which park to go to, and in what order, with EMH & MM?

[jtba]

we're taking DS & DD (will be 10 & 6) to DLR for the first time. DH is leaning towards staying at DLH to get EMH and ability to return to the hotel room for a mid-day siesta. while i'm OK with that, i'm also open to staying at HoJo or something similar to save $.

our visit will be over 3 days: check in sunday, play monday, tuesday, and wednesday, then check out thursday. given my kids' ride preference (i.e. not too many scary rides), we would like to spend two days in DL and one in DCA.

we'll likely go for three 1-day per park tickets, rather than the hopper, thinking when the kids are older we'll for sure visit again in a few years, and can do hopper tickets then. the tickets will give us MM (i think?).

assuming we stay at DLH, which will give us EMH, which park should go to first? my initial thoughts:

Monday: DL
Tuesday DL
Wednesday: DCA

but then i learned the MM/EMH schedule:

Mon: EMH @ DCA | no MM
Tue: EMH @ DL | MM @ DL
Wed: EMH @ DCA | no MM

should we do this instead:

Monday: DCA
Tuesday: DL
Wednesday: DL

i'm getting so confused!!! would appreciate your thoughts on this. thank you!

 

[cruisehopeful]

If the early hours is important to you, staying at DLH and following that schedule is a good idea. Are you sure you'd use it? Since my family tends to get up late and can be pretty grumpy if woken early, I only ever attended one early morning.

Saving money by staying at another hotel would be nice, too. It doesn't matter where you stay, you can take an afternoon rest break and that's a really good idea on your DL days because it gets so crowded in the afternoons. I noticed you aren't planning on park hopping. I do recommend park hopping if you can. There are times when you cannot do anything at DL and it's great to just walk across the entrance plaza to go to DCA for a few hours.

 

[jtba]

If the early hours is important to you, staying at DLH and following that schedule is a good idea. Are you sure you'd use it? Since my family tends to get up late and can be pretty grumpy if woken early, I only ever attended one early morning.

Saving money by staying at another hotel would be nice, too. It doesn't matter where you stay, you can take an afternoon rest break and that's a really good idea on your DL days because it gets so crowded in the afternoons. I noticed you aren't planning on park hopping. I do recommend park hopping if you can. There are times when you cannot do anything at DL and it's great to just walk across the entrance plaza to go to DCA for a few hours.

that's the thing. i am not a morning person! DH thinks we should make an effort to do EMH though, to get on the more popular rides and avoid the increasingly longer lines, then take a mid-day break to make up for it.

thanks for the hopper suggestion. will definitely consider it.

 

[gottalovepluto]

At your kids ages the DLH might be an extra special experience if your budget can swing it. (Light-up headboards, monorail slides, characters, etc.) Personally I still love those things but I know that's not how it works for most people

As for the ease of an afternoon break I'd say that breaks even. HoJo seems to be about the same distance as DLH to the front gates (unless you take the monorail in or out of DL which drops you near DLH).

 

[crystal1313]

It's totally worth getting up early to be there at rope drop or even EMH/MM....I am so NOT a morning person either, but we always get there early. The crowds are so much lighter. It makes a big difference. Maybe try it the first day and see how it goes?

 

[jtba]

As for the ease of an afternoon break I'd say that breaks even. HoJo seems to be about the same distance as DLH to the front gates (unless you take the monorail in or out of DL which drops you near DLH).

that's very helpful! i couldn't tell exactly how far things are from each other, even with google maps, because unless you've actually walked it it's difficult to see what the specific paths are. it's been 12 years since we were last in DLR.

 

[gottalovepluto]

that's very helpful! i couldn't tell exactly how far things are from each other, even with google maps, because unless you've actually walked it it's difficult to see what the specific paths are. it's been 12 years since we were last in DLR.

If you want specific walking times or any other info on HoJo start a thread here with the phrase HoJo and your question. There are lots of people here on the DIS who stay HoJo so odds are pretty good you could get some specific answers!

 

[jtba]

If you want specific walking times or any other info on HoJo start a thread here with the phrase HoJo and your question. There are lots of people here on the DIS who stay HoJo so odds are pretty good you could get some specific answers!

oooh nice! thanks for letting me know. will look for it now.

 

[Isatricia]

We took our 6 & 8 yr old daughters to DL in 2012. We had parkhoppers and loved having them. We were in the parks from opening until closing. The 6 yr old only complained on the walk back to the hotel.