Disneyland California for a week?

[cherub85]

Hi there
We would like to go to Disneyland California and were wondering about the feasibility of going for just a week? October half term 2022 to be precise. I know we wouldn’t be able to see much, I was thinking just Disney and universal really. And then potentially in the future returning for longer to explore other parts. It would be two adults and our 20 year old daughter.
Thanks

[sky13]

I spent 5 days in Disneyland California in 2018 and most people here will say that's too long!

Disneyland is much much smaller in size than Disney World, with only two parks. They somehow cram a lot of attractions into the two parks and because it's not as much distance between attractions, it's a lot easier to get a lot of things done at Disneyland than at Disney World. Maxpass was amazing when I was there and I got on so many rides using Maxpass.

When I went I think I could have done the highlights in a couple of days and everything I wanted to do in 3 days, but having 5 days was nice for being able to repeat rides I like and to take a bit more time exploring the parks. These days though I might need more time since they've added Star Wars land and Avengers Campus!

The thing to note with Disneyland (pre-COVID at least, who knows what will happen these days) is that fireworks and shows don't occur every night unlike at WDW. So Fantasmic and fireworks were only on weekends and maybe some select weekdays. I think World of Colour is daily (but it was under refurb during my trip so I'm not 100% sure of this). The opening times also vary hugely between weekdays and weekends because so many of the visitors there are locals.

Well it seems like this was a pretty long winded response but essentially... a week in Disneyland California is more than enough (even if you wanted to day trip over to Universal)!

That being said, you might also want to consider doing a tour of LA/Hollywood, Knott's Berry Farm, Magic Mountain, etc - there are other things in the area beside Disneyland/Universal

[Jedi]

Do you mean just a one week holiday to California and only visit Disney?
Of course if that's what you want to do, I think you could easily fill a week with just Disneyland and a day at Universal, though personally it seems such a long way to go and only see those. I would have to go for 2 weeks at least.

[gjdjud]

We are doing 6 nights in Anaheim before going on to Orlando. I’m planning on 4 full days between the two parks. In the middle we are going to do a sightseeing trip from Anaheim around LA and Hollywood. That’s what we want to do. If we want to see more then we will do a dedicated West Coast trip in the future.

[cornishfrogboy]

There is an 8 hour time zone difference and that alone may affect many. It is also a 10.5 hour flight. Then you would have to get to Anaheim from LAX.
If on a 7 day and taking in Universal as well, I might even look at indirects into John Wayne and out of Burbank if the price was good.

As already said, Disneyland is a very much smaller and more compact offering than WDW in Florida. I would give it 3 days at the very most. 2 was more than enough for us. In addition, Universal (and Warner Bros) are a fair distance from Disney (think Busch Gardens from WDW). Many move Hotel for it.

Personally, I wouldn’t consider it. For me, the attractions of the West Coast vastly trump those of Orlando and were I to go there for 7 days (and I would not), then the first thing that I would scrub is the theme parks.. all of them.

We will be out there in October of 2022 Half Term and will be travelling down to SL Obispo before flying straight over the top of LA in order to cut out LA/Anaheim/Hollywood entirely. We don’t like the area.. and particularly the traffic.
We are taking 15 days and straddling the Half Term as it is our first vacation without our children.

[cherub85]

Thanks everyone. Lots to think about. I think the length of the flight would mean it’s a long way to go for a week so I think I’ll wait until I can go fit longer….will have to be summer 2023 now as we can’t go for longer next year due to other holidays having been moved from this year! Plenty of time to plan and save!

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by cherub85

Thanks everyone. Lots to think about. I think the length of the flight would mean it’s a long way to go for a week so I think I’ll wait until I can go fit longer….will have to be summer 2023 now as we can’t go for longer next year due to other holidays having been moved from this year! Plenty of time to plan and save!

See more...

I wasn’t trying to be negative about your plan, merely pragmatic. It is the time zones that hurt as much as the flights. LA is only an hour an and a half further flying time than Orlando..

I know you want to see Disneyland and that this may be your primary reason to initially visit California, but there is so much more to California as a whole, that theme parks become a mere attraction rather than a reason, once you have visited. There is 1200? Miles of wonderful, pretty straight N to S Coastline for starters.. then you have just as an opener..
San Francisco
Monterey (whales)
The PCH through Big Sur etc
Hearst Castle
Malibu, Santa Monica etc etc
LA and all its suburbs
Legoland at Carlsbad
Wonderful San Diego..

Then you look inland at Yosemite etc, Joshua Tree National Park?

California is effectively a Nation in size and stature.

I guess that a good comparison with your plan would be to go to Disneyland Paris for a week, but discount seeing Paris.. or France.

When you eventually ‘go for it’, you will find as much advice and assistance in this part of the forum as you would in the Florida bit.
California is a very, very different proposition to Orlando and I am guessing that for many, a 14 day vacation will involve at least 6 different accommodations.. generally around 9-10 if I was doing the planning!

[cherub85]

Cornish frog boy… will definitely be back on here asking for tips when we do decide to go! Also have a couple of old school guide books that we bought a few years ago when we first began thinking about the trip! It’s quite overwhelming as there is so much to see so will be a case of prioritising parts!

[bandofox]

We have done a week to the west coast 3 times. All in the February half term.
The first time we enjoyed 5days at Disney, a la bus tour and a little shopping.
The second we had 3 days at Disney and added universal and Knotts Berry
The third we did 3 Disney days plus whale watching, the zoo and Warner brothers.

We also did a week in Las Vegas for my 50th.

Yes it is a long way but we booked premium economy flights and would do it again in a heartbeat.

[Libby]

I loved Disneyland and Universal Hollywood and could quite happily spend a week at Disney and Universal. I'd prefer a split stay as the drive between the two is quite long.

When we visited in 2019 we were in California for 2 weeks starting with 2 days at Universal before visiting Palm Springs and San Diego, ending up with 3 full days at DL.

As mentioned by others it is a long journey and on our first couple of days we left Universal by 3pm because the jet lag hit us big time and we just couldn't keep going. There is a lot to see in California but the parks were wonderful.