One or Two Days at Disneyland in March? (Help please!) WE'RE BAAAACK!!

[Doc Holiday]

Thank you in advance for sharing your expertise with me!

I am going to be traveling to Southern California this coming March, staying in the San Diego area. There will be three adults in my party. We are planning to spend a few (2 or 3) days in the greater Los Angeles area and would like to take in Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure.

I'll be renting a car while there.

We have a definitive list of attractions that we don't want to miss and a few others that we'll see if time allows. I'm trying to judge if we can fit them all done in a one or two day visit.

Here are the attractions in each park that we definitely want to see:

Disneyland:
Big Thunder Mountain
Indiana Jones
Matterhorn
Splash Mountain
Space Mountain
Star Tours
Buzz Lightyear
Pirates Of The Caribbean
Fantasmic

California Adventure
California Screamin'
Soarin' Over California
Maliboomer
Tower Of Terror
MuppetVision
It's Tough To Be A Bug

Here are the attractions we'll fit in if time allows, but would be bothered much if we missed:

Disneyland:
Nighttime Fireworks
Finding Nemo Submarines
Haunted Mansion
Honey, I Shrunk The Audience
Jungle Cruise
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Peter Pan's Flight

California Adventure:
Sun Wheel
Grizzly River Run
Mulholland Madness

We'd like to visit the Disney parks the week of March 16th, during the middle of the week, sometime Tuesday through Thursday. The published hours for that week on disneyland.com seem to be very extended (8 AM - midnight for Disneyland and 10 AM - 10 PM for California Adventure). Is there a special event going on that week? Can we expect large crowds?

What kind of commute can we expect from San Diego (actually Del Mar) to Disneyland in the mornings, in time for the park opening? Google Maps puts the drive time at about 1.5 hours. We wouldn't have any problem with an early morning or two.

I'm trying to factor all of this in to come up with some kind of framework to tour the parks and I'd appreciate your help!

Can we see all of our must-see attractions in one day, two days, or more?

Any specific recommendations for touring the parks are really, really welcome!

 

[blue donkey]

Since Easter is Mar. 23rd this year, you'll be going during spring break. Expect crowds. I'd go for 2 days to DLR.

If you're planning on driving from San Diego, I'd just leave in the early morn. The earlier you leave, the less likely there'll be traffic. Try to arrive at DL by 7am if park opens 8am. That way you can avoid most traffic problems, park, & get your tickets before gates open. A lot more attractions can be ridden during opening hours & collect fastpasses to use for a later time then as well. The return time seems much sooner then.

Have fun!

 

[DangerMouse]

Go for two days, at least. Since it's Spring Break, it will be crowded. Consider purchasing ridemax http://www.ridemax.com for touring plans.

 

[fairycat]

If you are driving during the week expect bad traffic from Del Mar, it can sometimes take much longer then 1.5 hours. Leave early, better to arrive early and have time for some breakfast then grumpy on the freeway.

I suggest two days so you have time to relax and won't feel rushed.

I also have to add a shocked face, why is Haunted Manison on your maybe list??? That has to be in my top two favorite rides.

You will have a great time!

 

[Doc Holiday]

Thanks everyone!

 

[Doc Holiday]

A follow up.....

We left Del Mar early - just before 6 AM and arrived at Disneyland at around 7:15 AM. The California freeways are the real thrill ride!!!

We were among the first in line at the bag check, picked up our tickets at Customer Service (If I had a printer with me, we could have skipped this step by printing our own) and were near the front of the line when the gates opened just after 8 AM.

We managed to ride Space Mountain, Big Thunder (twice), Splash Mountain and the Haunted Mansion with no waiting. We also grabbed fastpasses for Buzz Lightyear and then headed over to Disney's California Adventure at 10 AM. We headed straight for Tower of Terror and had perhaps a 10 minute wait there. We grabbed Fastpasses for California Screamin' and then went to It's Tough To Be A Bug and MuppetVision. We stopped for a bite and a beer at the Test Pilots' Grill and then returned to Cali Screamin' to use our Fastpass. Unfortunately, the ride was down. We then rode Maliboomer, stopped by Soarin' over California to grab Fastpasses and headed back to Disneyland to use our Buzz Lightyear Fastpass. After that we tried to get on Indiana Jones, but it was also down. So we grabbed a Fastpass for it. Our return time as 10:40 at night!! We decided to try California Screamin' again and this time found the ride to be up and used our Fastpass to ride. (Heck of a long walk to ride, but it was worth it!)

We then left the parks to check in to our hotel. We decided to spend the night so we could tour L.A. the next day. Off we went on the shuttle to the parking lot to get the car and drive to the hotel. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites on Walnut Street. A decent property with simple, nice rooms. We didn't want to drive back, so we looked into transportation back to the parks. The hotel offered a shuttle - actually one that was operated by the Anaheim Visitors Center (or something like that) - that cost $3 per person for unlimited trips in a day, After a break and talking with the hotel clerk, we decided to walk back. The walk was pleasant and took us through Downtown Disney and into the House of Blues for a quick liquid refreshment before heading back to the parks. The hotel is about 1/2 mile to the entrance of Downtown Disney.

We wanted to try to get on Tower of Terror again, so we headed into California Adventure again, only to find the afternoon parade going on. Absolute gridlock! We amended our plans and used our Fastpasses for Soarin' and returned to Disneyland. The crowds were fairly sizable now, but we still managed to ride Peter Pan, Star Tours, Honey I Shrunk the Audience, Big Thunder (again!), The Matterhorn and Pirates of the Caribbean before heading over to the Castle for the fireworks. After the fireworks, we quickly headed over to New Orleans Square to catch the late showing of Fantasmic and then finished our day in the parks by using our Fastpass for Indiana Jones.

We then headed back to House of Blues for another cold one and back to our hotel to end the day.

While the day was a bit hectic, we felt great at the end of it and were pleased we were able to do so much.


Some observations about the parks:

The California version of Pirates is SO much better than the Florida version. There is almost no comparison between the two and I don't think I'll be able to ride the Florida version without thinking fondly of the California version.

I visited Disneyland many years ago and was disappointed that the Matterhorn was closed. The queue looked HUGE this time and we put off getting in it since the sign said it would be a 40 minute wait. But the line moved ahead quickly and we were through with the ride in less than 20 minutes and IT WAS A REAL BLAST!!! I really enjoyed it. It's very low tech, but completely charming. It offers quick peeks of the park and the ride does zip along in places. It was one of the highlights of the trip for me.

Indiana Jones was another. We all agreed it was a great attraction to ride last. Really thrilling!

California Screamin' is a really, really good coaster!

All in all, we were a little disappointed in California Adventure. It felt a bit like a regional amusement park to us, not quite up to Disney standards. It's hard to put a finger on, but one example was the queue are for Maliboomer. While we didn't have too long a wait, it was brutally hot, without shade and the canned spiel really got irritating after a while. The park layout was tough to navigate and we ran into major crowd roadblocks several times throughout the day. Some attractions just seemed to have been plopped down into the park with little attention made to theming - It's Tough To Be A Bug comes to mind, but perhaps that's just me missing the awesome theming at Animal Kingdom.

We prefer Florida's version of Tower of Terror. The queue area is much more interesting and we though that the Florida version's use of horizontal movement was much more effective and surprising. Still, both versions are really enjoyable.

Splash Mountain is absolutely charming in both parks.

Fantasmic at Disneyland is wonderful. Much better than the Florida version. There's something about it happening within the confines of the park that is really, really cool.

The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland gets my vote over the Florida version. I'm glad we did this (thanks, fairycat!) as we all enjoyed it immensely.

It was a little strange touring Disneyland after making 6 or so trips to Disney World. The similarities in the parks were just enough to get me all confused by the differences! Just when I thought I knew my way, one of those little differences would pop up and I'd get a little turned around.

But Disneyland is really charming. The castle seemed so small when we first walked in, but by day's end, it looked absolutely gorgeous with the sky above it all lit up and Tinkerbell (brave Tinkerbell) soaring above it.

A very busy day, but we're all really pleased with how it turned out.

Thanks again for your advice and information!

 

[DLR29]

Sounds like you got a ton done and had a great time!

 

[Laurabearz]

Great report! Thanks for sharing!