PTR - June 2017 - It's never too early to plan!

[ClaraOswald]

Is it ever too early to start a pre-trip report?? I don't think so.

We've decided to head back to Disneyland in March....2017. We actually considered 2016...but changed our minds. Why? Well, $$$. And we have a 2 year old. I am hoping things will be easier with a 3.5 year old than with a 2.5 year old. Time will tell, I guess!

My husband and I have been to Disneyland hundreds of times. And to Disney World a handful of times. Our son has just been to Disneyland once in February 2015. He was 17 months old at that time. The trip went pretty well...except the flying. Ugh. (I started a trip report for that vacation but haven't finished it. I still might even though no one is actually reading it.)

So...we're going through Disneyland withdrawals like crazy. We've been talking about our next trip and originally thought we'd go in early February again. But I don't want to risk It's a Small World being closed. I am hoping we'll be safe by going in early March. I am also hoping we can avoid Spring Break crowds. I haven't been to the parks in March since 2007. I know that overall, it's always more crowded than a decade ago. We'll just have to deal with that.

We'll probably be flying again even though I HATE flying. I hate it even more now that we have a child. We live about 1500 miles from Disneyland. We've driven before but our son hasn't gone on any road trips yet.

Our three travel options....
1. Fly both ways.
2. Fly out. Rent a car to drive home.
3. Drive both ways.

In reality, it will probably be option 1. I'll talk more about that later though since this is getting a bit long.

EDITED TO ADD....as of November 2016....we are now likely going to Disneyland in June 2017 instead of February.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I am now 99% sure we'll go with option 1 above. I just really wish we didn't have to. Here are my thoughts....

I would love to fly out and then drive home. Last time, the flights TO California were better than coming home. I think by the end of the week, our son was just getting tired. And bored of sitting in his stroller so much. So I think by the time we flew home, he was just over it. We love road trips so the drive home could be fun. To do this, we'd have to do a 1-way car rental though. I looked into it and it's about $1500! Eek! I don't think I could rationalize that cost so that pretty much eliminated this idea.

We could drive both ways. We've done it before when it was just the two of us. The last time we went, we took 2 days to get there and 2 days to get home. With a 3 year old, it would need to be at least 3 days each way. So if you have 3 drive days, 6 or 7 vacation days, and 3 drive days...that makes the whole trip 12-13 days. To me, that is way to long with a 3 year old. Not to mention all that time our dog would have to be at the boarding facility back home. And the cost of adding those extra days does add up (4 extra hotel nights, plus all of the extra meals.)

So yeah, we're going to have to fly both ways. Last years flights were just not fun at all. I have no idea if my son at 3.5 years old will be better on the plane than he was at 17 months or if he'll be worse.

Just for fun, I looked at available flights for THIS year. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Frontier Airlines is flying between OMA and SNA again. Fingers crossed that continues into 2017. Flying OMA-DEN-SNA is my ideal route. Last time we went through Vegas and it was not great. The airport was disgusting. And the flying time was a bit longer.

We may fly United one way and use airline miles to save some money. Then fly home on Frontier. But really it all depends on flight time options. I am very picky. I don't want to leave super early. My son normally sleeps until 8 or even 9am. (Of course, who knows what his sleep schedule will be like next year.) I don't like the idea of waking him up at 4am or something to catch a 7am flight. My ideal flight would leave around 10am.

I would prefer a layover of 1.5 hours. 1 hour isn't bad without a child. But I feel it would cut it a bit close with a 3 year old. Especially if it falls around lunch time. 2 hours would also be okay.

Coming home, I would prefer to leave around 10am again. Same reasons as before. It seems like we always have less options for flying home though. Last time it was between 7am or something like that and 4pm. So we picked 4pm. It wasn't great. By the time we left, our son was already in a bad mood. We had hoped that after we checked out of the hotel we could drive around and let him sleep in the car a bit before leaving. Sadly, he didn't fall asleep. So he didn't nap at all that day. Then our flight was really bumpy. It was bad. So I think getting out of town earlier would be better.

Since I'm so picky, I know we won't get EXACTLY what I want. But fingers crossed for something decent. We don't usually book airline tickets until a couple months before so I have a looooong time to 'stress' about this. Ha!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Joining in! We are also planning a 2017 trip with our daughter who will be 3 at the time. We've never been to DL though so I'm reading a ton of reports and doing much more planning than I normally do for WDW. I look forward to reading about your plans!

 

[ClaraOswald]

What month are you thinking about going? Staying on or off site? At WDW we stay onsite but for Disneyland we stay offsite.

I find that overall, Disneyland needs a bit less planning. Mainly because no FP+ (thank goodness! Ha!)

 

[Disney9.9.10]

We haven't decided on a month yet. We are probably going to stay at the GCH because of DVC points but if that doesn't work out, I'm not opposed to staying elsewhere since everything is so close there. I've started a report if you want to stop by and let me know your thoughts some time!

 

[ClaraOswald]

I will check it out!

So....I am now thinking about going in early February (like last time) instead of March. The Desert Inn released prices and we could save just over $400 by going in February instead. Might be worth it.

 

[disneyguy4life]

My wife and I are going to DLR this November and I am a bit worried about having a 14 month old this time around. It should be interesting. i appreciate your evaluation of flight versus driving. i think after reading that flying would be better. I am pretty sure driving even the 10 hours there from SLC, Utah wouldn't go that well. It will be his first flight anywhere. Any advice?
Also, we are renting DVC points and staying at Grand Californian for really cheap. I am hoping for a really great view of DCA. The only draw back is you have to pay the entire price up front. Not to sound like a commercial but David's DVC rental was really helpful.
I look forward to hearing more about your trip plans. Despite the crowds DLR is going to be great.

 

[ClaraOswald]

My son was almost 17 months old on our trip last year and overall it was better than expected. I really should finish my trip report even though it's so old now...ha!

For flying...I highly recommending bringing a lightweight car seat onto the plane. 1. It's the safest option. 2. Your child will be used to being in a car seat. The Cosco Scenera NEXT is a good, cheap option. (We used the old version last time and hope to use it next time unless he's outgrown it.) We used a strap to attach it to a small wheeled carry-on. It didn't take long to install it on the plane at all. Plus we were able to use it in our rental car.

You can see it attached to the carry-on here...(We used a smaller/cheaper stroller at the airport and put it into a Gate Check bag to keep it from getting dirty. Then used the stroller in the parks.)

And here's my son on the airplane. We got the little tray to attach from Babies R Us.

I highly recommend a visor extender if you use a stroller. This thing was the best $10 ever spent...haha!

Our son wasn't good with plates at the time. He would want to throw them on the floor. So we got these disposable placemats that stick to tables. And then we'd put his food right onto the placemat. So easy and clean. We also brought disposable bibs.

Trying to find activities for on the plane was tricky for us. We tried to put on a video for him but that ended up making him sick and he threw up all over. (Be sure to pack extra clothes for your toddler AND for yourself.) He did enjoy looking at small board books. And playing with cars. Another thing he loved was this pill case. We put cheerios in it. He loved opening and closing it.

I highly recommend going back to the hotel for naps unless your child is good with sleeping in the stroller. Our son slept in the stroller briefly but it wasn't great. Going back to the hotel was also good for him to run around. He was a late walker and was still unsteady on vacation. So in the parks, he was in the stroller most of the time...which started to make him mad after a while. So running around the hotel room helped a bit.

Hmm...there's probably more but this is getting really long. Ha!

 

[disneyguy4life]

That is great advice. Thank you for taking the time to write it. I look forward to hearing more about your trip preparations.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I'm jealous of how short your flight will be! We'll have a couple hours, then a layover, then a couple more hours. It's rough. It worries me a lot. I think I may actually be more worried this time around...haha.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Another tip - bring outlet safety covers to toddler-proof your hotel room. We also used painter's tape to keep drawers closed.

Bring some new little toys for the flight and for hanging out in the hotel.

We also bought an little adapter for the hotel t.v. so we could pull up videos on our phone and have them show up on the t.v. They helped to keep our son occupied while we'd get ready in the morning. If he were into cartoons on t.v. we wouldn't have needed that but he's not into t.v. much.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Hotel is booked! February 1st - 9th, 2017.

The other day, I decided to book the hotel. The Desert Inn lets you cancel up to 48 hours before, for free. So there's really nothing to lose by booking early. We decided that February would be better. $420 is a lot of money to us. So we'd rather risk more ride closures to save it. Our room ended up being $105 a night. Last year is was $99 so not a big difference. (March would be $150 a night.) We are staying in a Parlor Suite like last time. It was great having the extra room so we definitely want that again. Especially since we'll likely bring an air mattress for our son to sleep on. (Not 100% sure on this yet.) At a later date, we'll book a week in April (probably) as a back up. That way if anything comes up and we need to switch our days, we'll have the hotel ready.

Just over 300 days to go!

 

[ClaraOswald]

I am very picky about flight times. Here's my ideal....

Leaving home and leaving CA, I would love it if we could find flights that left around 10am. That's the "sweet spot." Last time, leaving CA, it was 4pm. By that time, my son was already in a bad mood. So it was a rough day/night. But leaving earlier than 10am would be rough too since he's not an early riser.

An ideal layover would be one and a half to 2 hours long. Anything shorter would cut it a bit close with trying to eat and whatnot. Anything longer would be rough with a toddler.

I want our layover to take place in Denver. This is the shortest route for us.

Obviously it's a bit early to look at available flights. But I searched random dates a few months from now for fun. Things aren't looking good. So I need to keep my fingers crossed that better options pop up. Otherwise we'll have to decide of the lesser of all the evils is.

 

[disneyguy4life]

I'm jealous of how short your flight will be! We'll have a couple hours, then a layover, then a couple more hours. It's rough. It worries me a lot. I think I may actually be more worried this time around...haha.

Yeah, it should be an adventure since it will be our first flight/family trip. He is a well mannered kid so I hope it won't be to bad. I can't imagine a plan flight like that. You do have it rough. The things we do for Disney and raising our kids right. I admire you for committing to the challenge. You rock!

 

[disneyguy4life]

nother tip - bring outlet safety covers to toddler-proof your hotel room. We also used painter's tape to keep drawers closed.

Bring some new little toys for the flight and for hanging out in the hotel.

We also bought an little adapter for the hotel t.v. so we could pull up videos on our phone and have them show up on the t.v. They helped to keep our son occupied while we'd get ready in the morning. If he were into cartoons on t.v. we wouldn't have needed that but he's not into t.v. much.

Keep those good ideas rolling LOL. We are going to need them. I didn't even think about the plug covers and tape. That is a great idea.

 

[disneyguy4life]

Hotel is booked! February 1st - 9th, 2017.

AWESOME!!!! It is exciting to make the bookings. it just makes the trip more real.

I am very picky about flight times. Here's my ideal....

It sounds like you have it all down. I hope something shows up for you. I know my wife and I want to leave early, 6am. But since I haven't really done it with our son before and it is still over 200 days away I have no idea how that will go over.

Just over 300 days to go!

I love my count down app on my phone. I look at it while at work to get me through the tough days. Congrats on 300 days left!!

 

[ClaraOswald]

I am a SAHM so we don't need to get up early for work or anything. Which means my son typically sleeps until at least 8am or later. So getting up for early flights will be rough. Even for a 10am flight we'd need to leave our house by 8, probably.

Before we had our son, we'd always do the super early flights though. I love arriving to my destination as early as possible.

I am already getting excited (and nervous.) So to deal with the excitement I've been writing my trip report from our last trip. It's over a year old but it's helping with the Disneyland withdrawals.

 

[disneyguy4life]

Yeah, i just watched the thread earlier today. So I'll have to play catch up.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Cool. The first part is all the planning stuff. The trip starts on page 6.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Right now I am trying to figure out back up dates. It seems like there's really no good time. Right now I am thinking maybe early March or early May. Decisions, decisions!