Guide to DLR for WDW Veterans!

[CAlvares]

Crowd calendars are at best suspect at DLR and have been for as long as I've been going (almost 10 years now). Weirdly, weekends can sometimes be less busy, so do not assume that there will be hard and fast rules about crowding. Don't trust any resource that insists they can accurately predict roughly how busy the parks will be.

There's really not very much for an almost three year old to do at DCA, so I would recommend either just doing one day or else just getting hoppers and going back over if you feel you need to.

Keep in mind that if you're rope dropping it takes time to get to the parking lot from your hotel (with inevitable traffic), wait to pay to park, park, get on whatever transportation is provided or walk to the parks, wait for security, and then wait to get into the parks. If you're used to WDW, everything outside of the parks takes longer in California, and regrettably they have not yet invested in the very smooth new metal detectors Florida is using. So build in a fair amount of buffer time-more than you think you'll need-to get in, situated, and ready for the moment the parks open. You can get a LOT done in the early morning, but it's VERY easy to underestimate how long it will take to get into the parks to fully take advantage of those short waits.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a thorough reply!! I’ve used those crowd calendars for my previous trips to WDW and they were helpful, but I totally see what you’re saying. Things are very different nowadays and I’ve been reading in many forums that sometimes the weekday are busier than the weekends.

Thanks for mentioning the many extra steps to get to the park on rope drop, I’ll be keeping them in mind. Since this is our first time taking our little one I’m positive things won’t flow as smoothly, but we’ll do what we can on our end to get there as early as possible.

I hear you on DCA having less things for toddlers but my kiddo LOVES climbing and I think she would spend a long time at the Redwood Creek challenge

We’ll see how things go when we visit both parks and make any changes (if there’s availability to switch parks)

Thanks again for the thoughtful response!!

 

[CAlvares]

If your Saturday is DCA then I think you'll be fine. It's not a full day's park anyway and there's probably more a 3yo can't do there than can, so even if that day is busy you'll have done most things there on your Wednesday day.

Also, and this is just my opinion, I've personally never trusted the crowd calendars since the resort reopened back up after the Covid closure. Too much has changed with the reservation system, new annual pass system, and new Genie+ system for there to be long-term historical data. Plus, Disney decides how many reservations they are going to open up on any given day (and can change between now and your trip), so it's hard to say how accurate they are.

Two days in each park should be enough time to get a lot done either way. Best thing is to just relax, have fun, soak everything in and watch your daughter have a blast, and if you miss anything then hopefully you'll get to experience it on a future trip.

Thank you!!
I totally agree with you on the lack of historical data and how different things are now after COVID and magical keys changes.

We’re definitely hoping to have fun regardless of how many rides we get to do

Since this is her first trip ever (Covid baby) I’m more concerned about her/myself being overwhelmed with too many people around packed like sardines (like the pictures I’ve seen of Christmas Day/Thanksgiving at the parks) which is probably not going to happen, but my mom brain keeps coming up with some “worst case scenarios.

The crowd calendars just became part of my planning process over the years with our WDW trips and I see/saw them a starting point to ease those fears.

Thanks again!!

 

[truecoat]

We like 'Anaheim Pizza Press' on S. Harbor Blvd. And we're New Yorkers!

Well, no one will hold that against you.

 

[mickEblu]

We like 'Anaheim Pizza Press' on S. Harbor Blvd. And we're New Yorkers!

Pizza press is solid. I was bummed when the location by my house closed down. For NY style pizza though near me we do Mulberry Street.

 

[truecoat]

Is there a Giordano’s near?

 

[PiratesMansion]

Is there a Giordano’s near?

I doubt it, but I'm sure Rosati's has wormed their way into the area as they always seem to. Yuck.

 

[mickEblu]

I doubt it, but I'm sure Rosati's has wormed their way into the area as they always seem to. Yuck.

I feel Ike there’s not one place to gets a deep dish Chicago style pizza in all of Los Angeles. Unless you count BJ’s. I’ll see myself out

 

[PiratesMansion]

I feel Ike there’s not one place to gets a deep dish Chicago style pizza in all of Los Angeles. Unless you count BJ’s. I’ll see myself out

I'm sure there isn't, but stranger things have happened. Heck, my last time in Branson I discovered, to my great shock, that the even-smaller-town next door inexplicably had a wonderful deep dish pizzeria wedged into what had clearly been someone's house at some point.

If you're talking BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse, I've never heard of it and there doesn't appear to be a single one in Chicago or even in the suburbs, so I'm going to go ahead and veto that on principle, haha.

Rosati's is like C-tier Chicago pizza, but it's spread like crabgrass, so I'm sure it'll reach California eventually.

 

[mickEblu]

I'm sure there isn't, but stranger things have happened. Heck, my last time in Branson I discovered, to my great shock, that the even-smaller-town next door inexplicably had a wonderful deep dish pizzeria wedged into what had clearly been someone's house at some point.

If you're talking BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse, I've never heard of it and there doesn't appear to be a single one in Chicago or even in the suburbs, so I'm going to go ahead and veto that on principle, haha.

Rosati's is like C-tier Chicago pizza, but it's spread like crabgrass, so I'm sure it'll reach California eventually.

There was that one place in Burbank- Taste of Chicago owned by actor Joe Montegna but it closed a few years ago and I never got around to trying it

 

[rlm919]

Planning our first DL trip in February as WDW veterans. Thoughts / advice/ suggestions?

 

[PiratesMansion]

Planning our first DL trip in February as WDW veterans. Thoughts / advice/ suggestions?

In terms of some basic suggestions:
1. Get park hoppers
2. I recommend a minimum of three full days at the parks. You'll need more time at DL than DCA.
3. Don't feel like you need to stay at a Disney hotel, there are plenty of offsite places just as close or in many cases closer to the park gates for less money.
4. If you want to see Fireworks, Fantasmic, and/or any nighttime parade that may be running at that time, plan to attend on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. These shows DO NOT run Monday to Thursday most of the time. World of Color runs nightly.

Those are the basics. What is your plan/situation (ex. how many days/who's in your party/etc)? What do you want to see or do? Do you have any specific questions or concerns?

The more we know about your parameters, the more helpful our feedback is likely to be.

 

[rlm919]

In terms of some basic suggestions:
1. Get park hoppers
2. I recommend a minimum of three full days at the parks. You'll need more time at DL than DCA.
3. Don't feel like you need to stay at a Disney hotel, there are plenty of offsite places just as close or in many cases closer to the park gates for less money.
4. If you want to see Fireworks, Fantasmic, and/or any nighttime parade that may be running at that time, plan to attend on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. These shows DO NOT run Monday to Thursday most of the time. World of Color runs nightly.

Those are the basics. What is your plan/situation (ex. how many days/who's in your party/etc)? What do you want to see or do? Do you have any specific questions or concerns?

The more we know about your parameters, the more helpful our feedback is likely to be.

Thanks! We are probably staying from Saturday through the following Friday. Me, my wife and our daughter who will be turning 8 on day 1 of the trip. Tbh, the thought process was that we’ve been to Wdw so many times, getting annoyed at how $$$ everything has gone up while continually taking things away, lessening offerings, etc we figure at s least if we go to DL once, we won’t notice since we’ve never been lol.

Our daughter has only been to WDW once, in October 2019, so this surprise trip will be awesome for her regardless.

 

[IanDLBZF]

4. If you want to see Fireworks, Fantasmic, and/or any nighttime parade that may be running at that time, plan to attend on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. These shows DO NOT run Monday to Thursday most of the time. World of Color runs nightly.

There are some exceptions though, for instance they've seen Mickey's Mix Magic and/or Fantasmic run daily before.

 

[PiratesMansion]

There are some exceptions though, for instance they've seen Mickey's Mix Magic and/or Fantasmic run daily before.

If it's a traditional high season (summer, spring break, Christmas, holidays), sure. But any other time, including February other than President's Day, you're out of luck.

When MMM was running daily, they'd run it without pyro if was Monday to Thursday and wasn't during one of the above times (and it sounds like the new fireworks show will be similarly programmed).

There are only rare exceptions (ex. the 60th celebration had everything running nightly for the duration of the event, other than Fantasmic when it went down with the river and railroad) to this, and I haven't seen any indication that the 100th celebrations will be one of those special circumstances.

 

[rlm919]

I know nothing is as predictable as it used to be, but hoping for light crowds since we’ll be in and out before president’s day weekend

 

[TP2000]

@KeithVH had a very good point that this thread, an invaluable resource to anyone not from Southern California or even the West Coast, had sort of gone dormant. And it fell off the first few pages of this forum.

So, in the spirit of Disneyland's New-But-Not-Really-New parade Magic Happens that was supposed to re-debut this weekend but has been cancelled the last two days for rain and cold in a place that's not supposed to be rainy or cold, I will not just bump this thread....

Like the Magic Happens composer and artistic influence Todrick Hall himself, I will ba-rump-pa-pah-bump this thread! Sha-Blap!

 

[tanc]

What is mid January like? I know crowd calendars can't be trusted but it was a time I thought about. I really want to ride Haunted Holiday but I guess it probably won't be up still, I saw this year though it had an extended stay, figures.

 

[Phroobar]

What is mid January like? I know crowd calendars can't be trusted but it was a time I thought about. I really want to ride Haunted Holiday but I guess it probably won't be up still, I saw this year though it had an extended stay, figures.

It is usually up till mid January.

 

[Ripken10]

WDW vet making a Disneyland trip soon. Because the trip is soon I have been speed reading too much and missing important details, so I apologize for asking a repeated question. As a WDW vet I am used to Genie+ with the 2 hour window and I thought I had read that disneyland genie+ didn't have the 2 hour window, that you had to either wait till you got to the ride or your window passed. but as I skimmed through this thread someone mentioned the 2 hour window. Can you book a genie+ reservation 2 hours after your last one if your ride window is more than 2 hours away? Update - I kept researching this, and it was actually very hard to find, but I did finally see two websites say that the 120 minute window does exist in disneyland too. SO THE ANSWER IS YES, THEY DO HAVE A 120 MINUTE WINDOW.

We only have two days in the park (too many other things we want to try to see... i fear I will regret not having more days). We had booked to fly into a closer airport, but switching planes with two young ones made us change course and now we fly into LAX. We will have our car seats, but won't rent a car till end of the week. Would you suggest Lift/Uber are the best option to get to our hotel in Anaheim?

We are staying one night at Grand California, wondering if it is possible to check in, drop off our luggage and still use early entry. I read that you can check in early and use early entry, has anyone done this? we are staying within walking distance the night before; just not sure we will want to walk with all our luggage if we are in "rush" to use early entry.

One other question to add - I know in WDW they updated genie+ now that you can now modify your genie+ reservations. Was this update done in disneyland. Update - I was told that you can also MODIFY a disneyland genie+ as well.

Always love reading this thread. Hope the tips keep coming, it is so useful for us WDW nerds...

 

[chadwpalm]

WDW vet making a Disneyland trip soon. Because the trip is soon I have been speed reading too much and missing important details, so I apologize for asking a repeated question. As a WDW vet I am used to Genie+ with the 2 hour window and I thought I had read that disneyland genie+ didn't have the 2 hour window, that you had to either wait till you got to the ride or your window passed. but as I skimmed through this thread someone mentioned the 2 hour window. Can you book a genie+ reservation 2 hours after your last one if your ride window is more than 2 hours away? Update - I kept researching this, and it was actually very hard to find, but I did finally see two websites say that the 120 minute window does exist in disneyland too. SO THE ANSWER IS YES, THEY DO HAVE A 120 MINUTE WINDOW.

That is correct, there is a 120 minute window. The rule is simply this: When you book a Lightning Lane, you are not eligible to book your next one until you either redeem the current one, or 120 minutes have passed...whichever comes first. This means that if you book a LL which has a return time 6 hours ahead, in 2 hours you can book another and essentially be holding two. If you use that second one, but the first is still not redeemed, you can still book another one.

I can't really answer the other questions as I've never flown into LAX nor have I ever stayed at any of the on-property hotels.