Opinion....PH...yes or no

[disfan07]

Okay, heres the situation-

We are going to DL this saturday. Just for the day. I am paying for the tickets. Through my school, we can get 3 1day tickets for $231. The 1 day PH tickets are $291.

So it's a $60 difference. DL is open from 8AM-midnight that day

We've been to DL multiple times and once for the holidays (we've been to WDW twice for the holidays). We want to see:
Parade
Fireworks
Haunted Mansion
Pirates
Buzz Lightyear
Toads Wild Ride
Peter Pan
Jungle Cruise
Winnie the Pooh
Pinocchio

Thats it. I feel like it's not going to take too long to do it all and that we are going to want to go over to DCA to do TSMM, Soarin, Little Mermaid, and Aladdin.

How crowded do you think it is going to be on saturday the 10th. I know that all APs are blocked except for Deluxe.

I'm just thinking that if its not that crowded, we will regret not having the PHs. But, then again, it is $60. And if I spend the extra $60 on the tickets, I probably wont be able to buy anything while there.

So what would you do???

 

[sonnyjane]

Gosh this one is really tough. As I was reading your post, I was getting ready to tell you that while I almost always suggest park-hopping, in your case - because it's a Saturday leading up to the holidays and the price difference, that it'd be okay to just stay in Disneyland - but then you mentioned that you can see yourself wanting to go to DCA to do Little Mermaid, Aladdin, etc.

I could always find plenty to do in Disneyland if I wanted to stay there all day, so if $60 is a big deal in your family, you certainly won't have a hard time having fun in Disneyland alone. It's really whether or not you and your family will really WANT to go to DCA and ride those other rides.

If you are planning on showing up at opening and closing down the park, then yes, that's a lot of hours and I'd probably get parkhoppers. If you think you'll go at a slower pace and not stay the entire time the park is open, then I'd probably just do Disneyland.

 

[skiingfast]

Okay, heres the situation-

We are going to DL this saturday. Just for the day. I am paying for the tickets. Through my school, we can get 3 1day tickets for $231. The 1 day PH tickets are $291.

I would do the hopper. If you stuck to DL I think with the long hours you would find your list easy to accomplish, even with the large crowds of that day.

You could ride PP right off the bat since it has a long line. FP HMH since it will have a larger line than usualy in its Holiday form. Ride the other Fantasyland attractions at night when kids leave the park. JC, POTC and Buzz will have longer than usualy lines, but the lines move along fine anyway.

If you add in DCA, Aladdin will add a lot of needed time, TSMM some needed time, Soaring little with a FP, and LMAUA will have a quick moving line.

With the hopper I think your day will be full, and doable. Without the hopper a mild day. With planning it's easier to do more attractions than average. If you stick to DL you are looking at doing less than average.

 

[Eeee-va]

Great question. I think the parks WILL be pretty crowded, for what it's worth, but if you get there at park opening I don't think you'll have any trouble completing your list. Though we skipped the parade on our visit, even though we had 3 afternoons to see it, because it's just so crowded...if you want a great place to see it it could take an hour or more....

Am I right to assume that thrill rides are not in the cards? If you go on rides like Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain or even Star Tours, then if the parks aren't too crowded you could do those rides multiple times, which would eat up the day. But if those aren't going to happen, then it may be harder to find as much to do, since most of the non-thrill-rides end up with long lines. Although there is absolutely nothing wrong with just relaxing and soaking in the ambiance.

Anyway, if you can swing it financially I'd say go into DCA. Some of the areas are decorated nicely for Christmas and when you think about it, would you pay $5 per person to ride/view each of those those rides and attractions?

But if shopping is a bigger priority than riding the rides/seeing Aladdin, then you can hop on over to World of Disney for a little afternoon break instead. I do think you could find enough to do at Disneyland if you decided not to hop, though.

Have a great trip!

 

[disfan07]

Great question. I think the parks WILL be pretty crowded, for what it's worth, but if you get there at park opening I don't think you'll have any trouble completing your list. Though we skipped the parade on our visit, even though we had 3 afternoons to see it, because it's just so crowded...if you want a great place to see it it could take an hour or more....

Am I right to assume that thrill rides are not in the cards? If you go on rides like Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain or even Star Tours, then if the parks aren't too crowded you could do those rides multiple times, which would eat up the day. But if those aren't going to happen, then it may be harder to find as much to do, since most of the non-thrill-rides end up with long lines. Although there is absolutely nothing wrong with just relaxing and soaking in the ambiance.

Anyway, if you can swing it financially I'd say go into DCA. Some of the areas are decorated nicely for Christmas and when you think about it, would you pay $5 per person to ride/view each of those those rides and attractions?

But if shopping is a bigger priority than riding the rides/seeing Aladdin, then you can hop on over to World of Disney for a little afternoon break instead. I do think you could find enough to do at Disneyland if you decided not to hop, though.

Have a great trip!

Yeah....unfortunately, thrill rides are all out. I had brain surgery 18 months ago and I'm still recovering from that (they had to cut thorugh me neck muscles) and I have a heart condition so that limits my options as well.

This is definitely NOT the first time we're going. We've been probably about 5 times before. But usually we go for 2 nights and we always get Park Hoppers so i'v enever really thought about it before. But this time we can only go for 1 night and it is a very very budget trip so unfortunately, we have to consider every financial part of it.

What has me concerned is that since we have been multiple times before, that we will get bored quickly wihtout the option to go over to DCA.

It's such a hard decision....it IS $60...whcih at this point in time IS a lot of money for us....but I know what I would do if money wasnt an option and what I of course WANT to do.

I have having to make decisions!! especially when money is involved!

 

[Eeee-va]

Oh no! I'm sorry to hear about your conditions!

Do you really think your party will be BORED soaking up the ambiance or doing some of the little things that are easily overlooked? Aren't there other things you COULD do and enjoy in DL? Even if it just means riding HM until you have the spiel memorized? As much as I love to just run run run and try to do everything, there's something magical about taking it slow and looking around, too.

If you just got a DL ticket, you could even still go hang out in the lobby of the Grand Californian...for SUPER-budget you could even bring in some hot cocoa packets and ask for some cups of hot water and sip it in there.

But if you don't think you could enjoy a full day at DL, then the hopper is certainly good as well. (If you go, don't miss Paradise Pier at night; that's my favorite thing!) But I know I could spend a happy day just in DL and I cannot for the life of me imagine getting bored there.

(Oh, and for what it's worth, if you are tired from a long day or long trip, the Main Street Cinema is HILARIOUS! )

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

I think you could definitely enjoy an entire day in DL without hopping, especially with all the holiday atmosphere. I'd definitely soak it all in: watch the lights on Small World, hanging out at Reindeer Roundup, etc.

 

[disfan07]

Oh no! I'm sorry to hear about your conditions!

Do you really think your party will be BORED soaking up the ambiance or doing some of the little things that are easily overlooked? Aren't there other things you COULD do and enjoy in DL? Even if it just means riding HM until you have the spiel memorized? As much as I love to just run run run and try to do everything, there's something magical about taking it slow and looking around, too.

If you just got a DL ticket, you could even still go hang out in the lobby of the Grand Californian...for SUPER-budget you could even bring in some hot cocoa packets and ask for some cups of hot water and sip it in there.

But if you don't think you could enjoy a full day at DL, then the hopper is certainly good as well. (If you go, don't miss Paradise Pier at night; that's my favorite thing!) But I know I could spend a happy day just in DL and I cannot for the life of me imagine getting bored there.

(Oh, and for what it's worth, if you are tired from a long day or long trip, the Main Street Cinema is HILARIOUS! )

I don't think bored is the right word....It's hard to explain. We could do WDW for 2 weeks and want to stay longer. (and thats after 15+ trips to WDW....its what I grew up with) But 2 days in DL...and we are ready to leave.

I've just been trying to think of things that we have NOT done yet and I just cant come up with anything.We always seem to be able to do A LOT in a short amount of time

I was thinking about it anyway and it might be a good idea for us NOT to have a PH because it might force me to actually go back to the hotel and take a nap. I havent been feeling well lately so I might not even be able to make it 16 hours (or really more like 19 when you consider what time we are getting up that morning) without a nap

 

[Nonsuch]

We could do WDW for 2 weeks and want to stay longer.

1 week of that time is spent riding buses