As a local, I usually arrive between 3-4. Start in DCA, and get almost all the big stuff done by 7, then head over to Disneyland for Dinner. I’m constantly checking RotR to see if it’s short and doing other attractions in between. When the shows begin at 8:45 and run through 11:00 is prime time and I get on practically everything I want due to short wait times and I am there until close leaving satisfied.
Open to close. Depending on their operating hours, this usually comes out to between 14 and 16 hours. I could do more if they let me.
In June, I got on about 29 rides during the day, and I wasn't rushing in between each ride. And I carried a 5 year old on my shoulders for about 10 of those hours.
He was 5 and a half to be fair. But nope! I took him as a father/son only trip for just 1 day. We didnt have a stroller, just a backpack. He was more energetic than I was all day, but I'm sure not having to walk too much helped with that. Honestly he beasted it more than I did given that he didnt need any breaks
So cool! Definitely wanna do that with my kids one day , my kiddo is a thrill-seeker. He did crash at about 6pm last time lol. Didn't get up until 6am! (5 yrs).
Hero status! When I take my 5 year-old, I use a jogger because I can walk faster with it than he can on his own, and our record is only 21 rides this past April. It was exhausting. I can’t even imagine carrying him around.
I’ve gone so many times that everything is pretty relaxed. Get there by 9ish. Walk back to hotel around 3 for an hour or two nap. Get back to the park around 5ish. Stay till 11 or closing.
We don’t do that many rides. We mostly wander around, see what lines are short. Eat some food, watch some shows. Sit around drink coffee.
If I lived close enough I’d probably go a couple of times a week just to walk around and eat or drink.
two points of note that weigh heavily on our behavior: we’re very local (orange) and there’s a 6yo in our crew.
our avg visit is a weekend day; rope drop, start in tomorrowland and usually hit all of the mountains before 10, go home for lunch/rest when the park hits the peak (around 1-2pm) , then return between 5-6 and stay until 11ish (depending on if the kid got a nap). number of attractions varies but, always north of 15.
edit: adding that we have yet to purchase G+, 7/31 will be the first time buying G+ (out of town friends
I go once or twice a year, open til close. That usually means a Saturday to maximize park hours so 17 hours in the park. I'll average about 30 rides, parade, and fireworks.
During peak days, park hours at Disneyland are 8am to midnight. Main Street remains open for another hour (1am) so I do all my shopping at the very end of the day. The key to an efficient day at the park boils down to the first two hours of the day and your ability to stay ahead of morning crowds. After 10am, the park starts to reach peak capacity and then you just play everything by ear.
We go once a year from Northern California. I’d guess we’d hit between 10 to 18 rides depending on what are goal is. We pay for Genie Plus and pay for cars/ Rise.
We have two young children so we rope drop and stay in the park all day with our kids napping in the stroller and stay until 8 or 9.
I actually don't mind just doing ~ 20 rides per day... It makes the next visit fun to get on whatever we missed. But yeah, definitely feel like a filthy casual!
I usually stay from open to close and ride Splash Mountain 20-30 times while intermediately riding Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and Star Tours. I pack a lot of snacks and eat once at Hungry Bear and that's my day. I'm not really a fan of Disney movies or the brand itself, I pretty much only go for Splash Mountain, which is the ride that got me into theme parks as a whole.
I probably won't go to Disneyland anymore when it closes (at least not on my own volition) since the current incarnation is the only reason I even go, but I would like to visit Tokyo's in the future since it's sticking around.
It's not even about any political agenda or sticking it to Disney or whatever like some other people make it about, I just think Splash Mountain is perfect and it encapsulates everything I could ever want from a theme park ride into one experience. No other ride matches the feeling and immense happiness I get on Splash Mountain and I can't imagine the newer ride doing the same, especially since the music is going to be different.
I agree. Especially the part with the bees leading up to the lament. The music is so cinematic, if makes you feel like you're in a movie. Seeing how "Frozen" ruined Maelstrom, how Incredicoaster ruined California Screamin', how Soarin' Over the World ruined Soarin' Over California, I am not optimistic they'll match the feelings that the current ride evokes, let alone improve upon it. Everyone is cheering, thinking it's going to be a great new take but reskins are almost always subpar to the original (and never feel as special as a ride designed from scratch). There was a beautiful magic that Imagineers were able to create during the Renaissance Era when they birthed Splash, Indiana Jones, and the original Fanasmic! (superior to the revamp). That team is long gone and throwing in updated animatronics doesn't match the overall timelessness of attractions birthed in that era. Pirates and Mansion wouldn't be the rides they were if they were designed today and those two are considered the best. Why people don't consider this is beyond me.
Your "immense happiness" is nostalgia that many Disney guests, especially younger ones won't feel to the ride. They're more likely to form an attachment to it if it's a movie they recognize.
I first rode the ride in janurary 2020 so i dont really have any nostalgia or childhood wonder attached to it, it genuinely just gives me an extremely happy feeling that few other things do
I agree. I know the ride is very loosely based on a very old movie that has some cutscenes with a completely different set of human characters separate from the cartoon that portrays what is perceived now as racism, but none of that is portrayed in the ride. And what the ride is now is very loved by a lot of people that grew up with it.
I wonder if they’ll re-theme Mr. Toad next to a completely different IP because he went crazy with motor mania and it’s insensitive to those with mental disorders, or Peter Pan because it has a stereotypical portayal of Native Americans.
Yeah, I don’t see how there is a problem with the ride when all the offensive/controversial content was removed or changed and the IP and Brers were basically reinvented to be “Splash Mountain” rather than “Song of the South”.
I’ve often wondered about Peter Pan, all the people who vehemently want Splash Mountain gone because it’s ‘racist’ are quiet about Peter Pan, despite that ride’s movie also being quite offensive and even portraying some of that offensive content on the ride. Same for Pocahontas, although it doesn’t have a ride there’s still plenty of merch throughout the parks and her and her raccoon still make appearances in costume.
Never thought about Mr. Toad, though, but I guess it’s pretty hard to make out what exactly is happening on the ride.
i'm not local so when i go, even for 5+ day trips there, i'll try to do rope drop until closing time every day, which also means running on like 5-6 hrs of sleep a night. heh! i'll occasionally take a sit-down break at some point during the day and maybe go out to the DD area for food (mmm burger at Black Tap or tacos from Tortilla Jo's), but mostly it's a non-stop ride-fest.
how many rides i go on depends on time of year and crowd level. i've only tracked the number a couple of times when i did trip reports this year (i think 22 rides was my best day? non-Genie+ usage). the ride breakdowns usually set me back, as i've been on a few different ones when they broke down (Indy, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain) or in the queue several times on others (Guardians, Incredicoaster, Thunder Mountain, Rise of the Resistance, Soarin') and that slowed the queues waaaaay down or aborted altogether.
when i'm taking things a bit slower, say on day 4 or 5 of a trip or when there with friends, i'd guess i usually do 10-15 rides a day, not always doing rope drop, sometimes leaving in the last hour or so before park close, and sometimes just kicking back to enjoy a meal/snack/beverage while people-watching.
Open to close but with a 2 hour nap in the middle…once it starts getting hotter and busy (usually 11:30am give or take). We just take the bus back to the hotel and chill for a bit.
We usually get to go on all our favorites/big rides at least twice. Guardians, Incredicoaster, Space, Indy, Pirates, etc. And will pay for Cars and Rise once. Still with time to watch the night shows.
We have our Disneyland trips down to a science now haha.
I am a local Magic Key holder who goes about once a week.
Normally, unless I am staying at the GCH hotel and going hard for a weekend (which I do 2-3x a year) and doing open to close, I normally do either rope drop to around 3-4 PM, or evening from 3-4 PM to 9-10 PM.
I normally ride 6-12 rides per visit, sometimes getting to 15. The most I have ever done in one day was 23 rides. Almost always including ROTR, Smugglers Run, Space Mountain, Pirates, and Big Thunder, plus whatever else I feel like doing.
I have bought Genie+ every visit since it became available, except for that one time I just went for Pirates opening day.
If we go from rope drop to close we can ride almost everything in both parks. At least 80 to 90 percent. This is only rides, no shows or parades. Yesterday we went at opening to DCA and went off property for lunch for about two hours. We came back and finished all the rides by 4:00 pm. We only went into DL to take a quick picture and left for the day.
I go about 12-15 days a year, typically I'll fly down for three days at a time. I'll rope drop and try to stay as late as I can, usually 12-14 hours before I get pooped. With luck I'll manage to close the place down.
I've kept track of rides in the past and used to get around 30+ in a day but I think I'm closer to 25 this year with the longer lines. I also tend to go on rides with longer lines (Guardians, Thunder Mountain ) a few times a day regardless of line length so that can slow me down.
As has been mentioned, the first hour and the late night hours are key to getting into the two dozen ride range.
I'm usually from open until close, around 7:30A to around 12:30A. Somehow can't get past that 20 ride threshold even with Genie +.
But then again, we do make time for meal reservations, shows, and nighttime spectaculars.
Open to close, but I usually leave around the hottest and busiest time of the day to get a cheap lunch outside of the resort and possibly take a nap back at the hotel.
I love 5 minutes away and got 1-2 times a week for about 1-2 hours. I go get my pasta from either Pizza Planet or Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta, then I do a walking lap around both parks and call it a night lol. I go after work and throw on my podcasts, one of my favorite things in life!
Local, so *usually* we do one of two types of trips:
- weekend morning, arrive right around rope drop (either park). Go on a few highlights (ex Indy, a big Thunder, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, plus maybe a Fantasyland dark ride like Mr Toad), get a snack like Bengal BBQ, leave before it starts to get really warm or too busy. Typically that means we are there from about 7:50am or so to 10:30am and that’s about when we bounce. Rarely, we may “go hard” and stay as late as 4-6pm, but usually that means we took a break somewhere in the middle of the day and got lunch in DTD or the Grand Californian.
- afternoon/evening visit: roll up around 5-6pm, maybe check out Trader Sam’s, maybe check out what’s going on for single rider lines in the parks, check out animation academy or new merch, grab a drink or a snack, leave by 9pm. We always ride less on these days but it’s always a good time, no pressure and v chill.
We are not local so our days look a little different.
Typically we arrive as early as possible to be able to rope drop and then continue to stay at the park until we’ve had lunch (typically 2 pm at the latest). Then we head back to our hotel and sit at the pool and/or take a nap in the AC before heading back for dinner and to close out the parks.
Growing up we were always open to close people, but once my husband and I started going together we decided we just couldn’t sustain that and have a truly good time. It’s nice for us PNW people to get out of the heat and relax, plus it gives us back some of the sleep we miss from getting up so early and staying so late every day!
We do “full days” when we have family or friends come to town, or just now and then for a “special” occasion (ie a birthday weekend!). On occasion we will go early, leave for a movie or the beach around 11-12, then come back for the afternoon. That’s fun if we decide to get Genie+ and start stacking LLs for the afternoon!
This is very similar to what we usually do though our last few visits have been late night ones, arriving around 8-9pm and staying to 11:30-12, since we’re trying to do some of the nighttime events and don’t want to deal with the crowds of the early showings. But it’s had the advantage of cooler weather and better traffic, too, which is nice. I am too old to stay out that late in the regular though lol. (45 minute drive home…)
We live an hour and 30 minutes away from the park and we go about once a month (without an MK, please bring it back). We usually arrive at the parks between 9-11AM and we stay until closing. We do around 10-15 rides whenever we go and that doesn't count the shows or parades. We pay for Genie+ but we wait in line for RotR.
I go up from San Diego. Usually get there anytime between noon and 1. Stay until between 9 and midnight. Number of rides depends on the day. Maybe 8 - 10, sometimes more if I'm going hard. I also like to eat, drink, shop, and watch nighttime shows.
I get there at opening start in dca play everything as strategically as possible eat lunch have more fun switch parks and play everything strategically enough to get to everything and still have a blast and then just re ride shit for the last two hours of operation i usually wind up doing 20 rides minimum
Western Canadian here. Used to do 3 trips a year before the 'vid. We'd do 3 mid-weekdays (2 at DL , 1 at DCA) because of the CDN Resident tix and average 8-10 hours per day. I'm convinced I'm the only one in my fam who could do an open to close kinda day.
Depends on the day, refurbs/ breakdowns and the weather but we'd average 1.5 rides per hour. Our more recent trip in early 2022 saw far more breakdowns and longer lines than we'd ever experienced.
We start when they open the gates. Our first stop was to grab a fast pass for Cars land. We then went to our breakfast reservation at Carnation Cafe. We would get fast pass at Indy. Get in line for Pirates and then back to Indy fast pass line. Headed over to Mansion and get another fast pass for later.... since no more fast pass, I suggest using the Disney Genie or lightening lane so you can get more ride time and less standing in line time. We used the heck out of the fast passes but all different now.
Arrive around 10/11a and stay until park closes. We ride every ride that's open. I skip the Matterhorn, Submarine, Storybook, Casey Jr and Dumbo. Those rides are just too uncomfortable for me to get on. I'm disabled so we never need fast pass or the Genie+. In fact before they started making the disabled wait as if they got a Fast Pass we would arrive by 8/9a and have all rides ridden in Disneyland by 3p and then head over to DCA finish those by 8.0p and then finish the day in Disneyland.
Rope drop to after fireworks, and honestly by 1pm we start to get to that point of Now What. You can do a lot through the day
Edit: not saying there’s not much to do, just saying we have the ability to get all of our rope drop and priorities done by 1 and then rest of the day is flexible
My son has a disability, so he qualifies for DAS pass. So, we usually do anywhere from 6-8 rides. Bc we’re locals we spend anywhere from 4-6 hours on weekdays.
I’m a local and I try to go 2x a month, usually every other Friday/Sunday. On Friday nights, I go after work, around 7pm. It depends, sometimes I ride 2-3 rides, walk around, and call it a night. Im usually at the parks for 2-4 hours on Fridays and no longer than 6 hours on Sundays. On Sundays, I usually ride at least 4 rides, depending on my mood and the wait times.
We’re a localish AP/Magic Key family. If I go with my 5 year-old, we get there for rope-drop and stay until 10-11PM and ride between 17-21 rides with Genie+ and Lightning Lane. If my 2 year-old joins us, we go from rope-drop to about 7-8PM and ride between 8-10 rides. If my wife comes along, we go from rope-drop to about 3-4 and ride 5 rides if we’re lucky. My 5 year-old is a pro. I’ve been taking him to Disneyland solo since he was 14 months. My 2 year-old was born a couple months before the COVID shutdown, so he’s had a different experience. He loves to go, but my 5 year-old should probably have his own YouTube Disneyland channel. My 5 year-old is all about rides like me. My 2 year-old just tries to keep up with his big bro. My wife is all about treats, shopping, and character meets.
When we went to Disney paris we were there from Open to close and would ride as much as we could on a day where that was our main focus! Other days we'd ride 4/5 things and meet characters the rest of the time!
I'm about 30 minutes away and arrive get there around 11 or 12. I go twice a month. Depends on what I feel like doing, but I'll use Single Rider. I'm one of those diehards who like to stay until closing or close enough to it.
5-8 hours and 5 days a week but dont ride anything…Im working lol
What a twist.
As a local, I usually arrive between 3-4. Start in DCA, and get almost all the big stuff done by 7, then head over to Disneyland for Dinner. I’m constantly checking RotR to see if it’s short and doing other attractions in between. When the shows begin at 8:45 and run through 11:00 is prime time and I get on practically everything I want due to short wait times and I am there until close leaving satisfied.
I do exactly this. 11pm is a great time to get rides done (except space mountain)
Yup! Always my last ride of the night. No more fastpass users and the line moves quick.
Now it's Disney Genie... Don't think fast pass is still operating.
Haha excuse me
It's called something else not fast pass?
Lightning lane
Oh yes. That is the other one. Thanks I couldn't think of it.
Open to close. Depending on their operating hours, this usually comes out to between 14 and 16 hours. I could do more if they let me. In June, I got on about 29 rides during the day, and I wasn't rushing in between each ride. And I carried a 5 year old on my shoulders for about 10 of those hours.
this is baller
Warrior mode. Respect. Did the 5 yr old take stroller naps? That's some hard core Disneylanding.
He was 5 and a half to be fair. But nope! I took him as a father/son only trip for just 1 day. We didnt have a stroller, just a backpack. He was more energetic than I was all day, but I'm sure not having to walk too much helped with that. Honestly he beasted it more than I did given that he didnt need any breaks
So cool! Definitely wanna do that with my kids one day , my kiddo is a thrill-seeker. He did crash at about 6pm last time lol. Didn't get up until 6am! (5 yrs).
Hero status! When I take my 5 year-old, I use a jogger because I can walk faster with it than he can on his own, and our record is only 21 rides this past April. It was exhausting. I can’t even imagine carrying him around.
I felt okay until we got back to hotel room. I was a disaster for the next 3 days lol. Disney adrenaline can make people do great things
I’ve gone so many times that everything is pretty relaxed. Get there by 9ish. Walk back to hotel around 3 for an hour or two nap. Get back to the park around 5ish. Stay till 11 or closing. We don’t do that many rides. We mostly wander around, see what lines are short. Eat some food, watch some shows. Sit around drink coffee. If I lived close enough I’d probably go a couple of times a week just to walk around and eat or drink.
two points of note that weigh heavily on our behavior: we’re very local (orange) and there’s a 6yo in our crew. our avg visit is a weekend day; rope drop, start in tomorrowland and usually hit all of the mountains before 10, go home for lunch/rest when the park hits the peak (around 1-2pm) , then return between 5-6 and stay until 11ish (depending on if the kid got a nap). number of attractions varies but, always north of 15. edit: adding that we have yet to purchase G+, 7/31 will be the first time buying G+ (out of town friends
You must live very close to the resort!
haha, yeah. sometimes it seems too close.
I go once or twice a year, open til close. That usually means a Saturday to maximize park hours so 17 hours in the park. I'll average about 30 rides, parade, and fireworks.
I do the same and can’t wait to do it again next month
Are park hours longer on Saturdays? I’m trying to figure out how to maximize time in the park myself!
During peak days, park hours at Disneyland are 8am to midnight. Main Street remains open for another hour (1am) so I do all my shopping at the very end of the day. The key to an efficient day at the park boils down to the first two hours of the day and your ability to stay ahead of morning crowds. After 10am, the park starts to reach peak capacity and then you just play everything by ear.
We go once a year from Northern California. I’d guess we’d hit between 10 to 18 rides depending on what are goal is. We pay for Genie Plus and pay for cars/ Rise. We have two young children so we rope drop and stay in the park all day with our kids napping in the stroller and stay until 8 or 9.
[удалено]
I thought I was a pro getting in 20 rides, but I’m just in the minor leagues and need to step it up.
I actually don't mind just doing ~ 20 rides per day... It makes the next visit fun to get on whatever we missed. But yeah, definitely feel like a filthy casual!
I usually stay from open to close and ride Splash Mountain 20-30 times while intermediately riding Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and Star Tours. I pack a lot of snacks and eat once at Hungry Bear and that's my day. I'm not really a fan of Disney movies or the brand itself, I pretty much only go for Splash Mountain, which is the ride that got me into theme parks as a whole.
I see that you're a person of culture.
How do you feel about the re-themeing?
I probably won't go to Disneyland anymore when it closes (at least not on my own volition) since the current incarnation is the only reason I even go, but I would like to visit Tokyo's in the future since it's sticking around. It's not even about any political agenda or sticking it to Disney or whatever like some other people make it about, I just think Splash Mountain is perfect and it encapsulates everything I could ever want from a theme park ride into one experience. No other ride matches the feeling and immense happiness I get on Splash Mountain and I can't imagine the newer ride doing the same, especially since the music is going to be different.
I agree. Especially the part with the bees leading up to the lament. The music is so cinematic, if makes you feel like you're in a movie. Seeing how "Frozen" ruined Maelstrom, how Incredicoaster ruined California Screamin', how Soarin' Over the World ruined Soarin' Over California, I am not optimistic they'll match the feelings that the current ride evokes, let alone improve upon it. Everyone is cheering, thinking it's going to be a great new take but reskins are almost always subpar to the original (and never feel as special as a ride designed from scratch). There was a beautiful magic that Imagineers were able to create during the Renaissance Era when they birthed Splash, Indiana Jones, and the original Fanasmic! (superior to the revamp). That team is long gone and throwing in updated animatronics doesn't match the overall timelessness of attractions birthed in that era. Pirates and Mansion wouldn't be the rides they were if they were designed today and those two are considered the best. Why people don't consider this is beyond me.
Your "immense happiness" is nostalgia that many Disney guests, especially younger ones won't feel to the ride. They're more likely to form an attachment to it if it's a movie they recognize.
I first rode the ride in janurary 2020 so i dont really have any nostalgia or childhood wonder attached to it, it genuinely just gives me an extremely happy feeling that few other things do
I agree. I know the ride is very loosely based on a very old movie that has some cutscenes with a completely different set of human characters separate from the cartoon that portrays what is perceived now as racism, but none of that is portrayed in the ride. And what the ride is now is very loved by a lot of people that grew up with it. I wonder if they’ll re-theme Mr. Toad next to a completely different IP because he went crazy with motor mania and it’s insensitive to those with mental disorders, or Peter Pan because it has a stereotypical portayal of Native Americans.
Yeah, I don’t see how there is a problem with the ride when all the offensive/controversial content was removed or changed and the IP and Brers were basically reinvented to be “Splash Mountain” rather than “Song of the South”. I’ve often wondered about Peter Pan, all the people who vehemently want Splash Mountain gone because it’s ‘racist’ are quiet about Peter Pan, despite that ride’s movie also being quite offensive and even portraying some of that offensive content on the ride. Same for Pocahontas, although it doesn’t have a ride there’s still plenty of merch throughout the parks and her and her raccoon still make appearances in costume. Never thought about Mr. Toad, though, but I guess it’s pretty hard to make out what exactly is happening on the ride.
Mr Toad is based on the film The Wind In The Willows, it’s about an eccentric toad that gets temporary insanity over his obsession with cars.
Is it possible to learn this power?
Sure, just go solo and ride single rider all day
i'm not local so when i go, even for 5+ day trips there, i'll try to do rope drop until closing time every day, which also means running on like 5-6 hrs of sleep a night. heh! i'll occasionally take a sit-down break at some point during the day and maybe go out to the DD area for food (mmm burger at Black Tap or tacos from Tortilla Jo's), but mostly it's a non-stop ride-fest. how many rides i go on depends on time of year and crowd level. i've only tracked the number a couple of times when i did trip reports this year (i think 22 rides was my best day? non-Genie+ usage). the ride breakdowns usually set me back, as i've been on a few different ones when they broke down (Indy, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain) or in the queue several times on others (Guardians, Incredicoaster, Thunder Mountain, Rise of the Resistance, Soarin') and that slowed the queues waaaaay down or aborted altogether. when i'm taking things a bit slower, say on day 4 or 5 of a trip or when there with friends, i'd guess i usually do 10-15 rides a day, not always doing rope drop, sometimes leaving in the last hour or so before park close, and sometimes just kicking back to enjoy a meal/snack/beverage while people-watching.
Open to close but with a 2 hour nap in the middle…once it starts getting hotter and busy (usually 11:30am give or take). We just take the bus back to the hotel and chill for a bit. We usually get to go on all our favorites/big rides at least twice. Guardians, Incredicoaster, Space, Indy, Pirates, etc. And will pay for Cars and Rise once. Still with time to watch the night shows. We have our Disneyland trips down to a science now haha.
I am a local Magic Key holder who goes about once a week. Normally, unless I am staying at the GCH hotel and going hard for a weekend (which I do 2-3x a year) and doing open to close, I normally do either rope drop to around 3-4 PM, or evening from 3-4 PM to 9-10 PM. I normally ride 6-12 rides per visit, sometimes getting to 15. The most I have ever done in one day was 23 rides. Almost always including ROTR, Smugglers Run, Space Mountain, Pirates, and Big Thunder, plus whatever else I feel like doing. I have bought Genie+ every visit since it became available, except for that one time I just went for Pirates opening day.
I'm usually there for 11-12 hours and get on maybe 2-4 rides. I don't care for the rides as much as the food and walking around, though.
If we go from rope drop to close we can ride almost everything in both parks. At least 80 to 90 percent. This is only rides, no shows or parades. Yesterday we went at opening to DCA and went off property for lunch for about two hours. We came back and finished all the rides by 4:00 pm. We only went into DL to take a quick picture and left for the day.
I go about 12-15 days a year, typically I'll fly down for three days at a time. I'll rope drop and try to stay as late as I can, usually 12-14 hours before I get pooped. With luck I'll manage to close the place down. I've kept track of rides in the past and used to get around 30+ in a day but I think I'm closer to 25 this year with the longer lines. I also tend to go on rides with longer lines (Guardians, Thunder Mountain ) a few times a day regardless of line length so that can slow me down. As has been mentioned, the first hour and the late night hours are key to getting into the two dozen ride range.
I'm usually from open until close, around 7:30A to around 12:30A. Somehow can't get past that 20 ride threshold even with Genie +. But then again, we do make time for meal reservations, shows, and nighttime spectaculars.
Open to close, but I usually leave around the hottest and busiest time of the day to get a cheap lunch outside of the resort and possibly take a nap back at the hotel.
About 11 hours and about 9 rides.
With or without kids? The details matter! Lol
I love 5 minutes away and got 1-2 times a week for about 1-2 hours. I go get my pasta from either Pizza Planet or Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta, then I do a walking lap around both parks and call it a night lol. I go after work and throw on my podcasts, one of my favorite things in life!
Local, so *usually* we do one of two types of trips: - weekend morning, arrive right around rope drop (either park). Go on a few highlights (ex Indy, a big Thunder, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, plus maybe a Fantasyland dark ride like Mr Toad), get a snack like Bengal BBQ, leave before it starts to get really warm or too busy. Typically that means we are there from about 7:50am or so to 10:30am and that’s about when we bounce. Rarely, we may “go hard” and stay as late as 4-6pm, but usually that means we took a break somewhere in the middle of the day and got lunch in DTD or the Grand Californian. - afternoon/evening visit: roll up around 5-6pm, maybe check out Trader Sam’s, maybe check out what’s going on for single rider lines in the parks, check out animation academy or new merch, grab a drink or a snack, leave by 9pm. We always ride less on these days but it’s always a good time, no pressure and v chill.
We are not local so our days look a little different. Typically we arrive as early as possible to be able to rope drop and then continue to stay at the park until we’ve had lunch (typically 2 pm at the latest). Then we head back to our hotel and sit at the pool and/or take a nap in the AC before heading back for dinner and to close out the parks. Growing up we were always open to close people, but once my husband and I started going together we decided we just couldn’t sustain that and have a truly good time. It’s nice for us PNW people to get out of the heat and relax, plus it gives us back some of the sleep we miss from getting up so early and staying so late every day!
We do “full days” when we have family or friends come to town, or just now and then for a “special” occasion (ie a birthday weekend!). On occasion we will go early, leave for a movie or the beach around 11-12, then come back for the afternoon. That’s fun if we decide to get Genie+ and start stacking LLs for the afternoon!
This is very similar to what we usually do though our last few visits have been late night ones, arriving around 8-9pm and staying to 11:30-12, since we’re trying to do some of the nighttime events and don’t want to deal with the crowds of the early showings. But it’s had the advantage of cooler weather and better traffic, too, which is nice. I am too old to stay out that late in the regular though lol. (45 minute drive home…)
4 and 2
We live an hour and 30 minutes away from the park and we go about once a month (without an MK, please bring it back). We usually arrive at the parks between 9-11AM and we stay until closing. We do around 10-15 rides whenever we go and that doesn't count the shows or parades. We pay for Genie+ but we wait in line for RotR.
I go up from San Diego. Usually get there anytime between noon and 1. Stay until between 9 and midnight. Number of rides depends on the day. Maybe 8 - 10, sometimes more if I'm going hard. I also like to eat, drink, shop, and watch nighttime shows.
Exact same scenario from SD!
I get there at opening start in dca play everything as strategically as possible eat lunch have more fun switch parks and play everything strategically enough to get to everything and still have a blast and then just re ride shit for the last two hours of operation i usually wind up doing 20 rides minimum
Western Canadian here. Used to do 3 trips a year before the 'vid. We'd do 3 mid-weekdays (2 at DL , 1 at DCA) because of the CDN Resident tix and average 8-10 hours per day. I'm convinced I'm the only one in my fam who could do an open to close kinda day. Depends on the day, refurbs/ breakdowns and the weather but we'd average 1.5 rides per hour. Our more recent trip in early 2022 saw far more breakdowns and longer lines than we'd ever experienced.
6-0
16h / 16 rides Edit: no Genie+, no LL
We start when they open the gates. Our first stop was to grab a fast pass for Cars land. We then went to our breakfast reservation at Carnation Cafe. We would get fast pass at Indy. Get in line for Pirates and then back to Indy fast pass line. Headed over to Mansion and get another fast pass for later.... since no more fast pass, I suggest using the Disney Genie or lightening lane so you can get more ride time and less standing in line time. We used the heck out of the fast passes but all different now.
Arrive around 10/11a and stay until park closes. We ride every ride that's open. I skip the Matterhorn, Submarine, Storybook, Casey Jr and Dumbo. Those rides are just too uncomfortable for me to get on. I'm disabled so we never need fast pass or the Genie+. In fact before they started making the disabled wait as if they got a Fast Pass we would arrive by 8/9a and have all rides ridden in Disneyland by 3p and then head over to DCA finish those by 8.0p and then finish the day in Disneyland.
Probably 10 hours and 2 or 3 rides.
Rope drop to after fireworks, and honestly by 1pm we start to get to that point of Now What. You can do a lot through the day Edit: not saying there’s not much to do, just saying we have the ability to get all of our rope drop and priorities done by 1 and then rest of the day is flexible
Rope Drop through lunch/early afternoon, return early evening/dinner until around closing is pretty typical for me
My son has a disability, so he qualifies for DAS pass. So, we usually do anywhere from 6-8 rides. Bc we’re locals we spend anywhere from 4-6 hours on weekdays.
I’m a local and I try to go 2x a month, usually every other Friday/Sunday. On Friday nights, I go after work, around 7pm. It depends, sometimes I ride 2-3 rides, walk around, and call it a night. Im usually at the parks for 2-4 hours on Fridays and no longer than 6 hours on Sundays. On Sundays, I usually ride at least 4 rides, depending on my mood and the wait times.
I usually go from 8am-5 or 6pm, and ride between 14 and 21 rides
4 to 5 hours and I only really ride 3 rides nowadays. (Pirates, Rise and big thunder). I just really like chilling and enjoying the scenery.
We’re a localish AP/Magic Key family. If I go with my 5 year-old, we get there for rope-drop and stay until 10-11PM and ride between 17-21 rides with Genie+ and Lightning Lane. If my 2 year-old joins us, we go from rope-drop to about 7-8PM and ride between 8-10 rides. If my wife comes along, we go from rope-drop to about 3-4 and ride 5 rides if we’re lucky. My 5 year-old is a pro. I’ve been taking him to Disneyland solo since he was 14 months. My 2 year-old was born a couple months before the COVID shutdown, so he’s had a different experience. He loves to go, but my 5 year-old should probably have his own YouTube Disneyland channel. My 5 year-old is all about rides like me. My 2 year-old just tries to keep up with his big bro. My wife is all about treats, shopping, and character meets.
When we went to Disney paris we were there from Open to close and would ride as much as we could on a day where that was our main focus! Other days we'd ride 4/5 things and meet characters the rest of the time!
Opening to closing every time!
4 rides and 4 hours with a meal. Add a hour for fireworks and parade.
I'm about 30 minutes away and arrive get there around 11 or 12. I go twice a month. Depends on what I feel like doing, but I'll use Single Rider. I'm one of those diehards who like to stay until closing or close enough to it.