Making Plans

[Paflyers]

My fiancé and I will be stopping at DLR for 5 days before we head over to Aulani for our honeymoon. I've been tracking flights and I found one that would put us into LAX at around 9am. (We live in the Midwest) My question to all of you, do you think planning a park day on arrival is okay, or should I use this as a tour the resort, DTD, and just relax? I was thinking since we would get into town fairly early we'd have a full park day available to us for the most part. We will have 4 full park days if I decide to make travel day, be a lounge/touring day. I have never been to Disneyland, in fact this will be my first time even in CA. I am a constant planner and I want to make sure I have everything in order before the 2020 bookings open. What are your thoughts? Do you think that planning a park day on your travel day might be too much? Or do you think that since we should get into LAX by 9am, we could possibly have almost a full park day. Would it be worth the money if we didn't go into the park until 1 or 2 PM?

 

[gerilyne]

I know that I always say I am going to plan to not go to the parks on my arrival day and inevitably when it comes to planning the trip we end up in the park. My reason though may be silly to some; since we stay on sight our Monday EMH is in DCA and I want to be sure to start my trip in DL so on our Sunday arrival day, we head to DL. This year our plane lands at SNA around 8:30am but last year we landed around 10:30am or so and didn't feel our day was wasted getting to the parks by lunchtime. We also have very low expectations of what we can do on the first day; for us it is about walking around the park and enjoying just being there.

This year, with SWGE opening, we definatly want to maximize our chances of getting into the land. I know we are planning on trying to book either Savi's or Oga's on the plane at 7am (thank you airplane wifi) to try and accomplish this. I don't know if SWGE will continue with the reservations into next year but it's something else to keep in mind when deciding what to do on arrival day.

That said, if we were flying in and not landing until the mid-afternoon/early evening hours, we would most likely use arrival day to relax and get ready for a full day the next day. Maybe do the Goofy's kitchen character dinner, or check out the food in DTD.

 

[Paflyers]

I know that I always say I am going to plan to not go to the parks on my arrival day and inevitably when it comes to planning the trip we end up in the park. My reason though may be silly to some; since we stay on sight our Monday EMH is in DCA and I want to be sure to start my trip in DL so on our Sunday arrival day, we head to DL. This year our plane lands at SNA around 8:30am but last year we landed around 10:30am or so and didn't feel our day was wasted getting to the parks by lunchtime. We also have very low expectations of what we can do on the first day; for us it is about walking around the park and enjoying just being there.

This year, with SWGE opening, we definatly want to maximize our chances of getting into the land. I know we are planning on trying to book either Savi's or Oga's on the plane at 7am (thank you airplane wifi) to try and accomplish this. I don't know if SWGE will continue with the reservations into next year but it's something else to keep in mind when deciding what to do on arrival day.

That said, if we were flying in and not landing until the mid-afternoon/early evening hours, we would most likely use arrival day to relax and get ready for a full day the next day. Maybe do the Goofy's kitchen character dinner, or check out the food in DTD.

Yes. We will be staying at the DLH. Arriving on a Wednesday and leaving for Hawaii on Monday Morning. We will be there the week before Presidents Day. I want to get the most out of my time there, since I highly doubt that we will go back anytime soon. At the same time, we are on vacation/our honeymoon and I don't want to run around be super hectic the whole time I want to take my time, explore and enjoy our time there.. all the while getting in as much Disney as I can. (We go to WDW every other year, so Disney isn't new to us, just Disneyland) =)

 

[22Tink]

We typically don’t land until 2pm so we don’t go to the parks on arrival day but if I was landing as early as you I totally would! You’ll still get in a pretty decent day landing at 9am and SNA is nice and close so you should be able to be at the parks fairly early.

Edited to add I see now you’re landing into LAX. That will take longer than SNA but for the minimal cost to add a day to your ticket I think I’d still plan for the parks that day. You’ll still have lots of time and plenty of FP should still be available then.

 

[ImDMous]

This is a tough one. If you're landing at LAX at 9am, I wouldn't expect to make it to the hotel, check-in, drop off bags and be ready to do something until 11-noon at the earliest. If there's a delay unloading your bags or traffic left over from rush hour or construction, you could be looking at much later. You'll probably be pretty hungry by then also. In this case I might just use this day to check out DTD, eat at one of the restaurants there or in one of the hotels, go to Trader Sam's, check out the pool if it's warm enough, do some souvenir shopping at World of Disney, etc. The parks are only open until 9 in February. I'm usually a go, go, go in the parks kind of person, but in this case I might just relax that day, go to bed early, try to adjust to the time change a little and get ready to hit them early the next day.

 

[twodogs]

The price difference between a 4 day park hopper and a 5 day park hopper is $15. For that price, I would get the 5 day ticket, plan to go arrival day and do what you can but no stress. Take in the atmosphere, ride anything you can get a FP for, watch some shows, animation academy, sample the food and beverage and get your bearings so that you are ready for your next park days. I think $15 is so cheap to have the added opportunity to go that day! We always go arrival day unless we get in really late (for example, we arrive tonight but not until 8pm at SNA, so we won't go tonight). I can't stand being there most of the day and not going into the parks!!

 

[fly girl]

The price difference between a 4 day park hopper and a 5 day park hopper is $15. For that price, I would get the 5 day ticket, plan to go arrival day and do what you can but no stress. Take in the atmosphere, ride anything you can get a FP for, watch some shows, animation academy, sample the food and beverage and get your bearings so that you are ready for your next park days. I think $15 is so cheap to have the added opportunity to go that day! We always go arrival day unless we get in really late (for example, we arrive tonight but not until 8pm at SNA, so we won't go tonight). I can't stand being there most of the day and not going into the parks!!

If that is the difference, then heck ya I would make it a park day!

If you are flying into LAX - by the time you get your bags, take transportation to DLR, and check in you likely will not be to park entrance before 11:30-Noon.

Remember OP, you will be on a 3 hour time change. You will likely be tired a lot earlier than you expect. Only bonus, it is not hard at all to get up for early magic hour!

 

[Paflyers]

Thanks ya'll for the opinions! I think you've all made up my mind to go ahead and go for it! Now just waiting on Disneyland to release those 2020 dates!

 

[avalon451]

Yup, agree with the previous posters. We generally land around the same time you do (though coming from Seattle area, so same time zone = no time change), and we love to use that first day as a relaxed, "welcome to the park" day. It's a good time to wander, shop, dine, pick up the odd FP that is available, maybe catch a parade. Plus I always try to ride my favorite ride first: PotC. Then you can get hit the hay early to be rested for your rope drop the next morning.

 

[ImDMous]

Welll... for $15, heck yeah, go that day. I amend my previous statement. I have a pass so I had no idea the difference was so cheap.

 

[3DisMunchkins]

The price difference between a 4 day park hopper and a 5 day park hopper is $15

This is why we always end up going on our arrival day. I kinda count it as a bonus day and usually try to watch fireworks and see parade (when there is a night parade). I don't mind waiting so much because it's a "bonus day" and the wait is the same as it would have been if you'd made rope drop.

 

[katyringo]

Yep! We have 4 full days, but arrive around 11am our first day and the 5th day is so cheap we added it. We did that for our previous trip too! I think it helps you feel like you have just a little bit more time to get the magic in.

 

[wilsonarts]

We went in one time for 4 hours on arrival day. We had dinner and rode a few rides. It was definitely worth the extra $15 per ticket for us.

 

[ktlm]

I would absolutely do a park day! We usually get in to SNA around 10:00 and our first day is always a park day. We go in June or July and DL is typically open until midnight. Sure we get up 4:00 a.m. central time to get a 6:30 a.m. flight- but we don't let that slow us down! We did drive to DL from LAX once (after coming back from Hawaii) and the traffic was not too bad. It took us around an hour.

Since you are looking at 2020, I'm assuming you haven't booked flights yet? You might look at flying in to SNA for the DLR part of your trip-- it is such an easy airport. When we go to DLR we fly in and out of SNA. For us, even though we have direct flights to LAX, but not to SNA from our home airport it is worth it. The ease of SNA makes it worth a flight connection.

In 2016, we did a trip backwards from what you are doing-- we flew to Aulani and then stopped at DLR for a few days on the way back. We booked our flights in legs though. We flew to Oahu (connected through LAX), flew from Oahu to Maui, flew from Maui back to LAX- went to DLR and then flew home from SNA.

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

 

[Long Distance Dis]

Unpopular opinion here, but I wouldn't recommend making your arrival day a park day. I've done it myself twice now and it always leaves me feeling a bit chaotic. Arriving at the parks first thing in the morning is magical, it's my very favorite time of day. Crowds are at the lowest, everything is fresh and clean. Walking in around lunch has always felt off/chaotic/just not as magical as it should because crowds are immediately bigger with the slower ramp up of morning. I've vowed to not do it again because they weren't good experiences for me. Plus, relaxing the first day is so enjoyable. DTD, Trader Sams, exploring the hotel are all so exciting right when you arrive!

I also brought my husband to the park for the first time ever on our arrival day but in the evening, and it was not a good choice. Though there are so many beautiful lights, you can't really properly see your surroundings so he was left feeling disoriented and like he didn't get a taste for it at all. Not a good call on my part. Much better experience when we came back the next morning.

For the small price difference, I have on another trip gotten the 5 day pass for only 4 full days in the park and used the extra day to pop in the park the morning before I flew out. Got breakfast on Main Street, did a little last minute shopping, just had a really nice relaxed hour or two in the early morning. It was wonderful, I'd highly recommend that if you have the option. You'll have a fabulous trip either way!

 

[azdisneylover]

Since you will be going in February, parks usually open later in the morning (9 or 10) with MM/EE being 8 instead of 7, go to the parks and take it all in making mental notes what you would like to try, avoid, etc. The cost between a 4 day and a 5 day ticket is small. If you were arriving in the late afternoon, early evening, I would say depending on how you feel, you could always add a day.

 

[jenbright]

We always add the 5th day even if it's short (whether it be arrival or departure). The cost is so low to add the extra day and we feel like we can accomplish a lot in the park in just a few hours. If it's super busy we concentrate on the rides with shorter waits or the shows we haven't seen, or animation academy, or even just getting a fun treat and waiting for the parade. With a 9 am arrival you would have time to arrive at the park in early afternoon and see the lights turn on.

 

[smartlabelprint]

We have entered the park an hour before park closing.

Last trip we entered at 4. We didn’t stay til park close. We watched frozen and did a few mp rides. It was relaxed and helped us feel un- rushed the rest of the trip.