4 Days- Too Long?

[AuntieKels]

I am taking my family to Disneyland this September. We will be there 5 nights with 4 full days in the parks. We also hope to attend the Halloween Party one night. Is this too long to spend at Disneyland? It will be most people's first time, and perhaps last time, there. Also, we are staying at the Grand Californian. Is the pool area worth spending time in? Thanks!

Important questions:
1) Ages of those in your party?
2) General priorities for each member of the party?
3) Likelihood of frequent return visits?

5 days is never enough for me but at least we don't feel rushed. We have toddlers so we don't even get on the E-ticket attractions. My sister was just there with her 8 and 10 year old - they also did 5 days and it wasn't enough but they were able to do all the big stuff many times and have enough time to see a couple shows and extra stuff. My uncle went with his new wife and they thought 2 days was more than enough . They only wanted to do the "adult" stuff and didn't want to pay Disney prices for anything so they were somewhat disappointed.

I feel like first time guests that don't do any research before their trip often end up somewhat disappointed and often overwhelmed. If you're on the boards then at least you have a start!

Have a great time!

 

[Darkhaund]

I would do more than 4 days if I could

 

[CharleneTheDM]

In the past I've done 2 days and then 3 days.
In August I will be visiting and got 4 days(1 park per day ticket) on the Canadian discount, but I regret not getting 5 days! (I feel like 2 days at DCA and 3 at DL would be most ideal).
Right now I've scheduled 2 days at DL and 1 day in DCA and the last day we'll decide what else we'd like to do and decide which park to spend it at.
I think it's awesome to have a flexible day

 

[Diszona]

I think 4 days is a good amount of time to do a lot of things (in the parks and around the resort, DTD, etc.) and not feel too rushed. Of course I have had 5 day trips where at the end I was wishing we were there longer.

 

[Darkhaund]

I dont understand why i cannot buy more than 5 park days.. ...

 

[stickeymouse]

Important questions:
1) Ages of those in your party?
2) General priorities for each member of the party?
3) Likelihood of frequent return visits?

1) Children are 10 and 6, 4 in their 30s, 1 in the 40s, and 2 in their 60s
2) Rides, Food, Shows, in that order
3) Slim (excluding me)

 

[pennym]

In NZ you can get 10 day passes....if possible we spend 2 weeks at DLR and we are always still sad to leave!

 

[AuntieKels]

1) Children are 10 and 6, 4 in their 30s, 1 in the 40s, and 2 in their 60s
2) Rides, Food, Shows, in that order
3) Slim (excluding me)

If everyone is sticking together then it will take forever to do anything. Depending on personality, the 6yo and 60+yos may prefer a different class of attraction than the rest.
When my extended family went together kids age 1, 4, and 7, four parent and two grandparents, we did a ton of fun stuff and slit up sometimes but it still look a long time to do anything. I don’t think anyone will be mad that they had 4 days. It takes a little stress off the planner to not rush.

 

[goooof1]

4 days is NEVER too long! Take your time, enjoy the atmosphere....all the little details. Be sure to get park hoppers for flexibility and DO all the EMH.
The pools and pool area at GCH are great! Easy to relax out there.

 

[stickeymouse]

I really appreciate the comments and am no longer afraid that we are "wasting" any money, for lack of a better term. I like the idea of taking our time, hitting up EMH each morning, and taking afternoon breaks, sometimes at the pool. Do people strongly recommend the Halloween Party as well? How is the parade and fireworks? I've been to the WDW parties, but I know DL does it a bit differently.

 

[Heather1101]

We just did 4 park days and used MaxPass 2 of those days. It was me, DH and 17yo DS. We have been to WDW and DL many times, so 4 days for us was too much this time when using Max Pass. We did everything we wanted to do and some things multiple times in 3 days, which is usually how many days we spend at DL. Our flight to LAX ended up being super early a.m., so I went ahead and got the 4 day tickets. However, if we hadn't used MaxPass for 2 of 4 days, 4 days would have been needed because it was a quite crowded/busy all 4 days we were there because of Pixar Pier opening.

 

[tarheelalum]

Thanks for the comments! I can't speak for the rest of my group, but I'm not just in it for the thrill rides. I love the atmosphere, food, and classic rides, as well. Any comments on whether the GC pool area is worth spending time in?

Then 4 days is not enough.

 

[tarheelalum]

I dont understand why i cannot buy more than 5 park days.. ...

They want you to buy an annual pass.

 

[kelmac284]

I live in Norcal and am an AP but we only go about 2 or 3 times a year max so when we do go 3 or 4 days is my ideal. We can def get away with 2 but we like to spend more time in DL than in DCA so we like to park hop. I have been MANY times but there is always new stuff to see and as others have said if you want to soak it all in, see the parades, fireworks etc that is def not too long!

 

[Laurieloo1414]

We (me, DH, DD7) regularly attend 5 days in September and it works perfect for us. It allows us to have enough time to “soak it all in” so to speak. We are able to ride everything we want but also enjoy a couple of sit down meals, see the shows and just enjoy our experience. I feel that 5 days allows me to actually relax on our family vacation.

 

[Frozen2014]

We did 4 days straight last August (our first trip) and could have done another day. We didn't get everything done. There really is tons to do between both parks. For evenings, one night we saw WOC (dessert party), one night was Fantasmic, one night was character dinner and another night was no plans. We arrived close to opening (which was 9 or 10am as end of Aug has reduced hours) and stayed until 8 or 9pm....no breaks as we didn't need it. Still missed a lot like parades, jedi training, and many rides....but were able to repeat our favorites.
PS - Max Pass is great too for getting on the headliners.

 

[JABRacingOne]

I am going solo in November and still doing 4 days...

 

[hootey]

Also, we are staying at the Grand Californian. Is the pool area worth spending time in? Thanks!

We always stay at the Grand or the DLH, Yes, the pool area at the Grand is worth spending time at.
We always take the afternoon off and hit the pool and the hot-tubs. I rise early, so by 1:30 or so in the afternoon, I have been on my feet for seven or eight hours. It is amazing how better my feet will feel at the end of the day if I go for a swim and spend twenty minutes in the hot-tub mid-day.

We visit the parks for at least five days at a time and we take our own sweet time seeing and doing everything. Go see Turtle Talk w/Crush in CA, it is different every time you see it. Go see Frozen and sit near the stage on the right side, then go see it again the next day but, sit in the balcony on the left side. It will seem to be a new show. Ride all the outdoor rides in the morning and go ride all of them again after dark and they will be a different experience. Get a list of everything that is scheduled for the parks while you are there(parades-shows-etc)@(CityHall on Mainstreet USA) Go see everything! We treat DL as a RESORT, not an amusement park. There is always something to go do or see

 

[rentayenta]

I echo planning on some pool time in Sept. We’ve been unseasonably warm lately.

 

[gerilyne]

For me, 5 days isn't enough time. I could do 5 full days plus going in on arrival and departure day if they sold 7 day tickets. I like being able to take my time in the parks, take breaks and pool time. I'm not big on full off days at DL (though at WDW I loved having a full day to just do Disney Springs).