How long of a trip for first timers? When should we go?

[Leelo]

My husband and I are planning a trip to Disneyland in 2019. We live near FL and are passholders at WDW but have never been to Disneyland or any of the surrounding Disney areas before. How many days should we allot in order to see just about everything (all parks and entertainment areas) at a moderate pace?

Secondly, when is the best time of year to go? It will just be the 2 of us and we can go anytime between January and the end of October.

 

[Karyanne30]

5 day parkhoppers. There is a lot to do in Southern California, honestly you will need to see what interests you and go from there. I would decide if you are interested in holiday overlays, which would be Halloween for your timeframes or if you want to see them in their normal design. I like may or late sept personally.

 

[figment_jii]

It's really hard to predict what things will be like in 2019 because of the opening of Star Wars Land (slated to occur sometime in 2019). Once the new land opens, crowd levels are expected to skyrocket and there is no telling what kind of impacts that will have on the parks.

Setting Star Wars Land aside, I would also say that at a minimum you need 5 day park hoppers if you really want to try to do everything DLR has to offer at a leisurely/relaxed pace.

In terms of when to go...there are a lot of different trade-offs for any time of the year. Generally, the parks have the longest hours and most entertainment offerings during the peak periods (e.g., Spring Break "season", summer), but the crowds may be lower (assuming this is before Star Wars Land opens) during the non-peak periods. As mentioned, HalloweenTime is generally a lot of fun, but it's also in flux at this point (there are rumors that it'll be moving to DCA next year).

Overall, if you can wait to decide on when to go, I would wait until there is a more concrete opening date for Star Wars Land. Then you can decide if you want to see the new land or try to get to DLR before it opens.

 

[HydroGuy]

As @figment_jii relates, SWL will change everything in 2019. No date has been set but Disney announced it will open before SWL at WDW. That is because construction at DL is running ahead of DHS in FL. My long term educated guess is DL will get it open before summer. So by May 2019. If not earlier.

As for how many days, I would say 4 minimum. And 5 is better. Consider someone coming to WDW for the first time and how many days they would need. A 4 day visit to DLR is roughly like a 7-8 day visit to WDW. A 5 day visit is like a 9-10 day visit to WDW. With 7-8 days at WDW one can get in a solid visit. But being it is their first time at WDW, there will be some inefficiency in decision making. With 9-10 days at WDW you can see most everything and not go at a frenetic pace. But for WDW I would suggest 7-8 days on a first visit to just about anyone who wants to really experience WDW.

As for when to visit DLR, I would shoot for a high season time when everything is open. See "Choosing When To Visit DLR: Summary of High and Low Season and When Each Happens" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=36509602 and "What You Should Know About Off-Season at DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=18462889

I personally like summer at DLR which is much more tolerable than summer at WDW. That would lead me to recommend maybe a June visit.

If you are a super Disney fan, maybe you will want to couple a visit to DLR with the 2019 D23 Expo likely to be held in July?