How many park days are too many?

[Mascara&MouseEars]

Hi all. We are frequent WDW visitors (myself, DH, DD14, and DS 8) going to DL for the first time. We will arrive at 10am April 19th from the east coast and are staying at the DLH til we fly out late in the evening on the 24th (6 days/5nights). We currently have 5 day park tickets and planned on taking one day off in between to rent a car and go to Huntington beach for the day. I'm curious if this is possibly too many park days and I should switch to 4 park days and stay overnight at the beach the last 2 days of our trip. We will have DAS for my son as we always do in WDW so no genie+. We are not open to close park people. We like to take afternoon breaks and do sit down dinners. Would 2 full park days and 2 half days be enough? How would you split them up in that case? Don't want to pay extra for park hoppers and not interested in fireworks because they're too loud for my son. Really torn what to do because I want us to be able to enjoy the parks without missing much but also traveling across the country would like to experience more than just Disney. Also in late April can we enjoy the pools and beach weather wise? Sorry for the long explanation and thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[gelatoni fan]

I generally think that 2 days of Disneyland and one day of California Adventure is about right for most people. Given that you want to do sit down dinners and afternoon breaks, 2 full days and 2 half days may make you feel a bit rushed. But if you feel like you can skip a few things such as Smugglers Run which is in WDW or the canoes that very few people really like, then that amount of time could be right for you.

You can definitely enjoy the pools and beach. In fact, even now in February, it's beach weather some days.

 

[Mascara&MouseEars]

Thank you. I feel like we could probably skip all of Galaxy's Edge because we are not big Star Wars fans and did it all in WDW anyway. So happy to hear it's beach and pool weather!

 

[TinkerTay]

We usually do about 5-6 days, our last DVC trip we did 9, just because my hubs had a work training down there, and it’s how it worked out. That got exhausting at the end, lol…
But if you like to relax and take it slow, and not run around like crazy, I’d say 4-5 days is good. You can see/do/eat everything, and have time to repeat favorites.
No matter how long of a trip we make it, we always wish it was longer on our last day, even when we are physically DONE, haha!

 

[Malcon10t]

We generally do 3 days for a quick weekend trip where we aren't doing much. When we want to soak everything in, we stay longer. 3 days will get all the rides, but not all the atmosphere.

 

[smartlabelprint]

We come to DLR annually. Our young kids need DAS. We always have 5 park days. On our last trip with the kids, due to DH ditching my planning, our 5th day was spring break hell. We rode small world, ate and left grumpy. I will never stray from my planning again.

I think you’ll need 3 full days and one half day. Maybe you could add some fun in the sun on your departure day.

 

[deedubb]

4 is definitely enough if you want to do more than just Disney. That said, we always do 5 and could easily do more if it didn't require buying a whole new set of tickets. I would strongly recommend rethinking park hoppers though. It's not like WDW. Think of both parks as one giant park. Pre-covid, we would often go back & forth between the 2 parks several times per day.

 

[katyringo]

Always do 5 days and leave wanting more..

 

[fly girl]

Hi all. We are frequent WDW visitors (myself, DH, DD14, and DS 8) going to DL for the first time. We will arrive at 10am April 19th from the east coast and are staying at the DLH til we fly out late in the evening on the 24th (6 days/5nights). We currently have 5 day park tickets and planned on taking one day off in between to rent a car and go to Huntington beach for the day. I'm curious if this is possibly too many park days and I should switch to 4 park days and stay overnight at the beach the last 2 days of our trip. We will have DAS for my son as we always do in WDW so no genie+. We are not open to close park people. We like to take afternoon breaks and do sit down dinners. Would 2 full park days and 2 half days be enough? How would you split them up in that case? Don't want to pay extra for park hoppers and not interested in fireworks because they're too loud for my son. Really torn what to do because I want us to be able to enjoy the parks without missing much but also traveling across the country would like to experience more than just Disney. Also in late April can we enjoy the pools and beach weather wise? Sorry for the long explanation and thanks in advance for any advice.

I love DLR. More than WDW. But if you are going all the way out there, you should give time to enjoy other things as well.

I know you don't want to spend extra on park hoppers, but you need to realize the proximity of the 2 parks. They are so close. No bus needed, just an easy walk of less than 3 minutes. I couldn't imagine going to DLR not having park hoppers. It isn't the same as WDW.

Therefore, my personal recommendation would be to get 4 day park hopper and spend 2 days away from DLR. With hoppers you could realistically do 3 DLR days and 3 vacation days. However, if you are at a leisurely pace and want more Disney time (including the pool), then go with 4 DLR, 2 outside.

 

[Wilcojoe]

We’re once every 4-5 year Disney folks and I just think especially for DLR, that anything more than 3 days is going to be too much. I think your better off paying for Genie plus and $LL along with park hoppers, staying onsite and really enjoying yourself for 3 park days. I just couldn’t imagine doing 5 days and staying offsite but that’s just me. That walk back and forth to a Best Western for four or more nights just doesn’t seem like a good time but that’s just me.

 

[dieumeye]

or the canoes that very few people really like

I feel attacked.

 

[Wilcojoe]

The other thing that I can’t stress enough for a DW person who has never been to DLR is that you just can’t compare the two as DW has four parks (5 if you count the water park) versus just the two at DLR. Throw in the fact that they are so close together and even the good neighbor hotels are so much more convenient than any similar budget lodging options in Florida. The experiences really are night and day from a convenience factor, which you will love.
Those DW trips where you do 4 or 5 park days and leave feeling like you didn’t see everything (because you probably didn’t) will not be the case at DLR.

 

[Piglet99645]

Too many what? I don't understand the question.

We always do 5 day parkhoppers spread out over 6 or 7 days, so we have a day to rest in the middle. I never manage to do everything I want as many times as I want.

 

[Wilcojoe]

Too many what? I don't understand the question.

We always do 5 day parkhoppers spread out over 6 or 7 days, so we have a day to rest in the middle. I never manage to do everything I want as many times as I want.

I think it just depends on your level of Disney fanatic that you are. You are no doubt a 10.
I am probably like a 6. But I am pretty obsessive about planning our trips to ensure we have a solid plan, as I think we can all agree that’s a must. I usually follow this board 24/7 up to two months before our trip to learn as much as possible and then you won’t see me again for 4-5 years.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Our standard used to be 3 park days. We had to move quickly and sometimes only got on the big rides once, but we we're able to do everything we wanted to do. In November, we did 5 park days/6 nights. I think that will be our new standard going forward. Now that our kids are adults, we don't have to do everything together all the time. If someone wants to get up early and make rope drop, they can go. If someone wants to sleep late and meet up later, it's fine. Having 5 days meant we didn't have to rush around or feel like we were wasting time when we wanted to relax. We did a sit-down meal almost everyday, often at DTD. It was nice to leave the busy parks and have a nice leisurely meal. We rarely had sit-down meals on shorter trips since we wanted to maximize our park time. If you can swing a 5-day trip, I would recommend it.

 

[Malcon10t]

We’re once every 4-5 year Disney folks and I just think especially for DLR, that anything more than 3 days is going to be too much. I think your better off paying for Genie plus and $LL along with park hoppers, staying onsite and really enjoying yourself for 3 park days. I just couldn’t imagine doing 5 days and staying offsite but that’s just me. That walk back and forth to a Best Western for four or more nights just doesn’t seem like a good time but that’s just me.

We are a once every 6 weeker, and do 3 days minimum, with Christmas, Spring Break, and a summer visit getting at least 5 days (Christmas gets 12 days.). But we enjoy the parks. We enjoy taking the time to see the little things. We have been known to take an hour watching the turtles. We have been known to spend an entire day exploring Galaxy's Edge. But if your sole goal is rides, 3 days should do it.

 

[Caseheidi]

I think your plan sounds great for your family. I agree that I always do hoppers at DLR, but I never do them at WDW. The parks entrances are in the same plaza, with Downtown Disney off to the side. We often hope between, often based on how crazy the crowd level is. Also, know that DL is very similar to MK, but is smaller and has more rides. There is an energy level in that park that cannot be matched. Some people thrive off it, while others find it too much (we thrive). So if any of your kids have sensory issues, sometimes stepping over to the other park or into Downtown Disney can give a small break.
Either way, enjoy your trip. You will have a great time!

 

[Wilcojoe]

We are a once every 6 weeker, and do 3 days minimum, with Christmas, Spring Break, and a summer visit getting at least 5 days (Christmas gets 12 days.). But we enjoy the parks. We enjoy taking the time to see the little things. We have been known to take an hour watching the turtles. We have been known to spend an entire day exploring Galaxy's Edge. But if your sole goal is rides, 3 days should do it.

And if memory serves, based on your previous posts, you’re also not staying at a Best Western.

 

[Piglet99645]

I think it just depends on your level of Disney fanatic that you are. You are no doubt a 10.
I am probably like a 6. But I am pretty obsessive about planning our trips to ensure we have a solid plan, as I think we can all agree that’s a must. I usually follow this board 24/7 up to two months before our trip to learn as much as possible and then you won’t see me again for 4-5 years.

I'm the same except it's once a year! OK sometimes twice. lol

 

[Bossy22]

Our family is a once every 1-2 years (come down from Canada) and we would never come for less than 5 days with hoppers. We always feel like we could stay longer as well!!! Once we drove down (22 hrs of driving) straight, checked in our hotel at 9pm, were at disney the next 5 days and then drove home the 22 hrs straight. Most trips we try to have a couple of days off in the middle to just relax so we have more energy but for us its all about DL!!!