How many days?

[proud_canadian]

Our first trip to California, this September, deciding between 7 to 10 days.

DDs will be 9 and 6.5. Been to Orlando with the girls twice. Most interested in DL for te different rides and then riding our favorites.

How many days should we plan for? Is 2-3 enough?

We also want to do lego land.

Amd we might go to san diego to visit friends. What would you reccomend to do in San diego with kids. Weve done sea world in orlando. Is it the same?

Any oter must dos? We will ve a car. Is a tour worth it?

 

[Sillyminny40]

Sounds like us! We are going with our 3 boys to Calif for first time over Christmas 2012, (dh and I have been before to SD and LA). We are staying right beside DL for 3 days, not sure on 2 or 3 days yet. It is the Calf adv park they will be new to. I understand from one amazing thread here that DL has more rides than all four WDW parks. Interesting!
In LA, we will tour the sights for a day then we head down to San Diego where we have a vacation rental home for a week.
In SD, we plan to go to the Balboa park museums (you can buy a whole week pass to them cheap) go to some DDD diners, the USS Midway (our kids will love it) as well as just relaxing! There are some great hiking trails around the area too if you like that.

 

[Susie63]

The more the better! While DL is small in land mass compared to WDW,there is just as much to see and do plus things that WDW does not have,Sometimes it is difficult to gauge just how much there is to see and do,so I always recommend the book the "Unofficial uide to Disneyland".It will break down each land,ride,restaurant,all the shows etc.
Most people would suggest a minimum of 5 days for DL & DCA.I am doing 12....just to be sure.

 

[danaesacto]

Our first trip to California, this September, deciding between 7 to 10 days.

DDs will be 9 and 6.5. Been to Orlando with the girls twice. Most interested in DL for te different rides and then riding our favorites.

How many days should we plan for? Is 2-3 enough?

We also want to do lego land.

Amd we might go to san diego to visit friends. What would you reccomend to do in San diego with kids. Weve done sea world in orlando. Is it the same?

Any oter must dos? We will ve a car. Is a tour worth it?

San Diego Zoo over Sea World.

 

[ShaunaM]

...the more the better. We have been three times and added more days every time. Our kids started at 6, 8 and 10 on our last trip were 8 3/4, 11 and 13.

We went in the end of September this year and it was really , really hot, which impacted how hard we could go during the day.

In my mind a bare , bare minimum would be 2 days per park. We don't like to rush and be on a really regimented schedule so for us 8 days is more like it.
If you want to hit
Fantasmic it may only run on weekends when you are there. Likewise there are other night events that you may want to leave time for , world of. Color, fireworks , parades etc.. Depending on when you go in September the Halloween parties will be starting up ( as will the crowds ). Our halloween party tickets allowed us to add to our parh hoppers , that was on off day that we went to the park at three and entered on our party tickets rather than on our hoppers.

On our first trip we flew into LAX , we did disney then took our rental and moved on to San Diego ,we did sea world and lego land and also stopped at la Jolla to se the seals. ( that was the coolest of the three). My kids loved sea world , but found lego land anti- climactic after disney. We flew home out of San Diego.

 

[sechelt]

Universal Studios - different than Orlando. This one is the real thing.

Hollywood Sign - we had fun exploring Beverly Hills too.

Walk of Fame, Chinese theatre - we drove instead of a tour because I like to take my time.

Medieval Times - Our kids loved this. Animals, costumes, and you get to eat without cutlery!

San Diego Zoo - haven't been but heard the same as a previous poster if you have to choose between this and Sea World.

Ocean Beaches - usually still very warm in September for swimming.

Disneyland - as many days as you can manage. In theory, you could go for one day and do lots but the more time you have, the less stressful it is. We never tried to do everything. Instead, choose the rides important to your family and include time where the kids can be kids, like Tom Sawyer Island, and Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. Toward the end of September HM and Space Mtn will have their holiday overlays on. They're closed earlier in the month for the make-over.

PP, I don't know about the ride number comparison to WDW but we took a tour in Orlando and the guide told us the parking lot at WDW's MK is larger than the entire DL park. Yeah, DL is pretty compact but oh, so amazing.

 

[HydroGuy]

Our first trip to California, this September, deciding between 7 to 10 days.

DDs will be 9 and 6.5. Been to Orlando with the girls twice. Most interested in DL for te different rides and then riding our favorites.

How many days should we plan for? Is 2-3 enough?

We also want to do lego land.

Amd we might go to san diego to visit friends. What would you reccomend to do in San diego with kids. Weve done sea world in orlando. Is it the same?

Any oter must dos? We will ve a car. Is a tour worth it?

I would plan for four days at DLR. 2-3 will not be enough. Otherwise there is lots to do in SoCal that is not strictly theme park or zoo. Think about spending a rest day at the beach or something. Maybe going to the Santa Monica Pier or La Brea Tar Pits.

 

[danaesacto]

and don't forget there are typically a lot of closures the first 2 weeks of September- they try to get work done after the summer crowds and Haunted Mansion goes down for its overlay- plan for end of September if you can.

 

[mrswh]

How many days should we plan for? Is 2-3 enough?

We also want to do lego land.

Amd we might go to san diego to visit friends. What would you reccomend to do in San diego with kids. Weve done sea world in orlando. Is it the same?

Any oter must dos? We will ve a car. Is a tour worth it?

I agree with HG, 4 days should be good for DLR. That way you can enjoy most everything without a commando touring plan.

We have done the DLR/San Diego trip several times - try to plan your DLR days on the weekends if you want to see shows (fireworks, F!, etc.), as DLR seems to have shorter hours and reduced shows during September. You could go to Legoland on your transition day since it is between Anaheim & San Diego. If you can fly into/ out of SAN and SNA (rather than LAX) it will make your trip a lot easier. By the way, make sure to get discount tix for Legoland - they are very easy to find (kids' free admission with paid adult) and you do not want to pay full price.

Fun things to do in San Diego - visit Coronado. It is a cute little island town with (IMO) the best beach in San Diego, and you can visit the Hotel del Coronado and get some ice cream at Moo Time. You can drive over the bridge or take the ferry across the Bay.

The USS Midway is very cool for kids. Sea World is fun for a day. The Zoo is fun if you don't have a good zoo at home. There are a ton of museums that are great - just depends what your kids are interested in! If you have any interest in baseball, catch a game at Petco Park.

Happy planning!

 

[interstate70s]

To us, coming from a large distance, 4 days can cover most things, 5 gives time to relax, explore, take breaks and see the shows. Don't let the 2 park thing fool you, there's lots to cover, according to USA Today...

"Disneyland’s smaller size actually allows it to offer more attractions for the money. The Disneyland theme park contains 57 different rides and attractions, while its sister park in Disney World -- the Magic Kingdom theme park -- contains 41. Disney’s California Adventure Park in Anaheim holds 30 rides and attractions, while the largest of Disney World’s remaining three theme parks -- Epcot -- contains 22."

I believe this was written pre Carsland so plus 3 more attractions for DCA.

 

[sechelt]

To us, coming from a large distance, 4 days can cover most things, 5 gives time to relax, explore, take breaks and see the shows. Don't let the 2 park thing fool you, there's lots to cover, according to USA Today...

"Disneyland’s smaller size actually allows it to offer more attractions for the money. The Disneyland theme park contains 57 different rides and attractions, while its sister park in Disney World -- the Magic Kingdom theme park -- contains 41. Disney’s California Adventure Park in Anaheim holds 30 rides and attractions, while the largest of Disney World’s remaining three theme parks -- Epcot -- contains 22."

I believe this was written pre Carsland so plus 3 more attractions for DCA.

Great quote. Good to know exact numbers.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

I too would suggest four days for DL. If you can't do four, then three, but two days is just too little time.

We went to San Diego during spring break and visited several of the museums at Balboa Park. My boys especially enjoyed the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space Museum.

Legoland is a fun park for kids the ages of your daughters. We have been many times, and my boys always loved it. I agree with the poster that Legoland is good for your transition day since it is geographically between DL and San Diego. Otherwise do Legoland from San Diego rather than DL since it's a shorter drive from the San Diego direction.

 

[SeanCLV]

If you are going to be there in the middle of the week, I would say you can see just about everything in 2 days. If you are going on a weekend, you would probably need 3 days as it is usually more crowded with the local AP people.

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

As many as you can... This is our 5th trip, we are doing 4 full days and two partial days, and I am sad because I know it won't be enough!

 

[KCmike]

Disneyland Resort needs at least 4+ days.

 

[spellhex]

I'd say a lot of it would depend on whether or not you stay on-site, and whether or not you're up for an intensive touring schedule. If you're staying off-site and can stay in the parks for 10+ hours each day, you could probably do most everything in two days. If not, I'd really suggest three or four days - especially if you really like shows/parades. Also, September tends to be one of the hottest months of the year for California, so maybe plan for pool breaks/frequent stops to get FPs for Splash Mountain/Grizzly River Run.

I've never been to Legoland, but I've always had a soft spot for Sea World San Diego. It does look like it's pretty similar to Sea World Orlando (just from checking SWO's website), but does have some differences in attractions/shows. Sea World is also right by my favorite San Diego beach (Mission Beach), so that's an option as well.