Disneyland questions from a Disney World regular - any advice appreciated!

[MelissathePooh]

We travel to DW 3-4 times per year, but have only been to DL once (Oct 2001). We are going to DL this October 30 - Nov 7 and need some advice. 2 adults, 2 kids - we will be staying on points at VGC for part and cash at DL Hotel for part:

Extra Magic Hours/ Early Entry Mornings - does DL do this for resort guests?

What is suspected crowd level for Halloween at MK since its Sunday this year?

Does CA have a night time show during the fall/winter that is visible from GC?

Are there laundry facilities in the VGC or are they in the main building? (we'll be in a studio)

Are there rental car drop off facilities at the DL resort complex?

Where is the closest grocery store?

And recommended tours of DL/CA/Disney Studios?

Would you recommend renting a car to drive to SD Zoo or taking a bus tour?

Anyone want to take us to Club 33 We'll buy lunch!

Feels strange being such a newbie Thank you in advance!

 

[disneynerd420]

I can answer the first question...

Any resort hotel guest can take advantage of Magic Morning (Early Entry into Fantasyland and Tomorrowland) on any day it is offered during there stay at a Disneyland Resort Hotel ( Disneyland Hotel, Grand Californian, Paradise Pier.) The days magic morning is currently being offered is Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Magic Morning starts 1 hour prior to Disneyland opening to the general public.


Hope that helped a little !

 

[rentayenta]

We travel to DW 3-4 times per year, but have only been to DL once (Oct 2001). We are going to DL this October 30 - Nov 7 and need some advice. 2 adults, 2 kids - we will be staying on points at VGC for part and cash at DL Hotel for part:

Extra Magic Hours/ Early Entry Mornings - does DL do this for resort guests?

Magic Mornings are Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays generally.

Are there laundry facilities in the VGC or are they in the main building? (we'll be in a studio)

They do have laundry but not sure where in the resort. We'll be staying at the GCV for the first time in 27 days but in a 2 bedroom. Can't wait!!!

Where is the closest grocery store?

There is a Target and a Food for Less each about a mile away. Vons also delivers.

Anyone want to take us to Club 33 We'll buy lunch!

 

[HydroGuy]

We travel to DW 3-4 times per year, but have only been to DL once (Oct 2001). We are going to DL this October 30 - Nov 7 and need some advice. 2 adults, 2 kids - we will be staying on points at VGC for part and cash at DL Hotel for part:

I am sure you will have a great time not just at DL (Disneyland theme park) but all of DLR (Disneyland Resort).

Be very careful about choosing days at DLR. You might or might not be aware of off-season issues based on your previous trip - "What You Should Know About Off-Season at DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=18462889

Last year Space Mtn was down for several days the first week of November to remove the Ghost Galaxy overlay. And believe me you do not want to miss Space Mtn. The DL version had a 2 1/2 year refurb in 2003-2005 and the DL version is way better than the MK version.

Extra Magic Hours/ Early Entry Mornings - does DL do this for resort guests?

See "Magic Morning (Early Entry) Super Thread" by DLR29 www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1675403

What is suspected crowd level for Halloween at MK since its Sunday this year?

DLR has gotten very succesful in promoting HalloweenTime and October itself has been pretty busy in recent years. I can't give a good prediction for Oct 31 this year. Hopefully others can. For some info on last October see -

ONLINE 10/13
Hello George & Starbucks
Good-bye Ed & Easy Parking, World of Crowds, More...

Does CA have a night time show during the fall/winter that is visible from GC?

Yes and maybe. See World of Color Superthread

"CA" is a bit confusing around here and most people call the park DCA (Disney's California Adventure).

Are there laundry facilities in the VGC or are they in the main building? (we'll be in a studio)

Are there rental car drop off facilities at the DL resort complex?

Don't know about laundry and there are no car rentals in DLR proper. But there are some nearby I understand.

And recommended tours of DL/CA/Disney Studios?

Have never done one, but this July we are planning to do the DCA Segway "Cruzin" tour and Walk in Walts Footsteps. See http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/parks/listing?name=DisneylandParkToursListingPage. We will let you know.

Would you recommend renting a car to drive to SD Zoo or taking a bus tour?

I did not even know you could take a bus to the SD Zoo. SD is a really long day trip and traffic can be horrendous. Like 3-4 hours to go 100 miles. Weekends are usually better but there are no guarantees. Most folks who want to SD get a place there for the night. And most folks rent a car.

Anyone want to take us to Club 33 We'll buy lunch!

I wish!

 

[PeytonSdiz]

You will have so much fun at DL! Yay! Disneyland vacations are such a blast.

Someone else said it could take 3-4 hours to get to San Diego. We've never found it to take that long at all. Maybe 2 hours in traffic. I suppose if you took the I-15 route it would take longer, but I'm not sure why anyone would choose that route.

Magic Mornings are only an hour of extra time in the morning but we've found you can actually get a lot in during that time. Definitely try to get Fantasyland rides in during that hour.

 

[Karenann*]

We will be there 10/27-11/2! There is a great thread for October here:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2408927

Also, there are car rentals out on Harbour across from the main entrance.
Have a great time planing for your trip!

 

[MelissathePooh]

Thank you all for the replies!

We're prepared for the off season park hours and with the time change for us - early mornings will just be part of it. Our kids are young too so we don't do many late nights in general. There isn't much we can do about refurbishments as technically we're going for a conference and can't change our dates.

Its funny - dh used to know someone who was a Club 33 member and they always offered to take us, but its been years and they've lost touch Oh well!

Thank you all again! Any other advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[HydroGuy]

Someone else said it could take 3-4 hours to get to San Diego. We've never found it to take that long at all. Maybe 2 hours in traffic. I suppose if you took the I-15 route it would take longer, but I'm not sure why anyone would choose that route.

DW and I used to live in SD and spent more than our share of days in 3-4 hour traffic along I-5 between OC and SD. I agree 3-4 hours is an extreme, but it does happen. I do not want to get anywhere near that. We will be doing the drive to SD from DLR this July after our trip. We have a beach condo down there. We have this all planned to leave DLR mid-day on a Saturday. That is as good as you can do, but even on Saturdays you can get hammered with traffic. Just sayin...

 

[melbarkwith]

We were at DL last year between Oct 26-Nov 7, so I can give you an indication of what the crowds were like then.

In October, and particularly later in the day, the crowds were horrendous. Earlier in the day they were definitely manageable though. Maybe go to Mickey's Trick or Treat Party at DCA on Halloween, at least there would be some kind of limit on crowd numbers there.

As soon as November arrived, the parks were really quiet. On one day after breakfast at Ariel's, my kids went on California Screamin' probably six times in a row with no wait at all. The CM's were telling people to sit wherever they wanted to it was absolutely fantastic.

If I recall correctly, Space Mountain was only closed for one day to remove the Ghost Galaxy overlay.

Oh, and we had groceries delivered from Von's and no complaints at all from us.

 

[Ariel224]

If I recall correctly, Space Mountain was only closed for one day to remove the Ghost Galaxy overlay. .

Yes, just one day to remove the overlay.

We were in the parks Nov 2-6. They were quite empty. We were able to walk on to so many rides over and over again. The weather was quite wonderful as well. Fantasmic! and the fireworks were only offered on the weekends though since DL closed at 8pm during the week.

You will have a great time!

 

[reynmagsmom]

SD is totally driveable, we have done day trips just about every trip since 2000, we usually leave around 7ish am from Anaheim and get to Seaworld around opening...we have had pretty good luck traffic wise although there have been a couple times where traffic was an issue but I just go with the flow and I like driving so it is ok!! we have done trips to old town SD and to the zoo and wild animal park!!
Whatever you decide to do have a blast!!!!

 

[raftislander]

I was in the parks last year in mid October. It was busy, but manageable, you just needed to make good use of your MM opportunities. Also while the Trick or Treat party has been in DCA in the past, I believe that this year it will be in DL as the WoC show in DCA is going to be drawing huge crowds still. The party is a hard ticket event and last year it was limited to 5K tickets a night. Don't know if it will be the same now that party will be at DL instead. But that can mean little to no wait on most rides during the party. During the Halloween season they have a Happy Haunts tour that was very popular. I couldn't get tickets but a woman I work with took it and liked it a lot. The tour included rides on ToT in DCA and SMGG, HMH and something else at DL. Plus you got reserved seating for the fireworks. Due to all the thrill rides, it wouldn't work so well for young kids, but she thought it was worth the money.

I agree withthe pp that SD is not a trip to go down and back in a day...well not if you expect to see anything in SD. If you do take a 1/2 day trip to the beach or somewhere, you could go on a day where you have tickets for the ToT party that night and save a day on your park tickets.

Our Halloweentime trip has been one of our favorites. The Halloween Screams fireworks at DL was fantastic, dont miss it. Also try to catch Fantasmic! as it is different from the one in WDW.

 

[Jenna319]

Ok now I'm worried! We are doing DLR and SD in September. 4 nights at DLH and 3 nights in SD. Our flight going home is out of orange county John Wayne at 10am on the Thursday after labor day. We will be leaving SD and going straight to the airport. What time does everyone suggest leaving SD to make a 10am flight out of John Wayne? I know it would have been a lot easier to fly out of San Diego but we are renting a camaro (my surprise bday gift to my hubby!) and it needs to be dropped off at the same airport we pick it up at. Would 5am be a reasonable time to leave San Diego to make the 10am flight in orange county? TIA!!

 

[PeytonSdiz]

I was in the parks last year in mid October. It was busy, but manageable, you just needed to make good use of your MM opportunities. Also while the Trick or Treat party has been in DCA in the past, I believe that this year it will be in DL as the WoC show in DCA is going to be drawing huge crowds still. The party is a hard ticket event and last year it was limited to 5K tickets a night. Don't know if it will be the same now that party will be at DL instead. But that can mean little to no wait on most rides during the party. During the Halloween season they have a Happy Haunts tour that was very popular. I couldn't get tickets but a woman I work with took it and liked it a lot. The tour included rides on ToT in DCA and SMGG, HMH and something else at DL. Plus you got reserved seating for the fireworks. Due to all the thrill rides, it wouldn't work so well for young kids, but she thought it was worth the money.

I agree withthe pp that SD is not a trip to go down and back in a day...well not if you expect to see anything in SD. If you do take a 1/2 day trip to the beach or somewhere, you could go on a day where you have tickets for the ToT party that night and save a day on your park tickets.

Our Halloweentime trip has been one of our favorites. The Halloween Screams fireworks at DL was fantastic, dont miss it. Also try to catch Fantasmic! as it is different from the one in WDW.

We have done San Diego in just a day. But we only wanted/planned to go to the Zoo so it wasn't a big deal.

 

[d-r]

hi, this is some great information. I especially appreciated and enjoyed the links about MM and the past calenders.

About the SD zoo. I was looking at the Southern California Grey Line http://www.coachamerica.com/graylineanaheim/tours_ana.cfm/tour_id/1034/mode/tour_detail/location_id/1021

They have a tour bus to San Diego Zoo that leaves the hotels at 9ish AM and returns about 8ish PM. It is sort of costly ($70-80, depending on coupons), but includes zoo tickets.

That makes for a long 11-ish hour day, but I was thinking one could sack out on the bus ride. I wondered if anyone had tried the bus?

 

[skiingfast]

Ok now I'm worried! We are doing DLR and SD in September. 4 nights at DLH and 3 nights in SD. Our flight going home is out of orange county John Wayne at 10am on the Thursday after labor day. We will be leaving SD and going straight to the airport. What time does everyone suggest leaving SD to make a 10am flight out of John Wayne? I know it would have been a lot easier to fly out of San Diego but we are renting a camaro (my surprise bday gift to my hubby!) and it needs to be dropped off at the same airport we pick it up at. Would 5am be a reasonable time to leave San Diego to make the 10am flight in orange county? TIA!!

I would say 5 is ok, but by 5 not after. Because people are going to hit the commute they are expecting the 2 or 3 hour drive to get to work at 8, guess what time they are getting on the road?

If it's a weekend then no problem.

 

[skiingfast]

Would you recommend renting a car to drive to SD Zoo or taking a bus tour?

!

If you take a cab to the train station near the Angels Stadium, 2 miles from DLR. Commuter trains run to SD. You do have to transfer in Oceanside from metrolink to the coaster, the LA system to the SD system. The coaster will take you to the SD station which is about 2 miles from the SD zoo. Amtrak also happens to run the same route.

 

[94bruin]

Are there laundry facilities in the VGC or are they in the main building? (we'll be in a studio)

I'm pretty sure they have laundry facilities in the VGC. I say this because I had to do some laundry just this week. Although I was staying in a regular room, when I had to ask the front desk for some tokens because they machine was out, they asked why I was using the villa's facilities vs the main laundry facility.

I'm not 100% sure only because I don't know exactly where the villas are, but I did have to leave the main building, so I assume I was in the building where the villas are.

 

[d-r]

You are right. I found out on the dvc board that there is a laundry with a couple of w & d's on the first floor of the dvc wing, and dvc members can get tokens at the front desk.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Ok now I'm worried! We are doing DLR and SD in September. 4 nights at DLH and 3 nights in SD. Our flight going home is out of orange county John Wayne at 10am on the Thursday after labor day. We will be leaving SD and going straight to the airport. What time does everyone suggest leaving SD to make a 10am flight out of John Wayne? I know it would have been a lot easier to fly out of San Diego but we are renting a camaro (my surprise bday gift to my hubby!) and it needs to be dropped off at the same airport we pick it up at. Would 5am be a reasonable time to leave San Diego to make the 10am flight in orange county? TIA!!

Hi ~ I tried sending you a PM but it was taking forever??? My suggestion would be to stay near the airport your last night - leave SD late your last night so you don't have to deal with traffic and can spend the entire day enjoying SD. This way you don't have to worry about leaving SD early enough/traffic on your fly home day....