Last minute trip

[WickedWench]

I've been to WDW a bunch of times, but have never been to DL. I have the first week of August off from work, and am seriously considering a last-minute trip. Am I crazy to do this on such short notice? I have almost no knowledge about DL, so I'm not sure where to even start. Does anyone have any advice? I was thinking 4 or 5 days.. is that too long, or enough for DL?

 

[CalGal]

I don't think its too late to pull together a trip for the first week of August if you can find airfare. A few of the popular places to stay are booked, but most are not. (GC and some hotels directly across the street are booked; DLH, HoJos, and many othe places within walking distance are available.) You will need to be prepared for heavy crowds and don't expect WDW since DLR is quite different. It might be hard to book prime time PSs for Blue Bayou or character meals at this late date, but I bet you can still get PSs for many places; I do recommend PSs since the crowds will be heavy so dining waits without PSs will be long.

4 or 5 days is good, especially since the crowds will be heavy. Go early and work the FastPass system, and you should be able to get in a lot of good rides. If you are inclined to stay at a Disney property, and you have AAA, you might still be able to get a package that includes the enhanced Fast-Pass.

I think DL is easy compared to WDW. There are lots of hotels and inns within a mile or so, but it's nce to stay within walking distance so you don't have to worry about the ART system during such a busy time. Look at Mary Jo's sticky threads at the top of the board to get some idea of where you might want to stay.

 

[DISJen]

I think you'll do fine with last minute planning, just don't expect it to be like WDW (that's were we usually go too). We just went to DL for the first time in June. We took only two days and did everything, it was rushed, but we squeezed it all in. An extra day or two would make it easier. Literally everything is right next to each other. You dont have to use any Disney transportation as with WDW. The two parks face each other and from one entrance to the other is only about 200 steps with DTD off to the side in the middle. We arrived at 6pm the night before and walked all around DTD and ate. Since we have smaller children, we like to eat a little early. We walked into any restuarant we wanted with no PS, including Ariels Grotto. One thing I noticed that I don't remember at WDW is that for a couple of the most poplular rides, they ran out of fastpasses for the whole day really early on, so plan ahead for those. We made our hotel res exactly two weeks before we left, but we were told we got the last room available, and I had to call, the web site showed they were full.

 

[WickedWench]

I decided against it, and am planning a fall trip instead. Since I've never been, I want to be able to do it right and have a little more time to plan. Thank you for the advice anyway. :>