Weekends at Disneyland/DCA?

[Nina1]

We're coming to CA - first trip ever - for several weeks in November (not Thanksgiving). Disneyland, of course, is on our must do list. We will only be able to tour DL on the weekends because my husband will be working during the week. Will we be able to see DL and DCA in one weekend day each? Or, will it be too crowded on the weekends and require more than two days to tour? Any suggestions you can give will be most appreciated. Thank you!

 

[HydroGuy]

We're coming to CA - first trip ever - for several weeks in November (not Thanksgiving). Disneyland, of course, is on our must do list. We will only be able to tour DL on the weekends because my husband will be working during the week. Will we be able to see DL and DCA in one weekend day each? Or, will it be too crowded on the weekends and require more than two days to tour? Any suggestions you can give will be most appreciated. Thank you!

You can always have fun in 2 days. But you will miss some things. Three days is the minimum, and that is pushing it.

It will be more crowded on the weekends, but the hours will be longer as well. Are you staying close by the parks? That will make a difference.

 

[cyclenut]

We're coming to CA - first trip ever - for several weeks in November (not Thanksgiving). Disneyland, of course, is on our must do list. We will only be able to tour DL on the weekends because my husband will be working during the week. Will we be able to see DL and DCA in one weekend day each? Or, will it be too crowded on the weekends and require more than two days to tour? Any suggestions you can give will be most appreciated. Thank you!

Not sure from your post what your real objective is. You use the word "tour" and I don't want to read too much into your choice of words, but there are a lot of different reasons people visit the parks. I saw your post about Walt's apartment in another thread so I think you are really interested in the nostalgia of the park. You can really enjoy that aspect if you stroll through at a slow to moderate pace. You won't get on as many rides that way though. Some prefer a quicker pace that gets in as many rides and attractions as possible. They sometimes miss the details in their rush from one place to another. I just don't think you can meet both objectives in a single day for DL. You *may* be able to do that with DCA if you plan carefully.

You seem to know a bit about the history of the park so you probably already have a good idea of the *must see/do* things. Everyone's list is a bit different.

Bottom line though is that you are probably going to want to plan an entire weekend just for DL and then come back on a second weekend for DCA and whatever else you want to do at DL.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

I know you said "not thanksgiving" but you didn't mention if you'd be there Vets day. It's a Friday this year and crowds will high that weekend.

 

[Eeee-va]

IMO it depends on what your goals are. I went to WDW for 2 days in 2008, I think it was, and I feel like I saw all of Magic Kingdom, about 80% of Epcot, and 70% of Hollywood Studios in those 2 days. People on the WDW board, however, will say there is NO way you can do WDW in less than 5 days/a week/etc. And that is true, but I got a good feel for 3 parks and had a wonderful time.

There is no way you can see everything in the parks in 2 days, and if you only go for 2 days, you will probably also miss a whole lot of the atmosphere. But if you want to see some of the parks and have a great time, you can really do a lot in 2 days.

If you're OK with running from before park opening to closing time both days, and if you're OK with just getting a good dose of Disneyland and DCA (and don't mind missing some things), then you I think you can do 2 days. If you want a more leisurely experience and/or want to see mostly everything, I'd do 3 days, and probably a park hopper if you can swing it. If you want to have your best chance of seeing and experiencing it all, maybe 4 days.

Have a great trip!