Quick September trip - Halloween party?

[Symon]

We are planning a trip to San Diego at the end of September and are going to make a quick stop to Disneyland for 2 days (September 25th & 26th.) We will arrive on Monday the 25th and probably make it to Disneyland around noon.

My first thought was to spend the rest of Monday at DCA and then all of Tues. at DL. However, I think there might be a Halloween party at DL on Monday (using last year’s schedule as a guide.) If this is the case, I am now thinking of attending the Halloween party on Monday and spending Tues. at DCA.

Other factors influencing my decision: We have never been to a Halloween party, and while we would mostly be interested in rides, it will be fun to see the other activities (characters, parade, etc.) even if it is only from a distance as we are passing by. I was thinking about what I most wanted to see during this short trip and I have five things on my list that I have never seen, and 4 of them are at DCA (NBC Haunted Mansion, New Soarin’, New Frozen show, New Luigi’s ride, and New Guardians of the Galaxy TOT.) Since most of them are at DCA, I think I would be better off with a full day there when I can get there at rope drop.

So what do you think of this plan? Am I going to miss too much at Disneyland? Will the lines for the rides be shorter at DL during the party? We aren’t going to buy hoppers for this trip. We go every year or two, so we will be back, just want to get the most out of this short visit.

Thanks for your opinions!

 

[SMD]

HMH is in DL, it's an overlay of the regular HM. There probably will be a party on that day, but we won't really know until the dates are announced in a few months. Unless they change the conditions of the party ticket, you'll have access to DL at 3pm with the ticket. If you wanted to, you could just wait to enter DL then and use a 1 day ticket for DCA.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

If there is a party that day, you'd have plenty of time to do the DL highlights with your party ticket, and you could do DCA for a full day the next day. Sounds like a good plan to me.

The ride lines were pretty short at the party I went to; a lot of people are there for special character meets, treat trails, etc.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

HMH is in DL, it's an overlay of the regular HM.

I'm assuming that was the 1 out of 5 things she wants to see that's NOT at DCA - she mentioned four of five and then listed four additional DCA attractions.

 

[Abbey1]

We added two days on to a San Diego trip we took two years ago and did exactly as you are planning. We spent one full day in DCA and went to the Halloween party in Disneyland the other day. We bought one-day tickets and party tickets and it worked out great.

We attended the party the day we arrived and were able to do everything we wanted to in Disneyland during the party and the three hours prior to it starting. We were able to catch the fireworks and parade (it was PTN during this party), trick or treat, and ride all of the rides we had our hearts set on.

One day in DCA would definitely be enough to check off all of your must-dos and much more.

 

[Niltiac]

I think your plan sounds good, especially since most of your priorities are in DCA. I've been to two Halloween parties and found ride lines to be pretty short, and some where walk-on. I haven't tried to ride HMH during a Halloween party because the line looked pretty long, so you might have to dedicate a chunk of time to that. I think a lot of people want to ride it during the party because it's in the spirit of Halloween. Since your party ticket gets you in a few hours early you could check the app and see if there are any FP available right when you get in (you can't get FP during the party). Most of the comments I've seen about long lines at Halloween parties seem to be referring to character meets - I think a lot of people attend the parties just for that. So if you focus on rides instead, you can get a lot done. I also loved the new Halloween parade. I liked it better than PtN, but I know I'm in the minority on that.

There are a few things closed during the party, just restaurants and smaller attractions for the most part. The ones that come to mind are Tom Sawyer Island, the treehouse and great moments with Mr. Lincoln. It might be worth looking into what will be closed just to make sure you won't be disappointed.

 

[Symon]

Thank you all for your comments! I think we will try and attend a party, will just have to wait for the schedule to come out and see if there is one while we are there!