppers? What about 3 day versus 4? If I can only use at most a few hours of time on Thursday is it worth it anyway? I think the discounted tickets for racers are only valid on 3 day tickets. So going to 4 day tickets would mean losing that discount and paying for the extra day.

While I know that planning early bedtimes we are going to be missing some nighttime festivities and shows, we are okay with that plan. One of my kids dislikes fireworks, and as WDW vets we actually are rarely in the parks at night. At WDW we enjoy having our dinners in the hotel restaurants, such as CA Grill, Citricos, Yachtsmen etc., which we usually find better than the restaurants in the parks at WDW. I'm still working on my dining plans for DL, but I am guessing at least at least 2 of 4 dinners will be out of the parks.

Appreciate any advice or tips. As a 20+ year WDW annual passholder I can't believe how out of my element I feel heading out west!

 

[Indiana Scott]

We have the same time change issue when we go to WDW. Honestly I would not try to stay on your home schedule because your going to miss out on a lot and limit your time at the resort. Hopefully you have at least one late night in the parks because they take on a whole different feeling then and it's not to be missed.
Going back to your local time really isn't all that much trouble. It's not like time slam of a trip to Hawaii or Europe. A little tiredness at the end of your trip will pay off in spades.
Just a thought,
hope you have a great trip!

Scott

 

[figment_jii]

We want to make the most of our time. Do you think park hoppers are a necessity to do so, or do you think single park tickets are sufficient? Can we adequately see DCA in a day? I am thinking 3 day tickets (racers can get a discount on these), and using 2 days at DL and 1 day at DCA. Will I regret that choice? Should we go for the park hoppers? What about 3 day versus 4? If I can only use at most a few hours of time on Thursday is it worth it anyway? I think the discounted tickets for racers are only valid on 3 day tickets. So going to 4 day tickets would mean losing that discount and paying for the extra day.

You're in a tough spot if you want to keep your East Coast schedule and exit the parks early enough so the kids can have dinner and go to bed at 7:00 pm. You're going to be giving up a lot of time in the parks to do this. Essentially, instead of having three full days, you're looking at three partial days. Assuming the parks open at 9:00 am (they did last year during the Avenger's Marathon weekend), that gives you less than 10 hours per day in the parks (even less if you decide to eat outside of the parks and still try to get the kids to bed at 7:00 pm). I think you can get a sense of the parks with three partial days, but you aren't going to be able to do everything or even most things. You'll need to prioritize which attractions and shows are the most important to you and your family and build a plan around those. I highly recommend looking through HydroGuy's A DLR Guide for WDW Vets to help you get a sense of things.

In terms of park hopping, the two parks are very close together (you can see the DL ticket gates from inside DCA and vice-a-versa), so it's often easier to think of them as one giant park. I like to describe it as: think of Epcot. DL is Epcot's FW, DCA is Epcot's WS, and DTD is just outside of International Gateway. I normally am a big fan of park hopping, but given your limitations, I would probably just concentrate on one park per day and not bother hopping. Hopping doesn't take a lot of time, but it does take some time (5 to 15 minutes, depending on where you're starting from and where you're ending up).

While I know that planning early bedtimes we are going to be missing some nighttime festivities and shows, we are okay with that plan. One of my kids dislikes fireworks, and as WDW vets we actually are rarely in the parks at night. At WDW we enjoy having our dinners in the hotel restaurants, such as CA Grill, Citricos, Yachtsmen etc., which we usually find better than the restaurants in the parks at WDW. I'm still working on my dining plans for DL, but I am guessing at least at least 2 of 4 dinners will be out of the parks.

DLR does have fireworks (an amazing new show debuted this summer), but there is also the new Paint the Night Parade (next generation technology from MSEP) and World of Color (unique to DCA).

If you're looking for Signature dining locations, you're probably going to want to focus on things like Napa Rose and Steakhouse 55. Remember, DLR only has three on-site hotels, so there are fewer resort restaurants to choose from. Dining reservations open about 60-days in advance, but they don't generally fill-up until closer to the date (i.e., nothing like WDW).

 

[DVCFan1994]

You're in a tough spot if you want to keep your East Coast schedule and exit the parks early enough so the kids can have dinner and go to bed at 7:00 pm. You're going to be giving up a lot of time in the parks to do this. Essentially, instead of having three full days, you're looking at three partial days. Assuming the parks open at 9:00 am (they did last year during the Avenger's Marathon weekend), that gives you less than 10 hours per day in the parks (even less if you decide to eat outside of the parks and still try to get the kids to bed at 7:00 pm). I think you can get a sense of the parks with three partial days, but you aren't going to be able to do everything or even most things. You'll need to prioritize which attractions and shows are the most important to you and your family and build a plan around those. I highly recommend looking through HydroGuy's A DLR Guide for WDW Vets to help you get a sense of things.

This is why I am struggling with my plans here. I would never expect to do everything in three days, but I want to feel like we hit the high points. As a family that goes at least twice a year to WDW we take a fairly laid back approach there. My kids are (gasp) even saying they are getting sick of DisneyWorld. At WDW we are never in a park for more than 5-6 hours at a time unless their is a sit down meal involved, even then I'd say no longer than 7. But we are usually at WDW so often that we are happy to hit a few favorites at whatever park we hit each day. We may return to a park after dinner or for dinner, but probably only half the time. Some people would say our touring style is a waste of time and money, but its what we like. We have no desire to feel rushed or stressed on vacation. We enjoy pool time every day and leisurely dinners. But, although my kids are still youngish, and we probably have a few more DL trips to look forward to in the next few years (gotta do the Kessel run Challenge sometime), I do feel a bit more pressure to make a bit more of our time at DL. We have to be up early every morning. We almost never make rope drop at WDW, but it will be easy to do at DL, because of the early race times. So I'm thinking we will be at the parks from open until 3-4 each day with a quick lunch. Then pool, hotel dinner and bedtime for the kids. We have a 2 bedroom villa at VGC, so putting them to bed earlier will be easier on that front.

Thanks for reminding me of HydroGuys thread you linked above. I had seen that a long time ago when we first decided to make this trip, and forgotten about it. I think it will help me prioritize better. I also may call to inquire more about the 3 day tickets, find out if they can be upgraded if we find it is necessary. I hate to pass up a ticket deal, but if it is going to be way too limiting, I may have to.

 

[figment_jii]

I think you can hit many of the high points in three days, but, you'll need to decide which attractions and/or shows are the most important for you family. I do think one of the hardest things facing your family is that you will be there during a fairly busy point in time. The Avengers Marathon weekend was very busy last year, although the crowds lessened considerably on Monday. It's not going to be capacity (or even peak summer) crowd levels, but it will be busy enough that you're going to have to be fairly efficient if you want to hit all of the top attractions. It's also likely to be the start of the holiday season in DLR, which means there will be crowds due to that.

I would say that that the biggest priorities to figure out are RSR versus TSMM (TSMM is very similar to the one in DHS, so I'd be tempted to focus on Carsland). Over in DL, along with the normal popular attractions (Space, Indy, etc.), the holiday overlay attractions should be open (Haunted Mansion Holiday opens in September and IaSW Holiday should open around then; no one knows if Jingle Jungle Cruise will be back, but it might).

 

[DVCFan1994]

We have the same time change issue when we go to WDW. Honestly I would not try to stay on your home schedule because your going to miss out on a lot and limit your time at the resort. Hopefully you have at least one late night in the parks because they take on a whole different feeling then and it's not to be missed.
Going back to your local time really isn't all that much trouble. It's not like time slam of a trip to Hawaii or Europe. A little tiredness at the end of your trip will pay off in spades.
Just a thought,
hope you have a great trip!

Scott

Sorry I messed up the multi-quote. I would normally agree with you, DH and I would be ok with the time change. Although both of us find traveling west to east much worse than east to west. But, our kids have never dealt with a time change, and like I said, they have to be at school at 7:40 Tuesday morning. I don't want to set them up for trouble. I may change my mind when we get there, and see how well rested they are going into the trip and let that influence my decision. Perhaps we will spend one night in a park. My sense of responsible mom versus the fun mom side of me are definitely at odds here

 

[agamble]

I would probably go with the 3 day non hoppers. I'm not a big fan of paying to park hop on a short trip. You can see everything major at DCA in a day. Since you're WDW vets, you've probably already seen Anna and Elsa. I'd focus on doing the many things at DCA that are not at WDW, plus maybe Soarin and TOT just for the comparison. Soarin has a much shorter line at DCA than WDW, plus it's cool because you're actually in CA. I love GRR, and it is very different than the Kali Rapids. Screamin' is worth a ride if your kids are into thrills. Of course Carsland is a must, but so long as you get a FP for Racers, you'll be fine on time. Make sure you go on the day that is NOT a MM for the hotel guests (unless you're staying at a DL hotel). That will make a big difference on crowds first thing in the morning.

Two days should be enough to see most of Disneyland. Prioritize your time and know which rides are MUSTS for your family and which you may want to skip since you've been to WDW many times. Definitely ride Space Mountain as it's different than WDWs and check out the Matterhorn, it's a great old coaster and they just updated the special effects. Indy is of course only found at DL, and is NOT the same as Dinosaur, so check it out. And don't forget Pirates and Haunted Mansion, which are both different than at WDW. If you open the parks around 9 and leave around 4 or 5, you should be able to see a lot. Your kids are older and so you shouldn't have to worry about nap times and parent swapping. That's what often eats up our time.

As far as dining goes, we're counter service people. The counter service options at DL are WAY better than at WDW. We really like Rancho Zocalo in Frontierland. It's a Mexican restaurant and the food is pretty good and well priced; there's nothing like it at WDW for price and quality. We haven't eaten at the BBQ, but it is highly recommended if you're meat eaters, and probably being demolished soon. Of course the Blue Bayou is very popular since you like the sit down meals. You could always do that one evening around 4pm instead of leaving Disney for dinner. There are also a few popular locations in DTD, which is just a short walk from Disneyland. I would take a look at the dining options and menus online and choose from there. You may be surprised how many more counter service food choices you have at Disneyland than WDW (excluding Epcot).

Enjoy your trip. Disneyland is great, just different than WDW. Everything is so close together and you'll find yourselves walking a lot less to get from one attraction to another.

 

[SMD]

Sorry I messed up the multi-quote. I would normally agree with you, DH and I would be ok with the time change. Although both of us find traveling west to east much worse than east to west. But, our kids have never dealt with a time change, and like I said, they have to be at school at 7:40 Tuesday morning. I don't want to set them up for trouble. I may change my mind when we get there, and see how well rested they are going into the trip and let that influence my decision. Perhaps we will spend one night in a park. My sense of responsible mom versus the fun mom side of me are definitely at odds here

I think having kids that are awake for 4-5 hours before the parks even open on Saturday and Sunday is going to backfire big time.

 

[DVCFan1994]

I think having kids that are awake for 4-5 hours before the parks even open on Saturday and Sunday is going to backfire big time.

Thanks for the warning. While I totally get what you are saying, my problem is this, my children, like me have incredibly strong internal alarm clocks. During the school year, they NEVER sleep later than 6:30 AM usually up by 6:15. And yes, they sleep in fully blacked-out rooms, so its not daylight that is the problem. They can be go to bed at 8:30 PM or 11 PM and they will be up by 6:30 AM. Even during the summer, I am lucky if they sleep until 7. As easy as it sounds to just say, Oh move to Pacific time, everyone will be fine, I know my kids, and they will not magically sleep until 6:30 pacific (9:30 eastern - lol) just because it would be convenient. I think we'd have to change time zones and stay at least a week in a new time zone before they'd start to adjust. I absolutely get that it would be better to move to Pacific time, but, I also absolutely do not want to plan for that, because, it simply won't happen. I might get them to sleep until 5:00 Pacific by the third day, but even that seems like a stretch to me.

I would probably go with the 3 day non hoppers. I'm not a big fan of paying to park hop on a short trip. You can see everything major at DCA in a day.

Two days should be enough to see most of Disneyland. Prioritize your time and know which rides are MUSTS for your family and which you may want to skip since you've been to WDW many times.

As far as dining goes, we're counter service people. The counter service options at DL are WAY better than at WDW. We really like Rancho Zocalo in Frontierland. It's a Mexican restaurant and the food is pretty good and well priced; there's nothing like it at WDW for price and quality. We haven't eaten at the BBQ, but it is highly recommended if you're meat eaters, and probably being demolished soon. Of course the Blue Bayou is very popular since you like the sit down meals. You could always do that one evening around 4pm instead of leaving Disney for dinner. There are also a few popular locations in DTD, which is just a short walk from Disneyland. I would take a look at the dining options and menus online and choose from there. You may be surprised how many more counter service food choices you have at Disneyland than WDW (excluding Epcot).

Enjoy your trip. Disneyland is great, just different than WDW. Everything is so close together and you'll find yourselves walking a lot less to get from one attraction to another.

Thanks for all the tips! While I know the trip we are planning would be disappointing for some people, I want to leave DL and DCA with the family excited to return one day, with perhaps a few things we missed to look forward to, and not so out-of-whack schedule wise that no one ever wants to go back and repeat the experience. I have read several things about the counter service in DL being significantly better than WDW, so perhaps we should plan a bit more of that than we are used to.

 

[Sherry E]

You should at least stay in Disneyland long enough to see the It's a Small World Holiday façade illuminated in glorious color at night. It's gorgeous in photos, but even more gorgeous in person. The whole holiday atmosphere takes on a different feeling and vibe when the sun goes down. I don't know if your family is big on the holiday season, but it's something to consider.

 

[VandVsmama]

My $0.02 on your situation...

First of all, how great that you're going to Disneyland!!!

If you only eat dinner at places outside the parks, then you are seriously limiting yourself. Everyone who goes to DL really must eat lunch or dinner at the Blue Bayou once in their lifetime. Lunch is less expensive. If you get an 11:30 am lunch reservation and show up 15 min early and request a waterside table, then your chances of dining right at the water's edge inside POTC is even better!

Also, you should try the Hungry Bear Restaurant. Yes, it's counter service. But the food is good. It's not yucky theme park food. And sitting at a table right next to the Rivers of America, watching the duckies swim by, is so relaxing and wonderful.

Consider this...if you get to the parks about 9am and then go back to the hotel for pool just after lunch, then you're basically only spending 3 hours in the parks each day. Change your plans around so that you stay at the parks until 4-5pm. Eat dinner one evening at the Hungry Bear, THEN go to the hotel pool and put your kids to bed after they're tuckered out.

On a DCA day, if you want a fancy "signature dining" experience for dinner, go to Carthay Circle or go to Ariel's and ask for outside seating. You could eat dinner early (4-5:30 pm-ish)...then go to the hotel for swimming & bed.

Other than Napa Rose, I would not consider any of the outside-the-park restaurants to be premier/signature dining, especially at DTD. Those restaurants are nice enough. But I would take a meal at the Hungry Bear, Blue Bayou, or eating outside at Ariel's next to Mickey's Fun Wheel over Catal or Jazz Kitchen any day of the week!

 

[VandVsmama]

High points in terms of rides/attractions at DL & DCA:

AT DISNEYLAND:

• Matterhorn
• Peter Pan - but skip it since the lines are really long, it just was refurbished (so it's very popular) and there's no FP
• Indiana Jones
• Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk-Through
• Space Mountain
• Mr Toad's Wild Ride - original ride from the 1955 park opening, if I'm getting my facts straight.
• Fantasyland - ALL OF THE RIDES ARE SO CLOSE TOGETHER! It's so convenient!
  
• ride the train once around the park - the dinosaur diorama between Tomorrowland and Main Street station is from the exhibit at the World's Fair in the 60's.
• fried chicken at the Plaza Inn - interior of the Plaza Inn was designed by Walt Disney's wife
• Pirates of the Caribbean - longer ride and Walt was involved in the designing of this attraction
• Haunted Mansion - lately, this has had FP available.

AT DCA:

• Carsland - it is WORTH IT to be in Carsland at dusk at sundown because they play "Sh-boom" and turn on all of the neon lights just like in the movie. It's really neat. You could have an early dinner there at Flo's.
• Radiator Springs Racers - this has FP
• Mater's Junkyard Jamboree - we laugh our heads off during the whole ride. It's a lot of fun.
• Soarin' Over California - DL recently rethemed this area to be Grizzly Peak like in the Airplanes movie.
• Ariel's
• Grizzly River Rapids
• if you're into thrill rides, California Screamin' and Tower of Terror

I forgot to add....
Disney just came out with a new Disneyland app that has ride wait times, locations & times of character meet & greets, locations & times of entertainment. Disneyland has a LOT of impromptu street music (Dapper Dans, the new DL band plays all over the park, New Orleans Square even has a small quartet pirate band that's really great).

 

[gottalovepluto]

Since you already have lots of good info above I just wanted to second Blue Bayou. Eating INSIDE Pirates of the Caribbean is just so unique. And I really wanted to just say Have A Good Time! It's your trip so who cares if someone might think your park style is a waste of money/time, you love it & your family loves it so Enjoy Disneyland!!

 

[Angrose]

I agree with you, OP, that keeping the kids schedules closer to your original time zone is a good idea, especially with it being such a short trip. I, too, have an early riser and it does not matter what time DS7 goes to bed, he will be up by 6:30am everyday! I think as long as you are fully prepared to work within your time constraints, and realize that you are going to miss out on some nighttime activities, then that sounds like the best plan for your family. Since you are staying onsite, you will have access to EMH, so that will get you into the parks an hour early. Also at that time of year sunset will be closer to 5pm so you could skip swimming one day to stay for dinner in the parks and enjoy some of the evening magic like It's a Small World or the Carsland lighting.
While I do enjoy the evening shows, parades and fireworks, I much prefer DLR during the day. I would just do whatever works for your family. With 3 days and EMH you probably will be fine with non-hopper tickets. Every family has a different way of seeing the parks. I was just there with DS7 for 3 days in June. A lot of people would have cringed at the way we toured the parks, but it worked for us and made my son happy. Our last day practically all we did was collect pressed pennies and rode only a few rides, but it was so fun! You will have a great time doing what matters most to YOU. Enjoy your trip!

 

[Nonsuch]

...We have a 2 bedroom villa at VGC, so putting them to bed earlier will be easier on that front.

Changing the subject a bit...
You will be trying to sleep early, so it's a good idea to make a location request for your villa.

My suggestion is a villa facing Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, since this attraction closes early.
Assuming a dedicated 2-bedroom: 5518, 4518, 3518, 2518, 1518

There have been a few reports of noise from the doors leading to the WOC viewing patio disturbing guests in 6500, so you may wish to avoid that villa.

 

[DVCFan1994]

Wow, this all a wealth of information. I am very thankful to each of you for your advice and suggestions. I love the idea of eating at Pirates of Caribbean, definitely would love to see the Radiator Springs lights, and we are Christmas decoration junkies, so if those will be up, we will need to go see them. DH and I were at WDW from the day after Christmas through New Years every year from 1995-2006. Was not so practical once we had little ones, crowds are too heavy. We used to spend time each year going around to a few hotels to see their differing decorations.

I think early in-park dinners, after which we can see some evening festivities, and then hitting the pool a couple of evenings after the park will be a good compromise between making the most of the time we have, without feeling like we missed way too much. I'm just wondering now if we should add the fourth day and hit DCA for dinner when we get there. I'll have to call and get better details on the ticket options tomorrow.

The room suggestions are also great. I originally was thinking a world of color view request, thinking we could watch from the room one night, but then it occurred to me it might be too loud for sleeping. Wasn't sure what to request for quiet, so I appreciate the help with that!

 

[Nicolette11785]

I probably would skip the 4 day pass and instead get the hopper. Arriving mid-late afternoon and checking and going to bed early is going to give you almost no time in the parks on thursday.

Of you get the hopper you can get the early entry to DCA on friday and sunday. That will give you more time to get rides done without a lot of people. If you don't get hoppers you would only be able to do it one of the days.

Make sure you are there for all the early entry/magic mornings so that you can get as much done as possible. If you decide to watch world of color from your room, you can always get ear plugs for those that are sleeping. The fireworks are quite loud no matter where you are. I once stayed at least 2 miles away from the parks and still heard the fireworks. For the time change issue, just be prepared for anything. I know when me and my son are excited we can't sleep no matter how tired we are. New place and new park it's a natural thing.

 

[DVCFan1994]

I probably would skip the 4 day pass and instead get the hopper. Arriving mid-late afternoon and checking and going to bed early is going to give you almost no time in the parks on thursday.

Of you get the hopper you can get the early entry to DCA on friday and sunday. That will give you more time to get rides done without a lot of people. If you don't get hoppers you would only be able to do it one of the days.

Make sure you are there for all the early entry/magic mornings so that you can get as much done as possible. If you decide to watch world of color from your room, you can always get ear plugs for those that are sleeping. The fireworks are quite loud no matter where you are. I once stayed at least 2 miles away from the parks and still heard the fireworks. For the time change issue, just be prepared for anything. I know when me and my son are excited we can't sleep no matter how tired we are. New place and new park it's a natural thing.

When I first signed up for the race, I saw there were special priced tickets, but the only option featured was a 3 day ticket for 20% off. Today when I went back where I found that original offer to look for a number to call for details and possibility of other options, I saw there was now a "purchase online" option. I followed that link and I now see I can get anything from a single night twilight ticket, through a 5 day park hopper. I can get a 4 day park hopper for $229 pp. Since I thought I was looking at $220pp for 3 day single park tickets, I am happy with $229 for 4 day hoppers. Or if we decide we really don't want to go into the park for dinner when we arrive Thursday, we can get 3 day hoppers for $200 pp and save $116 total.

One last question for anyone who is willing to put up with my endless string of questions? The benefits of utilizing magic morning vs. Extra Magic morning is a bit confusing to me. At WDW there is only one option, and it is only Resort guests. We don't usually utilize it because we generally find it more crowded at the park with the early morning option. I understand out west there are two different early morning options, but it looks like the only advantage is at DCA, because at DL anyone on site as well as anyone with a 3 day or longer ticket can use the early mornings. What order would you hit the parks Friday, Saturday and Sunday? I think I have decided we will have dinner early (4-4:30) in each park one night and then see the atmosphere of the parks at night before heading back the the GC. Knowing everything is walking distance and there is no bus transportation to worry about, I feel we can make more of our days.

Thursday is the wild card. If we leave San Diego around 1 PM, I am guessing we will get to DL around 2:30-3:00. We need to go first to the race Expo. The question is do we then head into a park to start our stay with a fun dinner, or do we relax and have dinner at our hotel, gearing up for three long days in the parks to come. Tough call.

 

[VandVsmama]

Since you're staying at the GCH, you should totally take advantage of Magic Morning/Extra Magic Hour every morning you are there. The advantage of MM/EMH at DL & DCA is pretty good because on an average day, a lot of park visitors are local to southern California. And they tend to arrive at the parks late morning.

As an example, I've got a picture posted in my June 2015 trip report of my 2 kids on Main Street just after the park opened at 8:00 am on a Monday. Here's a link--> http://www.disboards.com/threads/ca...m-june-2015-trip-report-updated-6-30.3415598/

Extra Magic Hour is only for on-site hotel guests. It gets you into 1 park each day an hour before regular park guests. So EMH at DCA is Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. EMH at DL is Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

In addition, people who have purchase 3-5 day park hopper tickets ahead of time get 1 Magic Morning entry to DL park only. Magic Morning at DL is only on Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday.

AP holders get no early entry unless they are staying at 1 of the on-site hotels.

If I were you, I'd hit the parks in this order:

• Friday - Start at DCA with Extra Magic Hour.
• Satuday - Start at DL with EMH.
• Sunday - Start at DCA with EMH.

What to do on Thursday?
Go check in to the hotel and the race Expo. Explore DTD. Let your kids swim in the awesome GCH pool. And have dinner at the GCH, DLH, or in DTD. Goofy's Kitchen might be a fun way to kick off your vacation and if you have PhotoPass+, the photos they take at Goofy's Kitchen are included (from what I've read on these boards).

By the way...PhotoPass+ only costs $69.95 ($99 in the parks), but you have to purchase at least 2 weeks before your travel dates in order to get that price. It's much less expensive than the WDW photo package.

 

[DVCFan1994]

Since you're staying at the GCH, you should totally take advantage of Magic Morning/Extra Magic Hour every morning you are there. The advantage of MM/EMH at DL & DCA is pretty good because on an average day, a lot of park visitors are local to southern California. And they tend to arrive at the parks late morning.

If I were you, I'd hit the parks in this order:

• Friday - Start at DCA with Extra Magic Hour.
• Satuday - Start at DL with EMH.
• Sunday - Start at DCA with EMH.

What to do on Thursday?
Go check in to the hotel and the race Expo. Explore DTD. Let your kids swim in the awesome GCH pool. And have dinner at the GCH, DLH, or in DTD. Goofy's Kitchen might be a fun way to kick off your vacation and if you have PhotoPass+, the photos they take at Goofy's Kitchen are included (from what I've read on these boards).

By the way...PhotoPass+ only costs $69.95 ($99 in the parks), but you have to purchase at least 2 weeks before your travel dates in order to get that price. It's much less expensive than the WDW photo package.

Thanks so much! That is the direction I was leaning in terms of the parks, just was really unsure about Sunday. I appreciate your advice and reasoning!

The more I think about it, although I'd love to hit DL Thursday afternoon, it would be $116 for at most a few hours, depending how bad the ride from San Diego is and how long the expo takes. I'm also forgetting I need to add in a little time somewhere for a quick grocery stop for our villa. I like your idea of checking out DTD after the Expo too, it probably makes the most sense time wise, not sure when else we'd get there.