How many days to see EVERYTHING!!!

[tjl1388]

Myself, my DW, DS(5), and DD(8) are planning a disneyland trip for the beginning of June 08. Let me preface by saying we are Disney World pro's. We go as a couple or family easily 6-8 times a year and have been more than 50 times combined between me and my wife.

That being the case we want to REALLY experiance DL and DCA. I have read everything from 2-3 days for DL to 1-2 day for DCA. Which is it. We really don't hang at the hotel to much as out kids usually gain incredible staying power the second we step on Disney property.

I appreciate any info very much. Thank You.

 

[jtoast]

We(me, DW, DS12, DS10, DD6, DD5) just got back last night from 4 days in parks and 4 days was overkill. Also keep in mind that we are by no means disney veterans. I went once or twice way back in 1988 and no one else in my family has ever been.

We rode pretty much every single ride, took a 3-4 hour break mid-day each day and went back to the hotel around 10pm every night and saw pretty much everything there was to see in both parks. All we did on our 4th day was ride one ride, watch Muppets and Honey I shrunk the audience and bought souvineers. We could have easily did that during the other 3 days.

Our breakdown was 2.5 days in Disneyland and 1.5 in California Adventures. I personally would recommend 1.5...maybe 2 days in DL and 1-1.5 in CA tops unless you just want to do everything twice.

 

[sezara]

Our breakdown was 2.5 days in Disneyland and 1.5 in California Adventures. I personally would recommend 1.5...maybe 2 days in DL and 1-1.5 in CA tops unless you just want to do everything twice.

I had that same question. Thanks for the breakdown. We turned down the 4th day free deal because we thought it would be too much time. I'm going to be 3 months pregnant when I go so roller coasters aren't an issue (I will so miss Space Mountain though). Now I just have to decided on 2 or 3 days.

 

[basketballmom]

It really depends on if you want to see everything once or repeat favorites. We went for 4 days in August 2005. We rode everything, saw most of the shows, and rode lots of things multiple times. For example, my then 5 yr old DD LOVED Big Thunder, so we rode it 9 times in those 4 days. Grizzly Rapids was another favorite....... 6 times.
I agree with jtoast that 4 days would be more than enough for a lot of people. But we LOVE Disneyland and can spend lots of time walking around soaking up all the little details. How long are your trips to WDW? Are you a ride-it-once-check-it-off-the-list kind of family? Then 2 days in DL would be plenty, even with an afternoon swim break. DCA can be "done" in 1 day.
Our family's 2nd trip in July 2006 was 5 days, and we still could've stayed longer.
Whatever you decide, you will have lots of fun!! It is so easy to walk between the parks or to DTD to eat or shop.

 

[mom2ian]

I've been to DL about 8 times, so not an expert but not brand new.

I'd recommend 2 days for DL and 1 day at DCA for everything. I have stayed longer and gone at a slower pace and that works too. For my trip this July, we're staying 4 days but we'll have a toddler for the first time and will need to take longer breaks.

I've also gone to So Ca for a 6 day stretch and then gone to Knott's for a day, Universal Studios for a day, and Catalina Island for a day. Helps to break up the DL days!

 

[kiwitravel]

We had a 14 day pass and still didn't get to every single thing!!!! If you go all out and don't mind only doing everything once then you can do it in 3 days tho 4 would be better. If you are like us and want to ride your favourites more than once then the five day pass will allow you that.

 

[jtoast]

I've been to DL about 8 times, so not an expert but not brand new.

I'd recommend 2 days for DL and 1 day at DCA for everything. I have stayed longer and gone at a slower pace and that works too. For my trip this July, we're staying 4 days but we'll have a toddler for the first time and will need to take longer breaks.

I've also gone to So Ca for a 6 day stretch and then gone to Knott's for a day, Universal Studios for a day, and Catalina Island for a day. Helps to break up the DL days!

*nod*
We were there for 7 days. 4 days at the parks, a a day at Venice beach and a day cruising the coast on PCH.

 

[jtoast]

We had a 14 day pass and still didn't get to every single thing!!!! If you go all out and don't mind only doing everything once then you can do it in 3 days tho 4 would be better. If you are like us and want to ride your favourites more than once then the five day pass will allow you that.

The key is how well you plan, how early you get there, and how many hours you are actually in park.

We rode every ride we liked a minimum of 4 times...but because of good planning and Ridemax, the longest wait we had was 25 minutes and that was for our 5th trip on the matterhorn(DD5 loved it) when we really didn't have anything else left to do.

A good fastpass runner can really make or break yoru day.

 

[Master Mason]

It all depends on what you mean by do it all....

If you want to just hit the rides, and most of the shows I agree with what the others are saying, but if you want to see all the nuances, It would take months. There are so many fine details that I see something I have never seen every time I am there.

 

[kiwitravel]

The key is how well you plan, how early you get there, and how many hours you are actually in park.

We rode every ride we liked a minimum of 4 times...but because of good planning and Ridemax, the longest wait we had was 25 minutes and that was for our 5th trip on the matterhorn(DD5 loved it) when we really didn't have anything else left to do.

A good fastpass runner can really make or break yoru day.

We did Splash, BTMRR, Mattahorn and Space over a dozen times each..... But we don't have DL in kiwiland and so we went all out. Did GRR, Buzz, Cal Scream and Mullholland at least 6 times each then just about every other ride at least twice. We made good use of FP and went into the park only 10 days of the 14 we had..... For all that we forgot the Disney Gallery and Tom Sawyer Island (no pirates in them days).... Oh well now we have a reason to go back....

 

[HydroGuy]

It depends when you go and how aggressive you are on getting an early start. I would say three days minimum for DL and DCA, and four is better.

 

[joeysmommy]

We went last year with my 3 yr old and 5 yr old and 4 days wasn't enough.
This year we are doing 5 days in the parks and hopefully we'll be able to see everything without feeling rushed.

Since your kids are older and you mentioned that they have Disney stamina 3-4 days is probably enough.

 

[XTinabell]

It all depends on what you mean by do it all....

If you want to just hit the rides, and most of the shows I agree with what the others are saying, but if you want to see all the nuances, It would take months. There are so many fine details that I see something I have never seen every time I am there.

I was thinking the same thing. You can do all the rides and shows in a short period of time, but if you want to take some tours, take part in some of the activities they have, try to find all the penny pressing machines stuff like that it would take a long time. We're going in November for 9 days just so we can take the time to do the "other" magical disneyland stuff and not be rush rush.

We tried to do everything our last trip, it was a five day trip and when I say everything I mean everything. We wanted rides, shows, tours, parades, eat as many places as we could, hunt for penny machines, do the treasure hunt thingy, find all the secrets, take time to smell the flowers and watch all the little shows and games the cm's put on. Our last day there we realised we had completely missed all of toon town, we made a mad dash to get there before they closed and we got to spend all of 20 minutes in toon town. And then looking at everyone else's pictures on this site we find more and more stuff that we missed. So really it just depends on what all you want to do.

 

[joeysmommy]

XTinabell- I want to go to DL with you guys! Sounds like you know how to do DL right!
What is the treasure hunt thingy?

 

[XTinabell]

XTinabell- I want to go to DL with you guys! Sounds like you know how to do DL right!
What is the treasure hunt thingy?

lol, what can I say I'm addicted to Disneyland, there is always something to do and I could never get bored.
So about the treasure hunt thingy, treasure hunt is the wrong word and we didn't have time to do it last time. I actually heard about it from Hydro guy so I spent the last few minutes trying to find the thread that he mentioned it in. It's more of a trivia game...this is quoted from Hydro guy in the thread that talked about all the things you can do in DL
"If you go to the VMK area in Tomorrowland, they will give you "quests" where you have to answer questions about DL. If you do not know the answer, you have to go look. We only did this partly, but I remember one of the questions (by way of example) was what the license plate number was on the vehicle sitting in front of the Indy ride. It is kind of like Trivial Pursuit for DL"
Here's the link to that thread http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1359705
We're doing 9 days this november so I SHOULD have time to finally fit that in.

 

[HydroGuy]

I actually heard about it from Hydro guy so I spent the last few minutes trying to find the thread that he mentioned it in. It's more of a trivia game...this is quoted from Hydro guy in the thread that talked about all the things you can do in DL
"If you go to the VMK area in Tomorrowland, they will give you "quests" where you have to answer questions about DL. If you do not know the answer, you have to go look. We only did this partly, but I remember one of the questions (by way of example) was what the license plate number was on the vehicle sitting in front of the Indy ride. It is kind of like Trivial Pursuit for DL"
Here's the link to that thread http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1359705
We're doing 9 days this november so I SHOULD have time to finally fit that in.

Soon after I posted that I read that they had stopped doing it. I did not see a VMK booth in Tomorrowland on our recent trip. I think the quests were a short term thing, maybe just part of the 50th celebration?

 

[dumbodame]

Well, do you want to see and do EVERYTHING??? Disneyland is more than just rides. There are all the amazing shows, there is the shopping on Main Street, the shopping in NOS, etc.

If you're talking "riding all the rides", then yes, that can be done.

We went for 4 days on our first trip...we didn't do EVERYTHING. We now go for 6 days, and we are there from open to close. We go on EVERY ride at least once, we are able to see EVERY show, we are able to check out ALL the shops, and press EVERY available penny....all at a leisurely pace. No stressing, no checking our watches, no worries that we may have to stand in line for 45 minutes to ride Splash...no need for Ridemax. We take it all in without a care in the world. We can do that because we spend 6 full days there.

Ya, you can do it in 4 days, but I really think that you will have to decide which things are most important, and "pass" on others.

 

[mattmommy]

Ok, we overbought. We bought 8 day park hoppers. ACK. We don't get to DL as often as WDW (airfare $$$) so we tend to run around a few days and then leisurely take in the park.

Just to know that Walt actually walked there is pretty neat for us. All the history is great. Ok, enough of my Disney nuttiness.

 

[Master Mason]

Ok, we overbought. We bought 8 day park hoppers. ACK. We don't get to DL as often as WDW (airfare $$$) so we tend to run around a few days and then leisurely take in the park.

Just to know that Walt actually walked there is pretty neat for us. All the history is great. Ok, enough of my Disney nuttiness.

How can one ever over buy at Disney? I could go sit on a chair almost anywhere and just watch the people and the sceanery, for several hours and be perfectly happy just being there...

The last time I was there, it was a comando run with my two boy's, we hit all the rides that would interest 15 and 23 year old kids, several times, saw a couple of shows, and still took time to have 1 1/2 to 2 hour lunches both days, just to relax and talk.

 

[joeysmommy]

Thanks xtinabell.
Sounds like fun. Maybe I'll check out the VMK while my kids are on BLAB with daddy.