Summer planning help please 😊

[3DisMunchkins]

Planning a July trip just DD(20) and me. We are going July 18-21. Friday will be a later day as our flights land that morning at approximately 9am but other days we’ll probably rope drop and close the parks. We are staying within walking distance so a few hour break in the afternoon. I’m pretty sure we’ll do LLMEP but I’m still trying to decide on park hoppers. Also trying to decide on which days where especially if we don’t hop. Have you found hoppers to be more or less helpful with LL? Is Saturday still better than sundays for crowds in the summer? I think Monday was our worst day last time!

Night time shows are really important to us so will probably do a dinner for F! I’m thinking Cafe Orleans since we’d probably eat there anyway. Any chance of them selling out since you can’t specifically book ahead??
Sooo excited for PTN! Music in my head already!
All for now…thanks in advance for advice. I’m sure I’ll have more questions as time goes on!

 

[LKing]

Saturdays are generally better over the summer, but I have a feeling that weekend might be more crowded than average. July 17 is Disneyland's actual 70th birthday. People from out of town who are coming for the birthday celebration, might stay through the weekend.

Park hoppers are highly recommended. The parks are very close to each other - less than 500 feet between the two park entrances.

Cafe Orleans is a good choice. No one has reported them selling out but I suppose they could. It is a small restaurant with a large seating area for Fantasmic.

They haven't announced timing for PTN yet. It will be interesting to see how they handle traffic control after each show.

Did you look at the World of Color dessert party in DCA?

 

[3DisMunchkins]

I was wondering about crowds because of the 70th but it’s kinda the only weekend we can do. I too was wondering about PTN timing. I’m pretty sure they did 2 times in the past along with 2 showings for F!…someone correct me if you remember better! And yes the traffic was nuts to get anywhere! We’ll probably try to do one each night and catch the fireworks one or the other. If we have hoppers may do fireworks a different day.
We have done the dessert party once before and loved the chairs but so much prefer the wet zone right up front! My knees may regret it but just love the experience front and center.
still trying to justify cost of hoppers and LL with 4 days?? Debating on saving the money for snacks!
Thanks!!

 

[LKing]

If you've been to the parks before and have an idea of how much time you'll spend in each park, you can probably make it without hoppers. You have four days. Two need to be in Disneyland for PTN and Fantasmic. Are you thinking of two in DL and two in DCA or three in DL and one in DCA? Another option would be to not purchase hoppers in advance but purchase the day of if you decide that you want it. If you did that, you could do 2.5 days at Disneyland and 1.5 days in DCA. You still need to reserve your starting park and you can't begin hopping until 11 am.

Do you care about Star Wars? They are adding more evening entertainment in that section of the park.

 

[Kit Jackson]

If you can afford it, Parkhoppers are fantastic. The two parks are so close to each other that walking from one park to the other is incredibly easy. It also gives you more flexibility if multiple rides are down at one park or one park is more crowded. Since you said nighttime shows were important, you could spend the day in one park and then go to the other park for the nighttime entertainment.