I’m going to LA for a thing and I can work it so I can do Halloween at DLR since I’ve never been, but I’d just have that one day. CLs are only 2, so I was thinking I could RD DCA and then switch over to DL around 3pm, as the party crowd starts to arrive, and stay until midnight closing. That’s 7+ hours in each park.
Is that enough time to get a good taste of both parks? I know the two are very close, so would I be more likely to hop back and forth more?
Where should I eat?
I’d be arriving late on the 30th, and there’s a confirmed duo studio for like $430, but as much as my DVC heart just wants to stay in one of those, I don’t know if that’s worth it. Pretty much all of the hotels on Harbor Drive cost considerably less and it’s just the one night, plus I wouldn’t be using EE. Am I missing something regarding these hotels that look just as close?
I would not trust the crowd calendar. Crowd level 2 seems insanely low. I don’t know if there is such a thing at DLR any more! But I also would definitely go! You can see a lot in one day, especially if you plan to be there late. What are you doing for the night of the 31st? I love the new DVC rooms at DLH, but it is much cheaper on Harbor. A lot of the hotels have rooms that are functional rather than “nice”, but you won’t be in the room much anyway.
I’m not much of a hopper, so would probably do as you suggest and start in DCA and move over to DL later. You might move over earlier than you think if you get things done. For one day, I would definitely get Genie+ (or whatever it’s called now) and pay for the SP on RSR. If you are at DCA for RD, you might finished everything you need to do there by the hopping time of 11:00! There is a little Coco show over by the Plaza de Familia that’s cute if you can catch it before hopping. It’s a seasonal offering at Halloween/Dia de los Muertos.
I think the thinking behind the low CL is that Halloween is typically a dead day in all parks, even at Halloween events. I doubt it will be a “dead” CL 2, but looking at last year’s Halloween waits, nothing at DCA ever had more than a 58 minute wait and only HM (obvi) and Rise had long waits at DL…definitely slower than the days before and after. I mainly want to focus on the stuff that WDW doesn’t have, or that’s a substantially different version. I think that means I can skip the Star Wars stuff, mostly, right? I definitely want to do Incredicoaster and the Guardians ride a time or two, and Mr Toad and their Space and BTMRR, Small World, and the Matterhorn and Tiki birds. Tiana won’t be open yet, so no spoilers for my Dec WDW trip! It looks like they have Halloween fireworks at DL, which will be fun since the party at DCA is sold out.
I was thinking the same thing about the fact that I’m not going to be in the room much, which is why it would be silly to spend twice as much on the room when there’s no real added benefit. I’m not sure if I’ll stay in the DLR area for the 31st or not… I’ll won’t have plans with my friends until Friday night at the earliest, and if I’m closing the park at midnight then I doubt I’ll want to go all the way Universal after. I’ll be doing their Halloween Horror Nights on Saturday, but that’s not until later (I think my tour time is like 5:50) and I’m on a redeye home on Sunday so I figured I’d do daytime Universal that day before the airport. I suppose I could stay the 2 nights and do the whole day Thursday at DL, then do DCA on Friday but then I have to buy another day’s ticket (but I could skip park hopper, I guess) and Multipass. Speaking of which, the DLR version doesn’t have advance booking, does it? That would be the only on-site perk I think I’d use.
People in the HHN Hollywood group on FB have assured me that one night with the RIP tour is enough… the tours take you to all of the haunted stuff (plus a private trolley for the terror tram, and there’s a buffet and an exclusive bar with no lines), and then you still get to use your pass to skip all the lines for the rest of the night. In Orlando your pass is only good as an Express pass for rides that night, so that’s a huge bonus. The Hollywood RIP also includes your event ticket, unlike Orlando, so I think it’s a much better value there. Either way, I think daytime (like, RD until about 5ish) on Sunday is enough for Universal, especially since I’ll be able to skip all the lines for any rides the night before… during the day I’ll just want to do Nintendo and the backlot tour, and whatever else isn’t open at night.
I agree with absolutely everything that @Julianne_fki especially that you’ll be done with DCA before 3pm and I would recommend getting out sooner both because DL will need more time since it will be busier all day and because DCA will be nuts busy during the pre-party mix-in. And for 1 day, definitely, definitely get LL or whatever we’re calling the skip the line these days and unless you don’t ever foresee yourself coming back AND have the budget for it, skip on the onsite room and get the close & cheap(er) but serviceable across the street good neighbor hotels.
Even if you don’t go to DL/DCA on Friday, it might be nice to have a bed close by if you’re staying until midnight. Especially since you’ll be on east coast time?
If you can do two days, more is always better! But I think you can get a lot done in one day. I would not worry about SWGE since it’s basically the same (with a third entrance near the First Order area being the main difference).
So, 2 day 1 park ticket is $298, and 2 day park hopper is $363… I don’t know that I really need the hopper if I have 2 days, though, unless I’ll want to go back to the DL side on Friday afternoon. If I book through Costco I can stay in the Anaheim hotel 2 nights, with the 2 day 1 park ticket, a lanyard & pin, and also a $160 Disney gift card for $880. I think that’s a decent rate, based on the prices I’ve seen.
The 1 day park hopper costs almost as much as the 2 day 1 park ticket… the only benefit to going just the one day is that I could maybe hit up Knotts on Friday since I already have a pass for that. That said, my pass will be good at Six Flags starting in January, so I could just do another weekend then, and get away from MI weather!
I would do 2 days 1 park if it’s similar to one day park hopper. Then once you’ve gotten a taste you can decide before the end of Friday “upgrade to park hopper?”
If you get a good taste of Disney by Friday midday you could make use of that Knotts pass instead of upgrade to hopper and then come back to close out the night at DCA. Knotts is in the area so it’s doable to make the trip and do a bit of both Knotts and Disney in one day. (But me personally I know I would make FULL use of 2 days at Disney, but just in case you do get restless and don’t have a hopper and don’t want to spurge the $65 to get it).
Disney math is mathing! Why do one day when you can do two for practically the same cost? And why not add PH for only $65 more?
I would go for the two days. Either one park per day or PH. I’m the rare person who doesn’t think it’s necessary to park hop, so I’d probably save the $$.
And it just occurred to me that the $160 gift card means I don’t need to spend much real money at DLR, so the $65 is a little less obnoxious when I look at it that way… and that brings me back to food. Where should I eat?
Plaza Inn for friend* chicken.
Bengal BBQ for skewers.
Tropical Hideaway for bao and special Dole Whip. Try the local favorite which is mango with chamoy and tajin and chili.
The street corn at Cocina Cucamonga is so good @Wahoohokie dreams about it!
Little Red Wagon for a corn dog.
Jolly Holiday will have their beef bulgogi grilled cheese with a creamy corn soup for dipping. It’s amazing! Or the traditional grilled cheese with tomato soup. Also pastries … this is a great breakfast place.
In short, you’ll be fine with QS. If you do want a TS meal, LL is good and Carnation Cafe is nostalgic if you want to bond with Walt’s spirit!
*Edited to say Friend Chicken is fried chicken eaten with friends. Friends need not be present for chicken to be enjoyed.
The lobby and grounds definitely are cute! They’ve done a lot to make all those spaces feel welcoming, relaxing & fresh. The rooms are serviceable, but definitely nothing to write home about. And not sure if the nicer categories are any different, but in the cheapest category of rooms there are definitely signs of wear and they feel cheap. But they are all spacious and have always been comfortable & clean, so it’s a great choice.
And I LOVE the Pizza Press (onsite restaurant). They used to be a steal of a price, but are a more expensive nowadays but definitely delicious and I love getting their cheesesticks and pizza any chance we can.
To give you more options, in addition to loving every single thing Julianne mentioned, we also love churros, beignets, the raspberry macaron from Jolly Holiday, Matterhorn Macaroon (if you like coconut) also from Jolly Holiday, hand-dipped ice cream bars from Clarabelle’s, Carne Asade fries from Award Weiners (and we’ve never had a bad hot dog there either, they are fall fab), Quantum pretzel and beer cheese dipping sauce from Pym’s, Chili Cone Queso from Cozy Cone #3 in Carsland, the spicy corn dog option at Corn Dog Castle in DCA, bread bowl with whatever soup is available at either Aunt Cass’s Cafe in DCA, or in DL we’ve seen it at Harbor Galley with a seasonal soup and I think the window next the Pirates also sometimes has a bread bowl with soup (the standard is clam chowder but they’ll change it up or have seasonal soups). And we’ve only tried it the one time, but we very much enjoyed Tiana’s place, but the savory (we tried gumbo and and a shrimp grits thing) and the sweet (lemon iced beignets). So definitely QS and even if you mostly just do some snacks you’ll find all the delicious things.
Oh and for breakfast: There are breakfast chimichangas at the Ship to Shore Marketplace (a cart just next to the Mark Twain loading dock & across from the entrance to Big Thunder). If you like breakfast and fried, they are a must. They sell out pretty quick so don’t wait too long after 9-9:30 to grab one. Anytime we RD the west side of the park we hit it up after Big Thunder (or Indy if we start there instead).
Are there any non-princess character meals worth doing? Since I will have more time and $160 in free Disney money I’m definitely not opposed to a spendier meal.
There are three, but I don’t know if I would waste time on them with only two days. There is Goofy’s Kitchen at DLH, Storyteller’s Cafe breakfast at GCH, and Plaza Inn breakfast inside DL. I love the buffet and characters at Storyteller’s. It’s Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale in their camping/scouting gear. I’ve done Plaza Inn but it was during covid and kind of a disappointment. I’ve also done Goofy’s and it was okay too. I would personally not spend the time on such a short trip. Especially if you’ve never been to DLR before.
I’m unsure of whether I should heed the advice that DL CLs are garbage, or believe the thrill-data from Halloween last year. If that’s to be believed then this absolutely bonkers TP has almost all of the wait times spot on.
That’s doing almost all the stuff that’s not at WDW or is substantially different, plus fireworks with a full 8 hours to spare. And that’s without using Multipass. Last year waits for a few things trended up after 2pm, but nothing I plan on riding (it helps that skipping Star Wars, Peter Pan, and MMRR means skipping most of the things that get a longer wait) and other than HM there’s nothing that ever went over 50 minutes anyway.
I’ll be stuck with whatever BG I get for HM (unless they’ve completed the outdoor work by then, but I kinda feel like they’ll use the VQ as long as they can) but I guess I could go to DCA and do some stuff, or maybe go have some midday pool time. I’m sure I’ll still be feeling eastern time (dst starts that Saturday night, which is when I’ll be at HHN… yay extra hour after a particularly long night!), so that would be perfect naptime, I suppose. Or maybe I go do the big ones at Knotts that day, if I’m already done with the VQ.
I’ve never been on Halloween, so it could be accurate. I imagine a lot of locals might want to be home for Halloween festivities in their neighborhood rather than going to a park. Unless they have OBB tix. I don’t know. You’ll be our crash test dummy!
