To add a half day or not...

[magsnwonderland]

We are coming in for spring break, staying 5 nights on property and we have 3 day tickets (one day we're heading to Universal for Super Mario). Our flight lands at LGB on a Saturday at noon and my original plan was to get to the hotel, check in, hang at the pool, maybe check out downtown Disney, etc. But now I'm looking at adding a fourth day onto our tickets. Pros are that we could head into the parks for a leisurely evening, check out the fireworks or Fantasmic, and get some rides in, etc. We usually take breaks midday and go back to the hotel, so we'll probably still do lunch and pool before heading into the park, but it would give us some flexibility if the weather isn't good for the pool. I've been to DL before with our oldest, husband and younger two have not (and they don't remember WDW outside of pictures), so it would help orient them to the parks, that's not 100% essential because I'm the "cruise director" and they follow my lead. Cons are that we are coming from the east coast, so it will have been an early morning and I don't know when the kids might crash and we'll be up early the next morning for early entry.

 

[Pluto468]

I would definitely add that half day. Arriving at noon you'll be able to settle in to your hotel, see DTD and still have time for a few hours at the park. I think it's relaxing having that extra time just to look around before you hit the ground running in the morning. You could look into getting a nice dinner that night or watch fireworks.

 

[fivelittles]

I agree with Pluto. The cost to go from three days to four is under $40 a person, I think? Since you're coming from so far, it seems worth it to do if it's in the budget. Even if you only spent a couple hours in the park and head back to go to bed early it would still be enough time to do a lot. I find the first day of vacation to often be one of the best days...energy and excitement is high. It could be really fun even if you just spent that day walking around Disneyland looking at things.

 

[Kit Jackson]

I'd add it if you can afford it. You can take a nap/rest at the hotel in the afternoon, then at night see some shows, maybe knock out a few rides with a short wait time, and you don't have to stay until close. You can go to bed early and wake up the next morning for rope drop.

 

[irlandaise]

Can Mags add the extra day on the day of arrival once her family decides how tired they are from traveling? Or does she have to do it in advance?

Mags, if you aren't too tired, then I imagine that the excitement of being at Disneyland will have your family eager to at least set foot in the main park for a while that afternoon/evening.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Can Mags add the extra day on the day of arrival once her family decides how tired they are from traveling? Or does she have to do it in advance?

Mags, if you aren't too tired, then I imagine that the excitement of being at Disneyland will have your family eager to at least set foot in the main park for a while that afternoon/evening.

The reservation system makes it really difficult to make changes to your tickets, including adding a day. You lose all associated reservations when you do it. You have to get a refund on the old three-day hopper and purchase a new four-day hopper and get new reservations.

OP if you think you want to do this, start a chat through the app, they can help you. But make sure reservations are an available for all your days before you do anything.

 

[magsnwonderland]

I have a package booked and was able to just change the number of days on the tickets without losing any park reservations or dining reservations. I did make sure to immediately make a park reservation for the new day (and fingers crossed I'm able to grab a MMRR boarding group at 7am during our layover).

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I have a package booked and was able to just change the number of days on the tickets without losing any park reservations or dining reservations. I did make sure to immediately make a park reservation for the new day (and fingers crossed I'm able to grab a MMRR boarding group at 7am during our layover).

That is excellent! Sounds like booking a package offers some more flexibility on ticket changes than buying tickets separately. Hmmmmmm…

 

[ComeToSocialize]

I’ve had this exact conundrum, showed up without buying the earlier day (luckily this was before reservations) and we all ended up deciding to just go in that afternoon instead of doing the pool, and then going to ticket office to add days. It’s hard to keep the family out when the parks are right there.

When in doubt, half days on arrival I think are always worth it. Half days on departure are usually not because people are tired and there’s the stress of catching your flight / getting on the road.