Help me decide which days to do which parks?

[Jaina]

So, we are going April 28-May 1, which is a Monday through Wednesday. We can't shift our dates, as DH has a chiropractic convention starting Thursday, and Sunday is our travel day. (he works the Saturday before). We have 3-day tickets, but are only doing 1 park per day this trip (which saves us $300, which is a big deal on a budget trip!) I also want to take it a little slower than our last trip, which wore us out a bit, and maybe do some of the stuff we wouldn't normally do. Park hopping with a few adult or 2-4 people isn't a big deal, but it gets a bit exhausting with 5 kids under 12. So my current plan is to do Disneyland M and W and California Adventure Tuesday. Which would mean we're sacrificing our Magic Morning though. :-/ The other option is CA on Monday (which will be the busier day anyway) then Disneyland on T-W, but I feel like it will be more exciting to alternate parks. Parks will probably open at 9/10 am, so I know the MM isn't as big of an advantage anyway. But my kids are early risers, which means we shouldn't have any trouble making it over to MM. Will I regret going with my first plan? (Disneyland-CA-Disneyland) It seems so perfect to start and end the trip at the original.

 

[HydroGuy]

Sounds like you are staying off-site and will have just that MM.

If it was me, and I was sure I could make MM at DL on Tuesday, I would do DL Tuesday. I think that time of year park hours are a little shorter and that will help.

The question then is whether you do DL Mon-Tue/DCA Wed, or DCA Mon/DL Tue-Wed. Personally I would lean towards the second of the two.

 

[chickapin parterre]

wednesdays are the best days at Disneyland....that will profit you the most of any decision you make for the trip. Monday for DCA I have not really read that it is actually busier than Disneyland, .....also ....all those on-site folks checking out monday morning may also have a positive clearing in the 9-11 hour for DCA

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I would go with DCA (M)/DL (T&W). If the Monday is a busy day, you won't feel it as much at DCA because the walkways are wider.
DO the MM! Even if all you do is get great photos in FL and TL (but you know you'll do more than that!), it would be worth it. With so many small kids, a good MM plan (skip PP -- not worth the stampede and stress, especially with strollers) -- you can do it later in the day -- keep watching the app for shorter wait times) can help you get more done on the non-FP rides than you'd think.
With FP or MP, you'll be able to do a lot your first day at DCA. And you'll have good FP runners if you don't use MP, so don't worry. Then you'll have two days to conquer DL.
I like your idea of taking things a little slower -- see more shows, enjoy the atmosphere, show the kids the details that they'd never notice otherwise, laugh (a lot!) because you have time to enjoy the jokes.

 

[Jaina]

Sounds like you are staying off-site and will have just that MM.

If it was me, and I was sure I could make MM at DL on Tuesday, I would do DL Tuesday. I think that time of year park hours are a little shorter and that will help.

The question then is whether you do DL Mon-Tue/DCA Wed, or DCA Mon/DL Tue-Wed. Personally I would lean towards the second of the two.

Thanks. It's good to know that the MM might still be valuable. I'll wait to make my final decision until I see what the park hours are, but it sounds like it might be the better option to do DCA on Monday.

wednesdays are the best days at Disneyland....that will profit you the most of any decision you make for the trip. Monday for DCA I have not really read that it is actually busier than Disneyland, .....also ....all those on-site folks checking out monday morning may also have a positive clearing in the 9-11 hour for DCA

I'm definitely planning to do Disneyland on Wednesday! I meant I know Mondays are the busiest weekday sometimes, and like theluckyrabbit said above, busy days are easier to deal with at DCA because it -feels- like there is more space. What did you mean in the last sentence? That maybe people are likely to use EMH on a Monday because a lot of people are finishing a trip and headed home?

I would go with DCA (M)/DL (T&W). If the Monday is a busy day, you won't feel it as much at DCA because the walkways are wider.
DO the MM! Even if all you do is get great photos in FL and TL (but you know you'll do more than that!), it would be worth it. With so many small kids, a good MM plan (skip PP -- not worth the stampede and stress, especially with strollers) -- you can do it later in the day -- keep watching the app for shorter wait times) can help you get more done on the non-FP rides than you'd think.
With FP or MP, you'll be able to do a lot your first day at DCA. And you'll have good FP runners if you don't use MP, so don't worry. Then you'll have two days to conquer DL.
I like your idea of taking things a little slower -- see more shows, enjoy the atmosphere, show the kids the details that they'd never notice otherwise, laugh (a lot!) because you have time to enjoy the jokes.

I like the idea too. Whether we'll be able to DO it remains to be seen. Maxpass has kept us hopping before with all the rides we can fit in, (I've park hopped 5 times in a day several times!) so maybe taking out some of the options will help us slow down a little, while still getting to do everything we want several times. The nice thing is I'm basically the Disney expert in the family, so whatever I decide I think we should do is what will happen!

 

[wdwfan22]

Don't skip your MM. Have you used them before? I love them!! Just be at the gate at least 30 mins before open. And go ride all of Fantasyland, (yes, skip Peter Pan with little ones in tow) then head to any Tomorrowland with about 15 mins left in MM. Ride Space then whatever other Tomorrowland attractions you want, or head off to another part of the park.

 

[Jaina]

Yes, we have used them before. But we have also skipped it and just started at whichever park did not have early entry and done fine with that too. The only reason I was really considering skipping it was so we could alternate parks and not so one park two days in a row. We have never not gotten park hoppers before, so I’ve been second guessing decisions a little bit.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

With your experience and ability to make the most of MM, it does seem like doing DCA/DL/DL is going to make more sense for you guys. But if you stick with alternating, you also have the experience and planning to make that work, so I think you have a win-win situation

 

[HollyL]

I'll be going close to the same dates with my daughter (April 30- May 3rd). Is it packed.com shows it as a "ghost town" on those dates. I plan my Disney trips (we travel from Houston) around those kind of days. Once Star Wars land opens up, who knows if it'll ever be a "ghost town" again. Sure WDW is technically closer for us, but my choice is always DL (I grew up in California, so I will always prefer it over FL).

 

[Jaina]

With your experience and ability to make the most of MM, it does seem like doing DCA/DL/DL is going to make more sense for you guys. But if you stick with alternating, you also have the experience and planning to make that work, so I think you have a win-win situation

Haha, thanks for your vote of confidence!

I'll be going close to the same dates with my daughter (April 30- May 3rd). Is it packed.com shows it as a "ghost town" on those dates. I plan my Disney trips (we travel from Houston) around those kind of days. Once Star Wars land opens up, who knows if it'll ever be a "ghost town" again. Sure WDW is technically closer for us, but my choice is always DL (I grew up in California, so I will always prefer it over FL).

I have kind of given up on the real "ghost town" feel that I remember experiencing in the past (like before 2010). I feel like those only happen randomly, and unless you're an AP and in the parks a lot, most of us don't get that lucky. But here's hoping that we both get some luck on one or a few of those days, and have an amazing park experience!