What cost to stay on-site? Tours?

[Jfine]

So we're one of many headed to DL for Thanksgiving. But it's our first trip to DL!!
Right now we're at the Hilton. Fly in Thursday morning, leave Monday night. I kind of thought that would be enough time to do everything. (We're also looking at taking 10 hours out of one day to do a bus tour of LA.) So I'm realizing we now that probably won't get everything done.
We're thinking of moving to PP or DLR for EMH. The cost is SOOO much more though (at least $200/night). Is it worth it for the shorter walk and EMH?
Also should we do any tours? Looking at the Holiday tour and Welcome to DL. Normally I wouldnt, but I'm thinking the fp might be worth it? Any other thoughts to get as much seen as possible? We're two adults (no kids), so we can do early mornings, late nights, etc.

 

[Girimama33]

Not in my opinion.
Get to the parks at rope drop and start at the one that does not have EMH. Use FP and the SR line when necessary.
The Welcome to DL Tour may be a good fit since it is your first trip and will get you some extra FPs and Priority Seating to Aladdin or Mickey and the Magical Map.
The Holiday Tour I would probably pass on. You can hit HMH, Jingle Cruise and IASWH in the day (besides the tour does not do IASWH at night anyway), and you can usually find a decent spot to watch the parade by IASW on the raised platform without having to wait hours.

 

[ArchOwl]

First off, how exciting! Yay for you!

It is really hard to say if the cost will be worth it for you. Are you walking to the Toy Story lot and taking the bus? Or walking to the park? That is a LONG walk back at the end of the day when you've already logged lots of miles.

The value of EMH is higher when you are there because they are doing early entry and both parks everyday until Sunday. And off site guests will be at a bigger disadvantage because both parks will already have guests in them before regular opening.

But it is a significant cost per day. Do you use the room a lot? Take breaks? Like to be able to go back and forth? If so, it could be worth it. My husband and I like to do rope drop and then a mid afternoon nap, and then stay late as possible. It really helps maximize your time when it is the least busy.

I haven't taken the Welcome to Disneyland tour, but I hear it is fun. I would steer away from longer tours like the Holiday one, just because you don't have much time.

 

[whoever]

Given how busy the parks are lately and how little time you'll be there, EMH would be a must if I was deciding. As for the tours, can't speak to the Welcome to Disneyland tour, but every tour I've taken so far has been exceptional (WIWF, CS, DTM, etc).

 

[Jfine]

Thanks everyone! We are super excited!! It sounds like the Welcome to DL tour is a yes.
I'm not sure how we'll go on this trip. We do love the monorail resorts at WDW. So I would say we do like to come and go. But our travel style has changed there (we're WDW AP holders). In the beginning it was more go, go, go. Now we take our time. Which is what I think I'm most worried about. We go to WDW a fair amount, so we're used to being able to avoid lines and not feel like we're missing out. Anyway, I think we'll want to nap at least one day. We're in Eastern time zone so the late nights will be really late for us!
One more question: any predictions on how long average waits may be?

 

[Jerryp49]

Given how busy the parks are lately and how little time you'll be there, EMH would be a must if I was deciding. .

Completely agree. If you can afford it, stay onsite and take advantage of EMH. We were there Thanksgiving week 2014, never again. It was too crowded. Indy was 90 min at 10am. You spend way too much time in line for rides and food, and restrooms. Just prepare yourself for crowds.

 

[5forMickey]

Agree that it would be required to stay on site for me if I were going during such a busy time !

 

[VandVsmama]

I disagree about the Welcome To Disneyland tour. You're going at a busy time of year and 2.5 hours, starting at 10:30 am is a lot of time to devote to a tour when you'll only be there for a couple of days. There's a thorough review of this tour that I found at http://www.adventuresbydaddy.com/2014/09/05/welcome-to-disneyland-tour-review/. You might not necessarily get 5 "any time" FPs...some of those FPs might be FPs where the tour guide walks you up to the FP machines and you put your ticket in to get the FP yourself....essentially, the tour guide is showing you how to get one, which you can kind of do yourself.

However, the holiday tour gets you priority seating for the Christmas parade.

 

[VandVsmama]

1 or 2 more things:

Download the Disneyland app on your smart phone. It has ride wait times and FP return times, along with entertainment/show info & times & locations of character meet and greets.

If you can afford to stay on site, then go for it! However, if it's too much of a stretch to your budget, then don't...in which case, just start your day at rope drop at the park that does NOT have EMH.

 

[Geemo]

1 or 2 more things:

Download the Disneyland app on your smart phone. It has ride wait times and FP return times, along with entertainment/show info & times & locations of character meet and greets.

If you can afford to stay on site, then go for it! However, if it's too much of a stretch to your budget, then don't...in which case, just start your day at rope drop at the park that does NOT have EMH.

While the app is nice to have, I found it slow to navigate through to find answers.
I found calling "Ask OTTO" to be much faster and easier. (714) 520-7090

 

[ArchOwl]

1 or 2 more things:

Download the Disneyland app on your smart phone. It has ride wait times and FP return times, along with entertainment/show info & times & locations of character meet and greets.

If you can afford to stay on site, then go for it! However, if it's too much of a stretch to your budget, then don't...in which case, just start your day at rope drop at the park that does NOT have EMH.

This is great advice, but it should be noted for OPs dates that most mornings there is early entry at both parks. So that definitely puts off site people at a much more serious disadvantage than usual. It makes an on site stay more valuable, especially since it will be busy.

 

[Jfine]

We were there Thanksgiving week 2014, never again. It was too crowded. Indy was 90 min at 10am.

Ugh. I wasn't expecting that busy. I'm guessing it will probably be even worse this year. I actually just looked at changing our dates, but looks like we're stuck with these. So we'll do what we can. Thanks for the warning though.