New to the west coast...

[tutti]

Hi there! I am planning a west coast vacation for early 2013 and have never been! We're going to Las Vegas for 2 days and then plan on visiting Disneyland for one night and two days then exploring some more California for a few days. Is two days enough? Should we do both parks?

When deciding to visit Cali I didn't even think about Disney and I'm so exciting now that I realized we could visit!

Please help, we've never been and I don't know when we will go back!

 

[coaches24]

If you have kids then I suggest more than 2 days if possible. Esspecially since you don't live close and can't come back for a long time it sounds like. My family does 3 days each time. We know the parks and still miss some attractions. If we could afford more we would do more. But since we live closer we can make trips every one or two years.

If its just adults then you would get through more in two days and would certainly be able to make the most important things you want to do/ see at DL. But being your first time you might feel you have to rush in order to see all you can before your time is up.

As for both parks I say yes they are both worth seeing. If I had to choose just one it would be DL but I wouldn't like making that choice and having to skip the other.

 

[PinkBudgie]

Definately see both parks! DCA is opening lots of new stuff this summer! I like to say a minimum of 5 days, but if this is an add on to your vacation and you can't do more, then try to do as many days as you can. 2 days really isn't enough- better than nothing- but not "enough".

 

[CanadianDisneyDad]

G'day

2 days wil be enought to get a taste of Disneyland (DL) and California Adventure (CA)but honestly probably not enough to see and experience everything and this all depends if you have kids or not and their ages.

There is too much to do at either park in two days and whether you enjoy thrill rides or not. For each ride I woudl estimate 20 min wait time, some may be linger and some shorter but my experience is 20 mins average. Other than rides there is tons to see like the Aladdin Show in CA, Tomorrowland exhibits in DL, Animators in CA...too many to say....plus there are soem fantastic tours avaiable on the park like "Walk in Walts Footsteps".

cheers and enjoy

 

[HeyItsNickCA]

Good morning! 2 days isn't really enough but if it is all you can do, then, I suppose you can make it work. 3 days or 4 days would be more ideal, if you could afford it. If you're worried about money, I suggest preordering online/ and use Priceline right before you get there, you can get some nice hotels for good prices. I stayed at the Hilton Anaheim for $90 dollars per night last time I used it.

 

[tutti]

Thanks for the quick responses! We don't have kids and I am a big Disney World Fan so I have an idea of the rides a such I've been there about 5 times, for some reason its seems more normal to me to fly south rather than west, I'm from NY. But my boyfriend has only gone once to WDW so convincing him to go in Cali for more than 2 days may be tough, while I would like to go for the entire week! And if I could add more days I would but he only has a week at a time vacation since he started a new job and we want to see other things!

Is there anywhere we MUST eat? or things we must try that a that much different than WDW?

Thanks again!

 

[tutti]

Also we're thinking April/May time period... what are the crowds like at this time? I have so much knowledge for WDW and no nothing about DL!

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

April and May are generally lower crowd levels. You'll miss a couple rides for rehabs probably. You should be able to see April's list of what's gonna be down now on disneyland.com

We're also including Vegas in our trip (surprising kids about DL IN Vegas..they don't know yet!). Vegas is on our way and we're driving. Makes for a fun vacation

I'd say if you can talk him into 3 days you'll have a better time at DL. 3 days isn't over the top for him...but it's still enough to see everything as much as you want to. There are a lot of rides that are fun to compare (I hear, I haven't been to WDW!) and others will have more info about that.

California has a really fun vibe and after you leave the parks you can find other things to do. Sounds like fun!

 

[llump41]

Also we're thinking April/May time period... what are the crowds like at this time? I have so much knowledge for WDW and no nothing about DL!

The farther you stay away from easter the better. Next year that is Mar 31. I'd say if you are planning the latter part of April you should be ok.

Two days really isn't enough. You will get a good idea of the parks but will miss out on some of the Disney magic. My rule of thumb is 2 days for DL and 1 for DCA but that may change with the new DCA.

 

[PigletSeeker]

I think 2 days is fine. I have 3 kids- 7, 5, and 2. We have never done more than 2 days at once. We do only live 4 hours away, so are able to go often, but when we do it's usually only one day at a time. We were there Monday (President's Day) from 8:30am-10pm. It was a very crowded day and we still managed to ride 11 rides and saw World of Color. Everyone gets to choose one "must do" ride and we are sure to hit those and then we just do everything else we can. You won't do everything, of course, but you will still have a blast!

 

[mouseymommy]

You should also check out the thread for WDW vets on here. Lots of good info there. You will probably miss a lot if you only have 2 days, but I am of the opinion that a little DL is better than NO DL!