Random Questions From A DL Rookie

[jhaig]

We are WDW vets that need a break from Florida and we are considering a DL trip in late 2016. Our plan is to stay on property at the DL Hotel for five nights. The exact dates are not set but we are looking for a combination of low crowds, longest park hours, and best prices. We would like to arrive on a Sunday to get oriented, then do the park M-Th (most advice says avoid weekends).

I am learning a lot from Hydroguy's guide but I still have some questions:

1) Is there much difference between late August - early Sept vs mid-late Oct? When do CA schools start?

2) We are not worried about missing parades or fireworks, but would like to see WOC. Is the best bet to get a dinner pkg or FP?

3) Should we go during longer parks hours and bigger crowds ( we usually do rope drop) as long as we have a plan, or during shorter hours and smaller crowds? A 10am opening seems way too late for us to get stuff done.

4) We don't want to miss HM or Small World. When do they usually go down for overlays and for how long?

5) Where can I find historical DL hours? I have a Touring Plans subscription but can only find historical crowd levels.

6) Will the new Soarin be done by this summer?

7) My family hated Dinosaur at AK with its jerky ride and eardrum shattering noises. Is Indy a better experience?

8) Is Photopass a good value at DL? We use it every year at WDW and end up with hundreds of photos after editing.

9) Our plan is to do mostly counter service food and maybe a character meal and one sit down meal. Which ones are the slam dunk, can't miss meals?

10) Are character greets as regimented as WDW or less formal?

Thanks for tolerating my lack of DL knowledge.

 

[lalasmama]

1) Is there much difference between late August - early Sept vs mid-late Oct? When do CA schools start?

Yes, there's a big difference. Early September, kids are back in school (usually the end of August in that area), and parents not wanting to take kids out in the first week or two of school. By October, you have people willing to take a break from school, plus people wanting to see Halloween decor, the Halloween parties that occur several times a week and bring in more people.

2) We are not worried about missing parades or fireworks, but would like to see WOC. Is the best bet to get a dinner pkg or FP?

We like the dinner package at Carthay Circle. The viewing area is nice, and the food is amazing.

3) Should we go during longer parks hours and bigger crowds ( we usually do rope drop) as long as we have a plan, or during shorter hours and smaller crowds? A 10am opening seems way too late for us to get stuff done.

Shorter hours, in my opinion. Shorter hours=less people=less wait times if planned well. That being said, I went last weekend, it was busy, and the longest time I waited in line was 15 minutes (Haunted Mansion with a fast pass). If you are willing to go with the flow, either way works well.

4) We don't want to miss HM or Small World. When do they usually go down for overlays and for how long?

I believe Mansion goes down mud-Sept, but I'm not sure about Small World.

5) Where can I find historical DL hours? I have a Touring Plans subscription but can only find historical crowd levels.

Google. I know it's somewhere here on this site, but I can never remember how to find it.

6) Will the new Soarin be done by this summer?

Official dates haven't been released yet for completion, at least that I remember seeing.

7) My family hated Dinosaur at AK with its jerky ride and eardrum shattering noises. Is Indy a better experience?

Haven't been on Dinosaur, but I believe they are the same type of rude vehicle, with the same bumpiness. Well, kind of. I think I saw that there's 16,000 different possible "bump" variations in Indy. So, sometimes it's bumpier than others. But Indy is NOT to be missed!

8) Is Photopass a good value at DL? We use it every year at WDW and end up with hundreds of photos after editing.

If you are going to make full use of it, it's a good deal. Personally, I just look for another family taking a picture, and trade cameras with them. I hate the photo pass lines for popular picture points!

9) Our plan is to do mostly counter service food and maybe a character meal and one sit down meal. Which ones are the slam dunk, can't miss meals?

Corn dogs are quick service. DH and DD love them. I tolerate them. I loved my Monte Cristo at Cafe Orleans (especially with pomme frites!). Blue Bayou's food is good, and ambiance is AMAZING (in the bayou of the Pirates ride). We loved Carthay Circle as well--good food, good service, loved the history.

10) Are character greets as regimented as WDW or less formal?

Again, haven't been to WDW, but over heard it's much less regimented here. Short lines (20 families or less), some roaming the areas. There are meet and greets for more "desired" characters (princesses, Olaf, Iron Man, Star Wars, etc).

 

[dina444444]

Haunted mansion typically closes around third/forth week in August and reopens the day Halloween starts which is usually the 2nd Friday of September. Small World usually closes in mid October and reopens the 2nd week of November.

I would recommend for crowds and hours to go in Mid/Late September the further into the Halloween season it gets the more crowded it is.

Our characters M & G are less structured for the roaming characters. Face characters like Alice and Mad Hatter tend to not have handlers. Such as yesterday both Alice and the Mad Hatter were walking around without them.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Keep in mind that early September has Labor Day weekend that could bring in crowds.

In October you will have Halloween parties which, if I'm remembering correctly, close Disneyland a bit early on multiple nights a week (unless you pay to go to the party.)

 

[disneychrista]

Go late August if you do not want to miss Haunted Mansion

Historical Park Hours can be found here http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland/park-hours.cfm

 

[Baklava]

California schools start at all different times. I live in a city that includes parts of 3 different districts and they all start on different dates as early as mid-August.

 

[jhaig]

Are crowd levels during the weekdays going to be a factor in September at all? Is Sept at DL considered "slow season"?

 

[dina444444]

Are crowd levels during the weekdays going to be a factor in September at all? Is Sept at DL considered "slow season"?

Weekdays will typically be less crowded than the weekends but you'll find the parks will close earlier and night time entertainment opportunities will be limited.

As a local a less crowded day to me is when lines for the headliners are in the 20-45 minute wait range compared to a normal weekend wait of 35-60 minutes. Also, some rides may be running at a lower capacity such as only loading on one side of a dual loading dock or not as many vehicles will be in operation on rides like screamin', space, and indy.

 

[SMD]

Are crowd levels during the weekdays going to be a factor in September at all? Is Sept at DL considered "slow season"?

There wasn't a slow season this year. In past years Disney has come up with promotions like rare character meets, get happier Mondays or Wednesdays with Walt that have brought in crowds. We don't know how the construction will affect attendance next year. There may be some kind of promotion that brings people in. There is also a race weekend in September which draws crowds and the end of the 60th.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

7) My family hated Dinosaur at AK with its jerky ride and eardrum shattering noises. Is Indy a better experience?

My family also hated Dinosaur at AK. Indy, while the same type ride (rough, jerky, etc) the show itself I think is better. We like Indy except for the actual roughness of the vehicle.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Indiana Jones is the exact same track and ride vehicles as Dinosaur. At least that's what I've read. They definitely seem very similar. But Indiana Jones seems brighter in some spots. And maybe not quite as loud.

 

[figment_jii]

1) Is there much difference between late August - early Sept vs mid-late Oct? When do CA schools start?

There are some differences between late August/early September and mid-late October, primarily in terms of decor. By mid-late October, the parks should be in full HalloweenTime mode. You'll start to see some of it in early-September, but it won't be in full swing until the official start of HalloweenTime. As others have mentioned, school districts start at staggered times, but all will be back in session by mid-late October (some will be on fall break by then). I've been tracking some of the events and school breaks in the 2016 Calendar thread.

4) We don't want to miss HM or Small World. When do they usually go down for overlays and for how long?

Haunted Mansion usually goes down mid-August for 18-days, until the start of HalloweenTime. My guess is it'll go down either August 22 or 29 depending on when HalloweenTime will start. There is a good chance we won't know when HalloweenTime will start until the summer. IaSW goes down in mid-October to have the holiday overlay installed. If you go mid-late October, you'll probably miss IaSW.

6) Will the new Soarin be done by this summer?

No one really knows what's going on with Soarin' at this point. They haven't announced the date when it'll debut.

7) My family hated Dinosaur at AK with its jerky ride and eardrum shattering noises. Is Indy a better experience?

Yes and no...I think Indy is a much better attraction than Dinosaur, but it's still jerky and loud.

8) Is Photopass a good value at DL? We use it every year at WDW and end up with hundreds of photos after editing.

It depends on whether you plan to meet a lot of characters, do a lot of character meals, and ride the attractions with photos (Space, Splash, Screamin', ToT, and RSR). I think it's fun, but not a must have on each of my trips.

9) Our plan is to do mostly counter service food and maybe a character meal and one sit down meal. Which ones are the slam dunk, can't miss meals?

That's a tough question because everyone's tastes are so different. I would check out the Dining Reviews thread and see what interests you.

10) Are character greets as regimented as WDW or less formal?

They are a lot less formal at DLR in that you'll find more characters roaming about the parks and at non-specific locations. DLR has a few specific character locations (e.g., Princess Fantasy Faire, Pixie Hollow, Super Hero HQ) and then a lot of characters that meet out in the parks. You're best bet is to check the official Disneyland App to see who is scheduled to where and when.

 

[Baklava]

For food our "must haves" are the hot link corn dog in DCA and the buffet at Storytellers.

 

[asunutgirl]

As a local an AP holder, I'll give my two cents on food since most of the other questions have been answered:

The corn dogs from the little red wagon are amazing. Not healthy, but hey - you are at Disneyland. We usually try to hit the wagon around 11:30am because the line gets long, especially when the park is busy. Carnation cafe is a sit down waitress/water service with amazing baked potato soup. My husband likes the burgers there - better than the counter service ones. DD18 loves the Turkey legs - the girl will eat a whole one by herself. LOL Our family also likes pizza port - salad, pasta and pizza. The pasta portions are huge so we often share. Or I get the kids meal - I'm not a huge eater.

Snacks - have a churro. Or two. If you like coconut, the Matterhorn Macaroon at the Jolly Holiday bakery is decadent. (They have a good Caprese sandwich there too.) My favorite treat is the fudge mallow at the candy shop in DL.

Over at DCA, we like the Pacific Warf Cafe for their bread bowl salads and soup. We usually do the WOC dinner package at the winery. The food is good and less expensive that Carthay circle. (My kids also don't like the menu offerings at Carthay.)

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I believe the new soarin will be up by end of January, with two new scents, grass and flowers.

 

[jhaig]

I was looking at the TP site and noticed crowd levels for the month of September 2015 never got over a '3' except for weekends. As long as we have a decent touring plan in place for the weekdays, how much of a realistic difference is there between a level of 1 and 3?

 

[tlovesdis]

I was looking at the TP site and noticed crowd levels for the month of September 2015 never got over a '3' except for weekends. As long as we have a decent touring plan in place for the weekdays, how much of a realistic difference is there between a level of 1 and 3?

That can't be right? Disneyland was packed this September, shoot it's been packed all year long!

 

[disneychrista]

I was looking at the TP site and noticed crowd levels for the month of September 2015 never got over a '3' except for weekends. As long as we have a decent touring plan in place for the weekdays, how much of a realistic difference is there between a level of 1 and 3?

Touring Plans is useless for Disneyland. Disneyland does not follow the normal patterns that DisneyWorld does.

 

[jhaig]

So where can I track down legit DL crowd levels?

 

[CallieMar]

For "off-peak", I like mid-September, after Halloween Time officially starts but before the parties get under way. However, this past September was much more crowded than usual. There is no real slow season anymore and I can only imagine what it will be like next year with all the construction going on. I used to prefer off-peak, but as it becomes more crowded, I now lean towards longer park hours. There are less people at an 8am rope drop than a 10am rope drop, and it's easier to get a lot of rides done in those first couple of hours. Also, even though you aren't worried about parades or fireworks, Disneyland Forever and Paint the Night are great and worth trying to see if they are still around during your trip.