Help with park reservations itinerary please

[Ferbtones10]

Hello there
Quick background - we have booked our second trip to Disneyland for September this year, coming from the UK. Last trip was July 22, and man it was amazing but crowded and hot.
We are staying in Disneyland Hotel DVC from Wednesday 2nd September to Friday 11th September, then moving to Santa Monica for a few days.
I have scheduled our park days around Labor Day and Oogie Boogie Bash nights, so that was a challenge. We have a 5 day 1 park per day with LL.
Please could you check them out and let me know if they look ok?

Thursday 3rd - Disneyland Park, this is an OBB night so we know it will get crowded about 6pm, but after our Wednesday travel day we probably may leave park around then anyway.
Friday 4th - DCA
Monday 7th - Disneyland Park, I know this is Labor Day but it isn’t an OBB night, and videos on YouTube seem to suggest it may be not too bad.
Wednesday 9th - DCA
Thursday 10th - Disneyland Park, again an OBB night, but I figure if it gets busy we will have done lots anyway and can just chill and shop.

Also as we are there for September 11th, we wondered if there would be anywhere in Santa Monica we could attend to pay our respects.

Sorry for the huge post. Thank you for any help.

 

[LKing]

When you ask if they look okay are you asking about crowd levels, heat, or working around OBB?

Things to consider:

• Thursday, September 3 - All MK open. $129 single ticket, OBB
• Friday September 4 - All MK open. $169 single ticket, Friday afternoon/evenings are generally very busy with MK holders arriving after school/work.
• Saturday September 5 - Two MK open, $199 single ticket
• Sunday, September 6 - Three MK open, S184 single ticket
• Monday, September 7 - Three MK open, $169 single ticket, school holiday
• Wednesday, September 9 - All MK open, $104 single ticket
• Thursday, September 10 - All MK open, $129 single ticket, OBB

 

[Ferbtones10]

Thank you for your reply. It was mainly crowd levels and having to work around OBB.
This is so helpful, although now I worry about the Friday for DCA. Do locals still target that park even though it generally closes earlier than Disneyland Park?
Thanks

 

[KPeterso]

Another thing to consider is nighttime fireworks. Those typically only occur on the weekends. So if you are DCA on Friday and no parks on the weekend, you may miss out on Fireworks. Don't know if they would do them the Monday of Labor Day or Thursday the 3rd.

Honestly, I have been on the weekend during Labor Day (and Easter, MLK, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, etc) and I never find it that bad at all --- often better than many other Saturdays. A lot of the MKs are blocked which does cut down on the locals a lot.

In terms of your question about Friday night and DCA. For locals who have MKs, they will go to either park. All MKs have hopping so they can hop in and out of the 2 parks so I don't think more would target DL over DCA since they can so easily hop. I tend to always head into DL, but that is just my preferred park (I choose it 9 times out of 10 at least) as my starting park. If you were in the park on 9/11, I would say make sure to hit flag retreat as it would have special music. It should on Labor Day too as a nice way to celebrate.

 

[LKing]

I agree about the locals hopping between parks. It is like walking from Adventureland to Tomorrowland for us. We don't look at the esplanade as a barrier.

 

[Ferbtones10]

Thank you both.
This is just what I needed.
I forgot all about magic keys having access.

Seeing fireworks is not a priority for our family, I did check with them before avoiding the weekend.
The staggered days I have selected was mainly to try and not have three days in a row, as I felt that may be too much as we tend to be a rope drop to park close family.


I am definitely going to amend Friday DCA to the Saturday instead though.
Your advice is brilliant.