Worth adding an extra day for 4-5 hours?

[jrsharp21]

We are getting to DLR around 6:30pm. The parks close at midnight. We have a 1 day park hopper. Our plan was to go to DTD our first night and then go from park open to close the next day. But now we are contemplating adding another day to our tickets and trying to get that 4-5 hours in before the parks close on our arrival day. It is about a $100 to add the extra day to each ticket. We do have a first timer with us. That is why we are thinking the extra 4-5 hours may help with doing as much as possible.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

For me, that would not be worth the money. If you were adding a fourth or fifth day it would be much less but $100 per person is pretty steep for just a few hours.

I’d rather go to bed early and get up early for rope drop so you can take advantage of those first few golden hours.

 

[wassily]

What date are you thinking about going... that could impact how much you can stretch 4-5 hours.
Is your goal to ride every ride? Or what would you consider "success" to be?
And then for the 1 day park hopper, are you purchasing LL+ as well?

Personally I wouldn't do it, but we are all wired differently.

 

[jrsharp21]

For our one day hopper, we will be purchasing G+ and ILL where applicable. Hard part is that one that one day we will have additional people with us who may slow us down a little. The first night would just be crew who is used to storming the parks from open to close. My daughters boyfriend has been to WDW many of times. Never to DL. So for his first time we are trying to ride as much as possible.

 

[jrsharp21]

What date are you thinking about going... that could impact how much you can stretch 4-5 hours.
Is your goal to ride every ride? Or what would you consider "success" to be?
And then for the 1 day park hopper, are you purchasing LL+ as well?

Personally I wouldn't do it, but we are all wired differently.

Tomorrow is arrival. Friday is our full day.

 

[Pluto468]

I would totally do it.4-5 hours is a nice amount of time. As long as you'd still be up for waking up for rope drop the next day.

 

[PixiePowered]

I’m debating doing this very same thing, when we visit in a couple weeks. It’ll just be my husband and I… we’ve been to DL a ton of times… and are just looking to enjoy the atmosphere. Arrival day Friday (probably 4pm-ish), full day Saturday.

 

[gmi3804]

Depending on the day, and that evening’s entertainment offerings, you might want to use that 4-5 hours in a more low-key manner, doing parades and/or nighttime shows. That way, on subsequent evenings, you can knock out rides while a huge majority of guests are doing the nighttime shows.

 

[Gladys Belcher]

It's a toss up...

If we get there late, it's fun to 'people watch ' or sit outside watching fireworks at Catel (top level), Fountain near Tortilla Joe's or Uva Bar.

Also, riding Grizzley Springs in the dark is a hoot! Any roller coaster in both parks.

Guess it's up to traffic on a Friday night... but no matter what, you will have fun.

 

[disneyerin]

We are getting to DLR around 6:30pm. The parks close at midnight. We have a 1 day park hopper. Our plan was to go to DTD our first night and then go from park open to close the next day. But now we are contemplating adding another day to our tickets and trying to get that 4-5 hours in before the parks close on our arrival day. It is about a $100 to add the extra day to each ticket. We do have a first timer with us. That is why we are thinking the extra 4-5 hours may help with doing as much as possible.

TOTALLY worth it. We bought another day for our arrival day and will be going to Disneyland for 4-5 hours in the evening.
One day just isn't enough in my opinion. You can do so much in 4 hours!

 

[MPD]

Our flight arrives at 11:00 and we have a park ticket for that day. Of course we're going mainly to see the MSEP so being there in the evening makes sense for us

 

[whoever]

I personally wouldn't do it. Cost exceeds likely value and you may not arrive at your expected time.

 

[jrsharp21]

I personally wouldn't do it. Cost exceeds likely value and you may not arrive at your expected time.

I would only go add additional days once we are there and know we have the time. It looks like if all goes as planned, we should get to our hotel at 5/5:30pm. So then we would just go over to the ticket booths and have them add the additional day to the tickets if we decide to do it.

 

[James33]

I would only go add additional days once we are there and know we have the time. It looks like if all goes as planned, we should get to our hotel at 5/5:30pm. So then we would just go over to the ticket booths and have them add the additional day to the tickets if we decide to do it.

This might have been a good strategy in the past, but not sure how well it works now with reservations and the parking fully booked for so many days.

 

[jrsharp21]

This might have been a good strategy in the past, but not sure how well it works now with reservations and the parking fully booked for so many days.

Both parks are available for reservations today. Obviously Disneyland is where we would be this evening if we do it. Even if DL is sold out and we had to make a reservation for DCA, we would just scan into DCA and hop over to DL.

 

[V.I.N.CENT.]

I would do it. You are right there! No better time like the present

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

This might have been a good strategy in the past, but not sure how well it works now with reservations and the parking fully booked for so many days.

Reservations have been wide open since the end of June.

 

[DizMe]

Maybe. I'm with you--wait until you get there to see how things look. It could be a wonderful addition but it'll depend on crowds and ride closures etc.

 

[jrsharp21]

I would do it. You are right there! No better time like the present

Yea, I think we are going to do it if we get to DLR as planned. Not sure when my daughter's boyfriend will be back. We lived in NorCal for most of our lives and had AP's for a long time. Now we go to WDW several times a year. We have been able to come back to DL because of my son's baseball travels. But this may be the last year coming to California for a bit. So another reason we are thinking to take advantage of the extra time.

Plus, there have been times in the past where we have bought hopper passes and one of those days was our departure date. We would hit the parks at open, do as much as possible, and then leave around 1pm for home. So not real much difference, except now that we can hang around Main St. and shop afterward. LOL

 

[pharmama]

If you were arriving closer to 4 I'd say go for it but I'm less sure with an arrival that late. Do you mean you'll be at the park gate (well, ticket booth) at 6:30 or that's when you arrive at your hotel? If the latter, when do you actually think you would be at the ticket booths? I wouldn't be surprised if the ticket booth process to change your tickets takes 30min or more (WHY are they so slow??). Then you'll have to rebook all reservations both new ones for today and your reservations for tomorrow (as mentioned- availability is not a problem, just an extra step/hassle).