WDW Vets, DL Newbies! Advice, new friends?

[MeridAriel]

I think we've decided on DL this year instead of our usual WDW trip. A close friend (who is a cast member) will be bringing her husband and possibly her two babies. We've always wanted to see DL, and this year seems like a good time to do it, as we're both trying to cut costs (I would be lying if I said I wasn't already sad at the idea of missing Epcot & AK). Usually our WDW trips are 8 days. We were thinking a trip to DL would be easier to cut shorter, as there are less parks, so we wouldn't be quite as overwhelmed trying to see plenty of the parks & local places (WD Studios, etc) in 3 or 4 days. I would also love to meet new Dis friends who are local or will likely be at the parks in early November?
Does anyone have any recommendations, advice, thoughts? What must-do/see non-park places are there? Any park ins & outs or tips? Is a 4 day schedule do-able? We've heard that the hotels are incredibly expensive compared with WDW resorts, so we are likely going to be staying off property (which we've also never done-so many firsts!). Is pin-trading as big as it is in WDW?
Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Hi!

Start here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/a-dlr-guide-for-wdw-vets.1162599/

Four days should be do-able; it depends on your touring style, of course. Most people seem to recommend somewhere around 3-5 days. Staying off-property will be fine, lots of good options. Pin trading is not huge, but you'll see some people trading.

Enjoy and have fun!

 

[MeridAriel]

Hi!

Start here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/a-dlr-guide-for-wdw-vets.1162599/

Four days should be do-able; it depends on your touring style, of course. Most people seem to recommend somewhere around 3-5 days. Staying off-property will be fine, lots of good options. Pin trading is not huge, but you'll see some people trading.

Enjoy and have fun!

Thank you!

 

[ashley0139]

Hi @MeridAriel! Nice to see you over on this board. I'm a DL local.

You should definitely stay off property if you're trying to cut costs, unless your CM friend can get you the CM hotel discount. That might make it worth it. 4 days should be just fine. What other local things are you hoping to see?

 

[MeridAriel]

@ashley0139 Heya! Very cool that you're a local Like I said, I'm hoping to meet some new Dis friends, so I maybe you can make it out to say hi at some point!
My friend does get discounts, but she found numbers that are still way more than the cost of a hotel at WDW, so I'm not sure how that will work out. Sounds like some hotels are within easy walking distance (I will miss Mousekeeping, tbh). Just hoping to find a nice place to stay that won't break the bank.
As for non-park activities, I'm honestly not sure. That's part of the reason I posted. I'd love to see WD Studios, but I'm not sure what else is out there and I'd hate to miss out on something really great that I didn't know about while I'm out there.

 

[Disney_Alli]

@MeridAriel are you looking at 4 days total or 3-4 Disney days and then a few more days for local sites? On a one-in-a-lifetime DL trip my other local options opinion will vary depending on which of these two is true for your trip.

 

[MeridAriel]

@Disney_Alli We're not sure yet, but the aim is to have a shorter trip than our normal 8 day trip. Likely 3 park days, and an extra day or two to see non-park stuff. I suppose it would depend on how much *must see* off site stuff there is for us

 

[PiratesMansion]

Are you saying you want to visit the Disney Studios, as in Burbank? Because if so, I don't believe that is open to the public to tour unless you are part of an ABD trip or have other special circumstances. Otherwise I don't think you can just go and visit.

I personally might try to add a fourth day. Three days might be a bit rushed IMO. With 4-5 days you can relax a bit more.

 

[MeridAriel]

@PiratesMansion Thank you for the help!
Yes, but via a tour with our movie points
4 or 5 days for two parks? With that many park days plus a couple days between for relaxation...we might as well go to WDW haha. We do all 4 WDW parks, with extra time to go back and see our favorites in 3.5 (xmas party is half day) days. Just curious what all they have that takes that long for two parks?

 

[Skyegirl1999]

@PiratesMansion Thank you for the help!
Yes, but via a tour with our movie points
4 or 5 days for two parks? With that many park days plus a couple days between for relaxation...we might as well go to WDW haha. We do all 4 WDW parks, with extra time to go back and see our favorites in 3.5 (xmas party is half day) days. Just curious what all they have that takes that long for two parks?

The number of attractions in CA and Florida are very similar; it's just compacted into two parks here.

 

[agamble]

Three days is fine if that is all you have. That would give you 2 whole days at DL and 1 whole day at DCA. You can save money by not park hopping, but if you have the extra $40 per person park hopping is very east at DLR as the two parks are so close to each other. As Skyegirl said there are almost as many rides/attractions at DL as at WDW. One thing that there are not as many are shows.

 

[alisigns]

Hi there! I was a big WDW fan who went to DL the first time last year at the end of August. I thought that it was going to be not as fun as WDW since it was smaller and that it was just to check it off the list. HOWEVER, I am now firmly a DL fan! In fact, I'm going back for the Star Wars 1/2 marathon next January. I think it's many reasons. It's smaller and closer together so you can do a park and Downtown Disney, and park hop and travel time is mere minutes and not an hour. We didn't have to drive or take buses like we did at WDW. Also, the crowds are smaller and everything seemed easier to get around. We did 2 days , one at each park and were able to see and do everything and some things twice.

Also, I am a fan of the Legacy Fastpass system and it seemed that planning was easier for DL. And since I am in Alaska, there was no waking up at 2 am to log in at 6 am WDW time to reserve dining or FP+ rides. It was a much more laid-back and fun trip. I would add the Park Hopper to at least one day, though, especially if you are going for 3 days. Hope this helps!!

 

[Winnowill]

Also, I am a fan of the Legacy Fastpass system and it seemed that planning was easier for DL. And since I am in Alaska, there was no waking up at 2 am to log in at 6 am WDW time to reserve dining or FP+ rides. It was a much more laid-back and fun trip. I would add the Park Hopper to at least one day, though, especially if you are going for 3 days. Hope this helps!!

Note: if you add Park Hopper, it's for the whole trip. You can't add it to just one day.

 

[Sagginit]

This is a hot topic on this board. I did two DL trips in the last two years, and I'm a convert! In fact my husband is already talking about our first family trip there now that we have a newborn, and on our first trip he was reluctant to go as "he's not a Disney person" (I fixed that ). To sum it up based on your initial questions:

- park hoppers I think are a must. You have the old FP system so you can spend the morning in one park and grab FP for the afternoon, go to the other park for a bit, and hop back to use FP. Even 5 months pregnant we hopped multiple times a day as compared to WDW it is basically like being in the same park they are so close.
- staying offsite is just fine as the area is so much smaller. Some motels/hotels are across the street and you can even see the park from them. I stayed at the PPH on my last trip and twice we walked off property to go to lunch, even though I was pregnant we found it easy to walk around so I can see how easy it is to stay further offsite (my first trip we stayed across the street at the Camelot). Uber/Lyfts are cheap and plentiful too. It was nice to be at PPH as we could still walk through the grand californian but we got a good last minute deal on a weekday trip (mon-thurs) and it wasn't as bubble feeling as it is in WDW as you still walk on external streets to get to the park.
- 3-4 days is good with park hoppers. a lot of DL will be familiar but DCA has more rides I think that aren't found in WDW.
- get the app. I found the popular rides in WDW aren't as popular in DL and some were more popular than I thought. For ex. Winnie the Pooh had no wait one day but POC and HM were over an hour! It helped a lot as we could adjust our plan accordingly, for ex. the day POC had a long wait it dropped around lunch so we went over to ride it as we weren't far.
- the parks will get much more crowded at night as locals fill the parks up, so I would do anything that is a must do earlier in the day and leave less popular rides or just strolling to the end of the day.

 

[ashley0139]

@ashley0139 Heya! Very cool that you're a local Like I said, I'm hoping to meet some new Dis friends, so I maybe you can make it out to say hi at some point!
My friend does get discounts, but she found numbers that are still way more than the cost of a hotel at WDW, so I'm not sure how that will work out. Sounds like some hotels are within easy walking distance (I will miss Mousekeeping, tbh). Just hoping to find a nice place to stay that won't break the bank.
As for non-park activities, I'm honestly not sure. That's part of the reason I posted. I'd love to see WD Studios, but I'm not sure what else is out there and I'd hate to miss out on something really great that I didn't know about while I'm out there.

I'm down there all the time, so I'm sure we could meet up! That would be fun!

Just a note for WD Studios, it's about 40 miles away from DL (an hour to 2 hours depending on traffic). Something to consider when looking at plans. Will you have a car?

 

[PiratesMansion]

@PiratesMansion Thank you for the help!
Yes, but via a tour with our movie points
4 or 5 days for two parks? With that many park days plus a couple days between for relaxation...we might as well go to WDW haha. We do all 4 WDW parks, with extra time to go back and see our favorites in 3.5 (xmas party is half day) days. Just curious what all they have that takes that long for two parks?

That's awesome that you were able to get enough points to do the tour!
It's basically been said above, but the California parks are deceptively dense in things to do. They squeeze quite a lot into those two comparatively tiny parks! Disneyland has more attractions than any other Disney park in the world, and DCA has more attractions than any of the non-MK WDW parks, AND there is a lot of entertainment* as well, if that appeals to you (but see the caveat below). During high season in addition to the big spectaculars and parades are a large number of ambient musical groups and smaller ensembles that fill out both parks.

You may find DLR may need more time soak it up and take it in, since it will be new to you, but you may be fine in 3 days, that depends on you and your group. For most people, three days is enough to do the highlights but not everything.

The entertainment caveat: I see that you are going in November? One thing that you should know (since it is poorly publicized IMO) is that during the "off season" a lot of entertainment is weekends only. World of Color has historically played every night since its debut, but Fireworks, Fantasmic, Night Parades (if the night parade is running at all) and some of the atmosphere entertainment can only be seen Friday-Sunday. Since it is early November, you may also (and I do not know this from personal experience) run into an entertainment lag between Halloween and Christmas. If you want to see these things (and you should), you will need to include at least one weekend day into your schedule.

 

[MeridAriel]

Thank you all so much for the advice! (And for the record, the tickets are taken care of, so, that isn't on my radar of what I need to look into haha)
I'll get into the planning asap

 

[ktlm]

If you stay offsite, you can definitely cut costs- onsite maybe not. We are WDW vets and because the DLR discounts are not usually as good as WDW discounts, it can cost us the same amount to spend 4 nights at DLR (including tickets) as it does to spend 7 or 8 nights deluxe at WDW. That said, we like onsite because you can still totally stay in the Disney bubble. We stayed one night off site last year due to coming in a day early due to a storm and no availability at DLH, and while the hotel was fine and I would stay there if finances a big issue- we all agreed that it just wasn't the same as being on DLR property and never leaving and we much preferred being on property (the walk from DLH to the park is through DTD). But still, aside from the walk to and from the park and actually being at the hotel- once you are in the parks it is all the same. DLR is great too!

As far as pin trading--we actually prefer it at DLR. There are still scrappers, but it seems like at WDW most of the pins on lanyards or boards are scrappers these days. DD has gotten a lot of great authentic pins at DLR. She typically trades a lot more there than at WDW. I don't know about November, but in the summer, we find pin boards and CMs with lanyards all over the place in both parks, DTD and the resorts.

Also be sure in your planning you realize that unlike WDW where fireworks and shows run every day year round, at DL that can be seasonal, and some things only run on the weekends outside of the summer season.