Help with itinerary

[donaldanddaisy]

So, I'm taking my husband, who isn't a Disney person and my 13-year-old step daughter and her friend to DL as a treat to me.

We only have two days for the parks and because we were able to get free tickets, they are single day/park passes. We will be there Fri Nov 12 and Sat Nov. 13.

Which park should we do on which day? I have never been to DCA and am super excited about exploring that, and I think the girls will like it better because it has more "thrill" rides, like TZTT.

The park hours seem to be the same both days: DCA open only until 9 pm; DL until midnight. I had wanted park hoppers, but it's hard to turn down free tickets.

I'm thinking we do DCA first -- when we're all fresh and excited. And do DL the second day, since we can go at a more relaxed pace. Make sense?

As a WDW veteran I knew exactly where to head first to avoid the crowds and how to time things. I'm puzzling over maps of DCA to try to figure it out. Any suggestions welcome. Thanks

 

[Disneyland_emily]

Personally I would do the opposite but I see merits of both- I would base it on the rest of the trip then- Do you have big days before or after? If its before then Id do DCA first as it closes earlier so you could get more rest than the DL day- if its after then Id do DCA last as you could get a good nights sleep (as much as possible when near DL. for the day after- DCA is a much less stellar park (I do love it though) and with fewer things to do its a slower pace than DL and its less crowded so it doesnt take as long to see everything

DL start on the Westside- If you play it right you can get all the majors out of the way ie Indy, Splash, Pirates, HM, Thunder unless you love Fantasyland- Its best in the morning as lines do get longer there-

DCA it really doesnt matter where you start All the majors are pretty seperate

-em

 

[disney-super-mom]

Hi there,

Well, unfortunately it's going to be very crowded on Nov. 12th and 13th because Nov. 11th is Veterans day, and most schools will have a 4 day weekend (Nov. 11th thru Nov. 14th).

That said, I would probably do DL on Friday and DCA on Saturday. There's so much more to see and do at DL, and you want to be fresh to spend a full day there. Your step daughter and her friend will want to do the big rides first, so be there right when the gates open.

I agree with Disneyland emily, and start on the west side (left side). Go all the way back to Splash mountain and do that first because it usually has the loooongest line of any ride. While you're quickly making your way to Splash Mountain, grab some fastpasses on the way, like at Indiana Jones and The Haunted Mansion. You're definately going to want to work the fastpasses as much as possible because it's going to be pretty crowded.

At DCA, when the gates open head over to the Tower of Terror, and at the same time send one person to go get fastpasses for everyone at Soaring over California. Then that person can catch up with the rest of you over at the Tower of Terror.

Hope you have a great time!

 

[BlueBayou]

I am with super-disney-mom and Disneyland_emily, I would probably do Disneyland first. Saturdays just seem to be way too crowded at Disneyland for my taste.

I was taken back by the crowds on a Saturday in Mid-December 3-years ago. And I am sure it was a low attendence day. By lunch-time we could barely move our stroller around Fantasyland. The AM had been so open and nice. All of a sudden the masses appeared.

I think your step-daughter is really going to get a kick out of DCA. I went the year it opened when my bother-in-law and his family were in CA for a business meeting. Their tween kids loved it. This was the year the park opened and had been getting all the bad press. Those kids had been to WDW twice and they said DCA was their favorite park. I was very suprised. But then again the crowds were so low that we were able to ride every ride as many times as we wanted to. I think the longest wait we had was 10-minutes.

Sher

 

[donaldanddaisy]

Thanks for the thoughts. I know it's going to be crowded. We're going because of no school that Thursday. We're driving down from Northern CA on Thursday, driving back Sunday after a character breakfast, so being tired either side isn't too much of a problem.

As I think about it, i can see doing DL first making sense, the park opens earlier and we'll be fresh and ready to go. If we move slower the 2nd morning it won't matter as much, as the park doesn't open until 10. I'm just worried about the kids not getting to do the really thrill rides the first day and getting bored. Then again, too bad.

 

[Sarangel]

You might also ask at the ticket booth about upgrading your one day/one park passes to one day hoppers. The one day hoppers are only sold at the gates & might give you more flexibility.