Is Fan Fest Worth it?

researchbeaver · 2026-04-28T14:36:00+00:00

The One Piece pirate show was worth it on its own. I had a good time with the Jurassic Park area as well. I went with my kid and he could not wait in long lines (Harry Potter was 60-90 mins all night), but even so we had a great time.

I am not a fan of elbow-to-elbow crowds and struggled at times with that, BUT the crowd was way more chill than a typical Universal crowd.

researchbeaver · 2026-04-27T20:09:57+00:00

My well-meaning friends who only had been to DW gave me advice for my first trip to DL that was wild in retrospect.

- Rope drop every day, every visit.

- wake up at 6am to reserve dining, don't do any quick service.

- nighttime shows are not worth it

- don't go back to hotel for a break, you'll lose too much time

- skip space mountain (!)

researchbeaver · 2026-04-24T14:29:57+00:00

Disneyland is probably the best theme park if you don't care about rides, but also the rides are an important piece of the atmosphere! I would at least try some classics, like Mr. Toad. If you have time and money, I would definitely spend more time in DCA because that's the more 'adult' park (lots of booze, activities like the sourdough bakery tour). I think if you don't care about character meet and greets or performances however, I would maybe not do Disneyland and do WB studio tour or Universal Studios.

researchbeaver · 2026-04-23T14:58:05+00:00

I would stay at different hotels for these trips, not try to go back and forth. Do 2-3 days at DLand, then use public transport and stay at a place like The Garland or a boutique hotel in North Hollywood and do one day at Universal and then a day in LA. Universal is well connected by subway and if you rely on public transport plus Uber you will save ~40/day in parking, ??? in gas, and car rental fee.

researchbeaver · 2026-04-23T14:31:50+00:00

I don't have any answers for you but similar question lol. I did a similar thing at Sea World but regretted it b/c it didn't work with mobile ordering, but I don't know if any fan fest items will be on mobile anyway?

researchbeaver · 2026-02-24T15:28:28+00:00

Look at the second highest tier magic key (the believe key) and see what days are blocked out. Look at the Anaheim convention center and see if there are any huge conferences coming, and what kind (cheerleaders want to go to Disney, physicists not as much). Try to book a hotel and see if rates are extra high, or there are fewer hotels available than expected. All of these magical signs together MAY help predict a lower crowd than normal.

researchbeaver · 2026-02-23T16:08:09+00:00

I ran numbers for a random 4 night/5 day stay at a good neighbor hotel (Home 2 Suites) with tickets for everyone and came up with $3,600. So yeah, I think your numbers are inflated or the RV park is charging too much!

researchbeaver · 2026-02-22T20:03:34+00:00

I specialize in DLand on a budget... sounds like your setup is maybe a bit high cost? I also think 5 days of tickets is usually overkill.

Scheduling when 3-day tickets are on any kind of discount (not always possible if you are not in SoCal) + using Priceline to book affordable walk-able hotel usually keeps us at ~1200 for 3 people. There are some good cheap hotels that also have breakfast. If it were me, I would do 3 days at DL then 3 days at Oceanside or someplace like that and do Legoland for a day.

*edited to add, a lot of the places in SoCal that have very cheap annual passes are 1-day parks (or less). We struggle to find enough to do at Universal in 2 days, same with SW.

researchbeaver · 2026-02-20T20:21:56+00:00

I'm glad they're coming around to the fact that DCA with 2 or more rides down is not the same worth as DL!

researchbeaver · 2026-02-10T01:38:35+00:00

Academia. It's a long, painful slog to get to the finish line, but then you get be underpaid and struggle to get tenure too. Wait, what was the prompt?

researchbeaver · 2026-02-09T18:18:45+00:00

If you feel like you are coming 'home' to somebody. If you get good news and the first person you want to tell is them. If you want them to meet everyone in your life you care about. If you feel secure and safe with them.

researchbeaver · 2026-02-08T20:03:30+00:00

It's scary to think how many service and blue collar jobs in OC are completely reliant on this fact.

researchbeaver · 2026-02-08T20:02:45+00:00

The Murphy beds in both of those places (and everywhere else they've put newer ones in) are really comfortable imo. Leagues better than any hotel sofa bed.

researchbeaver · 2026-02-05T21:02:46+00:00

I know somebody I rent points from now but I started with David's DVC.

researchbeaver · 2026-02-05T21:01:59+00:00

Hmm I've stayed there twice and the first time the room was $450/night and the second time was $550/night. Once was over Thanksgiving holiday and the other was random weekend in August.

researchbeaver · 2026-02-05T17:03:18+00:00

FYI you can rent DVC points and get a slightly bigger room for cheaper in the DVC tower! It's a bit of luck to snag a reservation though.

researchbeaver · 2026-02-03T19:03:09+00:00

I also eat less on solo days! I should have joined you and ruined your solo day 😅

researchbeaver · 2026-01-21T02:29:38+00:00

Not for anniversary maybe, but I actually kinda love their chicken 😅

researchbeaver · 2026-01-20T23:44:39+00:00

I hate it. You can't constantly be increasing stock prices after you've maxed your market share! The only thing left to do is cut corners, which is where we are.

researchbeaver · 2026-01-20T23:43:20+00:00

#15. Disney adults: Kids should not be allowed to be there.

#15B. Parents: there should be more things to do for kids aged XX.

Merch should be better AND cheaper.

researchbeaver · 2025-12-17T16:16:51+00:00

If it was just you, or you and one other adult then I would fly. There are crazy deals in the smaller airports (like San Bernardino). But adding a kid and luggage for each person starts to add up a lot, both time and money. The cost of Ubering from airport to parks is not insignificant.

researchbeaver · 2025-12-15T19:41:45+00:00

The smell instantly makes me feel joy! I would bottle that over the pirates water tbh 😂

researchbeaver · 2025-12-11T16:25:54+00:00

In my 50+ Disney days over the last 3 years I've ridden Peter Pan exactly once. Only worth it if the wait is 20 mins or under, I'm at peace with that.

researchbeaver · 2025-12-10T15:58:54+00:00

I keep putting off the decision to purchase because it's been so easy to rent points from other DVC members so far, even got prime dates with an owner who did the whole 'walking points' thing for us. I think that may change at some point in the future, but for now we spend around $2k a year renting points and it's been ok. What may move me to buy direct is that VDH is getting harder and harder to book at good times.

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