Walt Disney Studios Tour - Is it worth it if I'm going to DLR for only 3 days?

[tanc]

This is my first trip to DLR, and I was wondering if I should go on my one and only day to DCA. I'm going to Oogie Boogie Bash Sept. 17th and I was thinking about going to the Walt Disney Studios Tour if it is available that day (albeit the earliest slot available). Just trying to see if you think it would be worth losing park time over.

I'm going solo so I plan to use single rider lines anyway. I want to see this tour but I'm unsure if I will be able to experience most of DCA or not. I just thought with OOB that I probably would be able to, but just want opinions from people who know better.


It may not even be a possibility if there are no tours in September, but just wanted to ask ahead of time just incase.

 

[Henry Mystic]

For a Disney and movie super fan, if you have other opportunities to go to DLR then absolutely. Otherwise, it’s going to come down to what you enjoy more. I personally love filmmaking so I’ve done the Warner Bros. Studio Tour and Universal Studios Hollywood’s Studio Tour as well; I thoroughly enjoyed both experiences.

I absolutely loved the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco as well. Absolutely worth a visit if you can get there at some point!

 

[Phroobar]

When does the George Lucas museum in LA open?

 

[choco choco]

When does the George Lucas museum in LA open?

Next year at the earliest. Likely to slip further.

 

[MarvelCharacterNerd]

If your priority for OBB is DCA attractions rather than character treat trails, I'd think you're good to go. You can focus on doing attractions during party hours while most locals are focused on the Halloween specific offerings rather than what they can do any day. You will also get to mix in starting at 3pm, giving you 8 hours in the park.

Is visiting the studio awesome if you're a classic Disney fan? For sure. Just to be where Walt walked is thrilling. And if they offer a visit to the re-creation of his office, that's fantastic, too.

However, bear in mind that weekday traffic between studio and park is minimum 1 1/2 hours each way. At rush hour it can be even more. So you have to factor in how your commute cuts into your park hours. But I would think you could absolutely do all the attractions at DCA during the party and probably have time to spare for some party offerings, too. So there's no need to plan more time for DCA than the party start at 3pm. Whether you can get back from the studio in time depends on the luck of traffic, but if you have say a 9 or 10am tour (if they have them) and are done by lunch, totally doable for both IMO.

*Disclaimer: bear in mind I'm saying this as someone who spends all their party time with characters and doesn't do the attractions at all, but the lines seem to be with the characters on the party nights and there aren't that many attractions in DCA to do overall.

 

[PiratesMansion]

The Studio Tour is cool, no doubt. However, it is well over an hour away from the parks, undoubtedly more than that when traffic is accounted for. You will invest a minimum of five hours of your day to do the Studio Tour when you take commuting time and tour time into account. As much as DCA isn't my favorite, it is undoubtedly easier (and probably less stressful) to just focus on DLR for your entire three days.

And it's worth noting that people on this board, myself included, are much harsher on DCA than people visiting it for the first time and/or people accustomed to other Disney parks are likely to be.

Do you actually have OBB tickets, or are you hoping to get them? It's worth noting that World of Color doesn't actually show during OBB nights, and that you can experience *Halloween vibes* and lighting (minus the treat/character trails) and Monsters After Dark without OBB.

Finally, are you doing anything in California other than DLR at the moment? Because if you're spending time doing other things in the LA area (i.e. Universal), the Disney Studio is much closer to the rest of the LA/Burbank stuff than it is to Disneyland and would better fit in that context. I myself left Universal last year to do a Disney Studio Tour and it was only a ~20 minute drive: much better than the hour and a half minimum it would be from DLR.