Security gates locations? Moving around DLR, DCA & Downtown Disney

[rwatson626]

Hello,

First trip to Disneyland and trying to get a better understanding of how security gates work (locations) and waiting times on them? We are WDW vets so if you would like to use WDW as a comparison.

If I am in DLR and want to go to DCA or Downtown Disney do I have to go through the security gate again?

I'm staying an off-site hotel, how long to get through security gate typically in the morning and if I leave to go back to the hotel mid-day?

I'm sure there are threads about this but I couldn't find them.

Thanks

 

[gerilyne]

DTD, Disneyland and DCA are all inside security so you don't have to go through it again to change parks or go to DTD. It's only if you go back to your hotel or visit one of the Disney Hotels that you would have to go through it again.

I haven't come through the Habor side since it changed so I'm not sure how long but from the GCH and DLH I never had to wait for more than a minute or two.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Think of the entire Disney property as a square.

The north side is Disneyland main park
The south side is California Adventures park
The east side is Harbour Boulevard, pedestrian entrance and shuttle bus area
The west side is Downtown Disney, car park shuttle area, pedestrian entrance, Disneyland Hotel and Paradise Pier Hotel entrance.

The whole big space in the the middle of the square is an esplanade.

There are security bag checks at the east and west side of the square. Once you are in the square you are inside the security ring and can go to the Main Disney Park, California Adventures and Downtown Disney as many times as you like without an further bag checks when you enter or exit.

The Grand California Hotel is also inside the security ring. However, as it has a street entrance, when you exit this hotel, either to Downtown Disney or to California Adventures park you will have a bag check.

Which off site hotel are you staying at? Some you can walk to, some you need to take a shuttle or other transport method.
Most of the off site hotels are accessed by the east entrance, Harbour Boulevard.

Security lines depend on the time of day, the day and how much stuff you have to check.

At 7.30am, when the park opens at 8am, you could be through bag check in 10 minutes

 

[rwatson626]

Thanks for the quick and informative responses.

Which off site hotel are you staying at?

I'm staying at Fairfield Inn

 

[BadPinkTink]

Thanks for the quick and informative responses.


I'm staying at Fairfield Inn

You are welcome. ok, then you will be walking out of your hotel and across the street to the Harbour Boulevard Pedestrian entrance.

 

[MikeRx]

We’ve done the Fairfield and other Harbor hotels and the security line is a mixed bag. The “new” screening setup is far better and more efficient, but can back up for DL magic mornings. Week days it’s likely 10-15 min and 20 on weekends. I’d give yourself at least 30 mins to reduce stress. We are rope droppers, so we don’t know what anything other than MM or pre-opening times look like . Returning from a midday break we found little to no wait. If you push the break into dinner time or evening activities you could see longer waits. The revised bubble or “Disney security square” as detailed above is one of the best things they’ve done to facilitate movement around the properties. If you plan properly (give yourself more time than you originally though) and understand that it could be backed up when you arrive you won’t over-stress. If it happens to be a breeze than you captured a bit of pixie dust.

 

[GoingSince1990]

A few years ago DTD was not in the security bubble, so the only checkpoints were to get to the esplanade where the park entrances are (and to get into DCA from the GCH entrance). The checkpoints between DTD and the esplanade have now been taken away but every entrance to DTD, including from both hotels, now has a checkpoint. One disadvantage of this is that if you are staying at GCH and want to walk through DTD to dinner at Goofy’s kitchen, you now need to go through security both going and coming back. (This can be avoided by walking the streets between the hotels instead of walking through DTD, which we did once on our last visit when the security line from GCH to DTD was huge for some reason).

 

[MikeRx]

Additionally, if you breeze through and have a few minutes waiting to go through the gate, you can mobile order at the DTD Starbucks and send a runner. It’s a 2-5 min walk from the esplanade.

 

[jedimdes]

Additionally, if you breeze through and have a few minutes waiting to go through the gate, you can mobile order at the DTD Starbucks and send a runner. It’s a 2-5 min walk from the esplanade.

I love doing that!

 

[bcla]

There's security coming from the Harbor Way entrance. There may also be security at the off-site Toy Story parking lot before going on the shuttle buses. Apparently if this security is running then those getting off the bus are shunted into the secure area. If security isn't running at the Toy Story lot, they drop off everyone who would be required to get into the secure area.

Then there are the security lines at the trams. This is required to board the tram to the secure area. The return tram locations are outside the secure areas.

All of Disneyland, DCA, and Downtown Disney are within the security bubble. Once you're in, you're in. The only exception is the Grand Californian and perhaps the other hotels, since they allow guests to bring things not allowed inside the secure area. Last week we exited DCA into the Grand California and to Downtown Disney. We exited one security check and got checked again. Not sure about the other hotels but I would think the same thing.