DL and DCA in one day: is it possible???

[Disneyglamour]

I am taking my friend who lives in LA to Disneyland for a SURPRISE birthday/graduation trip. We are there for only 2 days and we can only do the parks one day. Is it possible with all the new additions to DCA to do both parks in one day?? And I REALLY want to catch the world of color show!!

[NewDVCowner]

You won't be able to see both the World of Color and the fireworks as they tend to overlap. I haven't been there since they opened Carsland however if you work the fastpasses, get there early and stay all day you should be able to do MOST of it. Again, though, I haven't been since Carsland opened so I don't know the timing of that. I think it would certainly be the busiest place down there so you'll probably need to prioritize.

[2Epcot]

It is possible to do both parks in one day, but you need to take time and narrow your list down. Decide what things you want to do in Disneyland, and what things you want to do in CA Adventure.

As the previous poster mentioned, you won't be able to see World of Color and the Fireworks at Disneyland. It may be possible to see the first World of Color, and a second show of Fantasmic, but even that would be difficult with the crowds.

Cars Land will certainly take up a lot of time, especially if you want to do all the attractions. Using the single rider line on Radiator Springs Racers will save a lot of time. You probably won't be in the same car, but I see a lot of single riders end up in the same car, just on different rows, so it does happen. The other Cars Land attractions still have fairly long waits as well.

Not sure when you're going, but I would certainly make a plan of what you want to do and see as far as attractions, shows, and parades. If you're the type to just do whatever, that will work, but you may miss something you really want to see unless you make at least a rough plan.

[Disneyglamour]

Thanks guys! I think we're gonna try to hit all our favorites at Disneyland the first half of the day and end up at DCA for the rides there and the World of Color. We will be there mid-September. How are the crowds?

[BrerGnat]

Are you going on a weekend or weekday?

Mid September is when crowds typically start winding down and park hours are slashed during the week. DL tends to close around 8pm. There are no fireworks shows during the week. Not sure if WoC is a nightly show in the off season...

You can do both parks in one day, sure. You can't do either park fully, though. You will have to be very specific about formulating a plan and only hitting a few attractions in each park.

World of Color will actually eat up quite a lot of time. You'll need to allocate about an hour prior to the show to get a decent viewing spot, and the show will be the last thing you do, likely. If the show is at 8pm (example), you will have to be "done" by 7pm with everything else. This might be difficult if the parks don't open until 10am (typical weekday opening time in the fall).

[Chescat]

We've done the World of Color first show. I haven't seen the new DCA entrance open yet, but we used to be able to walk toward the exit of DCA (would probably be in front of Carthay Theatre now) and catch the beginning of the fireworks in Disneyland. Standing at the right spot there or in Downtown Disney you get to see a good portion of the bigger fireworks which is usually pretty awesome.

Time you are going is a good time since the kids are usually back in school and its just before they start the Halloween theme. I haven't looked at a schedule, they sometimes take rides down then because its an in between time. Need to check the thread here on ride schedules, but Mansion has normally been converted over by 3rd week of Sept to Nightmare Before XMAS in recent years.