itinerary ideas

disneyboundstitchlover

Earning My Ears
Joined
Oct 11, 2020
I'm going to be spending 3 days at DLR and wanted to make an itinerary to get the most out of my visit. I plan to go next November for my fiancé’s birthday, it’s a surprise trip so I can’t ask him what all he wants to do. I plan to spend the whole three days at the parks. We will be renting a car. I want to see and do as much as possible my fiancé only cares about marvel and Star Wars. Any idea/ advice is much appreciated. thanks
 
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When are your travel dates? Do you want to spend all 3 days at the parks? Will you have a car? Or are you willing to use ride share/taxi/public transport? A little more information about you and your plans would help us give answers that are suited to your likes. Is there anything your fiancé really wants to see?
Look over this thread for some good ideas, too: DAY SIX Podcasts of Things to Do Around Disneyland
 
My travel dates are sometime next November. We plan on spending all 3 days there followed by two days at universal. We will be renting a car. I want to do as much possible and he only cares about marvel and Star Wars
 
My travel dates are sometime next November. We plan on spending all 3 days there followed by two days at universal. We will be renting a car. I want to do as much possible and he only cares about marvel and Star Wars
Look over the thread linked above to see what interests you. Make a list and let us know what your top picks are. There is a LOT to do in Southern CA, and 3 days at DLR won't leave you a lot of extra time outside the parks. So let us know your top choices, and we'll help you from there.
 


Depends on interests of course and 3 days is easily filled at Disneyland. But if you want to spend some mornings/afternoons looking around, some of my faves are Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, South Coast Plaza, Outlets at Orange, Crystal Cathedral, Anaheim Packing district and of course, Downtown Disney. Knott’s Berry Farm is a few miles away and further afield are Laguna Beach and Dana Point but don’t underestimate the time needed for Disneyland itself. As I said, 3 days is easily filled.
These are just my personal preferences of course
 
My travel dates are sometime next November. We plan on spending all 3 days there followed by two days at universal. We will be renting a car. I want to do as much possible and he only cares about marvel and Star Wars
Just making sure that you are aware that USH is not like USO. USH is an actual working studio, so the studio takes priority over the theme park. USH is easily a one day park. We get people who don't know this posting about their disappointment here. But if you are prepared before your visit, you should be fine.
 
Funny story about when I was a kid. This was way back in the 60's. I was a teenager and had grown up in California all my life. LOVED Disneyland and went every year. One summer my cousin from New York (same age as me) came out for a visit. We all went to Disneyland and by the middle of the day he was bored, figured he had seen it all (it was his very first visit) and he wanted to leave and go to Hollywood to do some clothes shopping! WHAT? Are you CRAZY? I didn't get it. But what it showed me was that sometimes people who have not grown up on Disney just don't have that huge connection that many of us have.
To tie it into this post, I think that helping someone to get a real appreciation for the depth of Disneyland can go a long way to making them a Disney fan. Disneyland is not an amusement park where you go to hit the major rides and roller coasters. It's a whole immersive experience.
For example, Cars land is like stepping into Radiator Springs. Its fun regardless, but if you know the movie it adds more depth. Same thing goes for Star Wars and the Marvel stories. But appreciating that the depth is there for all of the attractions is key to getting to love Disneyland. And then there is so much more to it when you can immerse yourself into the experience - like walking down Main Street and visualizing a time when life was simpler and joyful. Looking at the windows and the nods to actual persons who had a role in the Disneyland story.
And then there are the themed queues that can really distract you from the reality that you are waiting for something. If you can notice the incredible depth of many of those queues and realize that you are not waiting in a line - you are experiencing the attraction already!
 


And if you have any interest in a typical LA experience -- I suggest the hike at Griffith Observatory. Great views of downtown, the Hollywood sign, etc. If you stay near Universal, it's not far.
 
the train station is close by, cheap taxi ride can put him downtown L.A. and he can make other connections....is he a hockey fan?

if you are a Walt Disney fan, in November, 3 days will not be enough, so share what history you want to see, what disney details you want to see, what type of attraction would you board over and over and over.
 
My travel dates are sometime next November. We plan on spending all 3 days there followed by two days at universal. We will be renting a car. I want to do as much possible and he only cares about marvel and Star Wars

Three days at Disneyland is great, you won't be able to see or do everything, but you can probably do your favorites/must do attractions at least once (unless something goes down for regular maintence or unexpected technical difficulties). You could spend one day at each park, and then on the third day do some of the things you may have missed. I think reading the Disneyland website is a great place to start. Make a list of everything you want to do. Galaxy's Edge is fun, but small so you could probably do that in the morning or the afternoon.
 
Funny story about when I was a kid. This was way back in the 60's. I was a teenager and had grown up in California all my life. LOVED Disneyland and went every year. One summer my cousin from New York (same age as me) came out for a visit. We all went to Disneyland and by the middle of the day he was bored, figured he had seen it all (it was his very first visit) and he wanted to leave and go to Hollywood to do some clothes shopping! WHAT? Are you CRAZY? I didn't get it. But what it showed me was that sometimes people who have not grown up on Disney just don't have that huge connection that many of us have.
To tie it into this post, I think that helping someone to get a real appreciation for the depth of Disneyland can go a long way to making them a Disney fan. Disneyland is not an amusement park where you go to hit the major rides and roller coasters. It's a whole immersive experience.
For example, Cars land is like stepping into Radiator Springs. Its fun regardless, but if you know the movie it adds more depth. Same thing goes for Star Wars and the Marvel stories. But appreciating that the depth is there for all of the attractions is key to getting to love Disneyland. And then there is so much more to it when you can immerse yourself into the experience - like walking down Main Street and visualizing a time when life was simpler and joyful. Looking at the windows and the nods to actual persons who had a role in the Disneyland story.
And then there are the themed queues that can really distract you from the reality that you are waiting for something. If you can notice the incredible depth of many of those queues and realize that you are not waiting in a line - you are experiencing the attraction already!

I had the same kind of experience a couple of times

- My cousin brought her family out and she told me she wanted to take her son to Disneyland. GREAT, I thought. I have family that comes from Texas and when we go to Disneyland we're there at rope drop. By the time this cousin was ready to go it was noon by the time we got to Disneyland, actually California Adventure. We were in line for Toy Store Mania, almost to the ride building and she told me they were ready to go. It was 3pm :confused:

- We had gone to Walt Disney World, and taken a cousin. So, my kids were 10 and 11, and cousin was also 11. It was his first time at any Disney park. After going on the Splash Mountain attraction my kids excitedly asked him what he thought. He said something like, "It was fun except for all those annoying characters." :snooty: My kids were bewildered. :confused3 Lol
 
I had the same kind of experience a couple of times

- My cousin brought her family out and she told me she wanted to take her son to Disneyland. GREAT, I thought. I have family that comes from Texas and when we go to Disneyland we're there at rope drop. By the time this cousin was ready to go it was noon by the time we got to Disneyland, actually California Adventure. We were in line for Toy Store Mania, almost to the ride building and she told me they were ready to go. It was 3pm :confused:

- We had gone to Walt Disney World, and taken a cousin. So, my kids were 10 and 11, and cousin was also 11. It was his first time at any Disney park. After going on the Splash Mountain attraction my kids excitedly asked him what he thought. He said something like, "It was fun except for all those annoying characters." :snooty: My kids were bewildered. :confused3 Lol
And we've had people visit DL who didn't plan much time because they didn't think they would need it. How much could there be to see there anyway, right? Once you've seen the grandeur of WDW, and especially MK, how much time could it take to see DL? 2-3 hours tops? So you could sleep late, eat a big lunch, maybe roll up to the gate at 3 or 4 pm, and leave by 6 or 7? What? Rope drop?!! Fireworks?!! Fantasmic?!! Are you CRAZY?!! If we could get them to compromise on a half day -- maybe an afternoon arrival -- dinner at BB and WOC or F! -- some rides at night? Every single person who's been willing to try this has left a converted soul! It's gotta be the Magic! :)
 
We were at DL at the end of February for a week. We spent 5 days in the parks. Not sure what the park schedules are like in November (or how they'll be if COVID is still an issue) but in February the castle fireworks were only on the weekends (and one night it was too windy to shoot them off) so depending on what you want to see and do, you might need to check the park schedules to make sure whatever you want to do will be running during your 3 park days.

Star Wars was fun but getting on Rise of the Resistance was a pain because the ride broke down, A LOT. I felt like that ride messed up the flow of our days when we got boarding passes for it. So be prepared to work around that ride when planning your days.

We spent one day with Anaheim Tours taking a tour of Hollywood (3 hours on our own in Hollywood), touring Warner Brothers Studio (LOVED this) and we ate dinner at Universal's City Walk. They picked us up and dropped us off at our hotel. We have some great memories from this day and thinking about them makes me giggle. One of the funniest was walking by a soundstage at WB and a policeman was outside on his cell phone. I wanted to see if he was a real cop or an actor so I decided to see what jurisdiction was listed on his badge as we walked past him. The only issue is that my eyesight isn't the best so I had to walk closer and closer to him while squinting at his badge. He finally moved his phone away from his mouth and said, "it's fake" and we both burst out laughing. I'm sure he hates tourists.

Have a great time!
 

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