Help Planning Disneyland Trip- 2 days or 3?

Disneylover152

Disneylover152

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Hey guys! My mom and I are going to Disneyland. We have gone to Disney World over 10 times, if this helps. We are trying to decide between 2 or 3 days. We are also trying to decide park hoppers or not.

We were thinking if we do 3 days, Day 1 at Disneyland Park, Day 2 at DCA, and Day 3 Park Hopper, but we are not sure.

Can anyone help? Also, what rides are must-dos?

And if we do 3 days, what are your suggestions for each day?

Thank you so much.
 
BasiltheBatLord

BasiltheBatLord

Well-Known Member
Since you asked for attraction recommendations, here is a somewhat exhaustive list of exclusive Disneyland attractions as well as attractions that are different from or superior to their WDW counterparts. Attractions marked with an asterisk are must-do's, in my view.

Matterhorn *
Splash Mountain * (Different from WDW)
Space Mountain * (Different from WDW)
Indiana Jones Adventure *
Pirates of the Caribbean * (Superior to WDW )
Haunted Mansion * (Somewhat different from WDW, also has HM Holiday at the end of the year)
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad * (Superior to WDW because of new explosion scene)
Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin *
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride * (Need to do this for legacy reasons)
Alice in Wonderland *
It's a Small World * (Somewhat different from WDW, also has holiday version)
Jungle Cruise (Different from WDW)
Pinocchio's Daring Journey
Peter Pan's Flight (Pretty sure this is somewhat different from WDW, IIRC)
Snow White's Scary Adventures
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (Somewhat different from WDW)
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage (Should probably do this for legacy reasons)
Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough
King Arthur Carousel
Casey Jr. Circus Train
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (Different from WDW)
Storybook Land Canal Boats
Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln

Probably missing some minor stuff.

And of course almost everything in DCA is exclusive.
 
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drizgirl

Well-Known Member
Disneylover152 said:
okay, so I'll do Day 1: Disneyland Day 2: DCA and Day 3: Mix

Thanks so much everyone!
Click to expand...
Here's what you're missing. Sure you need to decide whether to buy the hopper option or not, and it will be all or nothing. You can't add it for just one day. But beyond that, you don't need to have a hard fast plan. The entrances of the 2 parks are right across the esplanade from each other, maybe the distance of a football field. Sure, have a loose plan, but be flexible. Once the entertainment schedule is released, you might decide you need to hop over to see the parade on your DCA day. Or you might want to see World of Color on your DL day. Or maybe you missed the Frozen show on your DCA day and now want to see it on your DL day. That's all possible because the parks are so close together. And you don't have to schedule anything in advance, so all options are open every day you enter one of the parks.
 
Disneylover152

Disneylover152

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
drizgirl said:
Here's what you're missing. Sure you need to decide whether to buy the hopper option or not, and it will be all or nothing. You can't add it for just one day. But beyond that, you don't need to have a hard fast plan. The entrances of the 2 parks are right across the esplanade from each other, maybe the distance of a football field. Sure, have a loose plan, but be flexible. Once the entertainment schedule is released, you might decide you need to hop over to see the parade on your DCA day. Or you might want to see World of Color on your DL day. Or maybe you missed the Frozen show on your DCA day and now want to see it on your DL day. That's all possible because the parks are so close together. And you don't have to schedule anything in advance, so all options are open every day you enter one of the parks.
Click to expand...

The only reason we don't want to do Park Hopper all 3 days is because of the price. We are kind of on a budget, and would rather spend that $40+ on gifts or food. But what you said is why we wanted to get it for the last day in the parks.
 
D

drizgirl

Well-Known Member
Disneylover152 said:
The only reason we don't want to do Park Hopper all 3 days is because of the price. We are kind of on a budget, and would rather spend that $40+ on gifts or food. But what you said is why we wanted to get it for the last day in the parks.
Click to expand...
You're missing my point. You can't add hopping to just one day of a 3 day ticket.

You could buy a 2 day one park ticket and a one day hopper, but it would cost as much as just buying a 3 day hopper. And Magic Morning is only available with a 3 day ticket.
 
Disneylover152

Disneylover152

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
drizgirl said:
You're missing my point. You can't add hopping to just one day of a 3 day ticket.

You could buy a 2 day one park ticket and a one day hopper, but it would cost as much as just buying a 3 day hopper. And Magic Morning is only available with a 3 day ticket.
Click to expand...

Even if your staying at a Disney hotel?

Edit: I'm talking about Magic Morning
 
D

drizgirl

Well-Known Member
Disneylover152 said:
Even if your staying at a Disney hotel?

Edit: I'm talking about Magic Morning
Click to expand...
Magic Morning has no benefit if you're staying at one of the 3 Disney hotels.You get in early every day if staying onsite.

But it still doesn't matter. You can't add hopping to just one day of a 3 day ticket. Breaking your tickets into 2 base days plus a 1 day hopper saves nothing (it probably even costs more). You need to run the figures.
 
truecoat

truecoat

Well-Known Member
You have a good plan, one park each day then ride the favorites or things you might have missed on day 3. Front seat of Space Mountain is one of the best rides I've ever had.
 
Disneylover152

Disneylover152

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
drizgirl said:
Magic Morning has no benefit if you're staying at one of the 3 Disney hotels.You get in early every day if staying onsite.

But it still doesn't matter. You can't add hopping to just one day of a 3 day ticket. Breaking your tickets into 2 base days plus a 1 day hopper saves nothing (it probably even costs more). You need to run the figures.
Click to expand...

Okay. I think we decided to do a 2 days only and to do a park hopper both days (since time is limited).

Thanks for the help!
 
Rich T

Rich T

Well-Known Member
Park hopping really is the way to go. The parks (and Downtown Disney) are so close together that you can basically treat the entire resort like one gigantic park.
 
Disneylover152

Disneylover152

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Rich T said:
Park hopping really is the way to go. The parks (and Downtown Disney) are so close together that you can basically treat the entire resort like one gigantic park.
Click to expand...

Yea, I've never been but I heard you can get from Mickey's House to Radiator Springs Racers in less than 15 minutes. I also heard Disneyland and DCA can both fit in Epcot and still have extra room.

We did Park Hopping at Disney World once before, but it was a mess. It took us an hour to get to Epcot from Animal Kingdom. We don't do it anymore. The only reason I was considering Park Hopping is because of the size of the resort.
 
mickEblu

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
BasiltheBatLord said:
Since you asked for attraction recommendations, here is a somewhat exhaustive list of exclusive Disneyland attractions as well as attractions that are different from or superior to their WDW counterparts. Attractions marked with an asterisk are must-do's, in my view.

Matterhorn *
Splash Mountain * (Different from WDW)
Space Mountain * (Different from WDW)
Indiana Jones Adventure *
Pirates of the Caribbean * (Superior to WDW )
Haunted Mansion * (Somewhat different from WDW, also has HM Holiday at the end of the year)
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad * (Superior to WDW because of new explosion scene)
Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin *
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride * (Need to do this for legacy reasons)
Alice in Wonderland *
It's a Small World * (Somewhat different from WDW, also has holiday version)
Jungle Cruise (Different from WDW)
Pinocchio's Daring Journey
Peter Pan's Flight (Pretty sure this is somewhat different from WDW, IIRC)
Snow White's Scary Adventures
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (Somewhat different from WDW)
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage (Should probably do this for legacy reasons)
Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough
King Arthur Carousel
Casey Jr. Circus Train
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (Different from WDW)
Storybook Land Canal Boats
Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln

Probably missing some minor stuff.

And of course almost everything in DCA is exclusive.
Click to expand...


I agree with most of these. For a first timer I would add an asterisk to Casey Jr. as well as the Storybookland Canal boats.

To the OP- good news is in 3 days you should be able to everything you want to see easily with enough time for repeats of your favorite attractions.

EDIT : you forgot Tiki Room
 
Disneylover152

Disneylover152

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
mickEblu said:
I agree with most of these. For a first timer I would add an asterisk to Casey Jr. as well as the Storybookland Canal boats.

To the OP- good news is in 3 days you should be able to everything you want to see easily with enough time for repeats of your favorite attractions.

EDIT : you forgot Tiki Room
Click to expand...

These are the rides on our must-do list:
DISNEYLAND
Matterhorn (single rider)
Splash Mountain (single rider)
Space Mountain (fastpass)
Indiana Jones Adventure (single rider)
Pirates of the Caribbean
Haunted Mansion
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (fastpass)
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Alice in Wonderland
It's a Small World
Jungle Cruise
Peter Pan's Flight
Snow White's Scary Adventures
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (fastpass)

DISNEY CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE
Red Car Trolley
Monster's Inc.: Mike and Sulley to the Rescue
Guardians of the Galaxy- Mission: Breakout (fastpass)
Frozen- Live at the Hyperion
Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters
Mater's Junkyard Jamboree
Radiator Springs Racers (single rider)
Grizzly River Run (single rider)
Soarin' Around the World (fastpass)
California Screamin' (single rider)
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure
Toy Story Midway Mania (fastpass)

Is this possible with 2 days, both park hoppers?
 

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