Which day for each park?

[Disneylover21]

Hi, i was planning on doing our first day at Disney sea which will be the Sunday the 7th of may but I've just read that space mountain is closed for refurbishment from the 8th which we planned to do the next day.
We wont get into the park until about 10am i expect on the Sunday as we are having to swap hotels that morning to move over to our Disney area hotel.
Should I stick to Disney sea for the Sunday or will Disneyland be ok? I'm worried disney land may be more crowded on a Sunday?
Thanks

 

[Agent 86]

I've never been on a weekend, but I don't think either park is great on the weekend.

If you want to ride Space Mountain, then it sounds like you will need to go to Disneyland on Sunday.

And I would make a vague guess that Fast Passes last longer at Disneyland than DisneySea, but that may not be the case currently as I *think* Pirates, It's a Small World and Pooh are all closed. The closure of POTC and IASW is probably impacting the demand for other rides a lot since they're both high capacity.

 

[disneydan55]

According to the TDR crowd calendar (you can search for it online) both parks are predicted to be equally crowded. If you don't get there at park opening you may have to waste lots of your valuable vacation time waiting in line for it considering it is the last day before it goes down for refurb. We will be there in late May and was disappointed to hear it would be closed but have been on three other versions of the ride so realize we are not really missing anything unique. Have a fun trip!

 

[katt789]

I would have to agree with the above, esp if all of those rides are down, and it being Space's last day, it would be a LONG wait, especially on a weekend!

I'd say stick with DisneySea, Space Mountain is super similar to other park's versions, and at least with DisneySea, it's a super unique park, even with heavy crowds, there's still so much to explore and look at and take in, whereas DL feels so much like Magic Kingdom

 

[shelemm]

POTC will be open when you are there. The closing of IASW does not impact the crowds for Space Mountain. Different age level.

So here is the situation:

Sunday will be much more crowded than Monday. Sunday is a '43' day (43,000 guests anticipated), and Monday is a '28' day. On Sunday, DL will seem insanely crowded. It won't be, but the crowds in the morning are all bunched in Fantasyland for the two 'premiere rides', Pooh's Hunny Hunt and Monsters Inc. PHH is a MUST, and it deserves its popularity. That is priority #1. Monsters Inc is wildly popular, though I thought it was lame, and I regret having waited on line for it. Most everyone will get a FP for one and ride the other first thing. Your problem will be that, since you are arriving a bit late, you might not get an FP for those rides. Still, I think you will be able to do everything in DL even if you arrive a bit late. That's what I did on a '46' day. Because you live in the UK, getting to Space Mountain might not be so easy for you otherwise. So I say go ahead and do DL the first day.

The advantage here is that the real and true overall priority is Disney Sea, and you will be able to take advantage of a much less crowded day. Get there very early. This park will astonish you, and it deserves a full day.

My best tips:

Indiana Jones and Splash Mountain have single rider lines. Ask for that!

Ask for front row on Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Do not miss Triton's Kingdom, the undergound section of Mernaoid Lagoon. The entrance is easy to miss.

Do not miss Fortress Exploration. Ask for a map in English, it is easy to miss one of the rooms. Hit all the rooms. The map makes for a great souvenir.

There is a lottery for Big Band Beat. Unfortunately, there can be a long line to simply enter the lottery. Enter the lottery as late as possible for the last show. If you go late, the line will have already disappeared, and your chances are the same.

I think they still do a show at Cape Cod Cookout, so that's a good place to have lunch and see a show at the same time.

Don't miss anything. It is all good.