Which Park on Which Day?

[jsmla]

DH and I will be visiting the area in late April and I would like to have our dining and a rough itinerary in place. We land at SNA at 9:50 AM on Wednesday and have Wednesday-Saturday to visit both Disneyland and California Adventure.

Do you recommend Magic Mornings and Extra Magic Hour? We're staying at the Disneyland Hotel.

Which evenings would you recommend for World of Color and Paint the Night? I'm considering the dining packages for these two. Is that a good idea?

We are a couple in our 50s and have been to Disney World many, many times. I have been to DL/DCA a few times as a chaperone (no say-so on the itinerary) DH has never been. Anything you'd give a miss due to it's being the same or better at WDW?

Thanks!

 

[chickapin parterre]

the good news is that your MM and EMH are free, every morning being a guest of the Disneyland Hotel. I suggest that you plan to be early morning visitors as in 45 mins at the gate for Disneyland. plan to be in the park from open till around noon, head back to the hotel for hydration, carb fuel and away from all the lines. venture back around 4 to catch dusk.

then as you read for the next few months, create a list of what you value. Maybe RSR is high on the list, so how do you maximize that attraction. Maybe music is your value, how do you see all the acts.

As a 59 year old visitor, I value water rides annd benches. I love early morning, dusk and late night.

 

[figment_jii]

Do you recommend Magic Mornings and Extra Magic Hour? We're staying at the Disneyland Hotel.

Assuming the schedules remain similar to the past DL should have its EMH/MM on Tue, Thu, and Sat mornings, while DCA has EMH on Sun, Mon, Wed, and Fri mornings. As an on-site guest, you have access to EMH. I would make sure of EMH as much as possible, especially in DCA. Unlike WDW, the impacts of MM/EMH on the park aren't that noticeable after a few hours (I know that it's common to recommend avoiding the EMH park in WDW, but that isn't the case in DLR as much).

Which evenings would you recommend for World of Color and Paint the Night? I'm considering the dining packages for these two. Is that a good idea?

I don't think it really matters very much which evening you pick for which show. At this point, it appears that WoC and PtN will both be presented nightly. I would probably opt to do one of the dining packages on the Friday night because that's most likely to the most crowded evening of your trip. So if you do the dining package, you'll have a better/easier chance of having a good view of whichever show you pick. At DLR, dining reservations open 60-days in advance (one-day at at a time, there is no 180+10/length of stay perk). If you try to make a reservation right on the 60-day mark and nothing is available, it more likely means they haven't loaded them into the system yet (rather than being fully booked). I do recommend reservations, but you can usually get prime dining reservations with only a few weeks to go (i.e., it's nothing like trying to get a reservation at WDW).

We are a couple in our 50s and have been to Disney World many, many times. I have been to DL/DCA a few times as a chaperone (no say-so on the itinerary) DH has never been. Anything you'd give a miss due to it's being the same or better at WDW?

As a WDW Vet, I highly recommend taking a look at HydroGuy's A DLR Guide for WDW Vets. It'll give you a sense of the similarities and differences between the two resorts.

For my family, there is very little that I would suggest skipping at DLR just because it's at WDW. There are very few identical attractions between the two resorts and even those attractions that are the same often have very different queues.

 

[kickpuncher305]

If you are going to use the MM or EMH, prioritize the slow loading or extremely busy rides. For Disneyland's EMH, only Tomorrowland and Fantasyland are open so they get super busy. Once EMH is done, the rest of the park is open and really dead. I would do rides like Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland in Fantasyland or Hyperspace Mountain and Star Tours in Tomorrowland (which ever set of rides you would prefer) and then move to the opposite end of the park which will be much less busy. If your not using either early entry's, definitely go to the other park as the park with early entry will be much busier by the time you enter.

Depending on the night of the week, I don't know if you would need these packages but they are very convenient. Quick hint for PTN: if there are two parades in a night, first parade starts just by It's A Small World and ends by Town Square and the second parade does the reverse order. We were there on a Sunday Night (pretty busy as it was the last night before the closure of a bunch of attractions) and were able to find a spot by it's a small world right on the curb about 15 minutes before the parade started.

 

[jsmla]

Thank you for the help! My other half is NOT a theme park person He's the outdoorsy type (Last time we were out west I spent far too much of my time hiking in canyons with water up to my waist, now it's my turn!) so I'm trying to make it as easy as possible for him. I think I'm going to get the dining packages for WoC and PtN on Wednesday and Thursday in hopes of getting a decent view without hours of waiting.

Right now I think I'll probably make all of the early entries (Th-Sa) but DH may only do one, if that. If you could only do one EMH would you do DL or DCA? He doesn't do thrill rides if that makes a difference.

Thanks!

 

[chickapin parterre]

does he like epcots test track?

 

[figment_jii]

If you could only do one EMH would you do DL or DCA? He doesn't do thrill rides if that makes a difference.

It depends a little on which attractions you want to do the most during EMH. In DL, only select (although it is most) attractions in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland are open during EMH. The most popular tend to be Peter Pan and Space Mtn. If you either get to Peter Pan before the line builds or skip it, you can often get through a fair amount of Fantasyland during EMH. Over in DCA, select attractions throughout the park are open, including RSR, TSMM, and Soarin. So in the end, it depends on which attractions you want to do the most (or which attractions you think your husband would like the most).