Help with Park Touring Schedule

[wdwfanatic316]

I am trying to plan the DL portion of our upcoming trip and would love some advice on when to tour which park. First some background info: we will be arriving at the Hojo on 7/1 Thurs. evening and going to DL/DC on Thurs. night (if we have time/energy), and all day Fri and Sat. Our flight leaves really early on Sun morning. We did purchase a 3 day pass mostly for the MM option which will be available on Sat. Fri. is a blackout date for the SoCal Select AP, and Sat/Sun is blacked out for the SoCal Select, SoCal Annual, and Deluxe Annual pass.

Ok, on to my question: Our current plan is to go to DCA on Friday and possibly hop over to DL to ride Indiana Jones and maybe POTC and MBB or any other rides that we definitely don’t want to miss. Then, on Sat we’ll head to DL for MM and explore the rest of DL. Do you think this plan will minimize waiting and help avoid the crowds as much as possible? Or should we start with DL on Fri and then head to DCA after the MM ends on Sat? I’m so confused! Maybe I’m over-thinking all of this?

I'd appreciate any advice you DL vets could give a rookie

 

[basketballmom]

I would start each morning at DL. It is SO easy to hop back and forth between each park! Start collecting fastpasses first thing and remember they can be used past the return hour.

Thursday evening, you could at least walk around the parks and see where everything is. (and stretch your legs from your flight!!)

Hope you have an amazing time!!

 

[HydroGuy]

As you said Friday is partially blocked for APs. But it will be the last day of the summer for the SoCal AP holders to visit DLR and catch WOC at DCA. DCA will be very, very busy that day and especially that night. Sat should be much better. But it is July 4 weekend too so that may draw out folks on Sat.

With all that in mind, I would definitely get out Thursday night. And as the PP said start Friday at DL at 8AM. Then hop to DCA if you want to do DCA.

I do not think there is any right answer here. I would personally try and avoid DCA this particular Friday. So I would tend to spend more or all of Friday at DL. Then Sat do your MM at DL and hop to DCA in the morning. Hop back later if you want.

See

"Why I ParkHop at DLR" by Hound 109 www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1491961

"Strategies For Using DL and DCA Opening Time Differences to Collect More Fastpasses"
www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1553197

 

[wdwfanatic316]

I would start each morning at DL. It is SO easy to hop back and forth between each park! Start collecting fastpasses first thing and remember they can be used past the return hour.

Thursday evening, you could at least walk around the parks and see where everything is. (and stretch your legs from your flight!!)

Hope you have an amazing time!!

Thanks for the suggestions on fastpasses and hopping! That is definitely a difference I need to get used to between DW and DL!

I forgot to mention that we'll be arriving from four days in San Diego and touring Legoland on Thurs. Hopefully we'll have the energy to get a sneak preview of DL that night!

 

[wdwfanatic316]

As you said Friday is partially blocked for APs. But it will be the last day of the summer for the SoCal AP holders to visit DLR and catch WOC at DCA. DCA will be very, very busy that day and especially that night. Sat should be much better. But it is July 4 weekend too so that may draw out folks on Sat.

With all that in mind, I would definitely get out Thursday night. And as the PP said start Friday at DL at 8AM. Then hop to DCA if you want to do DCA.

I do not think there is any right answer here. I would personally try and avoid DCA this particular Friday. So I would tend to spend more or all of Friday at DL. Then Sat do your MM at DL and hop to DCA in the morning. Hop back later if you want.

See

"Why I ParkHop at DLR" by Hound 109 www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1491961

"Strategies For Using DL and DCA Opening Time Differences to Collect More Fastpasses"
www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1553197

Thanks for the suggestion Hydroguy! I have been reading a lot of your threads and am planning on using your strategies for touring as much as possible! I know these dates aren't the ideal time to visit DL, but I'm hoping to see as much of DL as we can! We're just super excited to go to DL and San Diego for the first time, after several visits to DW.

 

[skiingfast]

Thanks for the suggestions on fastpasses and hopping! That is definitely a difference I need to get used to between DW and DL!

I forgot to mention that we'll be arriving from four days in San Diego and touring Legoland on Thurs. Hopefully we'll have the energy to get a sneak preview of DL that night!

If you plan to get into DL in the evening you will want to leave Legoland and be on I-5 around 3-3:30. If you get caught in traffic that will be starting around 4:30 it can turn into a 3 hour long slow drive.

I'd really consider Legoland on a different day and try to get a half day Thursday in DL and DCA.

 

[basketballmom]

Thanks for the suggestions on fastpasses and hopping! That is definitely a difference I need to get used to between DW and DL!

I forgot to mention that we'll be arriving from four days in San Diego and touring Legoland on Thurs. Hopefully we'll have the energy to get a sneak preview of DL that night!

when we went to WDW in 2008 for our 2nd trip, one of the hardest things for us was park hopping. at DL, if we want to ride a ride in DCA we just walk out the gates and in the other gates. this is true for going back and forth to the hotel too! you will have a great time!!

 

[wdwfanatic316]

If you plan to get into DL in the evening you will want to leave Legoland and be on I-5 around 3-3:30. If you get caught in traffic that will be starting around 4:30 it can turn into a 3 hour long slow drive.

I'd really consider Legoland on a different day and try to get a half day Thursday in DL and DCA.

LL is what my DS is looking forward to the most I know, Disney is more of mom's thing than DH or DS! So I want to make sure I don't short-change him and cut our LL day short. If we don't leave early enough to miss the traffic, what time would you recomend staying till (or put another way, what time is "rush hour" normally over)? We will be driving from San Diego to Anaheim, so since Carlsbad seemed to be on the way, it seemed to make sense to go to LL on Thurs. rather than driving from SD to LL then back to SD.

Thanks for the help!

 

[wdwfanatic316]

when we went to WDW in 2008 for our 2nd trip, one of the hardest things for us was park hopping. at DL, if we want to ride a ride in DCA we just walk out the gates and in the other gates. this is true for going back and forth to the hotel too! you will have a great time!!

Thanks basketballmom!

 

[chrissiecutie]

The morning is the BEST time to tour DL, it's the quietest and even without MM you can get alot of rides in first thing. But you MUST be one of the first folks through the gates. With your MM, you'll be shocked by just how much you can do! So I definately second the other poster, start all your mornings in DL and then you can hop to DCA later in the afternoon and then come back in the evenings for fireworks, parades, fanatmic.

 

[Hound 109]

Thanks for the suggestion Hydroguy! I have been reading a lot of your threads and am planning on using your strategies for touring as much as possible! I know these dates aren't the ideal time to visit DL, but I'm hoping to see as much of DL as we can! We're just super excited to go to DL and San Diego for the first time, after several visits to DW.

If you follow HG's advice & read his tip threads you'll be ahead of 99% of DLR's visitors.

I'll repeat what others have said about the early early morning being the best time to tour (& collect FPs) at DL. I recommend getting to the security tent (line) 35-40 min. prior to Gen. Admission (or MM admission) each morning. Any later than that & you won't be one of the first few families in line at the DL turnstile (which is desirable to most....& downright essential to me. ).

Have a great time planning a visit to Walt's Park.

 

[wdwfanatic316]

Thanks again for the feedback everyone! It sounds like we'll be in line 30-40 minutes before MM starts. Now I just need to figure out how to get my family out of bed that early! I wonder if I should try bribing them or changing the times on all of the clocks!

 

[HydroGuy]

Thanks again for the feedback everyone! It sounds like we'll be in line 30-40 minutes before MM starts. Now I just need to figure out how to get my family out of bed that early! I wonder if I should try bribing them or changing the times on all of the clocks!

Long naps, extra pool time in the afternoon, and walking past all the people in the long standby lines mid-day solves a lot of "getting up early" issues.

 

[amym2]

I don't have any advice for you since we'll be doing our first DLR trip just a few days after yours, but I just had to share that we seem to have the same ideas and questions. We'll be doing 4 days in San Diego starting July 3 then heading to DLR for 3 days. We were originally going to do exactly what you are doing... LL then drive to DLR and hit the parks the next couple of days. The more we thought about it, though, we decided LL followed by DLR would just be too much without a break between. Our kids are a bit younger (6 and 8) and will probably need some down time. So we are opting to go to LL the day after we arrive (although this means more driving), a day at the zoo, a day at the beach, then on to DLR. It's tough to cram everything in, isn't it?! I'll be following your post since I had the same question!

 

[wdwfanatic316]

I don't have any advice for you since we'll be doing our first DLR trip just a few days after yours, but I just had to share that we seem to have the same ideas and questions. We'll be doing 4 days in San Diego starting July 3 then heading to DLR for 3 days. We were originally going to do exactly what you are doing... LL then drive to DLR and hit the parks the next couple of days. The more we thought about it, though, we decided LL followed by DLR would just be too much without a break between. Our kids are a bit younger (6 and 8) and will probably need some down time. So we are opting to go to LL the day after we arrive (although this means more driving), a day at the zoo, a day at the beach, then on to DLR. It's tough to cram everything in, isn't it?! I'll be following your post since I had the same question!

Good to know there's others in the same boat we are! We originally wanted to go to DL first and then have a more relaxing time in San Diego, but since our flight out of LAX leaves at 6:00 am on Sun (7/4) morning, we just thought that we'd have to get up waaaaay to early to drive from SD to LA that morning, and plus we didn't want (even more) stress of of worrying about missing our flight.

What all are you planning on doing in San Diego? We're planning on Legoland, SD Zoo, and SeaWorld, and the beach, but haven't purchased he tickets yet (just printed coupons) just in case we want to skip the zoo or SW and just relax and explore SD.

 

[wiscmama]

Wow! This is practically my itinerary too! We are arriving in San Deigo on 6/26, doing the zoo, the USS Midway and a beach day before our arrival at DL on 6/29. We are doing two days straight before a break day, then LL before heading back to SD. We fly back home on 7/3.

I wish I would have known about the 3 day tix/MM thing, I think I would have changed my itinerary. I'm getting very nervous about getting anything done without it! I'm also trying to figure in the Toontown early morning that we DO have. Absolutely have to meet Mickey!

Hope you all have a great trip!