Suggestions for how to break up my 4 day trip

[Piglet99645]

I'm wondering if any of you have specific suggestions (in light of grad nights) as to how to break up our four day trip of Thurs-Sun June 9-12.

I have been expecting our first day to be a Magic Morning day, but with grad night the night before, now apparently it won't be.

We are going to be three adults and three kids (ages 10, 5 and 2 so possibly TWO strollers, god help me). I'm tentatively planning 2.5 days at DL and 1.5 days at DCA. I'm not sure how to break it up. But I definitely want to do DL first thing on the first day.

I have my Ridemax subscription and have been playing with it, but of course our dates aren't available yet.

All suggestions welcome. Maybe this question is premature because the hours aren't posted yet. Any educated guesses as to what the hours might be? (Grad nights are June 8 and 9).


Piglet

 

[skiingfast]

I'm tentatively planning 2.5 days at DL and 1.5 days at DCA. I'm not sure how to break it up. But I definitely want to do DL first thing on the first day.

I have my Ridemax subscription and have been playing with it, but of course our dates aren't available yet.

All suggestions welcome. Maybe this question is premature because the hours aren't posted yet. Any educated guesses as to what the hours might be? (Grad nights are June 8 and 9).


Piglet

I really wouldn't plan 2.5 days 1.5 days. I would plan DL each morning, DCA each late morning. DL each late night. And where ever you want in the afternoon and evening.

You may of seen some posts that Grad Night takes place in both parks. It's just planned to be in DL. DCA was open a lot longer than in the past with the opening of WoC. It's reasonable to expect DCA to stay open extra long when DL has parties going on, Disney has don'e this in WDW. We'll have to see how the official calendar sets up as we get closer.

 

[blackjackdelta]

I also would not divide the trip up that way. SF has the right idea, the parks are so close it is easy to hop.

Jack

 

[Piglet99645]

Yes, I meant overall we would spend more time in DL than DCA (2.5 of the total days in DL, 1.5 of the total days in DCA). I realize now I wasn't clear.

Any particular suggestion as to what time to Hop?

And of course thank you for the suggestions!

 

[Butterfly123]

Piglet,

I see that you are planning your trip at the beginning of June, and staying at BWPPI. Please come back on after your trip and give us a trip report! We are going later in June (a first summer trip since 2002...we usually go in April) and are staying at BWPPI for the first time. I'd love to hear your experiences! Have a terrific time

Butterfly

 

[Piglet99645]

Piglet,

I see that you are planning your trip at the beginning of June, and staying at BWPPI. Please come back on after your trip and give us a trip report! We are going later in June (a first summer trip since 2002...we usually go in April) and are staying at BWPPI for the first time. I'd love to hear your experiences! Have a terrific time

Butterfly

I will! I love to do trip reports, and I may even update while we're there. We pulled off WDW (with two less kids) in 2005, and did it in 4 days with much success, so I am hoping DL goes nearly as well!

I'm excited that park hopping is so much easier than at WDW. Maybe I will finally get to do Soarin'!

 

[Butterfly123]

Probably more than once! Soarin' is awesome!!!

Butterfly

 

[krash2501]

We are going to be three adults and three kids (ages 10, 5 and 2 so possibly TWO strollers, god help me).

I know you will be flying in but if you do take your own stroller I would suggest getting a stand a sit stroller. They are GREAT to have. The younger kid sits in the front while the 5 year old stands (or sits) in the back. I sold off two of my stollers for the stand and sit.

Sorry I know that wasn't one of your questions but thought I would share.

Have a great trip.

p.s. I see you have been to DLRP, WDW, and DLR. How would you rank them?

 

[Piglet99645]

The sit/stand stroller is an awesome suggestion. Thank you.

Yes I have been fortunate to visit three Disney parks. (You say DLRP which I assume is Paris? I have been to Hong Kong. Hubby said no to Paris when we were there).

Anyway:

As many people have often said, they are very hard to compare.

I found DL and HKDL very similar. I have not compared ride-for-ride but I assume HKDL is smaller... we did it in one day with no kids and a million people and felt like we got our moneys worth out of the park. The Jungle Cruise was a riot with the language barrier, although they did offer it in English. But the weather was very VERY hot in August. Unbelievably hot. Everyone there brought umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun. We were like: "Is it going to rain?"

I prefer DL to the Magic Kingdom just because it is smaller and easier to get from point A to point B (but of course a large crowd can blow that out of the water). I also like being able to walk through the castle at DL.

BUT I loved the total immersion experience of WDW, riding the busses and staying on property. It is much more economical to stay on the property at WDW, imo. If you are willing to do the AllStar or Pop resorts. Of course you spend more on tickets because you stay longer, so it may be a wash.

Also the dining plan at WDW in 2005 was AWESOME.

I also loved Epcot and Animal Kingdom, which are experiences that aren't reproduced at DLR for the most part (except for Soarin').

So given a flat-out choice between the two, I would probably do WDW if I had a week or more, but DL if I had 3 days or less. For 4-6 days it just comes down to logistics and money, really.

It's Disney. You can't go wrong.

I'm sort of rambling, so let me know if you have specific questions.

P.