Planning my first DLR trip!

[tinkerbell216]

Hi everyone! I've been a long time lurker of these boards, but mostly on the WDW side. I am excited to join and be here!

Anyways, as you can tell by my thread title I'm planning my first ever trip to Disneyland! I am in the very early stages of planning, I haven't booked anything yet. I have been to DW three times and absolutely love it. However, I am relocating to Florida in about a year and since I plan on getting an annual pass for DW, I thought I would love to make a trip to California! So far it's just my sister and myself who plan on going to California. I think we're making it a four or five day trip that will only include Disneyland.

I'm a super planner and have been looking all over the Internet for some basic info and still don't feel like I have all of my questions answered. I thought some of you would be a great resource if you wouldn't mind helping me out!

I searched the web to see more about Disneyland deals (particularly for the on property hotels). I see some current discounts for the good neighbor hotels, but do guys know if Disneyland ever runs seasonal percentage off hotel discounts like WDW does? Or for a Disney Visa cardholder? I have one if that ever makes a difference. If they do, how good are the deals and how far In advance do they typically run?

This kind of leads me to my next question. We think we'd like to go either the week of August 30th or the following week. Anyone have any advice as to which one might be better?

Thanks so much to anyone who can help me out!

 

[figment_jii]

By August 30th, the parks should be in the process of transitioning to HaloweenTime. It's not entirely clear when HalloweenTime will start in 2015. Based on the recent past, the most likely start date would be September 11th, but given the significance of that date it seems unlikely that DLR would start HalloweenTime on that day. So the most likely guess is somewhere between September 12th and 18th. If it starts on September 12, Haunted Mansion will likely close on August 24 for the overlay installation. Space usually shuts down for the four days leading up to the start of HalloweenTime (so possibly Sept 8th). Disney won't acconunce the closure dates or the start of HalloweenTime for a while yet.

Labor Day is late this year (September 7), so it's not clear how that will impact crowds. Historically, the park starts to transition from the summer schedule to the fall schedule in mid-August. So after Labor Day, hours are generally shorter and there is less entertainment (e.g., fireworks and F! are only on Fri-Sun). If you're looking for longer park hours and full(er) entertainment, I'd probably opt for the August date even though it will probably mean higher crowds overall.

DLR does offer discounts for their on-site hotels, but they are rarely as deep as the WDW discounts and they seem to have more restrictions. I would keep an eye on the Disneyland.com Special Offers & Discount webpage to see if any discounts are offered for your dates (late summer discounts won't be announced for quite a while).
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/offers-discounts/

 

[Canuck16]

We have gone in September and enjoyed all the Halloween decorations.

Space Mountain or should I say Ghost Galaxy is awesome with the Halloween overlay.

You will find that you do not need to plan nearly as much at DLR as when you go to WDW. DLR usually only posts its schedule 6 weeks out and they still have the Legacy FP in place.

Consider getting hopper tickets as the parks are so close together hopping is a breeze at DLR.

Hppy planning and enjoy DLR!!

 

[cherice95403]

They do have discounts, but not much. Disneyland has only two onsite hotels and they are always close, if not at, capacity.

 

[Minerva Mouse]

Hi OP, I too am thinking of visiting the Land in October. This would be my first trip as well, I'm already a APH for DW and I'm ready to see the original.

My question for the board, HM is one of our favorite rides, but being a DL virgin would you suggest visiting DL during a non holiday time of the year? Or visit when the mansion is decked out in the Nightmare before Christmas? I picked October, because I think it would be amazing to see it at Halloween, but I don't wanna miss out on the original. What's a girl to do?

 

[MouseEXP]

1) End of August would be great. Majority of the rides are still open and the crowds should be low since kids are in school or about to go back to school.
2) Staying at a Disney Hotel is great, but don't underestimate the nearby hotels. If you don't get early entry you can just go to the park that doesn't have early entry first.
3) Best advice is to get to the park 15 minutes before it opens. Fantasyland rides are a must to do first (especially Peter Pan) when Disneyland opens. Toy Story Mania should be first at Disney California Adventure.
4) Get the Blue Bayou Fantasmic dining plan if you want a guaranteed great view of the show.

 

[figment_jii]

Do you like Nightmare Before Christmas? If you do, then I would go on October and see HMH. I really like both versions of the attraction, so there is really bad time to see it! Overall, the DL version of HM is fairly similiar to the MK version, so it's not one of the drastically different rides. The layout of the ride is a little different, but many of the scenes are the same/similiar. I honestly doubt that MK will get HMH so that would be another reason to go in October...to see something different.

 

[Geemo]

When you find a hotel rate that you like book it. Especially for the places on Harbor Blvd. Rates can really increase as your travel dates get closer. Many places only require a major credit card to hold a reservation. Most you can cancel with no penalties if you change your mind.

Geemo

 

[tinkerbell216]

When you find a hotel rate that you like book it. Especially for the places on Harbor Blvd. Rates can really increase as your travel dates get closer. Many places only require a major credit card to hold a reservation. Most you can cancel with no penalties if you change your mind.

Geemo

Thank you for the advice! We're looking at paradise pier right now. Do you think the price would increase for that one? I wasn't sure if I should wait a couple months to make sure there won't be a discount...

 

[tinkerbell216]

Do you like Nightmare Before Christmas? If you do, then I would go on October and see HMH. I really like both versions of the attraction, so there is really bad time to see it! Overall, the DL version of HM is fairly similiar to the MK version, so it's not one of the drastically different rides. The layout of the ride is a little different, but many of the scenes are the same/similiar. I honestly doubt that MK will get HMH so that would be another reason to go in October...to see something different.

I have actually never seen the entire Nightmare Before Christmas movie. Crazy, right?! I definitely need to see it at some point.

Does Disneyland have the Halloween party like WDW does? I went to WDW the first week of September and they had the party one of the nights we were staying. Unfortunately we didn't make it to it since we already had tickets to a concert. If DL has the party, do you think it would be starting the first week of September?

Thanks everyone for all of your help, I really appreciate it!

 

[tinkerbell216]

1) End of August would be great. Majority of the rides are still open and the crowds should be low since kids are in school or about to go back to school.
2) Staying at a Disney Hotel is great, but don't underestimate the nearby hotels. If you don't get early entry you can just go to the park that doesn't have early entry first.
3) Best advice is to get to the park 15 minutes before it opens. Fantasyland rides are a must to do first (especially Peter Pan) when Disneyland opens. Toy Story Mania should be first at Disney California Adventure.
4) Get the Blue Bayou Fantasmic dining plan if you want a guaranteed great view of the show.

Thank you! Does Disneyland alternate every other day which park opens early? They don't both open early everyday, right? I know at WDW they keep a schedule of what parks open early or stay open late since they all don't have extended hours everyday.

 

[tinkerbell216]

Hi OP, I too am thinking of visiting the Land in October. This would be my first trip as well, I'm already a APH for DW and I'm ready to see the original.

My question for the board, HM is one of our favorite rides, but being a DL virgin would you suggest visiting DL during a non holiday time of the year? Or visit when the mansion is decked out in the Nightmare before Christmas? I picked October, because I think it would be amazing to see it at Halloween, but I don't wanna miss out on the original. What's a girl to do?

Hi there! So cool you're also planning your first DL trip! Any idea which hotel you're staying at? I'm thinking paradise pier for us.

 

[tinkerbell216]

They do have discounts, but not much. Disneyland has only two onsite hotels and they are always close, if not at, capacity.

Have you ever stayed at paradise pier? If so, was it worth the extra cost of staying on property?

 

[tinkerbell216]

We have gone in September and enjoyed all the Halloween decorations.

Space Mountain or should I say Ghost Galaxy is awesome with the Halloween overlay.

You will find that you do not need to plan nearly as much at DLR as when you go to WDW. DLR usually only posts its schedule 6 weeks out and they still have the Legacy FP in place.

Consider getting hopper tickets as the parks are so close together hopping is a breeze at DLR.

Hppy planning and enjoy DLR!!

Thank you so much! If we stay four full days do you think we would need park hopper? And they decorate Space Mountain for Halloween? So cool!

 

[tinkerbell216]

By August 30th, the parks should be in the process of transitioning to HaloweenTime. It's not entirely clear when HalloweenTime will start in 2015. Based on the recent past, the most likely start date would be September 11th, but given the significance of that date it seems unlikely that DLR would start HalloweenTime on that day. So the most likely guess is somewhere between September 12th and 18th. If it starts on September 12, Haunted Mansion will likely close on August 24 for the overlay installation. Space usually shuts down for the four days leading up to the start of HalloweenTime (so possibly Sept 8th). Disney won't acconunce the closure dates or the start of HalloweenTime for a while yet.

Labor Day is late this year (September 7), so it's not clear how that will impact crowds. Historically, the park starts to transition from the summer schedule to the fall schedule in mid-August. So after Labor Day, hours are generally shorter and there is less entertainment (e.g., fireworks and F! are only on Fri-Sun). If you're looking for longer park hours and full(er) entertainment, I'd probably opt for the August date even though it will probably mean higher crowds overall.

DLR does offer discounts for their on-site hotels, but they are rarely as deep as the WDW discounts and they seem to have more restrictions. I would keep an eye on the Disneyland.com Special Offers & Discount webpage to see if any discounts are offered for your dates (late summer discounts won't be announced for quite a while).
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/offers-discounts/

Wow thank you for all the advice, I appreciate it! We could probably go the second week of September. My boss is actually planning a trip in September for WDW of all places, so I'm just waiting to see what week she will be gone so I can finalize the dates of my trip. Is DLR's HM way different than the WDW version?

 

[Canuck16]

Thank you so much! If we stay four full days do you think we would need park hopper? And they decorate Space Mountain for Halloween? So cool!

We always get hoppers and get our monies worth using them

Yes the Ghost Galaxy overlay on Space is very cool

 

[Minerva Mouse]

Do you like Nightmare Before Christmas? If you do, then I would go on October and see HMH. I really like both versions of the attraction, so there is really bad time to see it! Overall, the DL version of HM is fairly similiar to the MK version, so it's not one of the drastically different rides. The layout of the ride is a little different, but many of the scenes are the same/similiar. I honestly doubt that MK will get HMH so that would be another reason to go in October...to see something different.

I watched some video's on YouTube last night, and I defiantly want to see HM at Halloween time. I'm not a huge Nightmare Before Christmas fan, but I like it enough that I really want to check it out. Tks.

Hi there! So cool you're also planning your first DL trip! Any idea which hotel you're staying at? I'm thinking paradise pier for us.

We are looking at PP also, it's a little pricy, even thought it's cheaper than the other two, but I always feel like if we're gonna do it, we're gonna do it right. In my opinion nothing beats staying on site, it just adds that little something extra that completes the experience.

 

[MouseEXP]

Thank you! Does Disneyland alternate every other day which park opens early? They don't both open early everyday, right? I know at WDW they keep a schedule of what parks open early or stay open late since they all don't have extended hours everyday.

Disneyland Early Entry as of right now...
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday

Disney California Adventure
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday

 

[tinkerbell216]

Disneyland Early Entry as of right now...
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday

Disney California Adventure
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday

Thank you! I'm excited, I hope it all works out and I'm able to go in late August or early September!

 

[sunflare]

Just a note...remember to plan around the half marathon weekend!!!! It's always over Labor Day, and will drastically rachet up the crowd numbers and ability to book on-site. It's an anniversary year, too...