Walking to the Parks?

[StuckInKS]

We are frequent WDW guests (2-4 weeks a year since 2009) and have just decided to book our first Disneyland trip for July 25-30. I plan to book the Hyatt Place by the Convention Center, but am wondering if it is walkable? I mean, we are used to major amounts of walking at WDW, but is it safely walkable (sidewalks, not across a highway, etc)? Or is there a better place to stay for walking to the parks that is less than $200/night?

As far as the actual parks, we will have 5-day tickets with no PH. Would are extra day be better used at DL or DCA? Is it like Epcot vs MK where one has way more ides than the other? How are the virtual reservations for Rise of the Resistance and Web Slingers? I was able to get us reservations in March for the Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios by being in the park and clicking the button exactly at 1pm. Will it be that easy at DL? Are the drops for both rides at the same time? Anything else we should know about visiting DL vs WDW? I know it is a lot of questions, but I just want to make sure we are prepared and can do everything in only 5 days vs the 10 days we usually have at WDW.

 

[Piglet99645]

I’d pay the $55 and Parkhop. I can’t spend a whole day in CA but we like to pop over there to do Guardians and incredicoaster several times each, and eat at a few favorite spots.

In your shoes I’d do 4 DL and 1 CA. I think it depends on what you like to do. Rides? Shows? Nostalgia or something new? DL is like a smaller but somehow better Magic Kingdom.

 

[Piglet99645]

Also there is a thread this week on close hotels. Hyatt is too far for me, but I max out at 20,000 steps and prefer to get them in the parks.

I bumped the hotel thread. Looks like your Hyatt is .6 mile from the resort.

 

[nutshell]

Hyatt is walkable, but it will seem awfully far at the end of the day. My number one suggestion is that you get park hoppers.

Five days is plenty in DLR.

Rise and WS boarding pass is same system as WDW, but draw times are currently at 7am and noon.

 

[wiggy500]

I just got back from my first Disneyland trip after several to Disney World. We had two-day tickets with no park hoppers.

I would absolutely do the extra day at Disneyland. I felt I did almost everything I wanted in one day at California Adventure even leaving the park for a two hour break during the day. I couldn't get to everything in Disneyland staying there from rope drop to close. The Magic Kingdom versus Epcot comparison is very appropriate. I believe DIsneyland has even more rides than Magic Kingdom does. Disneyland packs a lot of rides into their fantasyland.

Boarding groups should be the same concept. I refreshed half a second before 7 and got BG 53 for Rise and BG 2 for Webslingers.

Half as long of a trip should be a good plan. Enjoy!

 

[Linkura]

Just get the Park Hopper. 2 days just at DCA is a lot more than you need and you'll be wishing you had it if you don't. The parks are literally right next to each other.

 

[bwvBound]

Anything at/near the Convention Center is walkable to the parks. We routinely stay at a timeshare even further south (1 mile from DLR) and walk it.

 

[jormom1030]

Is that Disney parking lot near the convention center open? We stayed at a hotel near there and walked sometimes and rode the bus to that parking lot when we were tired.

 

[maverik85]

I agree with others saying get the park hoppers. The parks are right across form each other (entrance are just a couple 100 feet apart) so it's very easy to go between them. I feel first day at each park it is easy to spend a day at each of them but after that you'll probably want to bounce around more. Plus having the options of both parks each days allows more chances at both attractions boarding groups in case you miss out one day.

 

[bwvBound]

Is that Disney parking lot near the convention center open? We stayed at a hotel near there and walked sometimes and rode the bus to that parking lot when we were tired.

That is the Toy Story Lot. (I'm supplying the name for easier tracking of open/closed status.)

However, given the lot make-over sometime in 2019 (?), walking from the Convention Center to the boarding area might be almost as far as simply walking to DLR? The boarding area moved to the far NE area of the lot to allow for pre-boarding security screening.

 

[Pixie Dust x3]

I'm staying at Hyatt Place the same time you are there (July 24-27) and have stayed there before -- I think it is very walkable. The evening will be slower since you've been on your feet most of the day but I don't find it to be a problem. We usually stay at the Candy Cane Inn and this is just a bit further.

 

[StuckInKS]

I’d pay the $55 and Parkhop. I can’t spend a whole day in CA but we like to pop over there to do Guardians and incredicoaster several times each, and eat at a few favorite spots.

In your shoes I’d do 4 DL and 1 CA. I think it depends on what you like to do. Rides? Shows? Nostalgia or something new? DL is like a smaller but somehow better Magic Kingdom.

Ok, I thought DCA might have more for some reason. I know everyone is saying we won't need 2 days at DCA, but we are the type of people who spend 3 days at Epcot, so we can spend a long time doing a little. We don't usually get hoppers because we don't get to the parks until 3-4pm, but can always add it on just like in WDW, right? There are 11 of us so I don't want to buy it unless we really want it.

Rise and WS boarding pass is same system as WDW, but draw times are currently at 7am and noon.

So they are released together? Is it hard to get both for the same day? We did ride Rise in March and have another WDW stay booked for September, so I guess we can miss Rise if we have to, but really hope to get both.

Boarding groups should be the same concept. I refreshed half a second before 7 and got BG 53 for Rise and BG 2 for Webslingers.

So you got these both for the same day? Are they both there together on the same page? Refreshing constantly from 12:59-1:00pm worked great for getting Rise for all of our HS days in March, so I'm hoping I can pull it off at DL, too.

Thank you everyone!

 

[zemmer]

We could spend 2 full days at DCA. Cars Land is amazing and Radiator Springs Racers is my favorite ride ever! We rode 9 times 1 day. I agree about getting the hopper. Then you can decide for yourself!
ETA: Just saw there are 11 in your party. I don’t know how adding park hopper works.
I haven’t been since RotR and Web Slingers, so can’t speak to that.

 

[Piglet99645]

Ok if you are only going to the parks from 3-9 pm you don’t need hoppers. In that case I’d plan day 2 at CA and see what you think.

Last I heard you can upgrade to PH once you get there, but with the reservation system in place I only saw one ticket booth open so you might have to wait in line to upgrade.

you can look at the DL BG app from home but yes it’s basically the same.

 

[Piglet99645]

You can only have one boarding pass at a time. But you can get both the same day IF your 7 am group gets called before the 12pm draw.

 

[wiggy500]

Ok, I thought DCA might have more for some reason. I know everyone is saying we won't need 2 days at DCA, but we are the type of people who spend 3 days at Epcot, so we can spend a long time doing a little. We don't usually get hoppers because we don't get to the parks until 3-4pm, but can always add it on just like in WDW, right? There are 11 of us so I don't want to buy it unless we really want it.



So they are released together? Is it hard to get both for the same day? We did ride Rise in March and have another WDW stay booked for September, so I guess we can miss Rise if we have to, but really hope to get both.



So you got these both for the same day? Are they both there together on the same page? Refreshing constantly from 12:59-1:00pm worked great for getting Rise for all of our HS days in March, so I'm hoping I can pull it off at DL, too.

Thank you everyone!

Parkhoppers times 11 people...that sounds expensive. I think a better splurge would be getting one of those $200 a night rooms that are super close.

They are released at the same time. If you have park hoppers you possibly could get Rise at one release, ride it, and then get Webslingers at the second release, or vice versa. In my case I did not have park hoppers. I did Rise on the Disneyland day and Webslingers on the California Adventure day on my two day trip. I'm sure the constant refresh method would work as well in Disneyland as it did in Walt Disney World. My personal experience was that I was faster trying to time it half a second early than the other two people in my party who were constantly refreshing. If you get a boarding group that is too early of a time slot and you show up late they'll let you ride.

 

[Matrixleos]

1) Hotels - if you're budget is $200 a night, check the Tropicana. I booked around the same dates you have and it was roughly a little over $200 a night including tax and fees.

Plus most rooms sleep 5, with two queen beds and a sofa that turns to a day bed. Not to mention it's right across the street from the parks with just a 5 minute walk.

2) DCA - If not getting Hoppers, I think doing 2 days at DCA will come down to how big of a fan are your group of 11 with the Cars and Marvel movie franchises?

Personally, I could easily do two days, as I'd want to visit Avengers Campus and Cars Land multiple times, see both lands during the days and nights. Plus I could do Soaring, GRR and Mission Breakout multiple times and not get tired.

Plus that's not even factoring in Pixar Pier and Hollywood Land (I'm a huge fan of Turtle Talk and Mickey's PhilharMagic is my favorite ride/attraction and can ride that multiple times and not get tired).

3) Virtual Ques - Several great threads here with everything you wanted to know about reserving a spot on RotR and Web Slingers. Just scroll down a bit and read those threads on boarding groups.

At the minimum, search on YouTube. Several great videos with step by step instructions on Disneyland virtual ques.

 

[Piglet99645]

Cars Land is great at night!

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

You can only add parkhoppers IF the days are available for reservations. Have you already at purchased tickets and reserved your days? Don’t count on being to add park hoppers same day. Also, you can’t add them just for one day… it’s for all five days or nothing. So you would need all five days to have available park hopper reservations (or as many days as seems worth it to you to upgrade).

 

[pharmama]

You can only get Rise and WS in the same day if you have Parkhoppers and you can’t get them at the same “drop”. You would get one at 7am and then if your BG has already been called by 12pm you would be eligible to try for the other ride.

But the bigger problem I see for you is that you must be scanned into a park already to be eligible for the noon drop. If you don’t go to the parks until 3-4pm you will not be able to join a Virtual Queue for either ride at noon. You can try the 7am drop but your BG will almost certainly be called before you plan to go to the parks.