Just ONE day in Disneyland

[ParksPixar&Pizza]

Hi everyone!

So my family and I are considering planning a trip to San Diego and I wanted to split the trip up in half (half Disneyland, half San Diego), but I'm pretty much the only one who wants to go. We've all been to Walt Disney World, never Disneyland, so my parents dont really get the appeal of going to Disneyland (I tried to tell them how it's so different, but they're just casual fans. We didn't have the best previous trip to WDW a couple years ago, which is why I think they're hesitant). I have been absolutely dying to go to Disneyland since I was a kid, so we maybe decided on driving to Disneyland for the day to compromise. I would honestly rather stay 5-6 days to really appreciate Disneyland, DCA and the hotels, but I guess I'll take what I can get. Thoughts? I know I won't be able to see nearly all that I want to, but it's better than nothing. I daydream about going every day. I will definitely go back longer one day though. Thanks everyone!

 

[ashley0139]

There are a couple recent threads about plans for a one day trip with some good tips! It's worth it if it's that or nothing, I think.

 

[ParksPixar&Pizza]

There are a couple recent threads about plans for a one day trip with some good tips! It's worth it if it's that or nothing, I think.

Thank you! I didn't know if there were boards like that. I'm relatively new to the boards.

 

[DLRExpert]

Sounds like you should just go to Disneyland on your own.

 

[ParksPixar&Pizza]

Sound slike you should just go to Disneyland on your own.

To be honest, I would. But I'm poor. Now we might do 2 nights at either the Disneyland Hotel or Grand Californian, still one day at the park but at least I would be able to explore Downtown Disney a little bit.

 

[Princess_Kirky]

I did one day at DL last spring. Drove from SD for the day. Best advice: get there early, stay late, use the old FP system! We only did DL not DCA. Breakfast at the Plaza is so much fun! Maybe shoot for a super early breakfast. Don't know if they do PPO and then hit up FL after that but not before grabbing FPs for one of the headliners. Designate a FP runner for the day and have FUN! I'm also a WDW vet and I loved DL. So much more quaint! Easy to walk

 

[smartlabelprint]

Skip dtd. It's tiny.

Stay offsite at dlr. it's way cheaper.

Spend more days there.

I highly suggest a split trip. Fly into Sam Diego stay some days. Drive to Anaheim. Fly home from sna or lgb.

 

[SnowBelleAlice]

Here's how a very dear friend spent one day in both parks - http://www.disboards.com/threads/we-did-it-dlr-wed-7-15.2232766/#post-32765258

 

[ParksPixar&Pizza]

Here's how a very dear friend spent one day in both parks - http://www.disboards.com/threads/we-did-it-dlr-wed-7-15.2232766/#post-32765258

Thank you so much!

 

[ParksPixar&Pizza]

I did one day at DL last spring. Drove from SD for the day. Best advice: get there early, stay late, use the old FP system! We only did DL not DCA. Breakfast at the Plaza is so much fun! Maybe shoot for a super early breakfast. Don't know if they do PPO and then hit up FL after that but not before grabbing FPs for one of the headliners. Designate a FP runner for the day and have FUN! I'm also a WDW vet and I loved DL. So much more quaint! Easy to walk

That sounds great, we might be staying actually there for a couple nights (fly right into Anaheim and spend the night, next day park, then leave the next day), so that'll eliminate the REALLY early wake up to drive there. What's PPO?

 

[ParksPixar&Pizza]

Skip dtd. It's tiny.

Stay offsite at dlr. it's way cheaper.

Spend more days there.

I highly suggest a split trip. Fly into Sam Diego stay some days. Drive to Anaheim. Fly home from sna or lgb.

I would ultimately love to spend 4 days there, so I could do DL twice and DCA once and get to explore a little more. I plan on making a designated trip just for DL one day. The rest of family isn't a Disney Freak like me, so it's hard to get them to get it. We are now considering flying right into Anaheim to spend a little more time there. Thanks for the tips!

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

I would ultimately love to spend 4 days there, so I could do DL twice and DCA once and get to explore a little more. I plan on making a designated trip just for DL one day. The rest of family isn't a Disney Freak like me, so it's hard to get them to get it. We are now considering flying right into Anaheim to spend a little more time there. Thanks for the tips!

Definitely consider staying offsite if cost is an issue. The hotels across the street on Harbor are closer to Disneyland than Disneyland Hotel. They are probably not as nice, but probably 1/3-1/4 of the price of Disneyland Hotel or Grand Californian.

One good thing about Southern California is that there is a lot do to there outside of Disney, so even if you're staying in Anaheim there are lots of other things you can do.

I'm not the one who used it, but PPO usually means "pre-park opening". It's when you book a dining reservation before the park actually opens. We were there last week and we had a breakfast reservation at Ariel's Grotto at 9 AM even though DCA didn't open until 10. It's more of a "thing" at WDW than DL, I believe, but it is possible to do sometimes (depends on when the parks open), though I'm not sure what kind of advantages you get.

 

[StormyCA]

Decide what you want to do. Look at attractions and shows and zero in on the ones that are important. I'm really not a parade or show person so when I went to WDW I looked at the rides for all the parks and prioritized them;

1 Rides unique to, in your case, DL/DCA
2 Rides that are in both parks but are substantially different or better
3 Rides that are in both parks that are pretty much the same, but I love the ride
4 Rides that I don't really care about.

If I only had one day, I'd focus on 1 and 2, then add in 3 if I had the time.

If you're into shows and parades, do the same, but I think those things are pretty much unique to WDW or DL.

 

[ParksPixar&Pizza]

Definitely consider staying offsite if cost is an issue. The hotels across the street on Harbor are closer to Disneyland than Disneyland Hotel. They are probably not as nice, but probably 1/3-1/4 of the price of Disneyland Hotel or Grand Californian.

One good thing about Southern California is that there is a lot do to there outside of Disney, so even if you're staying in Anaheim there are lots of other things you can do.

I'm not the one who used it, but PPO usually means "pre-park opening". It's when you book a dining reservation before the park actually opens. We were there last week and we had a breakfast reservation at Ariel's Grotto at 9 AM even though DCA didn't open until 10. It's more of a "thing" at WDW than DL, I believe, but it is possible to do sometimes (depends on when the parks open), though I'm not sure what kind of advantages you get.

Cost isn't neccesarily an issue, it's more just timing. Our total trip is probably going to be 6 days. This is sort of a celebration trip, so I think we woud love to stay onsite. We could definitely afford DLH, maybe not GC. I think we want to spend 2-3 in DL, then go to San Diego for a little bit (we have a California bucket list-never been, we live in the North East). Thank you for explaining PPO, I keep seeing that and I never knew what it meant. Do they have PPOs in DLR or just DCA? It definitely seems like more of a WDW thing because I know DL is more locals. Thank you for the tips!

 

[ParksPixar&Pizza]

Decide what you want to do. Look at attractions and shows and zero in on the ones that are important. I'm really not a parade or show person so when I went to WDW I looked at the rides for all the parks and prioritized them;

1 Rides unique to, in your case, DL/DCA
2 Rides that are in both parks but are substantially different or better
3 Rides that are in both parks that are pretty much the same, but I love the ride
4 Rides that I don't really care about.

If I only had one day, I'd focus on 1 and 2, then add in 3 if I had the time.

If you're into shows and parades, do the same, but I think those things are pretty much unique to WDW or DL.

I am not a parade/show person either. I could care less, but all the rides I would love to try and ride. In your tiered system, 1 is mandatory (Matterhorn, Pinocchio, Snow White, Mr Toad, Alice, INDIANA JONES!, Storybook Land Canal Boats, Roger Rabbit, even the monroail), 2 obviously Pirates, Space Mountain, Splash/BTMR, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Small World. 3: One of my favorites is Buzz/Pooh. I know it's pretty much impossible to ride everything, but Im going to try because I don't know when I'll get to go back or even go to WDW. I read if you go M-Fri it's a lot less crowded correct? I heard weekends are dramatically more crowded and we're most likely going while school is still in session, so that should help too. Thanks for your tips!

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

Thank you for explaining PPO, I keep seeing that and I never knew what it meant. Do they have PPOs in DLR or just DCA? It definitely seems like more of a WDW thing because I know DL is more locals. Thank you for the tips!

I think the hours for the restaurants are fixed but the hours for the parks vary by day. Plaza Inn generally opens at 8 AM. During busy season, DLR also opens at 8 AM, so you can't make PPO reservations . In September, it opens at 10 AM on weekdays so you probably could in theory, but I'm not 100% sure.

Im not sure what benefits PPO reservations give you. At WDW, people do it so they can to take pictures down Main Street with fewer people, and they can be first in line at Seven Dwarves. Not sure what PPO at DLR is like.
When we were heading to Ariels Grotto, we were literally the only people in DCA. Some might like that experience, but I'm not sure if DLR would be that empty. We didn't finish breakfast until after 10, so I don't know what would have happened if we left breakfast at 9:30 and tried to roam around the park.

 

[Chiomaca]

I think it's much easier to do DL/DCA in a compressed period of time than WDW, so even with two days you're pretty much fine especially with a Park Hopper. My family doesn't do character meals in the park, but we always do breakfast at Storytellers Cafe in the GC, which has a bunch of characters. It's a decent meal, the kids love it, and we can still make it for the Magic Morning/rope drop to get to Radiator Springs Racers. I think the one likely PPO in DLR would be Plaza Inn, but I'd pass on the character breakfast there and have lunch...the fried chicken is amazing. (Seriously...I visited when I was 30 weeks pregnant and had no appetite, but finished all the chicken.)

Weekdays during the school year are less crowded, and that's when you should get onto the rides with long lines (Peter Pan...etc) because after school is out, more kids come. We usually start at one park, go into DTD for lunch (Uva Bar on a nice day is wonderful) and then decide on the rest of the day's plan.

Download the app, make a general plan and be flexible based on ride shut downs, or unexpectedly short lines. Pick a ride to go straight on at opening (RSR or TSMM at DCA, Space Mountain or Matterhorn at DLR), then grab a Fast Pass on the way to which ever ride you want to do with the shortest line that works with your FP timing.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Another idea is send the fam to do Anaheim things while you spend extra time in the parks. And definitely park hop.

 

[Princess_Kirky]

That sounds great, we might be staying actually there for a couple nights (fly right into Anaheim and spend the night, next day park, then leave the next day), so that'll eliminate the REALLY early wake up to drive there. What's PPO?

PPO is pre park opening. So you can eat and be done before the park even officially opens. It eliminates time being wasted in the AM. You can be first in line for some of the more popular rides. Many do this at WDW to get on 7 Dwarves Mine Train before the rope drop crowds arrive.

 

[StormyCA]

I am not a parade/show person either. I could care less, but all the rides I would love to try and ride. In your tiered system, 1 is mandatory (Matterhorn, Pinocchio, Snow White, Mr Toad, Alice, INDIANA JONES!, Storybook Land Canal Boats, Roger Rabbit, even the monroail), 2 obviously Pirates, Space Mountain, Splash/BTMR, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Small World. 3: One of my favorites is Buzz/Pooh. I know it's pretty much impossible to ride everything, but Im going to try because I don't know when I'll get to go back or even go to WDW. I read if you go M-Fri it's a lot less crowded correct? I heard weekends are dramatically more crowded and we're most likely going while school is still in session, so that should help too. Thanks for your tips!

It's been funny for the last 15 months or so due to the 60th. I'm hoping it dies down now. I'd say generally speaking, yes, but that doesn't mean it won't be crowded. These days it seems to be crowded, really crowded, and 'OMG I can't breathe, get me out of here'.

Somewhere on here is a 'when will it be crowded at DL' thread that show's expected events and 'traditional' busy times. I thought I had it bookmarked but I guess I don't. There are times when, even on weekdays during the school year, DL can be really crowded due to band/choir/dance/cheer school trips, out of country school breaks, etc.

Edit: Found it!

http://www.disboards.com/threads/2016-calendar-of-events-school-breaks-and-dlr.3434866/