Help with Day

[Lil'Mermaid75]

We have one day in DLR in late March. Which would be better....Thursday or Friday? I know Thursday is a MM day, but didn't know if the crowd difference between Thur/Fri would be enough to battle MM (Thurs / Fri are our only options for going to the park).

We're going to be based out of San Diego, as that's where my family lives. What we're trying to decide to do is whether we drive up to DLR on Wednesday night and get a hotel there for two nights and hit the park all day Thursday returning to SD on Friday morning (my preference) or drive up and back Friday (my DH's preference).

Thanks so much for any thoughts!

 

[HydroGuy]

We have one day in DLR in late March. Which would be better....Thursday or Friday? I know Thursday is a MM day, but didn't know if the crowd difference between Thur/Fri would be enough to battle MM (Thurs / Fri are our only options for going to the park).

We're going to be based out of San Diego, as that's where my family lives. What we're trying to decide to do is whether we drive up to DLR on Wednesday night and get a hotel there for two nights and hit the park all day Thursday returning to SD on Friday morning (my preference) or drive up and back Friday (my DH's preference).

Thanks so much for any thoughts!

Questions:

1. When are you planning to be in line at the gates? If anytime after 30 minutes after park opening then MM will not matter much and you should do Thursday.

2. How much do you want to experience Fantasyland? All of it? A couple rides? If you are only doing a couple rides in FL then, again, Thursday is better and the FL rides would be best done in the evening. If you really want to do most all of FL then Friday may be a better choice...IF you get to the gates early and do FL first thing.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

I would expect 1st thing Fri. into mid afternoon would be fine ~ evening will probably be crowded but if you collect FPs all day long you could use those in the evening. If FL is important to you go there 1st thing Fri. morning, if it's not you could go on Thur. and it wouldn't be a problem ~ either day get to the gates 30 min. prior to park opening. Here's a link to our 1 day (non MM) visit last July ~ http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32765258&postcount=1 *we got a lot done.

 

[Eeee-va]

Good question! In late March, it appears that the park will probably be open from 8 AM - midnight regardless of the day of the week. Even with the MM on Thursday, some Fantasyland rides may still be manageable if you arrive before park opening. In late June, we found that rides like Alice (and certainly Pinocchio and Snow White) did not have a terribly long wait when we got in, which was at park opening but after Magic Morning. (Peter Pan's Flight most likely will be at least 25-30 minutes when you get in, though. )

If you absolutely must do Peter Pan's Flight and Dumbo, then Friday might be better. Otherwise, I think I would go for Thursday.

If your DH doesn't want to get 2 nights' hotel room (and honestly, I wouldn't blame him, but I'm cheap ) then maybe you could do 1 night, which would be a compromise. If you drove up Wednesday and got a room, you could check out before you leave on Thursday morning, leave your car parked, and then drive home after you leave the parks for the night, which would be tiring but might be doable. (Or if you're morning people, you could drive up early on Thursday morning, do an early check-in, and then go to bed late Thursday night once you return from the parks. That said, it is definitely best to get to the parks before the gates open, and I haven't read of TOO many people who have managed to get to the parks before opening if they have more than an hour drive to get there.) You could enjoy Downtown Disney and/or the Disney hotels on the day off if you got a room within walking distance.

If you follow the plan of drive up, go to the parks, drive home, I think it may be hard to make it to the gates for park opening. At least, I hear it is very challenging to make it to park opening if you are parking your car, just because the parking structure doesn't open all that early and then you have to walk or take a tramp to the park. You can have a great time no matter when you arrive, but if your goal is to avoid lines and get a lot of rides in, getting to the park before opening is key.

Have a great trip, whenever you go!

 

[Lil'Mermaid75]

Thanks to all of you for your input! I think I have talked DH into the two nights, going to the part on Thursday. I just think it will be a more enjoyable day if we're not stressing about the drive.

Now I just have to stress over which hotel....although I think we're leaning toward the Tropicana....