2 parks, less than 2 days. Doable?

[mom2willnbrendan]

We will be arriving in Anaheim around 1030 am and heading to our hotel (across the street from DL). We only have the rest of that day and the following day to hit the parks. We have a 2 days pass, no hopper. We were thinking of CA that day and DL the next. Thoughts? Game plan advice? I'm no stranger to Disneyworld, but have never been to "The Land". TIA for any advice!

Diane

 

[az4boys]

Get maxpass. With limited time, you will get so much more done and it will be more relaxing at the same time. With no hoppers, I would save the full day for DL.

 

[mom2willnbrendan]

Get maxpass. With limited time, you will get so much more done and it will be more relaxing at the same time. With no hoppers, I would save the full day for DL.

I did purchase Maxpass...just need to figure how to use it, lol! I wish we could stay longer!!

 

[az4boys]

I did purchase Maxpass...just need to figure how to use it, lol! I wish we could stay longer!!

One important part is to get a new FP as soon as you are able. You can get a new one after 90 minutes or you use the one you just got, whichever comes first. I book our first FP as soon as we walk through the turnstiles. The kids don't hardly even notice what I'm doing, but they love the short lines.

 

[cmwade77]

Also, remember that your current FP is considered used as soon as you scan it on the first scanner, so you can get another FP while waiting to reach the second scanner where applicable.

 

[Shanti]

I recommend upgrading to park hopper passes. If you could possibly upgrade it to a 3-day to take advantage of EMH, that would help, too.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

This thread will give you lots of helpful information: A DLR Guide for WDW Vets.

 

[figment_jii]

I think you can hit many of the highlights, but you won't be able to do everything in under two days. I would look over the thread theluckyrabbit recommended, then make a list of the attractions you want to do the most and start developing a game plan from there.

When are you going? If DL is open considerably longer than DCA (usually it happens on weekends when DCA closes at 10 and DL is open to midnight), it might be worth considering hoppers so you can take advantage of the extra couple of hours. Also, remember that the shops on Main Street and BVS usually remain open an hour after park closing, so you might want to save your shopping until then.

 

[rentayenta]

Two days is enough especially with MaxPass. I agree about making the shorter day your DCA day. Have fun!

 

[Buson808]

Ive done disneyland park in 1 day! Thats from being in the park 6:30am-11:30pm. Thats taking my time with no fastpass.

I did take a hour nap in between. Benefit of staying at gch.

 

[Geemo]

We will be arriving in Anaheim around 1030 am and heading to our hotel (across the street from DL). We only have the rest of that day and the following day to hit the parks. We have a 2 days pass, no hopper. We were thinking of CA that day and DL the next. Thoughts? Game plan advice? I'm no stranger to Disneyworld, but have never been to "The Land". TIA for any advice!

Diane

You can review post #2 by lcp9 in this thread for MP
https://www.disboards.com/threads/need-lots-of-help-at-the-parks-friday-12-9.3651754/#post-58550567

 

[mom2willnbrendan]

I think you can hit many of the highlights, but you won't be able to do everything in under two days. I would look over the thread theluckyrabbit recommended, then make a list of the attractions you want to do the most and start developing a game plan from there.

When are you going? If DL is open considerably longer than DCA (usually it happens on weekends when DCA closes at 10 and DL is open to midnight), it might be worth considering hoppers so you can take advantage of the extra couple of hours. Also, remember that the shops on Main Street and BVS usually remain open an hour after park closing, so you might want to save your shopping until then.

Thank you! We will be there April 28th and 29th. I think DCA is open until 11 and DL until 12 those days.

 

[BrianL]

You probably can't do everything, but you can get a lot done, especially with Maxpass. I just did two full days and was crushing it using MP! By the end, I was contnet to just sit and soak up atmosphere.

Have a plan and use rope drop on your one day that you can. Fantasyland has the slowest loading and non-fast pass rides, so it is a good place to start.

 

[ktlm]

Get the hopper if you can swing it. The parks are separated by a plaza about the size of a football field and there is no security to hop between parks. You can be from the back corner of DL to the back corner of CA in 10 minutes. We have done it. That gives you the flexibility to hop if one park has shorter lines, and also you can leave CA before the last WOC gets out and hop over and get that last hour in at DL.

Just adults, or with kids? The first time I had been back to DLR since I was a child, I was on a business trip and took DH with me and we did a one day open to close turbo day (CS only- no sit down meal). We did almost every single ride (skipped bugs land and a couple of rides were closed) and fit in the Aladdin show (which is gone, but was 40 minutes long). It was a really fast pace though. Don't forget the single rider lines at RSR and Indiana Jones if you are all old enough. That can save you quite a bit of time. DLR is very easy as compared to WDW.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

One important part is to get a new FP as soon as you are able. You can get a new one after 90 minutes or you use the one you just got, whichever comes first. I book our first FP as soon as we walk through the turnstiles. The kids don't hardly even notice what I'm doing, but they love the short lines.

Just a note of clarification: you can get a new FP as soon as the window opens, even if you haven’t used it yet (unless it’s been less than 30 minutes since you pulled it). I find this important because I’ll often book, say Space Mountain with a 9:30-10:30 return time, and then right at 9:30 I’ll jump on and book Star Tours for like 10:00 or whatever time it’s available for, and then I’ll book Buzz as soon as I can since that return time is usually so close... and then I’ll head over and knock all three out back to back. Obviously this is just an example, but booking as soon as the window opens often allows me to group a few rides together that are located near each other.

Don’t forget that you can scan 5 minutes before and 10 minutes after your return window, too. That can help make these kinds of clusters work.

 

[Doingitagain]

Just a note of clarification: you can get a new FP as soon as the window opens, even if you haven’t used it yet (unless it’s been less than 30 minutes since you pulled it). I find this important because I’ll often book, say Space Mountain with a 9:30-10:30 return time, and then right at 9:30 I’ll jump on and book Star Tours for like 10:00 or whatever time it’s available for, and then I’ll book Buzz as soon as I can since that return time is usually so close... and then I’ll head over and knock all three out back to back. Obviously this is just an example, but booking as soon as the window opens often allows me to group a few rides together that are located near each other.

Don’t forget that you can scan 5 minutes before and 10 minutes after your return window, too. That can help make these kinds of clusters work.

This is helpful! What do you mean by “scan”?

 

[BrianL]

This is helpful! What do you mean by “scan”?

When you make a FP on Maxpass it is linked to your ticket. When you got o use it you just scan your ticket barcode (or from your phone) and that clicks it off. Some attractions have a second scanpoint, presumably because the extended queues might be easy to jump over from standby. Once you scan and get the green circle, you are good to go and you can start making your next FP immediately.

 

[8lovesmickey]

Your biggest advantage will be going EARLY on your second day. We just got back and did a TON with little or no waiting. First decide which park has more "headliners" that you want to ride, and go there first thing on your early day. Here's what we did on our early DCA day using MaxPass...

Park opened at 8; we were in line at 7:45
As soon as we crossed into the park we got on MaxPass and made a FP for Radiator Springs Racers
Then we walked to Soarin (near the entrance) and walked on.
Next we walked to CarsLand and walked on the Luigi and Mater ride. Then it was time for our FP to RSR, and it wasn't even 9:00.
When we got off RSR we got on the app and made FPs for Guardians of the Galaxy.
We shopped, rode everything in Bugs Land, then went to G of G.
After G of G we got FP's for Toy Story. Unfortunately before we got over there the ride went down. But... that meant we had a "free" FP for anything we wanted, so we rode Grizzly River Run, again with no wait.

Don't waste the first two hours on anything you can do later! Avoid the temptation to shop, eat, or see shows during that prime time; you really can ride more in the first two hours than you can the rest of the day.

By 10:30 we had done all the big things we wanted to do. That left time for the less crowded things later, an afternoon break, nighttime parades, etc.!!

If you'd rather go early to DL, you can do something similar. When you cross into the park, FP something big (Space Mtn. comes to mind) then ride all you can first thing!

We found the Max Pass COMPLETELY worth the money.

As an aside, since you visit WDW often, focus on the stuff you don't find in Florida: Radiator Springs / Carsland, Guardians of the Galaxy, Indiana Jones, Matterhorn. Then move on to the things that (I think) DLR does better than WDW: Pirates, Small World, Space Mountain. Of course there are more, but that's a start.

Have fun!!