how many days to see the park??

[kosmonn]

I am planning our first trip in December and I am not sure how many days it will take to see everything. As of now I plan on going Dec 8 - 12, so that gives me 4 days. I am taking my 5 year old twins, so I know we might have to stop in the aftermoons and head back to PP for a nap. Is 4 days enough or should I add a day?

 

[Master Mason]

If you use fast passes, and get to the park at opening every day and use the EE then you should have no problem getting on everything you want to in 4 days.

But if you can add a 5th day, well can you really ever spend enough days at Disneyland?

 

[4littleboys]

I agree with the PP. We began taking our twins before they were 1 and now we have 4 kids. We always opt for more days so we feel we can "take it easy". I think that Disneyland is more fun when you let your kids set the pace and don't feel rushed. If you can go for 5 days that is what I would do but every family is different. I hope you have a wonderful time!

 

[DisneyDotty]

Also agree with PPs--we were there our first time for 5 days--really enjoyed both parks and DTD, and could've stayed longer. (But I have never had "too much" time at Disney--I always leave wanting more!)

 

[Hound 109]

I am planning our first trip in December and I am not sure how many days it will take to see everything. As of now I plan on going Dec 8 - 12, so that gives me 4 days. I am taking my 5 year old twins, so I know we might have to stop in the aftermoons and head back to PP for a nap. Is 4 days enough or should I add a day?

I agree with the previous two posters. If you can add another day, do so. But four days could work well too, because:


I believe the hours for the days you are there:

- Sun - 8am - midnite
- mon - 8am - 9pm w/ EE
- tue - 8am - 9pm w/EE
- wed - 9am - 9pm


- You already plan on resting every afternoon.


- Read HydroGuy's "how to use FP on busy days" thread.


Basic plan should be:

- Be at DL gate at 7:30 am each of the first 3 days.
- Tour & collect FP the first 2-3 hours.
- Either Hop to DCA, or have a Character BF, or leisurely enjoy DL.
- The hop over to DCA & tour (or collect FP) for a couple of hours.
- Slide thru the GCA supersecret entrance/exit & over to PP for your rest.
- After rest, back to the parks. You might pick up more FPs & or just use FPs that evening (& enjoy DLR).
- Check our the calender so you make sure you enjoy Alladin show in DCA & the fireworks & any other seasonal shows.


But if you arrive early (7:30 am on Sun-Mon-Tues), & follow the touring & FP advice, then you'll have LOTS of time the rest of Park Hours to enjoy all that is DLR & avoid most of the crowds.

Have fun.

 

[lilpixie]

I think 4 days is a great amount of time. We had 3 days in the park on our last visit and when we go in October we will have 3 days in the park again. The reason I didn't opt for 4 days is because I didn't want them to miss too much school (they ended up getting into a year round school and have all of November off -- but this didn't happen until *after* I planned our October trip LOL). We went at a pretty busy time and still saw almost everything we wanted to. A fourth day would have been ideal. We have 3 girls (ages 8, 5, and 2) and I think 3-4 days would be good for them.
As long as you use your early entries and arrive at the park 30 minutes prior to opening, you should be good to go! Since you have 5 yr. old twins, I would hit Fantasyland first thing and do all of the rides that you want to do there. Usually by 10:00, it got packed in FL.
Also, you might want to book a few sit down meals. Cafe Orleans, Carnation Cafe, etc take PS ressies. It is nice to not have to wait forever in line for lunch and waste precious park time! Have fun

 

[DizneyMommy]

Four days with kids is great. It will allow you to take things at a slower pace and not feel so rushed to see everything on a tight time line. The last thing you want to do with little kids is try to rush them from here to there all day, they will get much more out of the experience and be much more calm and relaxed themselves, if you take it easy and just "get there when you get there" rather than trying to over plan.

 

[blackjackdelta]

We do 5. We find for the 6 of us that we can ride as much as we want and spend some leisure time doing what we want.

Jack

 

[kosmonn]

Thanks for the advice-I think I will call and see if I can add a day at the AP$ rate. I would much rather have extra time and not have to rush the kids.

 

[DisneyDotty]

I know it's been suggested that you get up early and get to the parks by 7:30, which is good if your family has a bunch of early risers. Otherwise, we only got up early once--for the EE at Disneyland. We were able to ride everything in Fantasyland in about 2 hours, so it was worth the loss of sleep. Otherwise, we didn't push ourselves and still were able to see and do everything.