How would you divide your time?

[Aristomommy]

We will have almost 3 days to spend at the parks with the hopper option. Our first day (Wednesday) will be from 1pm to closing. Other two days are full days. Would it be better to stay in each park one day and use the first day at DL? Or would you suggest visiting both parks each day? We will have DD8 and DS2 with us, so Fantasyland and character interactions are very important. But DH and DD will want to ride the big rides as well. Also, what is a "tried and true" strategy for DCA? I figure February will be a slow month, but like to have a general idea what works well.

 

[Albort]

ideally, its a smarter idea to go to DCA at around 12PM, Disneyland becomes very busy at that time...

but if its an none friday-Sun, then i dont think it matters at all.

 

[AZMickeyfans]

If it were me I would go to DL on the first day. Do favorite rides that you think you might want to repeat. We always go there first.

Thursday I would head to DCA and stay the full day.

Friday I would hit DL at opening and stay all day unless there is something you want to repeat or miss at DCA. If that is the case you can jump over there mid-afternoon when DL gets packed.

We usually go 3 days 1 at each park and the last mostly at DL but we hill go back to DCA to do Soarin again.

 

[autumnbaby9]

I start the day at DL and stay there until it gets crowded and then I move over to DCA (usually noonish). I head back to DL in the evening when the crowds start to die back down. This has worked really well for us especially during crowded times.

 

[sweetascanbee]

I agree with everyone else. DCA usually isnt as crowded.
Do DL early morning if possible, then go back after dinner


Becky

 

[samkj]

On Thursday use your early entry (if you have it) and go do all the Fantasyland stuff. Then once DCA opens you can head over there. We like character meals for the interaction, sit down eat a meal and relax and meet characters! Make sure you have a plan of what you really want to do to make sure you hit everythign you want.

 

[honeymom]

However you figure it out, you will probably need to spend twice as much time in DL as DCA. There are some wonderful rides at DCA, but the lines aren't as big and there aren't as many of them.

 

[azgal81]

Usually we go to DL first thing then hop over to DCA around lunchtime for a few hours until we have done everything (which really doesn't take long) then we hop back over to DL.

 

[slp87]

Call me crazy, but if you're arriving around 1:00, I would start at DCA. This would be a great time to go to the Animation building and possibly Bug's Land. I would wait till later in the afternoon to head over to DL.

Will you be taking advantage of EE?? If so, I would plan on hitting the fantasyland rides on that day as well as Space & Buzz. When official opening starts, you could get star tours & the remaining fantasyland ride done and head back to Toontown. I agree with the others that you should stick around DL until about 11 or 12, then head to DCA. Pick up a FP for a favorite ride before leaving DL so you'll have that to do when you return in the evening. We always have a "runner" to get our FP so we're not all making the trek to the machines. When you head into DCA, have someone get FP for Soarin & Grizzly. (The FP machines aren't connected, so you can get one for both.) Go to ToT, if you're interested and the wait shouldn't be too long. Then you can do Monsters and take on the rest of the park.

On a non EE day, I would go to Adventureland first. We had someone get FP for HM before we rode Indy & Jungle. We rode Pirates, then headed over to HM, but had someone get our FP for Splash first. (If it's a weekday, you might not even mess with FP for HM and just get one for Splash) Then after Pooh & Splash we went back around to BTMRR & Tiki birds. After that we would go to DCA. Be sure to try and see the Aladdin show if at all possible. It's really great!!

 

[dizzyami]

I definitely agree to start early morning in DL and the park hop to DCA. You can hop back and forth as many times as you like. I agree with slp87 that I would start at DCA if you arrive at 1pm. We usually get excellent character interaction at DCA - in front of the animation building, in front of the water thing near the entrance, and randomly throughout the park. We usually arrive too during the day on our 1st day and hit DCA, knocking out many of our autographs the first day. Be sure with the ages of your kids to utilize baby passes if you want to go on the big rides - DD will actually be able to ride the rides twice this way!

 

[MATTERHORN]

Early at DL since they usually open earlier, then head to DCA around lunch form about 1pm-5pm, then back over to DL till close since DCA closes earlier usually. We do it that way almost every day we go and it works great!!! Seems we all have kinda the same idea


Andrea

 

[Aristomommy]

I'm glad to see that going between the parks isn't as big of a hassle as
I thought. I just need to get out of the WDW mindset about distances . I will definately do EE Thursday and do Fantasyland and other biggies that morning. My plan is to focus on the rides that we haven't experienced before along with Fantasyland favorites. I am still unsure what to do on the arrival day. Going to DL at 1pm may be crowded, but I would like to see the 7pm parade in case we miss it another day.

 

[slp87]

The closeness of the parks is what make us love DL so much. You'll be shocked at how close they are!!

 

[junglejoy]

We have to go to DL first - doesn't matter the time of day or day of week. There's just something about walking up Main Street smelling the smells, listening to the music, etc. But logistically CA is the place to start. If you're going mid-week, slow season, do whatever you want. You don't need to worry about crowds until Friday afternoon.

I would consider a character meal for character interaction too. Goofy's Kitchen (DL Hotel) is our favorite - Goofy is always there and usually Minnie and several others. Plaza Inn (DL) is now a Mickey experience and it's only breakfast. I haven't been there since it changed from the princess overcrowded fiasco (thank heavens they fixed that!). At CA is the princess experience. Our DDs love this and I'm sure we'l go again. Lots of princesses that are so sweet to all of us - not just the little ones!

I've also read about a princess fair at DL. I can't speak from experience because this is new to us, but heard that the trick is to skip the first part and start with the greeting of the princesses, otherwise the waits are very long.

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[MATTERHORN]

I'm glad to see that going between the parks isn't as big of a hassle as
I thought. I just need to get out of the WDW mindset about distances . I will definately do EE Thursday and do Fantasyland and other biggies that morning. My plan is to focus on the rides that we haven't experienced before along with Fantasyland favorites. I am still unsure what to do on the arrival day. Going to DL at 1pm may be crowded, but I would like to see the 7pm parade in case we miss it another day.

I can feel for PP because we used to have to go to DL first, but have since changed that to whatever is convenient. I kinda feel like a traitor, but that's life I guess.

I would hit DCA from 1pm till about 4pm, that's when a lot of people seem to be leaving DL for some reason. Then I would hop over to DL, hit a few rides, grab some portable dinner and picka spot for the parade. JMO!

But like others said, it really is super easy to go back and forth, sometimes we do it two or three times a day!


Andrea

 

[disneedee]

you did not give your dates so not sure if it is a busy time or not but i would guess not. if crowds are not a factor while you are going i would do the parades and shows in either park when you arive in the afternoon. and hit the big rides in the mornings. or fastpass them in the morning if really crowded and do the no fastpass rides while waiting for the next fast pass pickup time. and saving the fastpasses to use in the afternoon when lines are longer.
if you really want be obsessive about this, get that ridemax program and play with it. it is even entertaining for a disney nut!

 

[Judy from Boise]

I agree, I would start at DCA the first day, do EE to DL the second day, and hop to DCA each day when you are ready to eat lunch.

 

[Aristomommy]

you did not give your dates so not sure if it is a busy time or not but i would guess not. if crowds are not a factor while you are going i would do the parades and shows in either park when you arive in the afternoon. and hit the big rides in the mornings. or fastpass them in the morning if really crowded and do the no fastpass rides while waiting for the next fast pass pickup time. and saving the fastpasses to use in the afternoon when lines are longer.
if you really want be obsessive about this, get that ridemax program and play with it. it is even entertaining for a disney nut!

We'll be there Feb 14-16 which is Wed-Fri. I'm pretty sure crowds will be light, but I would still like to have a general plan which parks and which attractions to do. At WDW, MGM studios is always a nightmare for me as there are too many shows and the times do not flow well (maybe by design?). I hope the shows at DCA that we like to see (Aladdin, Playhouse Disney and Muppets 3D are timed better. Or we might just split them up to different days. Thanks for all the great info.

 

[MATTERHORN]

I hope the shows at DCA that we like to see (Aladdin, Playhouse Disney and Muppets 3D are timed better. Or we might just split them up to different days. Thanks for all the great info.

Muppets 3-D is revolving like Bug's Life so there are no set times! So you can just hop over. The others seem to flow well if you plan it out, but I like to pick them for seperate days because the kids only like to sit through so many shows on one day and Aladdin is pretty long.

I try to break it up into one morning show and one afternoon show/parade per day. Then we don't feel like we're constantly in shows all day!


Andrea

 

[Judy from Boise]

make sure you see Turtle talk too