When do you plan which day/park?

[cfrith5]

When do you start planning your days in the parks? (which day you'll do which park) Do you usually have a plan for each park? I'm starting to get antsy and want to figure out which days to go where, but I'm waiting for my friend to decide which park she wants to go to on our first day (her only day). I don't really mind which one we go to that day but I wish she'd decide so I could plan!

 

[rtfelt]

With the opening of CarsLand the best plan may be different than expected. In the past I would usually plan on going to DL on the lower attendance day but this year DCA may be the busier park, so that one might be the one to attend on the lower attendance day. This year you might want to plan as late as possible, so data can be collected on how CarsLand is impacting attendance. I think planning 2 weeks in advance is more than enough if you know what you're doing. If you don't, I would suggest getting educated, so when the time comes, you can use your newly gained insight to come up with your plan.

When are you going to be here? If I wasn't an AP who goes all the time, I would definitely plan each day in the park. I'm always baffled by tourists who come for 1-2 days and enter the park, after paying a small fortune to get in, and haven't a clue what to do. It's an incredible waste of time/money to stand there at the entrance with a map in your hand and ask your group, "So what do you want to do first?" Ridemax is a great program to create a customized plan, but there's lots of other basic touring plans if your needs are general. Google Disneyland touring plans and you'll get a bunch of resources.

 

[blackjackdelta]

We parkhop everyday depending on what we feel like doing, it is easier for us to do it that way. we do plan our meals out based on now thinking and change as necessary. Have fun,

Jack

 

[DLR29]

We don't. Another vote for park hopping every day!

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

We don't. Another vote for park hopping every day!

Ditto!

 

[PinkBudgie]

I used to ALWAYS start at DL first thing, then hop over to DCA late morning or early afternoon. At that point we would hop back and forth many times. This year I'm going to have to completely re-think which park to start in first on what day. For example, are AP EE mornings more or less crowded than Magic Mornings? Either way, since we probably won't be able to register our APs in time, we will always be entering a busy park everyday.

I will be depending on reports from people who go before I do to help me make my new "plan of attack". We may be starting at DCA first every morning then hop to DL. Something we've never done before.

But I would never say I'm only doing DL one day and DCA another. Once we decide on which park first, we will park hop all day like we always do.

 

[Desert Dwellers]

We park hop a lot, too, but sometimes we make considerations for a one park day. We spent NYE 2011 at DL, and we knew the parks could be closed and no re-admittance. So we had to pick one park and see it thru the whole day.

This year, I'm picking DCA for our Saturday, because Sunday is an AP day, so we figure DL will the be lower attended park that day, and DCA will be jammed.

 

[scrapshappen]

We hop between the parks too. One strategy we used to use on our MM day was to do MM in Disneyland and stay until about 45 minutes before DCA opened and then go there for the opening too.

But I'm guessing with the new scheduling, that won't work any more. I'm sure we'll still park hop though. And since the next time we go we're staying on site, I'm guessing we'll start are day in which every park we can get into early and then hop over to the other one after lunch.

 

[nannyz]

We park hop every day and pick up a few FP's; but other than that, we don't plan.
If and when DLR gets to the point that I have to plan out every day, it won't be fun anymore -- too much like my normal life.

 

[rtfelt]

I don't think the original poster is getting a hopper pass, although I agree a hopper is the way to go, I think he/she is asking for advice for a non-hopper experience.

We don't. Another vote for park hopping every day!

Those of us who live close by and go often usually don't plan, but if you're only going to be there for 2 days, and it's your only opportunity, I think you would plan--especially if it's a busy day.

If and when DLR gets to the point that I have to plan out every day, it won't be fun anymore -- too much like my normal life.

If you're going for a limited time and want to see everything and not fight the crowds, I think it's crazy not to plan. I never plan when I go to DLR because as an AP I usually only go for part of the day and go often. I'm not trying to see everything nor really care what I do, so planning isn't necessary, but when we went to WDW last summer I planned every day, and it made the whole experience so much more enjoyable. We didn't waste time wondering what we were doing next. We didn't have any arguments about what to do next (everyone had participated in the planning, so we could meet everyone's needs--with 7 people this is important), where to eat, nor any complaints about the lines or crowds because we were able to avoid them with our planning. DLR can be even more crowded, so going there without a plan can actually make your experience miserable as you end up in lots of long lines and fighting crowds and not being able to see/do what you want. I think taking care of the planning before going to WDW actually made our trip much more fun!!! We were able to go through the park in a relaxed manner without any stress and even had down time. We did this without missing anything we wanted to see.

 

[cfrith5]

With the opening of CarsLand the best plan may be different than expected. In the past I would usually plan on going to DL on the lower attendance day but this year DCA may be the busier park, so that one might be the one to attend on the lower attendance day. This year you might want to plan as late as possible, so data can be collected on how CarsLand is impacting attendance. I think planning 2 weeks in advance is more than enough if you know what you're doing. If you don't, I would suggest getting educated, so when the time comes, you can use your newly gained insight to come up with your plan.

When are you going to be here? If I wasn't an AP who goes all the time, I would definitely plan each day in the park. I'm always baffled by tourists who come for 1-2 days and enter the park, after paying a small fortune to get in, and haven't a clue what to do. It's an incredible waste of time/money to stand there at the entrance with a map in your hand and ask your group, "So what do you want to do first?" Ridemax is a great program to create a customized plan, but there's lots of other basic touring plans if your needs are general. Google Disneyland touring plans and you'll get a bunch of resources.

I agree, I think it's important to have a plan. We haven't been in a few years and need to make the most of it. We'll be there mid-week starting July 24th.

 

[cfrith5]

I'm sorry! We DO have park hoppers. And we do park hop, but in past years some days we spend the majority of the day in one park.

 

[coaches24]

We liked opening DL and getting as much done as possible and then heading to DCA just before it opened to get our favorite rides done there before it got real busy. We ate lunch in DCA most days (liked that taste pilots grill rib and fries plate). The evenings depended on what night time show we were seeing. We only stayed in DCA for the evening on our WOC night.

 

[DLR29]

I don't think the original poster is getting a hopper pass, although I agree a hopper is the way to go, I think he/she is asking for advice for a non-hopper experience.



Those of us who live close by and go often usually don't plan, but if you're only going to be there for 2 days, and it's your only opportunity, I think you would plan--especially if it's a busy day.



If you're going for a limited time and want to see everything and not fight the crowds, I think it's crazy not to plan. I never plan when I go to DLR because as an AP I usually only go for part of the day and go often. I'm not trying to see everything nor really care what I do, so planning isn't necessary, but when we went to WDW last summer I planned every day, and it made the whole experience so much more enjoyable. We didn't waste time wondering what we were doing next. We didn't have any arguments about what to do next (everyone had participated in the planning, so we could meet everyone's needs--with 7 people this is important), where to eat, nor any complaints about the lines or crowds because we were able to avoid them with our planning. DLR can be even more crowded, so going there without a plan can actually make your experience miserable as you end up in lots of long lines and fighting crowds and not being able to see/do what you want. I think taking care of the planning before going to WDW actually made our trip much more fun!!! We were able to go through the park in a relaxed manner without any stress and even had down time. We did this without missing anything we wanted to see.

I'm not saying I don't plan. I'm also not saying that planning isn't important. I am saying that I don't plan a specific park for a specific day, even if I were going multiple days---I don't think that that particular aspect of planning is important for DLR. I plan for park hopping. I use park hopping in my plan to avoid crowds. In the past, I have (as many others have stated) started at DL when crowds are low and hopped to DCA because crowds there have not built as quickly. Also I think there's a HUGE difference between planning DLR and WDW trips. I agree, it's tons of fun to plan.

OP, I like to park hop because it is so convenient. I pretty much don't think of them as 2 parks. My mentality is that DLR is 1 giant park with a large plaza in the middle. If you have park hoppers, might as well use them!

Also hopping allows you to have more FastPasses because the system works that even if you have a FP for a ride at DL, you can hop and get another FP for a ride at DCA without having to wait the necessary time to get another FP at DL.

 

[cfrith5]

Thank you all for your thoughts and input!!! As a PP stated, with Cars Land things are going to be changing in the next month. I think I will have to check in here right before we leave for updated feedback! Love this board.

 

[LoonySeal]

I usually just do a little bit of both for the days we're there.

 

[HeyItsNickCA]

I'm not very much of a planner. I make a mental note of the things I want to do but I don't plan when I'll do them. When the time comes that I'm around the areas the rides/shows/restaurant is located, I'll do it.

And I buy Park Hoppers so I can hop parks whenever I want.

 

[BlackFlowerGirl]

I have planned which park we will start each day in, the sit down meals we will do, and booked the other things we will do. May park hop, may not will play it by ear on the day. I don't want to over plan otherwise I may spoil the fun of it.