Possible DL Trip In Our Future

[Mrs Grumpy]

So we are tossing around this idea for a possible trip. We are really wanting to get back to San Diego to go to Seaworld and the zoo again. I would love to see DL also. Problem is we will only have limited vacation time. Our thought is maybe to fly into LA on a Sunday morning. Go to DL Sunday afternoon, Monday and Tuesday. Then Wednesday pack up rent a car and head to San Diego to do two days each at the zoo and Seaworld and then fly home out of San Diego.

What we are questioning is that enough time to get a good taste of DL. We would be going in late June or middle July so I know there will be large crowds. Will we be spending most of our time in lines and not get to see very much. We have also considered adding another day and not heading to San Diego until Thursday and only doing Seaworld one day but we are not sure we want to do that either.

Oh, and it is just DH and I.
Just appreciate your thoughts on how much we would be able to see in DL if going only for 2 1/2 days.

 

[bnbheartdisney]

Go to DL Sunday afternoon, Monday and Tuesday. Then Wednesday pack up rent a car and head to San Diego to do two days each at the zoo and Seaworld and then fly home out of San Diego.

What we are questioning is that enough time to get a good taste of DL. We would be going in late June or middle July so I know there will be large crowds. Will we be spending most of our time in lines and not get to see very much. We have also considered adding another day and not heading to San Diego until Thursday and only doing Seaworld one day but we are not sure we want to do that either.

I've always felt that two days is good, but if you are able to visit 2.5-3 days, then go for it! Summers are always busier, so you may want to add that extra day. I live in San Diego and don't feel that you need 2 days to visit Sea World.

 

[SurfinTX]

Not from experience but from others TR...

You can get a lot done in 2.5 days but it will be hectic and you will need to have a plan. If you are that type of family then that amount of time will be fine. If you are only going to go to certain rides and maybe a few meals and shows then you will have plenty of time.

 

[mrswh]

If you are ably, fly into John Wayne airport (SNA) - it will save you a whole lot of time. Small airport, quick in and out, and you won't have to fight traffic all the way from LA. It's about 20 minutes from SNA to DLR. Just an idea!

 

[lvdis]

So we are tossing around this idea for a possible trip. We are really wanting to get back to San Diego to go to Seaworld and the zoo again. I would love to see DL also. Problem is we will only have limited vacation time. Our thought is maybe to fly into LA on a Sunday morning. Go to DL Sunday afternoon, Monday and Tuesday. Then Wednesday pack up rent a car and head to San Diego to do two days each at the zoo and Seaworld and then fly home out of San Diego.

What we are questioning is that enough time to get a good taste of DL. We would be going in late June or middle July so I know there will be large crowds. Will we be spending most of our time in lines and not get to see very much. We have also considered adding another day and not heading to San Diego until Thursday and only doing Seaworld one day but we are not sure we want to do that either.

Oh, and it is just DH and I.
Just appreciate your thoughts on how much we would be able to see in DL if going only for 2 1/2 days.

My family and I (me, my husband and two teens) just did something like this. We flew into Long Beach (great airport, by the way) on a Monday morning and spent Monday evening, all day Tuesday and all day Wednesday at DLR. This was at the end of July (26-28). It was our first trip to DL, but we have been to WDW 4 times. It was a wonderful trip! We got to do everything we wanted, but we were at the parks from open till close both days. We loved it! We just focused on one park each day and did everything we wanted including Aladdin, WOC, Fantasmic and the fireworks.

We only had a couple days to spend because the main focus of the trip was driving scenic highway 1 up the coast. When we arrived in CA, we had a quick trip to Venice Beach and Hollywood Blvd for the walk of fame. Then on to Disney that evening. After our Disney days, we went to the Getty Center in LA which was really nice too. Our remaining days consisted on driving the Big Sur Scenic Byway to Monterey, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, time in Santa Cruz, San Francisco and out to Yosemite. We did a one-way car rental and returned it in Sacramento where we flew out. We packed a lot into the trip thinking we might not be back. We were wrong, we'll be back probably sooner than later!

We loved it out there and absolutely loved Disneyland! I'm ready to go again!!!

 

[HydroGuy]

So we are tossing around this idea for a possible trip. We are really wanting to get back to San Diego to go to Seaworld and the zoo again. I would love to see DL also. Problem is we will only have limited vacation time. Our thought is maybe to fly into LA on a Sunday morning. Go to DL Sunday afternoon, Monday and Tuesday. Then Wednesday pack up rent a car and head to San Diego to do two days each at the zoo and Seaworld and then fly home out of San Diego.

What we are questioning is that enough time to get a good taste of DL. We would be going in late June or middle July so I know there will be large crowds. Will we be spending most of our time in lines and not get to see very much. We have also considered adding another day and not heading to San Diego until Thursday and only doing Seaworld one day but we are not sure we want to do that either.

Oh, and it is just DH and I.
Just appreciate your thoughts on how much we would be able to see in DL if going only for 2 1/2 days.

Yes, enough to get a good taste is the right way to put it. With the new World of Color at DCA you really need four days now at DLR to take it all in. Less than that you will miss some things - but you can certainly have a great experience and see a lot.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

DD and I spent her 7th B-day at DLR over the 4th of July weekend ~ we had a fantastic time, we got a lot of rides, shows, meals and good times in. Our 1st ride of the day for 3 of our 4 mornings was Peter Pan ~ *we walked on* If you get up early the 1st few hours of the day are pleasant *and cool* collect FPs for later use *after your afternoon nap/rest.

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

Thanks everyone for you replies. We are the type of people that get there at park opening and stay until they close (we do that everyday of a 10 day WDW trip anyway).

Another question. I have been looking at rental car prices Not used to renting cars. Our plan is to rent one when we get to DL and return it in San Diego. It is a bit less if we wait and rent one the day before we plan on leaving for San Diego and since we plan on staying close enough to DL to walk we don't really need one there. If we take a shuttle to DL from the airport. I was looking online and found Hertz close by. I think they will come pick you up also but was wondering if anyone knew if it was close enough to walk to from DL. Looks like it is less than a mile but didn't know the streets and if there were highways getting in the way making it difficult to walk to. I know there is a Alamo in DTD but their prices were outragous.

 

[Hester]

You might compare cost of taking the train from Anaheim to San Diego? Also, you will not need a car once you are on Disney property. Great suggestions on SNA (Orange County) airport or Long Beach! LAX is a zoo and LA traffic is horrible.

from: http://www.mousesavers.com/train.html
Disneyland To/From San Diego (SeaWorld, San Diego Zoo, LEGOLAND)

It's a short (just over 2 hours), pleasant Amtrak train ride between San Diego and Anaheim, so you can certainly combine the delights of SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo with your trip to Disneyland. It's also relatively inexpensive -- you can travel between San Diego and Anaheim for about $20 (or less with various promotions) each way. From the main station in San Diego, it's an inexpensive taxi fare to downtown and the major attractions.

 

[lorihannahgwen]

You might compare cost of taking the train from Anaheim to San Diego? Also, you will not need a car once you are on Disney property. Great suggestions on SNA (Orange County) airport or Long Beach! LAX is a zoo and LA traffic is horrible.

from: http://www.mousesavers.com/train.html
Disneyland To/From San Diego (SeaWorld, San Diego Zoo, LEGOLAND)

It's a short (just over 2 hours), pleasant Amtrak train ride between San Diego and Anaheim, so you can certainly combine the delights of SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo with your trip to Disneyland. It's also relatively inexpensive -- you can travel between San Diego and Anaheim for about $20 (or less with various promotions) each way. From the main station in San Diego, it's an inexpensive taxi fare to downtown and the major attractions.

Is there a rental place near the train station in San Diego?
Can you bring luggage on the train?
My family is thinking of doing the same trip as OP. I think it would be cheaper to pick-up and drop off the rental car at the same location.
Lori

 

[HydroGuy]

Thanks everyone for you replies. We are the type of people that get there at park opening and stay until they close (we do that everyday of a 10 day WDW trip anyway).

FWIW DL has longer parks hours than the WDW parks (ignoring the EMH at WDW). DL opens at 8AM every day during high season and closes at midnight. Plus Magic Mornings at 7AM four days a week. I am a high energy person but even that is too much for me. For one day maybe. But the next day I would be shot if I had to get up early. Again.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Is there a rental place near the train station in San Diego?
Can you bring luggage on the train?
My family is thinking of doing the same trip as OP. I think it would be cheaper to pick-up and drop off the rental car at the same location.
Lori

We took the train from San Diego to the DLR area this past Dec. - we had luggage with us, it was easy and pleasant.

 

[lvdis]

FWIW DL has longer parks hours than the WDW parks (ignoring the EMH at WDW). DL opens at 8AM every day during high season and closes at midnight. Plus Magic Mornings at 7AM four days a week. I am a high energy person but even that is too much for me. For one day maybe. But the next day I would be shot if I had to get up early. Again.

It is a long day, but it's doable, especially if you're short on time. Our motto is always, "we can sleep when we get home"! At Disney it's go-go-go!

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

It is a long day, but it's doable, especially if you're short on time. Our motto is always, "we can sleep when we get home"! At Disney it's go-go-go!

Exactly!

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

Well we already have a change in plans. We have decided to go and spend the entire week at DL!!!!! Then we will go back another time for our San Diego trip. Decided it was too hard to try to pack everything into the time we had.

 

[nunzia]

I think it would certainly be worthwhile..with no kids you'll be able to breeze past some rides and plan your day at a quicker pace if need be. We had 2 days at SeaWorld in June and it was nice to have the extra day, but again, without kids, one day may be enough. Either way you plan it, sounds like a great trip!

 

[lillybug]

We did a bus tour to Sea World a couple years ago from Anaheim. They picked us up in the morning at our Anaheim hotel and dropped us off that night. At Sea World we were able to see all the shows we wanted to and we were able to get on a couple rides. We really liked that we didn't have to fight traffic down and back or worry about a car rental or changing hotels.
If I remember correctly the shuttle down was free for the price of admission to SW. We were happy with it!

This is the company we went through http://www.coachamerica.com/graylineanaheim/tours_ana.cfm

 

[pinktink83]

3 days was PLENTY for our family to do everything in the park in multiple times. And that was with two little ones and 3 hour naps every day. So I think its just fine!

Although we also did SeaWorld in 1 day...I micromanaged, but its easy enough to do. And the last time we were at the zoo, we only did one day. I can't remember if we ended missing exhibits, but 1 day was enough it is so huge!!!) I'd probably want to throw in a day at the beach somewhere in there, just to rest your aching feet!!

 

[HydroGuy]

3 days was PLENTY for our family to do everything in the park in multiple times. And that was with two little ones and 3 hour naps every day. So I think its just fine!

I am assuming by "everything" you mean rides? Because for completeness there is a lot more than rides at DLR. We were there four-and-a-half days last month and did not come close to doing everything even once let alone multiple times. We did do most everything we wanted to do, but there was a lot more we could have done but did not.