How many days do you stay?

[stellablue]

I was wondering how many days you stay to get through DLR including California Adventure?

Never been here before. We could easily do 2 weeks at WDW Florida, but DLR seems so much smaller.

 

[dizzyami]

Part of it would depend on time of year that you are planning on going, and how important all the shows are to you. We typically spend 4 nights (usually hitting the parks day one, but leaving day 5 with a character meal and no park time) We have also been 6 times in the last three years, so that makes a bit of a difference too. We usually do not see too many of the shows, but end up riding our favorites 10+ times

 

[kiwitravel]

First trip we had a 5 day pass and it really wasn't enough for us, second trip we had a 14 day pass and that was brilliant. We didn't go in every day but we did go 10 days and had a blast, rode Splash, Space, BTMRR and Matahorn over a dozen times each. There are over 90 different shows, rides or parades to do and see, if you are a WDW junkie then you may not want to do all of them and 4 days maybe enough for you, I see 4 days as the minimum to get through everything once. Space, BLAB, PoC and IASW are a lot better than WDW, then there are the rides that are not even in WDW and you may want to ride these multiple times... The thing to remember with DL is that you can get through a lot more in a day as you can walk to DL from your Hotel (only 5 minutes from the closer ones) and parkhop with ease.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

I can get by with 3 weekdays, this next trip we arrive early Sun. and leave Wed. evening.

 

[mareed]

We spend 10-14 days at WDW and think 7 is about right at DL.

 

[VegasMike21]

8 or 9 nights usually in So Cal.

3 for Disney, 1 for Universal, 1 for Sea World, 1 for the zoo, and the other days for whatever else we feel like doing.

 

[honeymom]

One year we did full days and it was too much. This last time we spent 3 and a half days in the parks and it was just right.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

We typically do 3 full days in the park. Plus with our AP's we go in the day we arrive for a few hours, and sometimes the day we leave we'll go in for the morning. This year were staying an extra day so we can do Universal in the middle of the trip somewhere.

 

[vflipo]

during the off season 2-3 days is enough for me. This time were going for 5 (probably more around 4 full) But as soon as I leave I always want to go back hehe

 

[blue donkey]

For DLR, we usually go for a week but only spend a few hours at the park in the morning & then again at night.

 

[MommyWithDreams]

Last year we did 5 days in the park, this year we're doing 6. Shorter park hours this year for us so an extra day I think will work out nice.

 

[Echie]

We found 3 1/2 days to be just right. Of course you could always spend more time - doing favourite rides over and over, but we were able to cover everything we wanted to (and some things several times)

 

[lillybug]

We went for four days in November. We weren't able to do everything we wanted, but were still able to fit a lot in. Next time we will go for 5-6 days.

 

[disneychrista]

We usually go for 3 full days. Less than that just doesn't seem enough, more than that just seems like overload.

Now that said we are going over Christmas & New Years this year and will be getting 5 day passes so we will have the option of giong half/partial days in addition to the 3 full days.

 

[victorandbellasmom]

I think a minimum of 4 nights and 5 days if this is your first time, longer preferred. We did a super short trip last July. We only spent 2 1/2 days in the park and it was too short even though we're AP holders. Our last trip was 7 nights and 8 days and it was perfect. We didn't feel rushed to ride every ride in one day. We were able to stop and watch the flag ceremony or the little show in front of the Golden Horshoe. We were able to go back to our hotel in the afternoon for a swim and a rest and return in the early evening to see the night time shows.

We've yet to plan a WDW trip cause it seems like we would need at least 2 weeks, possibly 3-4 weeks to make the most of it and not feel rushed around.

 

[Dobie]

Three full days and our arrival/leave days.

I kind of like to laze by the pool on our arrival days, and then just go over in the evening for a couple of hours.

On our leave days, we will do a couple of favorite rides, and then shows--that way, we are not not hot, tired, and sweaty when we head for the airport.

 

[mindylovesmickey]

We've only ever done one or two days before, and it never seems like enough, we never get to do everything that we want to do/see. So this trip is going to be 5 days. We'll see if that feels like too much or just right.

 

[stellablue]

Wow, thank you for such great replies!!

I'm surprised, I didn't think so many days were necessary for DLR. I always thought it was the size of WDW's Magic Kingdom, which generally only takes us 1-2 days max to get through everything. For those of you who have also been to WDW, how many parks would you say it compares to in size (amount to do/see)?

Based on your responses, I think we might plan to do 7 days total: 3-4 for the parks, and the rest for 1 day each in Sea World, Universal, & the San Diego Zoo.

We are not really "hang by the pool" type people, but we do like a day of lounging/taking our time

We would definately do week days. We learned the hard way to steer clear of WDW during weekends, and I'm assuming it's just as crowded on weekends in DLR as well.

When is the least busy season?

Thanks! You guys are really helpful!

 

[Miss_Mouse]

We typically take one trip to DL each year, and we like to go for at least 7 days. Preferably around 10.

We could practically live in the park, so it seems like there could never be a trip long enough for us! Our last trip, for example, was ten days long and we didn't even do SeaWorld, Univeral, etc.

What can I say? We're DL freaks!

 

[mareed]

Wow, thank you for such great replies!!

I'm surprised, I didn't think so many days were necessary for DLR. I always thought it was the size of WDW's Magic Kingdom, which generally only takes us 1-2 days max to get through everything. For those of you who have also been to WDW, how many parks would you say it compares to in size (amount to do/see)?

Based on your responses, I think we might plan to do 7 days total: 3-4 for the parks, and the rest for 1 day each in Sea World, Universal, & the San Diego Zoo.

We are not really "hang by the pool" type people, but we do like a day of lounging/taking our time

We would definately do week days. We learned the hard way to steer clear of WDW during weekends, and I'm assuming it's just as crowded on weekends in DLR as well.

When is the least busy season?

Thanks! You guys are really helpful!

Well, with DCA, I'd say it's the size of 2 parks at WDW. We've gone to DL and spent 5 days and just felt it was too short. We do like to do our favorites several times though. For comparison, at WDW, we probably spend 2-3 days at MK to feel that we've done everything we wanted to, so it sounds like we may like to take our time and re-do a bit more than you.

DL is definitely more crowded on weekends - even more so than WDW I think because they have a much larger percentage of locals attending. Least busy season is pretty much the same as WDW, which translates to it's busy almost all the time! But there are a few non-busy gaps still, I think.