Potential late August trip - please weigh in

[starryagain]

Thanks in advance for any advice.

My family (2 adult and kids 5 and 8) will be in Southern California for the last week of August. I was in San Diego briefly as a young person, but otherwise the first time for all of us. We are going to spend two days in San Diego and see the zoo, and then we have two available days, then three days on Huntington Beach at the Hyatt. We are flying in and out of John Wayne airport and have a rental car.

We are trying to decide between staying at the beach for five nights or if we should instead spend two days at Disney. We are DVC members and have been to Disneyworld about almost once a year, but we are not Disney superfans / diehards (in fact we may sell our DVC in another year). We just got back from a trip in May (at the Beach Club) and will go again next year (at Polynesian) as we have DVC DW annual pass. The character meets not being available due to coronavirus is not a big deal to us.

We likely would just do one day at each park and would not be disappointed to miss something. We would go to the parks on Tuesday and Wednesday (August 24-25). We would want to focus on things at Disneyland that are different than DW, whatever that would be.

Will this be a huge planning effort?

Obviously no one knows the future but should we expect large crowds?

If you had not been to this area of the country before, would you want to spend two of your days at DL vs other sites (we have no interest in going to LA, but other sites in Orange County)?

Thanks!

 

[GBRforWDW]

I’ll be visiting California for the first time next week and spending 3 days at DL. I suppose everyone has different priorities, but at the age of the kids, it’s probably a perfect time to visit DL if you don’t think you’ll travel to this part of the country for a long while.

however, for the crowds question, it’ll probably sell out of park passes, but lots of rides appear, right now anyway, to have low wait times, so there’s always the possibility of avoiding crowds and getting on rides. I did find out on another thread that Tuesday and Wednesday are usually the cheapest rates for single day single park tickets and looking at the dates you mentioned, the prices are actually at their low price point.

 

[CherylGonz]

DL is not a high planning effort. Hours are extended DL 8-11 and DCA are 8-10. Although I’m not sure why this is just happening mid Aug. LA schools are already back in session so I’m not sure what that will do for crowds.

We always do rope drop and take a break.

At that time you will also see hints of Halloween starting to appear in the Park.

 

[Becca1007]

Thanks in advance for any advice.

My family (2 adult and kids 5 and 8) will be in Southern California for the last week of August. I was in San Diego briefly as a young person, but otherwise the first time for all of us. We are going to spend two days in San Diego and see the zoo, and then we have two available days, then three days on Huntington Beach at the Hyatt. We are flying in and out of John Wayne airport and have a rental car.

We are trying to decide between staying at the beach for five nights or if we should instead spend two days at Disney. We are DVC members and have been to Disneyworld about almost once a year, but we are not Disney superfans / diehards (in fact we may sell our DVC in another year). We just got back from a trip in May (at the Beach Club) and will go again next year (at Polynesian) as we have DVC DW annual pass. The character meets not being available due to coronavirus is not a big deal to us.

We likely would just do one day at each park and would not be disappointed to miss something. We would go to the parks on Tuesday and Wednesday (August 24-25). We would want to focus on things at Disneyland that are different than DW, whatever that would be.

Will this be a huge planning effort?

Obviously no one knows the future but should we expect large crowds?

If you had not been to this area of the country before, would you want to spend two of your days at DL vs other sites (we have no interest in going to LA, but other sites in Orange County)?

Thanks!

I think 2 days at Disney is probably perfect. Are you renting a car for your whole trip? If not, I love the train from San Diego to Anahiem (it runs along the coast and is very scenic). And a quick tip for the San Diego portion of your trip hit up Lola55 for tacos and get a Balboa Park museum pass to explore all the different offerings.

 

[Aspencreek]

I think 2 days at Disney is probably perfect. Are you renting a car for your whole trip? If not, I love the train from San Diego to Anahiem (it runs along the coast and is very scenic). And a quick tip for the San Diego portion of your trip hit up Lola55 for tacos and get a Balboa Park museum pass to explore all the different offerings.

Wow, I didn't even know these trains existed! Just looked it up and we could stay in Old Town San Diego, walk over to the train station, ride a couple hours, and then be within a $10 uber ride to Disneyland! I'm for sure going to be doing that this fall. Thanks for the info Becca!

As for Starry, I'd say go for the 2 days at DL/DCA. Crowds shouldn't be bad on those days. We were there 2 weeks ago from Tues-Sat and Tues-Thurs were the least crowded days. Picked up a bit Friday but still not crazy. Not sure when all the different schools start to go back, but as was stated many will be back in session by then so that should make it less busy also. As for planning, not much needed except getting to the parks. If I had two days I'd do DL for one and DCA for one which would give you a chance to see the unique California attractions. If I had more time I might try to go hit Universal Studios for a day, but that's a good distance from DL so it's not something we usually do for our trips there.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

2 day hoppers will enable you to explore and experience quite a lot, with very little planning needed. The thing that takes the most effort is typically getting ADRs, but DLR has so many QS options that they aren't strictly necessary unless it is a must-do experience for your family. You can even just show up and still have quite a good time - even the long lines at DLR are typically under the hour. The only consistent exception to this rule is RSR, which is normally a must-do, especially for folks used to WDW, but if you don't want to wait, it really is ok to skip it Just wandering the area and soaking up the sights can be entertaining enough

Hope you have a great trip!

 

[kristensideaoffun]

Wow, I didn't even know these trains existed! Just looked it up and we could stay in Old Town San Diego, walk over to the train station, ride a couple hours, and then be within a $10 uber ride to Disneyland! I'm for sure going to be doing that this fall. Thanks for the info Becca!

We live in San Diego and this was our main mode of transportation to and from DL when we were passholders pre-pandemic. It’s so relaxing and a beautiful trip. Even better is you can get into or leave Anaheim at night when the train station is all lit up. You can take the bus for free once you get off the train, but we always take Uber/Lyft.

 

[kappyfamily]

5 and 8 are such great ages for Disney, I say go for it! I’ve been to both DL and WDW many times and DL is much easier to show up and go with the flow. I go for 3 days in September and I won’t be planning much, considering even getting rid of my ADRs and just eating gran and go meals at the lark. Much smaller parks than WDW too. Have fun!

 

[cruisehopeful]

It won't be hard to plan and one day at each park is very reasonable if you don't mind missing stuff. For DCA, you'll want to visit Cars Land the new Marvel area. With that said, since you are not Disney die hard fans, you can easily find other things to do in San Diego/Orange County/LA County for the 2 open days.