This is so true!
When we do our 5 day trips we end up going into DCA every day for at least a little while. There's not only some very different attractions but also some great places to eat.
To us, not having access to DCA would be like having a couple of lands closed at DL.
I can see us doing this also!
Keep in mind that altough annual passes are more expencive, they do offer discounts for dining and shopping. Depending on the level of pass, with you being there 6 days, this could add up. Also some Include parking.
Thanks! We are DVC members and are staying on site (VGC), so we'll get discounts that way. If we didn't, we'd definitely consider the AP!
OP, I'm a HUGE fan of DL. It's why I we go to DLR. But I would never be happy with just 1 day out of 6 at DCA. Some of our favorite rides are there.
One thing to keep in mind is that you can add hopping to a ticket after arrival. So you could start with single park tickets and change your mind later and add the hopping option. However, to keep that option open to its fullest extent, you really would want to have an AP or the 5 day plus 1 day ticket option so you get more out of it if you add it.
Thanks for that info! I think we're going in with the PH option because we always PH at WDW and are pretty convinced we'll do so at DL, especially since the parks are so close.
My suggestion is you won't know until you get there, how much time one needs to enjoy DLR is very subjective and everyone has to form their own opinion. I would suggest buying 3 day PH's for everyone. Then by day 3 you should know if you need that extra day or if 5 will be enough. If you think you will be fine with 5 days then upgrade all your tickets to 5 day PHs and if you find you will want to have that extra day, then you could buy another 3 day PH giving you another MM, another 1 day thicket or even upgrade your 3 day to an AP if you choose. The option is open to you after you get there - you do not have to decide unless you are concerned about pricing increasing before your visit.
I have heard people say that DCA is a one day park and I don't know what kind of drugs there people must be on as that is the last thing I think - when we go to DLR I want to spend the full amount of time there that I can. Our very first trip we had 6 day PHs as they still sold them back in 2012, then for our 2013/2014 trips we bought an AP that we used across both trips. The savings we got over the 20 days in hotels on those two trips and the additional savings on dining and tours paid for 2 of our passes. This year we are returning with only the 5 day PH and we will be making sure to have nice long park days to take it all in and then really enjoy the days off where we have no option to go into the park. I found with the APs that we were actually less efficient in our park time as we had this "we've got all the days of our trip to enjoy it" type thinking.
Have fun!!
Those are great tips! We love going to the parks as much as we can, also! We really want to maximize our times the parks, not just to do the rides and shows but to soak up the ambiance. We're in Ohio and don't anticipate going to DL that often, so we aren't intending to rush, rush, rush. We want to meander, stroll, ride, stop and smell the roses, see the parks at day and night... essentially, I really think we will take full advantage of 6 days, so I think we're going to do 2 3-day PH tickets or get a 5-day PH and a 1-day ticket (maybe not with the PH option).
I def think you would need at least 5 days we are probably only going to do 4 this trip and it is driving me crazy!! But we will only be there for 8 days when usually we are there at least 10 days and we like have a beach day and do other things. We actually sometimes spend more time in DCA than DL especially when DL is super busy
I appreciate your post; I hadn't considered that the closeness of the parks would allow us to easily switch if we find one park is swamped. Thanks!
If you're not staying on site, you might get more bang for your buck doing a split stay at the end of the trip for a night or 2 rather than a 6th day ticket. You'd get EE on check in and check out day and could add a resort day. You could always add a 1 day, 1 park ticket once you get there and use it with a 5 day PH if you feel like you need a 6th day. You could put your non-hopping day in the middle of the trip if you want to preserve hopping for the last day. Have you looked at other local attractions? So Cal has a lot more to do than just DLR, you may want to spend your 6th day elsewhere.
Goodness -- I have so much to learn! We are staying at the VGC on DVC points, so maybe this doesn't apply to us. We might need to add a night if our last night's wait list doesn't come through. If that happens, sounds like we could do a one-day park ticket for whichever park we wanted and still get EE - right?
And to your other question, YES! We are actually flying into San Diego, probably spending two days there, taking the Amtrak to Anaheim, spending 6 days at the DLR, probably going to Universal Studios Hollywood to experience Harry Potter (we can never pull ourselves away from WDW to see it!), and then also do a city tour of LA. LOTS to experience - we are going July 13-22, so we are blessed with a long trip to do lots of fun things in addition to DLR!
There are some good tips here, but the OP should know that if they decide to buy another 3 day ticket at the ticket booth, it will not include MM. It may be included if purchased at a GNH (Good Neighbor Hotel) .
Can't get the MM perk if you buy a 3 day ticket at the ticket booth - check. Good to know!
Also if you consider an AP, make sure to check any block out dates!!
Thanks - we did! The Saturday of our trip is blocked out, so it furthers our decision not to purchase APs.
Since you frequently visit WDW, DCA is less than a 1-Day park.
All these DCA attractions are exactly the same as their WDW counter parts, and in some cases, WDW has the superior version:
- Soarin
- Tough To Be a Bug
- Toy Story Mania (better at WDW)
- Tower of Terror (SOOOOO much better at WDW)
- Little Mermaid ( better at WDW)
- Turtle Talk
- Muppet Vision 3D*
* A Frozen sing along show has "temporarily" taken over the theater. Its unclear if Muppets will come back.
Thanks! Being DL newbies, we want to experience it all, even if WDW will end up having the better version of the ride/attraction.
We have never bought Park Hoppers at WDW.
However, we did buy PH tickets at
Disneyland, because (1) the parks are just a few minutes' walk away from each other, (2) Fast Passes at the two parks are independent of each other, and (3) we wanted to ride Radiator Springs Racers once each day with Fast Passes.
We went back and forth between the two parks 4 out of the 5 days we were there. And we found DCA had just as many attractions that we wanted to do as did Disneyland.
Can I just say I LOVE this??? Not only are the parks within steps of each other, but the FPs at the two parks are independent of each other??? LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!
We bought AP's just for the ability to go a 6th day. With the merchandise and food discounts we did pretty good price-wise.
We also plan to go back for another 5 day trip during our AP period and that will save us more than $400 on tickets overall.
Thanks for that reminder. We are DVC members, so we get a 10% discount on merchandise and food already. Without that, I'm sure the AP would be worth it. I don't think the $600 price tag makes sense for us this time.
This could have been mentioned, but when people say DCA is a 1-day park I think they mean that it can be covered in one day. However, it can definitely be enjoyed at a slower pace and so many of the attractions are repeatable over and over, even within a one week trip.
Great point - thanks for that observation!
This is so true!
When we do our 5 day trips we end up going into DCA every day for at least a little while. There's not only some very different attractions but also some great places to eat.
To us, not having access to DCA would be like having a couple of lands closed at DL.
I think that's a great reminder; with the proximity of the parks, I can easily see hopping back and forth between the parks even within a two-hour window. That's definitely a feather in DL's cap when compared to WDW. Even if you can park-hop between two parks at WDW within that window, you would get barely anything accomplished.
The max # of days you can purchase a ticket for is 5.
