DL for 7 days?

[BrerMama]

We are so torn, trying to decide DL vs. WDW. We love DL and it has a special place in our heart. However, we almost always go on vacation for a full week, and I'm afraid a week at DL will be too long. We don't have credit cards and therefore can't/won't rent a car (don't really want to drive in CA anyway). My dh would like to visit Universal, but it would be much cheaper (and easier) to just add an extra day to our DL passes, rather than messing with taking a tour bus there and being on someone else's schedule. Not to mention that my children probably wouldn't enjoy much of the park. Speaking of my kids, they will be 11 (turning 12 while we're there), 10 and 6. The oldest two have been to DL, but they were 4 and 2 at the time and have no memories of it. At WDW, they'll do Dinosaur over and over, but won't do Rock'n'Roller Coaster or Tower of Tower, if that gives you a feel for their thrill level.

My thought is that if we do DL for 7 days, that will give us tons of time to enjoy everything. If there are crowds, we can surely still get everything done. We've yet to see a night show/parade at any Disney park (oh, I guess we did see Fantasmic during a rain shower at WDW), and I'd love to have the time to finally do that.

So basically, I think we're all leaning towards DL, but I need some reassurance that we're not going to get tired of DL. In looking at WDW, it's a bit more money, but we know we have the 4 parks and 2 water parks, plus hundreds of places to eat. Is a week at DL too long? Should I just give up the dream of visiting during the celebration and go in a few years for a long weekend?

 

[bclydia]

A week will be wonderful!! Don't worry, you will have a great trip! We're going for a week in September and we did the same last year. There is lots to see!

 

[dlboy]

We were in Anaheim from 8/09-8/17 with 6 day park hopper passes. We have been to DL before but we still managed to fill our days.

It was so nice to not have to rush around; one day we just sat for over an hour listening to a group in the CA sipping a beer. Pure heaven! We could pace ourselves and we made sure we went back to the hotel for most of the afternoon to relax by the pool or just relax in our room.

We went over for opening and went on rides before it got busy, then puttered and shopped and watched the shows.

We had no problem at all filling our days and the only thing we did outside the park [besides eat several times] was to go to a ball game.

We have done several shorter trips but I found this one and the week we did last September so much more fun as we didn't feel we had to rush around all the time.

 

[Amy&Dan]

We are a family that does both Disneyland and WDW. We have had as many as 9 days at WDW and 6 at Disneyland. We are doing 6 full days in Disneyland again in two weeks and I know we will not be bored! My kids are almost 11 and almost 9 and never feel less excited to be at Disneyland as opposed to WDW. At WDW we spend the majority of our time at MK anyway. Since DTD and the three Disney hotels are right there and so accessible at Disneyland, you have a lot of dining options in addition to whats in the parks. The nice thing about longer stays is that you can see everything and repeat favorites. We also love hanging out at the pool, doing character meals and just not feeling rushed. We never rent a car in Disneyland but always do in WDW and either way we never make it to Universal or Sea World. I think you will have a great time!

P.S. If your kids love Dinosaur they are going to love Indiana Jones! My kids could ride that all day and never get tired of it. Also, your kids will get to do Matterhorn, they were probably too little last time.

 

[Michelle2]

We are usually a 5-6 day family too. I had friends just go over the summer for 7 days and they said that they LOVED being there for that amount of time.
I totally agree with the laid back not feeling rushed attitude it seems to give. Everyone's opinion may differ, but I sure say go for it!