Expert: Steve Summers - 6/10/2009

Question
we will be coming to LA 2nd week of July for 9 days.  Planning 2 days disney, 1 day universal, 1 day magic mountain, 1 day san diego wild safari, and one day seaworld.  We are a group of 2 adults, 2 teens and 2 kids 12, 10.  On the magic mountain day one adult will take the 10 and 12 year old for the 2nd disney day.  one adult 2 teens will skip 2nd disney day and go to magic mountain.  any suggestion of what day of the week we should go for each park.

Answer
Hi Silvia,

Traditionally, Tuesday and Wednesday are the least crowded days of the week. However, in July, there isn't much difference between the days of the week: 50,000 people at Disneyland is virtually indistinguishable from 70,000 people at Disneyland. Lines will be long, with waits of 90-120 minutes for the most popular rides.

Maybe you should break up the parks something like this:

Mon- Disneyland
Tue- Universal
Wed- Disneyland
Thu- Magic Mountain/Disneyland
Fri- Sea World
Sat- San Diego Wild Animal Park

I put the Wild Animal Park on the weekend, since that will be the least crowded park. Disneyland will be the most crowded, followed closely by Universal and Magic Mountain.

I'm hoping that you are staying in San Diego for that portion of your trip. It takes a couple hours to get to SD, even from Anaheim, and that really digs into your day, and makes for a long drive home at night. These sorts of vacations are marathons, and you have to make sure you don't waste time and energy on things that can be avoided.

I'm an expert on Disneyland, but the Jedi Master of San Diego is a guy named "Local Wally". You can get some great San Diego tips from his site, www.localwally.com. I use it when I venture down south.

As for Disneyland, the best way to do it is to arrive early when the park opens (or even a little beforehand). You can get on as many rides from 8-noon as you can from noon to midnight. Also, take advantage of FastPass, and save your Fastpasses until the afternoon and evening. Finally, call 714-781-DINE to make reservations for sit-down meals. This can easily save you an hour or more per meal.

Are you getting the SoCal City Pass? That would be perfect for you. If you haven't already, check it out at www.citypass.com.

Have fun!